Audiobook Review
Looking Glass Sound
Catriona Ward
Published: August 2023
Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Rating: ???

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

My thoughts: Umm...where to begin with this one? I will start off with some honesty first and say I dnf'd this book about 35-40% of the way through.
Honestly there were multiple reasons. For one, it was all over the place. There was just so much going on, I didn't know what to focus on. The sexuality bit in this book was a bit much for me, too. The LGBTQ books with hard focus on sex is not something I enjoy reading, so that really kind of made it less enjoyable for me, too. Overall I found myself confused and dare I say bored. I ended up googling the ending and was somehow more confused. Truthfully I was bummed because I had loved The Last House on Needless Street so much.

#qotd: Did you read this? What were your thoughts? OR tell me what you've been watching on TV lately.

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I wanted to like this book but it wasn't for me. First of all, I managed to get through it only because it was on audio. I feel like so much was going on but at the same time nothing was actually happening. The back and forth between timelines threw me off. The characters were not likable at all, especially the MMC, Wilder. I finished the book and I am still utterly confused. This one was so hard to get into and follow along. Again, it wasn't for me.

I want to thank Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and the author for this ALC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was not able to listen to this one before it expired. Once i have read the book I will return to update my review.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I tried to become interested in the characters but they were inherently unlikable. The beginning seemed to drag through the mendacity of their lives and the slight drama. It picked up. And then it went completely off the rails and became something of a mess. Weirdly, I was kind of more interested in the story and trying to follow it once this happened. The entire thing felt familiar, too. I'm left with the feeling that I have read this all before.

The narration of this one was great, but I don't think it's the best on audio. It's a really slow burn and jumps around in time. It was a bit hard for me to follow for those reasons. The narrator was great though and the story was fine. But just not the best for audio, in my opinion.

This is another one of those books that I think that I would have preferred to read in a physical form, rather than listen to audio. There’s just so many switches in timelines, viewpoints, and things I would want to go back and check and make a connection. Over all it is a good book, it just has a complicated storyline where things start making sense the farther into the book you go. It is an inceptionesque book, with murder and secrets and even a bit of romance all wrapped up in one.

In a cottage overlooking the windswept Maine coast, Wilder Harlow has begun the last book he will ever write.

It is the story about the sun-drenched summer days of his youth in Whistler Bay, and the blood-stained path of the killer that stalked his small vacation town. About the terrible secret he and his companions, Nat and Harper, discovered entombed in the coves off the bay. And how the pact they swore that day echoed down the decades, forever shaping their lives.

But the more Wilder writes, the less he trusts himself and his memory. He starts to see things that can’t be real – notes hidden in the cabin, from an old friend now dead; a woman with dark hair drowning in the icy waters below, calling for help; entire chapters he doesn’t recall typing, appearing overnight. Who, or what, is haunting Wilder?

No longer able to trust his own eyes, Wilder begins to fear that this will not only be his last book, but the last thing he ever does.

This audiobook was beautifully written and wonderfully narrated. The whole story was disturbing but not scary. I really liked the first part of the book. It was atmospheric and the mystery aspect was intriguing. The second part was a bit confusing and chaotic, and there was so much going on that I could not wrap my head around it. The plot took a bizarre turn and I felt lost. The ending did not bring me any closure.

Thank you NetGalley for this audiobook ARC that was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

I was provided an audio arc of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

I'm not really sure what I just read. This book was one of those very confusing story within a story and you aren't really sure what is actually happening and what is happening to the characters and what is happening in the internal story. This is told a bit out of order, which is not my preferred style of storytelling and it adds to the confusion of what is happening. This seems to be a common trait with Wards books, Little Eve was also told with an out of order timeline. This book also haphazardly switches points of view. I'm all for misleading the reader in a thriller, but the random switching of narrator and the disjointed writing style didn't work for me. I don't feel like all of elements came together in the end.

I found this to be very slow paced. I prefer my thrillers to be more faced paced and action packed. I never really got a suspenseful feeling from this, perhaps because I had no idea what was going on the entire time I was reading this. There were a couple of interesting plot twists, but at no time did I ever feel that any of the characters were in any real danger from anything sinister. There are some gruesome descriptions in the book in relation to some of the plot points.

