Over the last several years I’ve become a huge fan of Catriona Ward. I just find there to be something absolutely magical about her work. Each book is so unique, not only in story but tone, and no matter what she’s writing I always find the stories incredibly gripping. To me her latest, Looking Glass Sound, actually kind of feels like 3 interconnected novels instead on single novel. The first is a coming of age story (alway love coming of age horror novels) dealing with a lonely young man named Wilder who ends up spending the summer with his parents at his deceased uncle’s cabin where he makes what he considers to be his first two real friends. But things aren’t as peaceful as they first seem. Women in the area have been known to disappear and there is a disturbing person known only as the Dagger Man. The second section explores Wilder’s life after that tragic summer and his time in college, still dealing with the fallout from that summer and trying to come to terms with it. And the final section explores…well quite a lot, honestly, and with the numerous twists and turns it throws at you (most of which I didn’t see coming) Ward finally hits the reader with the truth. With Looking Glass Sound Catriona took me on yet another incredible journey and I look forward to going on another with her real soon. I’d like to thank Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review an advance copy of the audio version of Looking Glass Sound.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R279EPWLB2RLV6/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Looking Glass Sound is the latest release from one of my favorite voices in the Horror space, Catriona Ward. I respect her work so much and feel she brings her own unique brand to my favorite genre. This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023 and damn, was it impressive.

I went into this novel without knowing too much about it and I'm glad that was the case. It was exciting watching it unfold without having many preconceived notions. I knew it was set in Maine, my home state, and involved a writer, but that was about it. I recommend you go into it not knowing much more than that.

I'm not sure I can adequately describe my time with this story, it's just something you need to experience yourself. It's definitely a bit of a mindf*ck; pardon the expression. I can't wait to read it again someday. I think upon reread, I could end up enjoying it even more. Ward is too smart and honesty, I'm in awe of her brain. I'm probably going to dream about this one for a while...

This delivered such beautiful Coming of Age Horror story vibes initially, it hooked me from the start. Eventually, it evolves into something a little more. It's Coming of Age Plus. Honestly, there are so many different elements contained within this story that are cause to celebrate.

For me, one of the highlights was the different types of relationships explored and the characters were all so well done. I did listen to the audiobook and recommend that format as the narration style fit the characters fantastically. I don't want to say too much more about the actual story, I think you can tell from my reaction that I really enjoyed it. You may be wondering though, with all the accolades, why I didn't give it a full 5-star rating.

I guess I would just say that in the second half, I did find some of the perspective jumps and overall narrative shifts a little hard to track. There were moments I felt I should have been having an a-ha revelation and I was having more of a head-scratching marathon trying to connect the dots.

I would absolutely read it again though, as mentioned above. I think I would pick up more the second time through and may end up enjoying it even more. There's definitely a lot of details I would like to revisit knowing what I know now; aka. having read the end.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys, well, a literary mindf*ck, featuring great atmosphere and nuanced characters. Also, this is a must for Coming of Age Horror lovers, or Readers who enjoy a book-within-a-book.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I'm very excited to see what other people think of this one!

what a confusing mess. This book tried so hard to be meta and just ended up confusing the heck out of my. Rec: don't listen to this on audio.

Looking Glass Sound is the newest twisty psychological horror novel from Catriona Ward, the internationally bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street and Sundial.

Bored and uninterested

I'm not quite sure how to review this book. Catriona Ward has a way of telling a story that is both engrossing and a bit confusing at the same time. There were times I felt like I fully understood what was happening and others that I was a little lost. But the entire time I enjoyed the story, even when I was lost I was so fully invested in figuring out what was happening. At times it felt like the pace was slow, but I think that is completely necessary to weave such a multi layered story. And maybe that's the best way to describe this story, like an onion with many layers. It all comes together in the end and I'm still thinking through the layers of this story days after finishing.

⭐⭐⭐💫 (3.5)

Thank you to @netgalley @torbooks and @macmillan.audio for the gifted copy of this book.

The book was amazing.I enjoyed it from start to finish kept me interested.A book I will always remember fondly.

*4.5 Stars On My Instagram Account*

"Why would someone want to live forever in a book?"

"Maybe they don't. Maybe the writer keeps them prisoner. You can trap someone in a book. Their soul. Make a prison of words...a cage."

The ingenious warped mind of horror thriller author Catriona Ward has all the power in her latest brain hurting, mind bending, figure 8 twisty psychological thriller Looking Glass Sound. I honestly don't even know where to start because I'm still hyper ventilating from the end.

The beginning of this work of pure horror literature reads/sounds like a coming of age story as 16 year old Wilder Harlow spends what SEEMS like an idyllic summer with new friends Harper and Nat. Then...my brain stopped and I entered the metaphysical world of this needs her mind studied writer.

