I’m having a really hard time putting my feelings into words with this one. I was 85% in before I kind of understood what was going. But I’m still not entirely sure what I just read.

I did really enjoy how dark this book was. The author was not afraid to go there and I can appreciate that. I also enjoyed the little twist at the end. I had no idea it was even coming.

I honestly just think that Catriona Ward writing style isn’t for me. It’s very complex and slow going. It had a hard time keeping my attention. I can understand and appreciate why people love her books. I’m just not a fan.

Overall I will definitely still recommend this book to a specific type of horror reader. I have many friends who would love this book. I unfortunately just didn’t and that’s okay. I can still appreciate the author’s point of view. 2.5/5 Stars

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Last House on Needless Street was one of the most hyped up horror novels of the past decade. It definitely didn't disappoint, even though it was more gothic literature than horror.
Sundial is the next release from this rising star, and it features the same trademark prose and the same strange darkness as her former book.
The story was also a slow-burner, similar to her previous book. It can definitely be off-putting, because the payoff takes a long time to arrive. But the different writing style was enough to keep my interest, even if the plot was trudging along slowly.
If you like a different style of writing, and you enjoy a slow-burning book, check out Sundial.

Sundial is a complex, suspenseful thriller. There are multiple twists and many satisfying explanations. An intriguing story of a mother and daughter but also of twin sisters, it is full of depth and layers.

Rob wants to save her daughter, Callie. To do so, they must go to Sundial, Rob’s childhood home, in the Mojave desert. While there, we learn so many truths about Rob and her history. And we also learn, things aren’t always what they seem.

If you’re looking for an unpredictable but not unrealistic thriller, this is for you. I strongly recommend this novel. I will definitely be reading more from Ms. Ward.

What an upsetting and creepy book. I feel like the opening really focuses on being unsettling and making everyone no one you can root for. But as you read on you start to unwrap what the story actually is and that's the good stuff.

Wow!!!
This was a wild one and I had mixed feelings about it. What a dark tale that does include animal violence/lab testing. There were tons of twists, turns and things I did not see coming. I was close to loving it a full 5 stars, but some of the dog testing story line did not resonate with me. The end - chef's kiss!
I loved The Last House on Needless Street and couldn't wait to read this - I was not disappointed!

Full review:

Catriona Ward has quickly become an auto buy author for me. I will be straightforward in saying I am so grateful to have received her most recent books as arcs, and I loved them soooo much, I bought finished copies.

Now, as for for Sundial. Just WOW. Now this book won't be for everyone. It takes a lot to get under my skin, and there were times when I had to take a break from the book. It is a very dark and disturbing book, but it's dripping with meaning.

There are some topics covered in this story that may be triggering to some, such as child and animal abuse, mental health issues, indefinitely, miscarriage, generational trauma....

I'm a big one for going into stories blind, and I highly recommend it for this one. Ward is a master at introducing just enough to pull you into the darkness, building the tension, letting you feel it. So the less you know, the more you'll feel utterly sucker punched.

I'd you enjoy dark, disturbing, books that hold stories with meaning if you are open to them, and like totally flawed characters, and can handle the fact you may have to set the book aside on occasion....This book is for you.

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was the overuse of abuse.

Many thanks to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for my digital arc.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Addiction, child abuse, animal abuse, unhealthy relationships and something sinister going on in the back ground. Think you have it figured out you have no idea. The twists and turns are amazing in this novel. Ward is quickly rising as a favorite of mine. Some people may have to let this breathe while reading it due to the graphic depictions of the before mentioned as well as attempted suicide. A definite must read for any horror fan! Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy. Liked it so much I had to pick up a physical copy for my library.

okay so brother meets the push and the strangerville pack from the sims 4 😭 this had the messed up family dynamics and exploration of that isolated family with the evil child/unreliable narrator vibes or the push and the scientific desert testing of the sims 4 strangerville pack.

this book follows and mother and her child as they leave their home to take a hiatus in the desert at the mother's childhood home due to the fact that she believes her child, poisoned and virtually abuses her other child. the mother then begins to tell her daughter about her own childhood in the desert and is known to us as an unreliable narrator but we are unsure why for most of the book. we also get the perspective of the child but she is also a bit unreliable. the child take bones of animals and often see these animals and someone that is the pale version of her. they are like imagined friends but something feels off.

i really enjoyed the beginning where we are learning about the family and seeing why the mother takes her child to the desert, it gives classic domestic thriller/the push vibes and i was also really intrigued once they went to the desert but that part did start to drag for me a little bit and felt a bit long. this is similar to brother a bit with the slower family exploration. there is some animal testing on dogs which can be triggering for some but it didn't bother me personally. that part honestly interested me a lot and how that played out was so fascinating.

the ending was so fast paced and there was so many twist that kept me guessing what was going to happen next in both timelines and i love how everything aligned in the end. the writing was so good and you can really see the purpose of the slower parts to cause tension for the ending.

thank you to tor nightfire, catriona ward, and netgalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review

I’ll keep this short and sweet! Thank you to @tornightfire for this free copy.

#SUNDIAL by @catward66 is a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read! It comes out on March 1, 2022, and mark my words, you need to preorder this baby now!