This book isn't going to be for everyone, but I think some readers are going to absolutely love it. If you are looking for a uniquely told coming of age thriller/horror novel I'd give this a try. If you liked Sundial or Little Eve I think you will enjoy this. They both have elements that are similar in both the way the story is told and the atmosphere.

I struggled a bit with this book. I usually enjoy the psychological fun house aspect of Ward's writing, but this got almost too convoluted with a lot of past and present events getting muddled, identities changing, and book within a book (within another book?) confusion. Also, since the story started when the MCs were teens, the first part read YA to me, but even as adults they seemed childish. To Ward’s credit, though, this is an ambitious and highly creative plot, and once again, she blew my mind with that ending! As usual, her writing is stellar.

I read along while listening to this on audio, with Christopher Ragland and Katherine Fenton narrating. I loved Ragland’s narration for The Last House on Needless Street, but not as much for this one. Harper is a British female, but she sounded neither British nor female, Wilder often sounded angsty or unhinged and Nat’s New England accent felt like a caricature. I did enjoy Fenton’s narration of a different female character and wondered why they didn’t have her voice Harper as well. Men voicing women almost always sounds off (and vice-versa).

It wasn’t my favorite of hers, but I’d still highly recommend it to those who love a book within a book story (with a twist!) and enjoy the mental challenge of a more complex plot. Catriona Ward’s unique blend of psychological horror, mystical elements and atmospheric writing are an appealing combination!

Such a creepy and eerie story. The audiobook had me so sketched out from the very beginning which was exactly what they were going for and it hit the mark. I did love this story and it kept my attention from beginning to end

I really wobbled on my rating for this one; ultimately it's like a 3.5, but I liked it enough that it deserved the round-up. While this was (as one might expect from Catriona Ward) a well-constructed and twisty horror with a slight supernatural edge and excellent atmosphere, it wasn't my favorite of her works.

I liked that it was really layered and very meta about writing, a lot of it deeply chilling central plot points, and its wonderful, haunting sense of atmosphere; it lost me at the ending a little, but it was a fun ride to be on regardless. Ward is a really excellent horror writer, and if you've never read her books, they're certainly worth a try!

I listened to this one on audio; the narration was excellent, and I'd say it's worth picking up in this format if you're a big audiobook fan, though I think some of the "puzzle" aspects of the story would have been a little easier to pick up on if I had been reading this in a physical format!

Thanks so much to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the ALC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy of Looking Glass Sound, by Catriona Ward.

Wow!! What a dark and twisty read. At one point I thought I had things figured out, but NOPE. 🤯

Looking Glass Sound just came out on August 8, 2023, and I suggest everyone reads it!!

Thank you for the early audiobook! Wildly ambitious and cleverly played out, Catriona Ward at her best!

This book is following Wilder Harlow. His family goes to the coast of Maine one year following the death of his uncle, and there for the first time in his young life he makes friends! They introduce him to the folktales and the true horrors of the town. After the summer they part ways and come together again the next year, things have changed a lot, but they are still determined to make their friendship a priority, that is until something happens to one of them and it shakes up a lot of new fears in Wilder. He beings writing so that he won’t forget and can come to terms with the things that are happening to him. He proceeds to go to college following these incidents, and there he meet a man who shakes up his whole world and makes him begin to really question his reality.

I wanted to love this, as I have enjoyed other books by the author, but I found myself confused and not interested enough to try and decipher what was actually going on. Most of the book felt like a fever dream, which is not something that I enjoy in my horror books.

I was granted an early audio copy, and I have to say that I was not a big fan of the narrator chosen to tell the story. He felt monotone and didn’t quite feel like the right voice for our MC.

Overall, I was not very impressed with this book or the writing style.

Thank you to netgalley & the publisher for my early audio copy.

I enjoyed the audiobook production of this story. I thought Christopher Raglan did a great job with the various accents. Katherine Fenton’s voice also fit the female characters well. I loved the first half of this book. It was creepy and atmospheric right from the beginning. The second half was MIND BENDING to the extreme. I thought there was one too many twists. It left me feel confused at the conclusion. I do love that this was not your typical thriller, it was absolutely unique.

Maybe it was my mood, but I had difficulty following this one and understanding what was going on.

