Wow! What a ride! An excellent, hard to put down read with relatable characters, well written prose, and a good plot with some unexpected twists. This may be a new favorite author!

If it wasn’t for The Last House on Needless Street I would have DNF this book. I didn’t like the plot and it was so brutally slow. There are also book within a book chapters I thought could have been left out. The reason its two star and not a 1 is the last 15 percent is pretty good. I did like the twist ending but getting there didn’t seem worth it to me.

I loved Ward’s novel “The last house of Needless St” so I was very anxious to get my hands on “Sundial, and it didn’t disappoint! I loved it, Ward knows hoe to keep you hooked on her books from beginning to end. It never gets boring, and those ends are the best! I will be reading her past work in the upcoming months and of course anything new she comes up with.

I have not yet read Catriona Ward (although The Last House on Needless Street is on my to-read list), so I don't have anything to compare this to, but reading Sundial was quite interesting. If I had to describe it in a few words, I'd say this was dark, twisted and unsettling. But personally, I enjoyed the experience (what can I say, I like horror and creepy stuff!).

The story opens with Rob, a mother to two daughters - Callie and Annie, and wife to husband, Irving. Right away you can tell that this family is dysfunctional, with dark secrets and a terrible marriage. When Rob thinks there may be something dark in her eldest daughter, Callie, she whisks her away on a mother/daughter trip to her family home in the desert, Sundial, much to her husband's chagrin.
But Sundial has secrets of its own, and as the story progresses it uncovers a dark, horrific and tragic past.

The story switches between Rob and Callie's perspectives and is told in past and present tense. The story in itself is disturbing, but it drags you in, revealing more unexpected turns with each chapter. None of the characters are exactly likable. I won't deduct any stars for how disturbing the story was, I will just say Read at your own risk. However, I did not care for the 'book within a book,' Rob's writing. I didn't think it added anything meaningful to the plot and I could have gone without it. I found myself inwardly sighing whenever I got to one of those chapters. It's a difficult book to recommend, but if you like psychological horrors and disturbing stories and can get past some things (see trigger warnings at the bottom) then I would say give it a read.

TW: Domestic Abuse, Animal Abuse, Child Abuse, Drug Abuse, Adultery, Self-harm, Attempted Suicide, Pregnancy loss, Mental illness

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Publishing Group for this ARC in return for an honest review.

DNF @ 15%.

I didn’t even make it to Sundial.

Maybe the story might've gotten better, but the writing didn't help grab or keep my attention at all. I was bored stiff.

It's a shame too because the cover is absolutely gorgeous, and I really hope The Last House on Needless Street is more interesting.

Simply put, I loved this book. Catriona Ward’s writing is beautiful and captivating. There were quite a few triggers and I will list those at the bottom if you would like to take a look at those. Don’t scroll all the way to the bottom if you do not want to be spoiled.


Rob is a mother, teacher, and wife. In that order. Sundial is the house where Rob grew up in the Mojave desert. When Rob notices concerning behavior in her 12 year old daughter, Callie, she decides to go on a mother daughter getaway to her old stomping grounds.

The only question is, will they both make it out? Once Sundial has you in its grip, it’s hard to make it out.


Similarly to The Last House on Needless Street, I would classify this as a Psychological Horror.

My only gripe with this novel is the editing.
There seemed to be one too many things going on for me. The total length of the book is just over 300 pages. I would have like to seen a longer length (maybe 50 pages) to fit everything in.

Overall, Sundial is a 4/5⭐️

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of Sundial by Catriona Ward in exchange for an honest review.







Triggers & *Possible SPOILERS* :
animal abuse, self harm, child abuse, spousal abuse

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Married English teacher Rob Cussen seems to have survived her difficult childhood and is now the mother of two girls, ages twelve and nine. She’s managed to move on past her strange upbringing at Sundial in the Mojave Desert; however, her current situation with a continually philandering husband is far from ideal.

When Callie, her older daughter, begins behaving strangely, Rob knows what to do to keep her from those dark tendencies . . . she takes her daughter to Sundial where she will tell her the truth and hope for understanding.

