As with The Last House on Needless Street, this is a book you need to fully commit to. It’s not an audiobook that is easy to multitask while reading. The payoff for being patient is well worth it though. The writing is superb as is the narration by Christopher Raglan(The Last House on Needless Street) and Katherine Fenton(Sundial). Catriona Ward is a brilliant and unique storyteller. As with her other books, I found myself getting lulled by the beautiful writing and realized I needed to reorient myself and catch up with the storyline. There are many times when reality gets fuzzy and I had to wait for the story to play out. This is a beautiful and horrifying tale all at the same time.

Wilder’s parents inherit an old beachside cottage in Maine and while taking a vacation he becomes friends with Nat, a fisherman’s son and Harper, an English girl vacationing with her parents. In the background there is a serial killer of women and apparently also taking Polaroids of little children sleeping in their beds with a dagger near their throats. They call him The Dagger Man of Whistler Bay. What happens the following summer when the friends reunite will change their lives forever. The book within a book theme throughout the novel makes it tricky to say much more without spoiling the story.

The novel is a dark and disturbing story of friendship, magic, secrets, betrayal, revenge and redemption. Thank you @netgalley @catward66 @macmillan.audio for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

“It’s difficult to leave if you are surrounded by the things you love.” ~Harper

Pub date: August 8, 2023
Pages: 352

Marked as DNF @ 20% on 5/7/23 | Why do I never seem to click with horror? I always feel like horror & thriller vibes should be so similar but horror seems to annoy me.

So firstly, the first 20% so far is just the kids as teens and it has a very YA feel. I am not in my YA era and don’t want to read young adult so it bothered me. I was just thinking how I’d like a book that doesn’t have flashbacks and that backfired on me because I wish these teen episodes were flashbacks and not the first part of the book to really break it up. I’m stopping at 20% so I don’t know for how long that continues and I just made it to the second summer and seems like it'll keep going.

I decided not to push through it because most (negative/critical) reviews seemed to say they loved the first half and hated the second half. If I’m not enjoying the first half, it seems like there’s no hope for me. I wasn’t interested in the other scary aspects of the beginning either so… eh. Not for me, I guess. Maybe I need to stop trying horror because I get annoyed with the spooky stuff. I just want non-magical thrills and have had enough of serial killer books.

Book Title: Looking Glass Sound
Author: Catriona Ward
Narrators: Christopher Ragland and Katherine Fenton
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Psychological Horror
Pub Date: August 8, 2023
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 352

I was drawn to this story as I read and actually liked "The Last House on Needless Street" – the other is this great cover. (I know one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but I honestly cannot resist a great cover!)

Back in the summer of 1989 Wilder Harlow’s uncle Vernon died and left his Maine home on Whistler Bay to Wilder’s dad. His parents are going to put it on the market but decide it would be nice to spend the summer there before it is sold. It is a creepy old place but a summer on the beach seems like a nice get away.
Wilder is sixteen and looks different and acts a bit strange; he is constantly bullied by classmates.
While at Whistler Bay Wilder goes for a swim and meets a boy and a girl -Nathanial (Nat) Pelletier and beautiful Harper. Wilder is hopeful of having new friends however, they are like his classmates and aren’t nice to him. But after a trick goes wrong both Nat and Harper are truly sorry – and the three end up summer friends.
Wilder’s parents decide not to sell the summer home so they return the following year. There is a murder mystery going on at Whistler Bay – that has the three friends curious. There is a serial killer known as the Dagger Man of Whistler Bay; he takes Polaroid pictures (remember this is 1989) of children as they sleep, kills them with a knife and stores them in a storage tub – sometimes drops the tub into the sea.
Although our three friends help find the serial killer, it wasn’t intentional.
This summer turns out to be a disaster; in fact, later described as “The Bad Summer”.

The following year Wilder is accepted at the Liberal Arts College he has wanted to attend.
His roommate Sky is a good match as he is a bit strange like Wilder. He is in the BFA program as he wants to be a writer. They become best friends. Wilder tells Sky about ‘the bad summer’ and how he has written a short story about Dagger Man.

Story jumps thirty year where Wylie is a college professor, he is going blind from macular degenerate and still a struggling writer whereas Sky is a best-selling author.

I went into this story expect it to be a bit strange ~ yep author, Catriona Ward did not disappoint.
The first part was actually enjoyable and I honestly could not put it down.
So it was only a bit strange
However, the next part WAS strange - which I was expecting.
The Ending was – Hmmm that was strange!

The narrators were great at performing their characters.

Want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this Advanced Audio
Publishing Release Date scheduled for August 8, 2023.

5 stars

My goodness I am going to have a bit of a hangover from this book. It was great! I really enjoyed this story so much even though there were many times I was incredibly confused on what was going on. However in the end, there was many A Ha moments, I get it now.