We find out about serial killer The Dagger Man who takes creepy pictures of his victims children while they are sleeping. At college, suffering from panic attacks from that summer, Wilder meets new BFF Sky who is truly not there in the best interest of Wilder. That's just the start before the veil is lifted and the falling over the cliff truths are revealed in a kaleidescope of unprecedented prose.

Reading and listening to narrators Christopher Ragland and Katherine Fenton perform this trippy, WTF just happened, unreliable protagonists, I don't know how to explain this much too smart for me story, was heart pounding, chilling, shocking and anything but a peaceful day on the sound. Maybe take a tranquilizer before starting this one.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is the perfect example of a book that you should go into completely dark!!! I finished this audio a few days ago, and I can’t stop thinking about it and at the same time can’t even put into words my favorite parts!!!

All that to say I really enjoyed this book and the atmosphere that it gave!!! Creepy and eccentric (in the best way)!

Special thanks to @netgalley and @macmillianaudio for the early copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion!

4.25⭐️

LOOKING GLASS SOUND by Catriona Ward is superbly narrated by Christopher Ragland and Katherine Fenton.

I don't even know how to describe this story. Briefly; Wilder meets two new friends, Nat and Harper while on a summer holiday in Maine and it all ends terribly. While in college, Wilder meets Sky who becomes a best friend before a stark betrayal. Years later, Wilder has a chance to start writing again, but memory blurs with fantasy and it becomes an impossible line to hold.

Mind-bending. Meta. Magic.
I'm not sure how else to categorize this story, but I would hesitate to place it into the typical horror genre, though it does have aspects of that too. The book within a book concept is heavy here as well, which is something I usually enjoy.

The narration was really wonderful, capturing the changes in Wilder and then later with Pearl (I know, not part of the initial character group named, but it makes sense later). I was glad for the dual narrators. It helped keep the POV'S separate and with this story I needed all the help I could get! I do wish I had the physical or digital copy to reference.

I started off all in. Halfway through I was feeling like I was following. 75% was where I was losing it, 90% I felt I was totally lost, and by the end I think I grasped it! It went beyond where I was expecting (not like I had any real clue with Ward's writing!), and even though I had to replay a chapter or two, I really enjoyed where it ended up. I also think I was trying to hard to understand too quickly instead of letting the story unfold in its timing.

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for this @tornightfire ALC and letting me share my thoughts! Available on August 8, this will be a great option for those looking to stretch the brain a bit for this wild ride!

This is like the perfect summer horror novel. You have sun, sand, sea and tumultuous summer friendships.

Catriona Ward captures the immersive depths and fear that can come with the unknown ocean depths like no other author I’ve read. I’d say it’s a great beach read, but maybe not for those who have a touch of thalassophobia.

The first half of the novel had me obsessed. I loved Wilder’s perspective and the atmosphere Catriona Ward created, moving from the New England coast to dark academia and back. Unfortunately, from the 50-80% mark, the storytelling got quite confusing, trying to figure out who’s who, what’s real and what’s not, random time skips, and shoehorned in POVs, which left me feeling discombobulated. And I won’t get into any spoilers, but I have to say I hated the ending, I thought it was such a cop-out.

Thanks so much Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for this advanced listening copy! I’d recommend this one, even given the parts I didn’t love, and it’s still a 4⭐️ read for me!

Overall, if you’re looking for a gothic horror read with a summer setting to cap off your August and get you ready for that September academic vibe, this is the one for you!

This is a genre-bending story with elements of horror, murder mystery, magic, and a book within a book. It's about a killer in a small seaside town, told from the points of view of teens who lived there at the time, and later return to write a book about the experience. The characters are interesting, real and creepy, which kept me engaged but I found it difficult to follow such a complex storyline with just the audiobook. The narration by by Christopher Ragland and Katherine Fenton was really well done and suited the vibes of the story, but I think it would have been easier to keep track of what was happening amidst the many layers and twists of the story if I had the written version to follow as well.

This book was a mind-bending plot mixed with overall unease, with secrets that will keep you guessing until the very end. This is the story of an author, working on his last novel. Strange occurences and hallucinations haunt him until he begins to suspect that writing this novel will be the last thing he ever does.
A study in madness where there's more going on than meets the eye. Catriona Ward is a true genius when it comes to suspense and thrillers.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

Many thanks to NetGalley, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio for gifting me an audio ARC of the latest book by the queen of twisty psychological horror, Catriona Ward and wonderfully narrated by Christopher Ragland and Katherine Fenton - 4 stars!

The synopsis from Goodreads...In a lonely cottage overlooking the windswept Maine coast, Wilder Harlow begins the last book he will ever write. It is the story of his childhood summer companions and the killer that stalked the small New England town. Of the body they found, and the horror of that discovery echoing down the decades. And of Sky, Wilder’s one-time best friend, who stole his unfinished memoir and turned it into a lurid bestselling novel, Looking Glass Sound. But as Wilder writes, the lines between memory and fiction blur. He fears he’s losing his grip on reality when he finds notes hidden around the cottage written in Sky’s signature green ink.