Rob is a wife and mother, married to Irving, with their two daughters, twelve-year-old Callie, and nine-year-old Annie. They witness some very disturbing behavior by Callie. Rob comes up with the idea to take Callie back to her childhood home deep in the Mojave Desert, a compound called SUNDIAL. Rob hopes this time away will help Callie deal with her demons. But Callie isn’t the only darkness in this family. There is much to learn here.

I don’t want to say more, because much like THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET it’s best to go in blind. Ward has quickly become a favorite author of mine and I’m already anxious to read more of her work. Also, if you haven’t read THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET, run, don’t walk to get yourself a copy! It’s the perfect book to tide you over until SUNDIAL comes out!

The moral of this caption is read anything #CatrionaWard writes. She’s brilliant.

Chile this is got me feeling paranoid and makes me sideyeye a few family members from the start till the end I felt nothing but uneasiness and untrustworthy towards these people. This is my first time reading from Ward and I can't wait for more.

This was so unique! Sundial definitely had the same weird yet gorgeous writing style as The Last House on Needless Street. I think this would be a perfect book to pick for a book club because there is so much to discuss. I loved not knowing what the heck was going on the whole time till the very end.- just my cup of tea. I will say there are a lot of trigger warnings for this book so make sure you're aware of them going into it.

I don;t think there's anyone out there writing the kind of books that Catriona Ward excels at . I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It's got such a subtly creepy vibe - okay sometimes not so subtle. The pacing is spot on and the characters are complex and relatable. Yet another solid horror novel from a writer I constantly look for,

I did not like much of this book until the end. I marked this as a DNF, but did listen to the audio when it became available through my library. Even though I could sympathize with our main characters, none of them were likable. In fact, they were mostly horrible to each other.

The writing was fine. It definitely was creepy and left you wondering what was going on, but I found myself not really caring too much about what was happening to the characters because I did not like them. I felt more for the wolves than anything else.

If readers loved The Last House on Needless Street, they don’t need to look far for another page-turner from Catriona Ward. Sundial boasts the same addicting storytelling with a completely unique premise.

Rob is a great main character. She is flawed and relatable, making her connections to her daughters and hateful husband stronger. After she notices Callie heading into the darkness she remembered from her own childhood and something terrible happens, Rob decides to take her to Sundial, her family home in the middle of the Mojave Desert. It is here that the bulk of the story takes place and Ward does a great job of having the desert itself become a character in the story.

It can be difficult to follow a story that traverses multiple time times, let alone one that also has chapters from different POVs. Sundial weaves these together rather seamlessly and the reader will find it easy to keep track of exactly what is happening. Some of this is because of the short length of the chapters and some is due to the way the story plays out. Our inner lives and outer lives don’t always take place linearly, and neither does this book. There are a few places in the middle where the forward motion seems to stall, but it really doesn’t harm the overall impact of the book.

It’s been said that reviewers shouldn’t mention if a book has a twist (no idea why - but that’s for another time), but when it comes to books by Catriona Ward, readers are best just to assume that the whole story is something they’ll never see coming. If you’re looking for a great summer read (or anytime really) this latest horror/thriller fits the bill.

This book was definitely unlike anything I had ever read. We follow a mother, Rob, who is married to an absolutely despicable man named Irving. They have two daughters, Callie and Annie. Callie is a very strange kid, there is a lot going on with her. We slowly find out more and more about her and her strangeness as the story goes on. Because of the way she acts, Rob takes Callie to Rob's childhood home, Sundial. Sundial is a weird place with an even weirder history.

Throughout the story we switch between present and past chapters. Initially I only cared about the present chapters. I was not intrigued by the past chapters, and I just couldn't wait to get back to the present and find out what was going on. At one point, towards the end, I was only interested in the past chapters and less interested in the present chapters. There wasn't a point where both chapters were intriguing at once.

As the story progressed I liked Rob less and less. This family and their history is extremely messed up. There are really no redeeming qualities about any of these characters. I am definitely the type of reader that unlikable characters can hinder my enjoyment of a story.

Although I did have problems with this book, I was still intrigued enough to keep reading and figure out what was going on. There were so many plots introduced and I was worried that not everything would connect and make sense. Fortunately, by the time the story ended, everything was connected and all my questions were answered. Overall, I enjoyed Catriona Ward's writing and am interested in reading more from her.

I read Catriona Ward's previous book and loved it. Sundial did not disappoint my expectations. Sundial is challenging and engaging and I could not put it down. Ward has created a fascinating set of characters that are put in insane circumstances. I loved this book and can't wait for the next one.

Well, Catriona Ward is now firmly on my must read author list. She is absolutely phenomenal with how she can take a story and have you questioning what you are reading and then flip it around into an absolute work of genius. She has done this again here with Sundial and just like her prior book, this one is best read blind. This is dark and disturbing, and will not be for everyone but it will be in my top reads of the year for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the digital copy to review.

A book that I can't stop thinking about deserves 5 stars. I think this is one of the freakiest books I've read, and that's saying a lot. Ms. Ward was so descriptive with her storytelling, I felt like I was actually in the desert. The story is told by 2 people, and it was so twisted. The ending was so unexpected. I can't wait to read more.

Very different from Ward's previous brainbender "Last House on Needless Street" but made of the same DNA - suspenseful, surprising, atmospheric.

This one was not for me. I read about half of this one and could not see a reason to keep reading. I was just bored and was expecting to feel scared and I didn't really feel that way when I was reading this book.