But what will returning to Sundial mean to Rob? Will revealing her secrets be enough to save her daughter or will saving the young girl cost her everything?

=========

Anchored by a strong sense of place, this is a story filled with deeply nuanced characters who slowly reveal their true [often contemptable] selves as the story evolves. Unpredictable and often terrifying, this narrative is both dark and deeply disturbing. Just when readers believe they have everything figured out, everything shifts in unexpected ways . . . nothing is as it appears to be in this story of families and relationships, of betrayals, of the past, and, most of all, of truth and delusion.

Revealed bit by bit, the backstory of Rob’s upbringing with her twin sister, Jack, gives new meaning to the term “dysfunctional.” Told mostly by Rob, with some later chapters told from Callie’s viewpoint, the unfolding story is both incredible and creepy. Filled with cringe-worthy horrors, the story twists and turns as it works its way toward an ending the reader simply won’t see coming.

Despite the narrative’s unsettling nature, there’s something quite haunting about the telling of this tale. And, while readers are sure to find it difficult to set this one aside before turning the page, it’s a story that’s likely to stay with them long after they’ve turned the final page.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire and NetGalley
#Sundial #NetGalley

4.5 stars:
“Everything comes around the dial in the end.”

Y’all know I love weird, and Sundial definitely delivered. A big thank you to @netgalley @tornightfire @catward66 for the opportunity to read & review this ARC.

I don’t know where to start with this book; just like with Needless Street, it’s hard to describe without giving things away. But where Needless Street starts off weird af right off the bat, Sundial takes its time building up to the weirdness (and it pays off).

I love a book that really gets into your head; that you can’t stop thinking about. And the more I think about this one, the more it grows on me.

Read this if you like:
• creepy little girls à la The Push and Baby Teeth
• psychological thriller/horror
• stories that jump between the past and present, as well as a book-within-a-book
• debating nature vs. nurture

“When people say something is ‘unthinkable,’ what they usually mean is that they don’t want to think it. They are resistant to an idea. But that is not what unthinkable means. I understand that, now. It means to be confronted with a thought so vast, dark and monstrous that it will not fit into any known shape in your mind. It is poison and madness flowering behind your eyes.”

On the outside, Rob’s life looks perfectly normal. She has a husband, two daughters Callie and Annie, and a beautiful house in the suburbs. The truth is that her husband is cheating on her with the woman next door, and Callie collects bones, talks to imaginary friends, and may have just tried to poison her sister. Disturbed and willing to do whatever it takes to protect Annie, Rob takes Callie out to her abandoned family home in the desert for some bonding time. Sundial is full of death and secrets, and Callie worries her mother might not be completely stable. She worries only one of them will leave Sundial alive. Spoilers will be clearly marked. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Macmillan-Tor/Forge. Trigger warning: death (graphic, on page), child/sibling/parent death, human trafficking, domestic violence, child abuse, animal death/abuse, addiction/drug use, poisoning, dog attacks, severe injury, miscarriage, guns, violence, threats, illness, vomiting, infidelity, grief, mental illness.

I was really invested in the first few chapters of this book, and had it taken place more in the present timeline, I think I would have liked it more. I was interested in Rob’s family dynamics and her creepy children, but this turns out to be more of a framing story for the past events at Sundial. More than half the book takes place in Rob’s memories of her sister, Jack, their weird parents, and the commune-like desert home that conducts unusual experiments on feral dogs.

There’s nothing particularly wrong with that story. I just wasn’t that interested in it. I didn’t care about past-Rob, Jack, and their parents as much as I cared about present-Rob and her kids, and while the mysteries in that timeline are dark and convoluted, they never quite live up to their promise. Objectively, I think it’s well-plotted with a couple of surprises, but personally, I never felt any particular way about it. There are also some excerpts of the book Rob is writing that end up feeling fairly pointless.

