This is such a hard book to review. The plot is so multilayered that it would be difficult to write a full synopsis so here's a brief overview:

The summer Wilder Harlow turns 16, his uncle passes away and leaves his family a cottage on the coast of Maine. Wilder is an odd boy and hopes to spend the summer in the new town making new friends. Soon after arriving, Wilder meets and befriends a girl named Harper and a boy named Nate. Even though a serial killer is on the loose, stalking children while they sleep, the trio ends up having a fun and adventurous summer together. As summer ends, the trio part ways and agree to meet up again next summer.

When the trio meets up again the next year, everything changes. Horrifying discoveries are made, dark secrets come to light, and the bonds of friendships are soon broken.

In true Catriona Ward fashion, Looking Glass Sound contains an unsettling and disturbing atmosphere without being very descriptive. Her simplistic yet concise writing style creates a vivid world that's easily imaginable and exquisitely creepy.

Looking Glass Sound is not a fast and easy read. The story requires your full attention in order to fully understand what's happening. Even with your full concentration, you will still feel lost and perplexed at times but eventually, all of the pieces will come together.

This is my fourth read by the author and even though it's not my favorite by her, I still enjoyed it. Without giving anything away, I will say my only issue was with the repetition(if you've read it you will know what I mean).

There's no doubt that Looking Glass Sound will be another hit with fans of Ward’s prior books as well as horror readers. Looking Glass Sound will be available on August 8. Many thanks to Tor Nightfire and Netgalley for the gifted copy!

Catriona Ward has written a hauntingly chilling novel with Looking Glass Sound; it is a page-turner that keeps surprising you right until the end.
I thought I knew what was going to happen in the first section, and then it left me speechless. I thought I saw what was happening in the second section, and it left me stunned. I at times had no clue what was going on in the final sections, but by the end I was speechless.
This book looks at inescapable childhood trauma that chases the characters into adulthood. It examines tragedy and the effects it has on all around it. It is shocking and devastating, and sticks with you long after you've read the final page.
I am grateful to have received an ARC of #LookingGlassSound from #NetGalley .

QIUCK TAKE: I think fans of Catriona Ward's SUNDIAL and NEEDLESS STREET will be underwhelmed by her latest, a quieter, more introspective and meta psychological thriller that I ultimately enjoyed, but left me wanting more. It's part THE PLOT, part STAND BY ME, there's definitely some dark moments and I liked the story-within-a-story plot device, but I think Ward's previous books had me expecting something bigger and more brutal. Still an autobuy author for me.

Let me begin by saying that I really enjoyed The Last House on Needless Street. Turning now to Looking Glass Sound, it contains something that almost every author wants to write (a book within a book that has powers). It’s also extremely ambitious. The problem, sadly, was that some of the characters and timelines become messy and disjointed.

This book about an author writing a book about the killings in a book by the killer’s friend (confused yet?) had the makings of another truly fantastic story, but it fell kind of flat for me. The writing skill is still there like in Needless Street, but it wasn’t enough to hold all of the parts together.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Catriona Ward's Looking Glass Sound is a creepy, twisting knot of a novel. There are so many layers and so many twists - some might think too many but I didn't find that. I was very happy to continue the ride wherever Ward was going to take me. I also loved her Little Eve and can't wait to read her other novels!

Catriona Ward has written The Last House on Needless Street and Sundial which were some of my favorite mystery/thriller books in recent years.

The first part of Looking Glass Sound captures that same feeling, the vibrant, eerie setting that the reader can almost touch. The characters of Wilder, Harper, and Nat, who are yearning for love and friendship but still have their secrets. I was captivated by the story of their friendship and the killer that was oh-so-close to their beach home.

For me, the book got confusing and derailed in the next few parts. For those that enjoy meta-fiction this will be your jam. It became a book within a book within a book? And I had a hard time connecting Pearl with the story.

I did appreciate the ending and can see how it was coming together. I look forward to more from Ward, even if this wasn’t my favorite, I think others will enjoy it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Here we have another unputdownable, unique, and thrilling read from Catriona Ward! I loved it even though I feel like I need to do a small re-read just to wrap my head around all the complexities that make up this amazing new novel! Highly recommended.