Ward's writing is, like usual, solid and captivating. I was engaged from the beginning. Up until about 50% in, I was fully invested and could not stop reading. I was listening to the audiobook and the narrator (the same as for The Last House on Needless Street) is just phenomenal. His ability to give each character a unique voice is fantastic.

The book starts as a memoir, written by Wilder about his time as a child vacationing on the Maine coast, where he makes friends with two other young teens, and some troubling things occur. Then the book shifts to Wilder attending college and meeting Sky. Then the narrative shifts again, and this is where the book lost me.

The plot is very layered and there are many surprises, however I had such a difficult time following what was happening. It's possibly a case of wrong book, wrong time for me. Maybe if I had read it in the middle of winter when I could buckle down and concentrate more fully I would have liked it more.

Don't just take my word for it, there are many four and five star ratings for this book. If it intrigues you, definitely give it a try because I wasn't disappointed with the book, just my ability to understand it.

This book 🤔

You ever read a book that leaves you completely baffled at every turn? That’s Looking Glads Sound by Catriona Ward. I should have known, considering the absolute mindbender that is The Last House on Needless Street. This book, however, takes the wildness to a new level.

I don’t want to tell you too much about this book’s content. No spoilers here, folks. That being said, here are a couple of my notes:

💀This is psychological horror, full on. Your mind will be reeling throughout this book, unsure of what is real and not, who to trust and who not to.
💀 This story is extremely layered, so be prepared to play the long game on reveals.
💀 I actually was going to DNF this book, but decided to push through. I didn’t really get hooked until the 40% mark, but it was worth the patience.
💀There are twists in this book, but they themselves didn’t necessarily throw me as much as the way the story was told. Don’t know if that makes sense, but it’s all I got for ya.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It keeps coming back to my mind, for better or worse. While I felt some of the execution of the narrative was a bit messy and confusing, this book gets my stamp of approval for its overall ambition and creativity.

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Happy pub day to @catward66 and Looking Glass Sound!

This book was wild! It was creepy and kept me reading with all the twists and turns. Definitely getting Maine ghost story vibes from this one! It also had a very meta vibe.

In my opinion, it’s a complex story about love, loss, found family, but there are also themes of pedophilia, child kidnapping and abuse, witchcraft and murder. It was an intriguing read and the twists were so good! If you’ve loved her precious works, I think you’ll really enjoy her newest.

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for my copy of this story which is available today!

How well do you really know those you call friends?

Looking Glass Sound by Catrina Ward follows a young man, Wilder Harlow, who never really fit in at home or at school. He was always the odd man out and had trouble making friends. When a death in the family brings his parent and him to a cottage overlooking the Maine coast for the summer, he is determined to have a good time. He has to. He awkwardly meets 2 kids his age, Nat and Harper. Nat has always lived in Whistler Bay while Harper only visits for the summer. As most coming of age stories, the group of friends make a pact to be friends forever no matter what changes the future may bring. The next summer rolls around and things take a drastic change and things will never be the same. Now as Wilder struggles with night terrors and adulthood, he is not sure if he even knows what really happened. How can he ever trust anyone again after what transpired that summer? Will finding out what REALLY happened bring him closer so that he can move forward in life?

This novel brings in multiple POV's through the story. I listened to this as an audiobook and I enjoyed the dual narration. The change from female to male narrators helped bring the story to life as well as provide structure to each chapter. I also enjoyed the cadence of each narrator and how they changed based off the happenings in the story. This helped the audiobook flow as the MC struggled with who to believe. Can he really believe all that he saw happening or is there something else that is lying beneath the surface? I felt the anxiousness of the MC throughout the narration.

Initially, the story itself did start off a little slow for me but once I got past the first few chapters, I was fully invested. I would describe this story and the way the author wrote it as a "slow burn horror/thriller" which I do not mind. This allowed for strong character development to be sprinkled throughout the novel.

Thank you MacMillian Audio, Tor Nightfire and Netgalley for providing me this audiobook to read!

This book was so bizarre and I thats a great thing! Catriona Ward is the QUEEN of these twisted, mind-boggling tales and she once again delivered. Right when you think you have the plot all figured out, she slaps you with the most out of this world twist that leaves you confused. Half of the time I was wondering and asking myself "what am I reading?!" For a Ward novel, this is whats expected! I am so happy I added this book to my TBR. I binged it in one day. Thank you netgalley for this arc!