Another incredible book from Catriona Ward! Fascinating characters and unexpected twists to the very end.

Wow wow wow.. every time I thought I knew what was going on … I was wrong.. I had so many theories and they kept getting thrown out the window.

This was such a creepy atmospheric story. I felt super drawn into these characters, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire read.

There was some moments of confusion .. but they were explained away as the story progressed. Rob and Jack were a compelling duo. I felt connected to them.

My only complaint is the ending.. without giving anything away I wanted a more complete ending. A fantastic build up to a stale feeling ending.

Another absolute WIN from Catriona Ward. I have to admit, after reading The Last House on Needless Street which turned out to be one of the most epic books I’ve ever read, I was hesitant she would be able to do it again. BUT SHE SURE DID!!! Catriona Ward is a goddess in the literature world. The writing warps your mind the story has so many levels to analyze the characters clutch your heart and when you finish you want to start over again.

Once again this is not a book for everyone. It is not for the faint of heart. There are triggers for violence. If you can handle it, it is an absolute must read. Go in blind. Don’t investigate into the story too much. Just know you’re about to go into a psychological ride. Expect the unexpected and brilliance once again! Love love loved it!!

Thank you Catriona Ward so much for the arc in exchange for my honest review. I eagerly await the next extraordinary novel!!

I really tried with this book. I realllllly did. But at the end of the day, I have to admit that this author is just not for me.

I didn’t enjoy the writing. I didn’t enjoy any of the characters and I am a huge lover of unlikable characters in general. I love how an author can make you love a book but dislike the characters so much. Not with Sundial. I found the pacing to be off putting. Nothing much really happens. I was in this state of limbo of just waiting and waiting for something to happen that was worth any but or redemption for this book and I’m sad to say the end left me lacking that.

I despise rating books poorly. I know many people love this book and will continue to. I didn’t hate The Last House on Needless Street, but I didn’t care for it much either. I always want to try authors at least twice if I don’t like their book(s), sometimes more to really get the depth of their writing and their growth. I’m not sure that this will be an author I do so with, sadly.

There's something magical about Catriona Ward's writing--it's vivid, engaging, and completely twisted. This is the second book I've read by Ward (the first being *The House on Needless Street*) and even though I know to anticipate twists, and I know things won't be what they seem, she manages to keep me guessing --even when I do predict the outcome. There's always another surprise, another nuance, another callback. She has a delicious way of penning unlikeable characters that you still root for, even though you spend the vast majority of the book hating them. Masterful.

A house in the desert, a mother and her daughter going on a trip to the mothers family home after they begin to believe the worst of one another.

Sundial is entirely, completely, horrifying unsettling. The first couple of chapters had me feeling literally squeamish and upset and I had to stop reading it after dark!

I really enjoyed Rob’s narration and her perspective of the story, and I felt like the ending is satisfying while leaving a few curious thoughts. The middle did feel like it became a bit difficult and tedious for me to read, but this may be due to content nature and my comfort level.

Content warning for animal abuse, abuse including physically, mentions of drug use, violence

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc!

Callie freaked me out so much, as did this book’s vibe in general. I enjoyed the desert setting, and loved the multiple POVs and timelines that alternated throughout each chapter. By the middle of the book I was completely engrossed in the story and had absolutely zero idea where things were going to lead to in the end.

As expected Catriona Ward blew my mind again with this thriller!! Highly recommend checking this one out when it becomes available next month 🙌

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I found Ward's first book The Last House on Needless Street to be so incredibly spellbinding and compelling, and I haven't stopped thinking about it. I did not enjoy this book as much. The plot was very convoluted (I felt like) and it was hard to understand the narrative thread. The big reveal was more confusing then shocking.

I don’t know what to say about this to express just quite how much I loved it. It was generations of stories come together in Rob taking Callie to the desert for their reckoning. It was sister-love-sister-trauma set in science, fate, and love. The narration style immediately drew me in and then Rob and Irving’s story. And then Rob and Jack. Rob and Callie. Rob and Annie. All of the stories fit into each other like Russian nesting dolls and they are all eerie and riveting and horrific.
What I thought was Rob taking her weird and, honestly, kind of creepy daughter on a trip to her childhood home in the Mojave desert for some new kind of attitude adjustment was so much more than that. The way the story keeps just rippling out from Rob and her twin sister Jack’s home into the present with Callie and her strange tendencies and back again is so all consuming as you read. I don’t want to spoil it but it was strange and terrifying and disgusting and infuriating and touching and heartbreaking and a read like nothing else I’ve ever found.
For fans of horror, psychological thrillers, unreliable narrators, folklore and ghosts.