I was always happier when the perspective circled back to the present, particularly in Callie’s chapters where she appears to be talking to dead things. Seeing the same events from Rob’s perspective and again, slightly different, from Callie’s lets us know that neither is the most reliable narrator, and I enjoyed the tense conclusion to that timeline. However, be warned that it’s not a book that wraps everything up neatly for us, and I still had some questions at the end. For once, I think I like having theories more than answers. More on that in the spoilers!

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. TURN BACK BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.

Anyone have theories on which twin survived the dog attacks at Sundial? We’re led to believe it’s Rob for most of the book, that Rob was the one who lost her child, and that she’s actually Callie’s aunt. However, we also know the girls have different colored eyes, and there are several hints that Irving is keeping secrets for her and that Rob wears contacts even though Callie’s internal monologue insists she doesn’t. If it’s really Jack telling the story, can we even trust her account of what happened at Sundial?

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

❓What was the last book you read that made your head do this ——>🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯?? Sundial by Catriona Ward (out March 1st) is quite the psychological horror that will have your head spinning in circles from all the horrifying, bizarre, and wackadoodle things that are happening.

Rob just wants a normal life. A husband, kids, a house in the ‘burbs, and a good job. Something the complete opposite of her childhood. When Rob’s daughter, Callie, starts to shows signs of how things were when she was a child, Rob has no choice but to pick up and have a little mother daughter trip to where Rob grew up. But when they arrive, Callie becomes super concerned and worried about how her mom is acting. She is starting to act crazy and talking about all sorts of weird stories from the past. When push comes to shove, will Sundial redeem their future or will Sundial pull them into the terrifying past??

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan for this arc! I was so excited to read it after loving Needless Street. It was quite the mind blowing experience to start off the year! For me this book was like riding the freakiest rollercoaster at the amusement park. The beginning starts off with a bang of excitement and curiosity, just like when you are arriving to the amusement park. The next part of the book was like waiting in the endless line and going up the deep ascent to the point of no return. From about 15 percent to the 55 percent mark of the book it is a little boring, drawn out, but these parts are also necessary as Ward builds the foundation of such an interesting character study. And not just one. This is an in depth study into the minds and motivations for all of our characters. And wow oh wow are there some interesting characters in this one. The last part of the book is the most fun part of the rollercoaster. The flips, twists, turns, and whiplash are all there. There were several times that I had to scratch my head, pick my jaw off the floor, or put my head down and rest for a little bit because I was so bamboozled.

I think this book is best if you go in blind as the more you read about it the more I think it would ruin the fun. The book has a plethora of trigger warnings because well it’s horror 🤪 so if you need guidance send me a message and I will help you out.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Catriona Ward does it again with her new bone-chilling horror. I found it mixed a bit of science fiction, which I wasn’t expecting but this helped craft the unique story and keep readers on their toes about what was to happen next. The villains in this story hide deep in shadow and secret, and I had a hard time putting it down because I wanted so badly to uncover what was going on. At its core, the book is about sisters and family bonds, what a person is willing to do when they love another so deeply and only wish to protect them.

I would suggest this to not only horror readers but also those enjoy dark domestic fiction. Gives similar vibes to Baby Teeth but with a deeper and more detailed origin story, and completely shocking revelations throughout.

This is the first book I read in 2022 and honestly don’t know how anything is going to top it. Ward is fast becoming one of my favourite writers and I already can’t wait for her next release. It’s a richly character driven story with secrets that are doled out at such a pace you will have trouble putting the book down. It’s told in alternating points of view between a mother and her young daughter and reveals the darkest parts of motherhood, marriage, sibling bonds and a woman’s fear of passing the worst pieces of herself down to her children. It will trick you until the very last dark and twisty page.

Reviews also posted on Indigo’s website and in Killer Crime Club on Facebook.

I've heard so much about this author so of course, I was extremely excited to read this. I love horror and don't mind gore but there were just too many triggering/disturbing things in this book that I wasn't prepared for and took me out of the experience. It was a bummer because the story is interesting and the writing is beautiful. I read it all in a day and a half. It's fast-paced and didn't drag. I still want to read her other novel after this.