I don't typically use synopsis blurbs, but this book makes it difficult to review without giving anything away. As typical with a Ward novel, you'll have to concentrate and work through this book, but it's always worth it because she is so good at walking you down one road, only for you to realize that it was a very different road indeed. It's creepy, magical, fascinating, and above all, creative and wonderfully written.
Catriona Ward delivers another mind-bending and cleverly crafted tale about one man’s struggle to come to terms with the terrors of his past… before it’s too late.

2.5 stars
Looking Glass Sound is one of those cases where the book is probably better than the audio. I struggled a lot with the male narrator’s female voices. The accents were off as well. That being said, if you’re looking for a summer/campfire ghost story kind of vibe, this is likely up your alley.
*Thanks to MacMillan audio for this advance listener copy for review

This is an incredibly hard book to review as the deeper you get into it what starts as a mystery becomes something way more horror based and complicated. It’s a fascinating, enigmatic puzzle and just as you think you’ve got it sorted in your head you realise you haven’t! It’s as intricate as the maze at Hampton Court with just as many blind alleys! It’s extremely clever and beautifully written with a ghostly, gothic feel which becomes a stronger and stronger element the deeper you go in.

The portrayal of the central characters is excellent, they become broken people and just like us as readers, are searching for truth and resolution. The storytelling is intricately woven around them and encompasses the whole gamut of human emotions from obsessive love to grief, of friendship and betrayal with a nightmarish horror vibe swirling around and heightening the complexity of the tale. These sections are outstanding, they’re so vivid that you feel as if you are there and as unmoored as Wilder.

Feeling super conflicted on reviewing this book. The first half was incredible. A coming of age story about Wilder, Nat, and Harper, set against the backdrop of a dreary seaside town. The story was intriguing, well layered and suspenseful. The second half was a complete mess. I'm always here for a twisty book that keeps you on your toes but this did not work... at all. It got incredibly confusing to a fault. It didn't even feel like there was a rhyme or reason to the twists at a certain point. A book about a book about a book within a book. The jump in perspective between Wilder/Wiley Nat/Nate Sky/Scandar/Pearl Harper/Helen was impossible to follow. I couldn't keep any of the storylines straight. It became exhausting to read and honestly I should have DNFed after the first part of the story. There seemed to be a bunch of elements thrown in last minute, ghosts and witchcraft? Not sure what that added to the story. This book was doing way too much and simultaneously not enough at the same time. So much potential. Could have used a LOT more editing. Womp.

Another wild ride from Catriona Ward and I did not expect anything less. I always look forward to her books as you don’t know what you will get, she will definitely take you on a ride where nothing is what it seems, you will question everything, and by the end it will all come together so that the ‘what is happening’ you were saying the whole time now makes sense. It is always best to go in blind with her books and this one is no different. Wilder Harlow is an excellent character, he has been through some trauma and is dealing with it the best way he knows how. I also loved this plot involved a serial killer, and that’s all I’m going to say about that. You do need to pay attention to this one, it was still a one day read for me, but usually I will speed up the audio as I get used to what is going on, however that was not the case here, I even had to slow it down at times to help focus. The audiobook was great though, I really enjoyed listening to this one.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the copies to review. This one is available on Tuesday.

This was a weird one and kept me guessing. I am still not sure I am entirely certain as to what actually happened! This was my 1st book by Catriona Ward but will not be my last. I am not sure if it was the time or just me but I had a hard time staying focused on the book the entire time but I am not disappointed that I spent the time reading it.

Looking Glass Sound:⁣
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Thank you Tor and Macmillan Audio for my gifted copies.⁣
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Sighs deeply. I love Catriona Ward. She’s one of my favorite authors, of all time. Looking Glass Sound was just not for me.⁣
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I will say, the lore of the Dagger Man had me gripped y’all. I was so into it. This Stand By Me x Candyman vibe was it. Once Wilder went off to school, I lost interest. I kept with it until 75% and by then I was just not there. I really wasn’t a fan of the characters, so it made it harder for me to keep my interest. ⁣
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The audio was decent. Christopher Ragland and Katherine Fenton give it justice. I think it’s a great audiobook if you’re looking for a new one. ⁣
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There are some books that I feel like maybe I’m just not smart enough to get, and that’s ok. This was one of them. I will always wait in anticipation for what Catriona Ward writes next, but for now, this one wasn’t for me. (Hopefully it is for you!)

4.5 out 5 stars


Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I will admit that I am one of the only few people in this world that was not head over heels in love with Ward's last book though it was more of a me thing. I loved this novel though! The twist was fantastic, the characters were extremely intriguing and the narration by Christopher Ragland and Katherine Fenton was great.

You will not be disappointed.