I was looking forward to reading "Sundial" because I had been so intrigued by Catriona's previous book, "The Last House on Needless Street." I found "Sundial" to be much scarier, especially early in the book.

The story centers on Rob, her husband, two daughters, and her sister. "Sundial" is the name of Rob's childhood home and is the place where Rob takes her daughter, Callie, when she believes that Callie is killing small animals.

But, of course, things are not as they seem. That's the thrilling part of "Sundial." Rob's extended family is composed of a group of severely damaged people. Rob's husband abuses her and tries to turn their daughters against her.

Much of this book is Just. Extremely. Creepy. The rest, though, has a fascinating plot filled with twists. The final OOF! doesn't appear until the very last pages. It was worth it.

So if you can handle scary, creepy, and mean, you'll find a great read in "Sundial."

The less said about specifics, the better, as Sundial relies on twists and revelations. I enjoyed how the book turned out very different from what one might have expected from the first few chapters, and would argue that this book belongs in the psychological thriller category just as much as horror. Quite a fun trip trying to figure out what;s going on, even as the subject matter is quite dark. A good follow-up to The Last House on Needless Street.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance copy.

Sundial by Catriona Ward ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ /5
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After discovering some of her daughter Callie’s dangerous activities, Rob decides to take Callie on a trip back to her desert childhood home, Sundial. Sundial is dusty, wild, and haunted with memories of Rob’s strange past. Hopefully she can use the ghosts of her childhood to teach and protect Callie. How far can a mothers love go?
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What a fantastic follow up novel to The Last House on Needless Street! It was dark (very dark), twisty, terrible, and mysterious with a full syringe of sci-fi infused horror.
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What a thrilling novel! I absolutely recommend this for adults.
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Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review prepublication. This novel will be published in March of 2022! 📚 🏚 🖤

Wow! What a crazy and intense roller coaster ride! This book grabbed me at page one and did not let go. So much excitement, thrills, twists and turns.
Complex storyline was flawlessly executed. I highly recommend this book.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

🍎I take small bites of an apple in the shape of a circle 🍎

Those who can read apple code understand the meaning behind my message.

Don’t read apple?

Rob and Jack will help!

Sundial is Psychological horror at its best! If you loved The Last House on Needless Street, Catriona Ward delivers another unbelievably disturbing story about an extremely dysfunctional family.

Warnings: animal abuse, torture, domestic violence

Rob leads a normal life in the suburbs as Irving’s wife and the mother of two daughters. However, all is not as it seems. When Rob starts to notice suspicious, dark behavior from her daughter Callie, she takes her on a trip to her childhood home, Sundial, in the Mojave desert. Sundial holds long buried secrets that threaten to change everything. Who will return from this disturbing adventure to the truth?

I highly recommend that you pay attention to the trigger warnings on this book, as it is very DARK, GRUESOME, and difficult to read at times. If these don’t bother you, then buckle up for a very original plot with plenty of twists and turns that will make your head spin!

The crazy dysfunctional dynamic between Rob and Irving is reminiscent of Samantha Downing. It is cringeworthy at times, but I could not look away! Many parts of the plot are over the top, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I am excited to see what Ward will come up with next!

4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan-Tor/Forge for the ARC of Sundial by Catriona Ward in exchange for an honest review.

I had never read a Catriona Ward before this one. All is can say is wow, talk about a dysfunctional family. This one is Dysfunctional with a capital D! At first I wasn't sure I would finish this one but as I kept reading and wow it really drawn me in! Great book, Now I am anxious to search out some more of her books. Great book, make sure to grab a copy on the expected publication date of March 1, .2022! Thank you Netgalley and thanks to the author and publisher Tor Nightfire for the chance to read this one early!! Its disturbing and oh so good all rolled into one.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the eARC.
Unlike the many stellar reviews I can't give this book more than 2 stars and don't know if I would have given it 1 star had I finished it.
The writing was excellent, but the story was so disturbing to me that I didn't get past the 1st half. There were so many triggers that I couldn't keep going: animal (especially dog) abuse, spousal abuse, mental disease, drug experiments, creepy children and creepy adults. It was too much and I decided I wanted to read to relax, not to be creeped out.