Holy wow, this is an impressive piece of work; so much was packed in but in such an effortless way. I don't totally agree with it being a horror novel, instead I find it rather difficult to categorize. There are Gothic elements (and I fucking love a Gothic touch). It's definitely got a psychological thriller-y touch--the blur between reality and fiction becoming continuously less discernible.

I do kind of understand others' critiques of the story becoming over complicated towards the end, but it personally didn't bother me or take away from the story; I just felt like it played to the psychological element of the story.

I can see myself rereading this in the future, seeing as I had to urge to start again at page 1 immediately after finishing. Also, I couldn't put this down--I devoured the last 250ish pages in one sitting. I felt invested in the story and connected to the characters in a way that I don't typically get for other books I read. Thus far, one of my favorite reads of 2023. I have yet to read Sundial or The Last House on Needless Street but they have definitely moved up in my queue of books to read. I'll also noted that I liked this significantly more than Little Eve (although enjoyable, not close to how much I dug this one).

There’s a cottage on the coast of Maine that Wilder Harlow and his family have inherited from his Uncle Vernon. A bit of mystery surrounds this place, as years before someone had been stalking children and leaving Polaroids of them sleeping in their beds with knives to their throats. As Wilder makes friends and begins to figure out his own identity as a young adult, he comes to discover that what he thought he knew about the people in his life is really only the tip of the iceberg. Their stories begin to unravel and intertwine the deeper he digs into the story as time goes on.

What I really loved:
- Cat Ward is an auto-buy author for me at this point if I’m being honest. She could write anything and I’d buy it out of pure curiosity. I have come to expect a story from her that seems fairly straight forward and simple on the surface but very quickly becomes strange the more you read and put things together. She continues to deliver in that regard!
- She did a great job of diving into character thought in this book. I think this is something she excels at — listening to a character’s ins and outs can get really boring but she hooks you fairly quickly and keeps enough happening to keep you moving forward.
- There is a bit of a twist at the end that you don’t quite seem coming and it’s a unique way of doing things for Ward. It was very much a puzzle piece of plot and characters and at times it could be a little confusing but she executed it well, I think!
- There’s a solid dose of murder and creepy characters in this story with shady backgrounds and motivations and that always adds to the intrigue!
- While this wasn’t a horror novel, the murder-y and psychological aspects had a bit of a horror-esque lean which I appreciated.

What I didn’t love:
- I think I was hoping for a larger twist than what there was, and the twist/explanation for things came significantly later in the book, almost to the end. But it was still solid.
- There were parts that were big puzzle pieces that she did a decent job of explaining, I think, but I wish there had been a little more clarity. But then maybe that was also the point, to leave the reader wondering what had actually happened, what was real, imagined, or out of the ordinary.
- This one didn’t quite grab me and suck me in as forcefully as her other stories have, and I wish it had had a little bit more of that “I cannot put this down!” flavor of urgency to it.
- I read this book as an early review copy through Netgalley and had it delivered to my Kindle. So this is purely a ARC-specific complaint, but the formatting was really wonky and made it difficult to read sometimes, and I think that probably also made the puzzle piece aspect of the story less clear and cohesive for me.

Overall:
This was yet another great story delivered by one of my favorite writers in (psychological?) horror/thrillers, and I definitely recommend the read, especially if you’ve enjoyed her others!

As I read the synopsis of Looking Glass Sound I was hooked with a blend of psychology horror and questioning sanity making me think of my favorite horror movie The Shining. I am sorry to say that Catriona Ward does not meet those expectations and I feel that this book never connected with me at all. I felt that the ideas never hit, I never cared about the overall story or characters and felt I had seen many similar sounding stories before. Overall I wish this was better but was not.