As someone from Southern California, there is nothing creepier than the desert. The atmospheric elements were spot on. In the end, however, it was just all a little ~too disturbing for me. However, I will definitely keep thinking about Sundial and won't be going to the desert anytime soon! 3 stars from me.

I loved the author's previous book "The House on Needless Street" so was very excited to start her newest book of literary horror. This one didn't have the same magic for me as the other book, but it was beautifully written and layered with meaning and storylines. This book features two main characters; Rob a mother of two daughters and Callie, one of her daughters. The book started out in a domestic scene in their home but from the first you suspect something is very wrong with this family. I actually felt a bit disoriented because I couldn't tell what time period this was from with the husband being named Irving and talking about his father losing money in the great stock market crash and talks about the war. Later we hear about movies and cell phones so I guess it is in current times but this story could have taken place anytime. Irving and Rob have a difficult marriage, Rob seems overly emotional and Irving is cruel and abusive. They have two young daughter Annie a sweet six year old and Callie a twelve year old who talks to herself, has imaginary friends and may have some more disturbing habits.

Rob decides to take Callie home to her childhood home in the Mojave desert, a compound called Sundial where she once lived with her parents and sister. Once they arrive, Rob tells her life story to Callie and this is interspersed with a fiction story about a school which parallels the real life story. I didn't think the story within a story was needed and I didn't really get anything from it beyond Rob's real life story. As her story unfolds, various truths and revelations come into play which explain not only Rob's unstable life but also Callie and her behaviors. The story is very dark and there are lots of things like child abuse, animal abuse and drug abuse so this isn't for the faint of heart. Without giving too much away, Rob's childhood involved living with a group of people who were involved in animal experimentation which has its roots in real life studies and experiments. As the story goes on it becomes a case of nature versus nurture and also a battle of wills and a battle of destiny. The place Sundial itself frightening and also could be a metaphor for childhood and parenting.

The story had some twists I could not anticipate and I enjoyed the final chapters where the actions made sense and the plot was finally moving on. Overall, this was beautifully written but depressing and dark without the added thrill and creep factor that made "The House on Needless Street" go above and beyond standard horror. I finished the book feeling vaguely depressed and also disgusted at what I was reading about, yet this story will stay with me due to the author's command of the written word. Thanks to NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wounded, ferocious, sandstorm of a novel. Ward has crafted a relentless thriller that constantly leaves you wondering what is real, what is imagined, and if either of the two is less dangerous. She doesn’t offer a single reliable narrator, but instead jumps between three main perspectives, a mother and daughter in the present day, and the mother in the past, and each has a distinct voice and style and emotional experience. All of them are washed out by the burning desert sun of the harsh background world she has created, a desert in the sense of climate and terrain, but also in the sense of a place that is both filled with extremes and also lacking something fundamental, a place where if life manages to survive it is ragged but determined.

The story is plotted well, with a number of surprises, some expected and some not, that are well-seeded and feel like they’re given out in good measure. It isn’t everything at once, and it doesn’t feel forced or gimmicky. The structure isn’t ground-breaking or revolutionary, but it is effective, and you don’t want to put the story down once it gets its fangs in you. The characters and their lives are incredibly well-drawn, even though in some ways the details are sparse. The portrait of dysfunction and domestic abuse that is drawn out in the first chapter alone is intimate and frightening, and the trauma that pervades every sentence is felt more than described. Rob and her daughter Callie are complicated, and while they are each damaged in their own way, and that is what compels the story in many ways, that is not the only thing they’re allowed to be. The writing is direct and smooth, with enough description to make you feel the grit of the desert sand and the fear of the bite of broken glass, but without feeling perfunctory or exposition-y. As I mentioned the different perspectives have different writing tones/styles, which adds to the interest of the story. Randomly interlaced are also chapters from unpublished novellas that one of the character has written, and these didn’t really do a whole lot for me. They never really added anything new to the story, and the story their existence tells about the character’s fractured yet resilient nature isn’t every really evolved through repeated returns to this story-within-the-story. With that said, everything else about the book was so compelling that the inclusion of these didn’t take away from the book. I appreciated that they forced you to take a breather form the action, creating more anticipation, and even though they didn’t work for me they didn’t get in the way. Overall, the writing is confident and unflinching, looking at very dark, dangerous places and not shying away from being the mirror to reflect those places back at us.