"It's possible to feel the horror of something and to accept it all at the same time. How else could we cope with being alive?"

Catriona did it again! Sundial is about family and lengths we'll go to protect the ones we love. I would say more, but much like The Last House on Needless Street", you're better off diving in blind to get the full impact.

Sundial was my most anticipated read for 2022, and I was NOT let down. I never knew where the story was going, and the ending was perfect. The main characters were fleshed out and the plot was extremely engaging. While the prose may be flowery, it absolutely works in Sundial.

What an absolute delightful psychological horror.


Please check out the TW's before going into this.

Holy cow! If you thought Last House on Needless Street was creepy then buckle up because Sundial ramps it up a notch. A puppy farm, science experiment, twins and pale things are just the beginning. What a story! Catriona Ward is a master storyteller. Beautifully written and emotional on so many levels. One to read.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

So, I read and loved The Last House on Needless Street and Sundial is another mindfuck of a novel! It's full of things that will make you squirm and twist around to make sure no one else can see what you're reading.

There's animal testing, sociopaths and psychopaths and above all the bond of love between sisters.

Fans of disturbing dark literary horror this is a must read!

Highly recommend pre-ordering this one and clearly your schedule for it's release this March!

TW for abuse and dogs are harmed!

This book was absolutely BANANAS, in the best way. Psychological horror + family dysfunction + weird science? Sign me up.

I went into it not knowing very much about the plot—and I’d recommend doing it that way, because the less you know the better. This is the sort of psychological horror that I absolutely love: there’s constant tension, and nothing is quite as it appears. Every time I felt like I knew where the story was going, I was hit with a twist. It’s definitely the sort of book where you’re never quite sure who the villain really is, what is reality vs fantasy, and you don’t really see the ending coming (phewww, that ending). All of these elements add up to a recipe for success, for me personally.

The book is told in dual timelines (one timeline is the present day, and the other describes Rob’s past as a kid/teenager growing up in Sundial), and also dual perspectives (most of the story is told via Rob, but we also get some chapters from Callie’s point of view). I found Callie’s chapters particularly unsettling—I always love a spooky child character, and Callie definitely provided that creep factor for me. Like, I never was really sure what was real, what was just in her head, or what to expect from this kid.

As I said, Rob’s chapters were where the meat of the story took place, and they do not disappoint. Reading her perspective felt kind of like walking through fun house mirrors—twisty, turny, terrifying, and every time you turn a corner you never end up quite where you expect. The writing throughout was seamless and compelling; I had a hard time putting the book down once I got going.

I will say this: when we first start getting introduced to the secrets at Sundial, I wasn’t super sure whether at first whether I loved that direction of things. Again, I cannot say very much here without spoiling the plot, but you’ll get it if you read the book. I’m glad I stuck it out, because even though the story at times is really kind of whacky and unbelivable, in the end the plot for me was satisfiying.

A lot of the story focuses on family dynamics and dysfunction. There was sooo much going on here that I found fascinating. It’s a story about sibling rivalry, but also unconditional sibling love. It’s a story about parenthood too, and the lengths that people will go to protect their kids. It’s also a story about how that level of unconditional love can lead to terrifying consequences.

I can’t say much else without giving things away, but I cannot stop thinking about all the moving parts between the different family members. It was really interesting to me reading about Rob’s past and her present–seeing how much Rob tried to get away from her past, but there are so many similarities between Rob’s dynamic with her daughters and Rob’s past with her family at Sundial. Ain’t it always the way, though?

It is interesting, also, to think about the story in terms of the Nature vs Nurture debate. Again, can’t say more than that without spoiling, but would love to discuss with anyone who ends up reading this one.

Anway, this book is not for the faint of heart. Definitely a lot of triggering content here, so be forewarned. I would say especially if you are sensitive to horror content involving animals (dogs in particular, in this case), go in knowing this is gonna be a rocky one for you. I would say that this isn’t gratuitous because it’s really central to the entire plot, but it is still difficult at times to get through.

The only thing I didn’t really like about this book were the “book within a book” chapters. I didn’t enjoy reading them and I didn’t really feel like they added anything to the plot—these sections felt disjointed from the rest of the story and they could have been removed entirely, in my opinion.

Overall though, I enjoyed this! Definitely a book of constant tension, darkness, dysfunction, and creep-factor. I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.