Catriona Ward’s Sundial dramatically underwhelmed. So I wasn’t expecting much for this, but she’s been a critic’s darling for a while now, so I figured I’d give her another chance and…Yes, that’s more like it.
Looking Glass Sound isn’t merely well written, but it’s as atmospheric and as clever of a book as one might wish for. Tripp in its cleverness, in fact. This novel is so Meta, it’s Meta wrapped in Meta with Meta on top.
Which, yes, kind of making it read disjointed and choppy at times and makes your mind twist itself all round at times, but in the end, it’s worth it, if only for how original it is. And yes, for how clever it is.
I’m huge on both originality and cleverness. I think there isn’t enough of it in modern fiction where author ply the formula because that’s what sells and I salute Ward for going against the current. Or at least establishing herself enough to be in a position to do so and then going for it.
Not sure if this book will appeal to everyone but for fans of thought-provoking, intelligent, smart AND literary genre fiction, this is your ticket.
Take a trip to Looking Glass Sound. See what you’ll find in the water there. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

(thank you to the publisher and netgalley for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.)

this was such an intriguing psychological thriller! it drags the reader down a rabbit hole of layered storylines, with so many twists and turns that will make you question your sanity.

This was my first book by this author. I was throughly impressed by how dark and gritty it felt. The characters felt genuine and the terror was palpable. Can’t wait to read more from this author.

Another incredible story by Ward.
Amazing characters and developments. Superb evolution of their realities. Believable struggles and reactions to their traumas., She weaves a complex multi-layered tale into a tense and compelling read. Tapping into human natures and their travails... she creates real tension and has readers both wondering about who is 'good,' who is bringing chaos, and confounding us along the way as we race and crash to the ending.

Loved Needless Street.. and really enjoyed this next adventure!
Cannot wait to see what she brings next.

What starts as a seaside summer spent with teenage Wilder and his new friends Harper and Nat turns into a psychological, writer-infested series of plot twists full of betrayal, murder, and unease. I found the narrative within a narrative within a narrative to be disorienting more than engaging, particularly early in the story, but the setting was summery and the Dagger Man interesting.

Catriona Ward is an auto-read author for me and I am so drawn to her ambiguously creepy, "what am I reading?" storytelling that dramatically clicks it all into place for the reader. Looking Glass Sound delivered on this mood and energy, but it didn't live up to the hype of The Last House on Needless Street for me (hard to do!).

The story was slow at times and I was struggling to connect for almost half of the book, but when it did connect it was fireworks and brilliance, with her classic axis shifting twist. The author remains and favorite and I think fans of her other books will be happy with this one, too.

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for allowing me to read this early copy, I am ever so appreciative!!

"Fucked up will save you. Fucked up will set you free."

Looking Glass Sound started off feeling almost nostalgic; Wilder, Nat, and Harper's relationship reminded me a bit of all the kids' friendships in Stephen King's 'IT'. And similarly, it got weird and unsettling rather quick.

No exaggeration here, I think this is one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. If it was possible to give more than 5 stars, I think this has more than earned it. It was twisty and horrifying, and left me with my mouth hanging open not even 100 pages in. As soon as I thought I had it all figured out, the story would take another twist and leave me questioning everything I thought I understood. Right up until the last page, there are mysteries to be solved and details to be revealed. I can see myself rereading this in the near future, but nothing will match the first read and uncovering all the secrets Looking Glass Sound holds.

Catriona Ward’s new novel is odd (as usual) literary, layered, and dark. We start with the unpublished memoir of Wilder Harlow whose story starts in the summer of 1989. What follows is a twisting shock of a story. Who is the Dagger Man of Whistler Bay? How will Wilder’s story play out? You couldn’t guess if you tried. This won’t be for everyone I’m sure, but Catriona Ward always manages to suck me in and hold me captive.

4.5 stars from me.

I devoured The Last House on Needless Street, but this one took me a little longer to wrap my head around. Although quite good, it couldn’t compete with Needless Street. Books that have unreliable characters who are “losing their grip on reality” are my favorite kind of books, so this one kept me reading. Great story and mystery.

Looking Glass Sound had a great opening sequence with a teenager going to live in a coastal summer home on the back of his parents having marriage problems and meets and makes two amazing friends. This was a great coming of age narrative which takes in a local murder/mystery/disappearance and love triangle, but quickly fell apart in the convoluted following sequences, meta fiction, time jumps, books within books and I completely lost interest as it descended into a mess and I completely failed to connect the teenage characters with the adult versions of themselves.