I think this is Catriona’s best one yet!
Incredibly unique, hauntingly beautiful and full of characters you won’t forget in a hurry. The way it is written is classic - I loved it!

I don't mind admitting, that for a lot of this book, I wasn't sure what was happening.
It seems to be a skill of Wards, to keep you feeling unsettled, but just wanting more.
There were moments where I thought it all fell into place perfectly, only words later to find that wasn't so.
I still think I missed bits, but what I did get was clever.
Sometimes creepy.
Always very good.
I read little Eve a few years ago on publication, and it's been exciting watching Wards story telling and reputation just getting stronger and stronger.

It’s difficult to go into too much detail about this book for fear of spoilers, and this is a book you need to go in blind. So instead, this review is just going to be a plethora of adjectives explaining just how fabulous Catriona Ward really is.

I might like a good thriller, but very rarely do I do horror. I am a self-confessed wuss. I don’t like horror books, horror films, horror TV shows, horror-themed theme park rides – you name it, I don’t like it. But for some reason, even though I know Ward’s books are generally classified as horror, I can read them, and I enjoy them. I think it’s because her writing talent makes for such literary masterpieces, that it’s impossible to tear yourself away, regardless of how scary they may be.

The story is so creepily woven together that you’re not always convinced you know what’s happening when and to whom and how it all links. It’s confusing but not in a bad way, it keeps you on your toes. It’s all brilliantly written and brilliantly concocted, but there’s a haziness around the edges that adds to the madness of it all just makes it even better.

I have only read 3 of Ward’s books – The Last House on Needless Street, Sundial and this. Sundial was even better than The Last House... and this is even better than Sundial. Her books just keep getting better and better, more refined, more skillful, more thrilling. It leaves you knowing how good the future of her work will be.

There’s a range of characters but it focusses mainly on Wilder, Nat and Harper. Each of those three is brilliantly written. Every single one. It’s masterful character development and you end up in awe of their creation.

It is a proper story of obsession, love, loss, grief, trauma, delusion, nightmares, horror, trust, dishonesty. Somehow this story is fantastical, hard to believe, over the top, but also close to home, warming, and almost every day, in a weird way, and I just don’t know how she manages to marry that all together. Its unnerving and uncomfortable, but completely and utterly addictive.

I was expecting to be on edge, to be frightened, but I didn’t expect to find it as emotional as I did. It’s heart-breaking and I found myself almost in tears at several points. It is so powerful. Even the harsh, raw, scary parts have a kind of love and sentiment and feeling about it and it takes your heart on a ride.

It’s obvious why she keeps winning the Best Horror Novel accolade at the British Fantasy Awards. There are plenty of horror writers out there (although due to my being a wuss, I can’t say I know many), but this book is proof that she is a one-of-a-kind writer whose stories will live on amongst the greats.

You will never be a step ahead of this book. You will get to a stage where you think you know what’s going on, but you’re wrong. Then you’ll get to grips with it again, and then it’ll prove you wrong again. It’s a rollercoaster that you cannot get off, even when you think it might be slowing down.

I feel that every day a new Catriona Ward book is released should be a bank holiday with that book on prescription, so everyone can spend the day losing themselves in it.

I can’t begin to describe this book it led me down many paths and I did get lost at times but I just couldn’t put it down it was completely addictive.
Wilder Harlow is writing a novel it will be the last one he will write… well this is how the book begins and from then on I could never decide if what I was reading was real or not! This is a novel that is in no way a simple or easy read but I was expecting that as the authors previous novels have had the same effect on me and always I have just gone with the flow of words desperately trying to figure out what was going on. The writing was beautiful, the descriptions sublime and although I admit I did find it hard to figure out it was a story that kept me gripped.
Catriona Ward is like no other author I know and just seems to have the power to take you to a completely different reality and although a challenge it was a great read.
My thanks to NetGalley and Serpent’s Tail / Viper / Profile Books for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wilder Harlow is a loner. Being educated on a full scholarship at a prestigious school is not without its drawbacks. Bullied and belittled for not being affluent and for looking different, Wilder’s life in school is a trial and a torment for him.

Each year Wilder’s dad spends time with Uncle Vernon at Whistler Cottage near the sea in Maine. On uncle’s death the cottage is bequeathed to the family. Before the cottage is sold, the adults decide to have one last holiday there. On this vacation Wilder meets up with Nat and Harper and friendship is formed. Their lives are interwoven forever.

Again Ward has drawn us into her world. With exquisite prose and descriptive dialogue the reader becomes part of the story, looking on as this sometimes strange friendship develops.

A beautifully emotive story, with the usual intricacies and intrigues we come to expect from this author. As always, sublime, totally captivating, a masterpiece.

Thank you NetGalley.