The story is dark and exciting, and the characters complicated and engaging. I tore through this book, consumed it in just a few days, and recommend it to anyone interested in thinking about family, devotion, nurture/nature, and what it means to be responsible for the broken things we try to mend.

I want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire, who gave me a complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second novel I've read of Ward's, and if you liked The Last House on Needless Street, then you will love this one. Ward does an excellent job writing unreliable narrators. You will definitely be taken on a ride with this dark and tense twisty tale.. There are some scenes with animal cruelty, so beware!

Phew! This book sucked me in from the very first page. I managed to finish it in one day. Lots of twists and definitely some shocking moments. I didn’t want to put it down! I will say there should be a trigger warning for animal lovers, as some parts were hard to get through. Overall, very entertaining and well thought out book. Loved it!

The book “Sundial” was a perfect read. There were parts where I was reading the book and genuinely had to take a step back. It’s full of twist that you never see coming and the end is beyond amazing. I 100% would recommend this book and give a confident 5 stars!

Rob Cussen's perfect domestic life is shattered when she catches her preteen daughter, Callie, trying to murder her younger sister. Desperate to explain Callie's violent behavior Rob takes her to her childhood home, Sundial, a scientific research compound in the Mojave desert, and recalls her fraught childhood with her twin sister, Jack.

As a big fan of Ward's other novel, The Last House on Needless Street, I could not help but make comparisons as I read Sundial. The two have many of the same hallmarks: unreliable narrators (Rob's narrative is intercut with excerpts from her novel, Arrowood, and events from Callie's point of view, both of which paint Rob as, Callie says frequently, 'unstable'), small plot details that landslide into shocking twists, undercurrents of supernatural weirdness, trauma, and Ward's lush writing style. But while The Last House on Needless Street was a breakneck twister chock full of bizarreness, Sundial is a slower, more sinister burn. The core of the story is a family drama: Rob and Jack, then Rob and Callie, share trauma and inflict harm on each other even as they love each other deeply.

Give Sundial to fans of Zoje Stage's Baby Teeth and to readers of psychological thrillers who want less crime drama and more bite in their books. It is not for the faint-of-heart; it contains pretty much every kind of abuse imaginable, except (to Ward's credit) sexual abuse.

I was excited to find out Catriona Ward had a new book coming out. Her previous novel, Last House on Needless Street, was one of my top books of 2021. Readers who enjoyed her previous book will be in for more of the same (but even better) in Sundial.

The book starts with the narrow point-of-view perspectives of two characters. From the beginning, I was hooked and really could not put the book down, turning page after page to find out what happens next. Dark family secrets are slowly revealed, and the ending has a few surprise twists. I am a huge fan of the first-person perspective in horror as the reader doesn't always know what is true or what is just in the narrator's misguided view of the situation.

The book has excellent storytelling and complex characters. This novel is hard to read at times. Themes delve into generational trauma and abuse, very real-life concepts that hit close to home. The meaning of the content and themes could be debated depending on who is reading it. The reader is left to read into the meaning in their terms, which is the mark of an excellent storyteller.

My only complaint is that there are multiple words spelled in a British style, for instance: tyre, colour, wearing a pair of trainers, etc. The story is set in the Southwest United States so that did take me out of the story a bit. hopefully, this will be corrected before publishing. I would have liked a little more closure at the end but I do think the ending fits the story. I am curious if the title of this story is a nod to The Sundial by Shirley Jackson, a horror writer whose style likely inspired the author.

I’m already sure this is going to be one of my favorite books in 2022. Sundial is a fast-paced and superbly written piece of psychological horror. Horror is an effective genre to explore the dark side of human nature and Catriona Ward has masterfully done so in this tale.