I am really happy also chose to consume this in audio format. The male narrator is the same as the House on Needless Street and he was perfect. The woman narrators were also great. I really enjoyed hearing both point of view and they did a great job sucking me into the story. I would highly recommend this audiobook.

There is the main point of view of Wilder, a teen boy, with a group of friends living on a bay. Women have been going missing and there is a notorious serial killed that the community is afraid of. After the killer is revealed early in the book, we follow the story of Wilder and him trying to move on. We also follow the point of view of Pearl and her story is mysterious and as a reader you are trying to figure out what her deal is.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book a lot. They were mysterious a bit confusing at times, but I always wanted to know what was going to happen next.

I have read other books by Catriona Ward and this one reminds me so much of Last House on Needless Street. I also loved that book. Ward does such an amazing job with keeping the reader guessing and having great shock value.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced reader audiobook. My review is voluntarily my own.
I will be posting my review to my Instagram page the.floofs.booknook and retail sites close or on publication.

I was really hoping for more from Looking Glass Sound by Ward. It jumped around in time too much. I couldn't keep the characters completely straight. I still have no idea if Sky is a boy or a girl a made-up person.

#LookingGlassSound by #CatrionaWard is the latest #audiobook I’ve listened to thanks to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio and @tornightfire !! On sale Aug 8th!
I’ve been a fan of Ms. Ward’s writing since I listened to and was shocked by #TheLastHouseonNeedlessStreet - the book everyone seemed to be reading at the time. This book also had a creepy character or three and just when I THOUGHT maaaaybe I knew what was coming, I was thrown so far left that much like the character I felt disoriented and wondered what was true and what was reality. I thought I was reading a memoir from someone’s POV but then I was reading someone else tell the story but with subtle changes and obvious ones - like name changes ; because the author was ripped off. Or was he? Who was telling the story?? I’m not sure I enjoyed the retellings and confusion BUT this is the sort of story you’re in for with this author. It’s part thriller, dashed with horror, mixed with a heavy hand of confusion. But then, in a way you’d never known, things start to become clear. Or do they? I’m still maybe 10% unsure of what actually happened there lol but I know that I was enthralled and could not stop listening and I was totally invested in Wilder’s character - I actually was SO worried about him!! Time to DM and hash it all out. Still, highly recommend at ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ due to Wilder’s character, fantastic setting, and truly unexpected twists and spins on reality - something Catriona Ward does while also making you so disoriented - feeling like you are in the character’s shoes. Check this one out!!

Wait… what?!

Lol that was a trip.
It starts out slow af with three kids that become friends during the summer and become bonded by scary stories and experiences. Bonded by trauma?
The story goes on until they are adults and then takes a turn and gets very meta. I kept thinking oh this character is going insane and then I was like. Wait? I am going insane? It was a fun experience making you question pretty much everything but has some creepiness and jumpiness that you want in a horror book. I think Sundial is still my favorite by this author but this is a close second.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for an advanced listening copy.

This is my first book by this author and therefore I’m not sure if this is typical of her writing style or not but I found myself liking it at points and at others I was wishing it was over. It was strange and opaque and a book within a book within a book and it got super complicated at times. The same characters were represented by various names depending on which character’s book was being told so I found myself struggling at times but at the same time, the premise was quite intriguing. I think maybe if it had been a little bit shorter it may have helped some, but I’m not sure what could have been cut in order to do that.
Wilder and his family inherit his uncles house at the seashore of whistler bay and he strikes up an intense and awkward friendship with Harper and Nat while he’s there. Whistler Bay has a dark history of women going missing and a theory about the “Dagger Man” who creeps into kids bedrooms and takes pictures of them while they sleep holding a knife close to them. As the summer progresses, the teens use and betray each other and Wilder becomes increasingly unstable and the line between reality and fantasy start to blur. Wilder starts writing a book about his experiences at Whistler Bay, then Nat steals his idea and does the same. But then at some point I wondered if some of the characters were hallucinations of Wilders. There was just a lot to unpack.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this audiobook arc in exchange for my review.

I am realizing more and more that I am terrible at writing reviews for books I enjoyed. This had a surreal, gothic quality to it, but felt fresh because of the delivery of the storyline. Thank you to Tor & NetGalley for the ARC

Talk about a psychological thriller that makes you work! One really needs to be on their game while reading or listening to this book! There were several times in this book where I questioned if I really knew what was happening. This is a book about a book within a book. Whew!

Wilder Harlow is in a cottage in Maine writing the last book he will ever write. He is writing about the summer when he was a teenager when he made two friends while a killer was stalking the small New England town. It is about their gruesome discovery of a body. It is also about his ex-best friend, Sky who stole Wilder's unfinished memoir and published it as Looking Glass Sound. Fact and fiction blurs as Wilder finds notes from Sky and wonders if he what is real.

Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Yet, it is complicated, demands 100% attention, is twist filled, and turns the tables on readers many times during the book. Throughout the book, I kept wondering what was going on, thinking I had things figured out, to have the tables turned on me. Like Wilder, I began to wonder what was real, puzzled by what was happening and frustrated that I could not figure things out.

This is an intricately woven book that kept me on my toes. Catriona Ward does a good job keeping readers (at least this reader) in the dark, yet wanting more, and yearning for answers. Her writing is fabulous, and this book is very well thought out. I had no idea where she was going at any part of the book, yet I was invested in the story wanting to know how it would end.

Well written, well thought out, and unsettling.

This book was just ok. At times I found it a smidge confusing and the narrators were fine.
Over all, I would say it’s forgettable, which I find unfortunate and maybe I’m in the minority on this.

Thank you Netgalley & Macmillan Audio for an ALC of Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward!

This was my first book by this author, and I switched back and forth between the audiobook and ebook. For me, the audiobook was easier to follow. I think the narrator did a fantastic job with the story.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book - And to be honest, I can’t tell you what happened at the end. The plot went off the rails and it was really hard for me to follow - Not sure if it’s just me or what. The writing was great, which makes this book really hard to rate for me. The fact that I don’t know exactly what was going on in the book has me giving this a rating of 2.5 stars, rounding up to 3 for NG and Goodreads.

DNF @ 25%
The beginning started off mildly interesting but tapered off and just got boring for me… Annoying side characters that lacked strong development, big bummer since I had heard people discuss the excitement for this new release. Not one I will recommend

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward. She is fast becoming one of my favorite authors and can be counted on for a dark and unsettling read. The book is written in both the past and present. It is a book that makes you uncomfortable through the end.

Wilder is writing his memoir and returns to the small town in Maine where it started with his friends Nat and Harper and a serial killer. He weaves in stories of his college friends Sky who stole his work and turned it into a best selling book. He starts to lose his grip on reality.

Incredible audio production for a very unique, creepy book. Loved the narrators, they were perfect for this kind of story and their characters. I can only recommend this.

Rated 3.5 stars despite the Goodreads inability to be anywhere in the middle on a rating.

This audio arc of Looking Glass Sound is hard for me to rate because I think my brain aged out of it - I am a 1980s horror babe. All things horror. Every Stephen King under my belt. First in line for the classic horror movie releases. The weirdo in my family who has never seen Forrest Gump, but can repeat the lines of The Shining. All that said, with little understanding of the depth of a Catriona Ward novel, I requested this arc and then felt like I was in a master class of nuanced horror. That's a good thing, but nearing my 60s, and a 5 decades user of audio books, Looking Glass Sound requires every bit of concentration to follow the plot and brain fog is a real thing as you grow old.

I think had I been co-reading with a paperback where I could stop and catch up to the plot, it would have been an easier read for me. But, in a world where we are seeing authors recycle their own plots and bang out 5 hour audio books like bunnies in spring, I applaud Ward for creating such an in depth, layered world where the plot and characters are quite original.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

This is a really hard book to rate. I was confused from about the halfway point til the very end.
UMMM I am going to give it a high rating.. BUT not sure WHAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT!!!!!

so confused!

Quite a book with lost of twists when Wilder Harper starts to write his very last book in a lonely house on Maine's coast. When writing Wilder recalls the many nightmares of his past including his best friend Sky, who stole his manuscript to his first story and made a mint out of it. Some friend indeed!

It gets spooky when Wilder already suffering from fiction versus reality finds notes from Sky. He knows they are from her for she writes them in green ink her go to color.

This was quite a complicated tale with walked between the lines of mystery and horror and needed one's full attention to puzzle through. It unsettles you throughout and when you think you know, well you just don't

Thank you to Catriona Ward, (this is the third book of hers I have enjoyed), Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the ability to listen to this book, which comes out in August of 2023.

I enjoyed the narration for this book. I switched back and forth between listening to this on audio and reading it on my Kindle. I found it easier to follow via the audio version. Ward's writing is beautifully descriptive and eerie as are the characters. After finishing the book, I felt uneasy, confused, and creeped out. It went a little off the rails for me at the end which I think is why it left a lot to question at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I honestly loved this audiobook. I thought it was well written and both narrators were great. You do have to pay close attention to follow all of the storylines and timelines that are going on with the different characters.
I did prefer the beginning of the book to the rest of it. It is almost like this is several books all in one.
Once I got approved for it I couldn’t stop listening for two days.
Wilder came off as a very interesting and multidimensional character. There are just so many levels to him. Harper I didn’t like as much.