In a windswept cottage overlooking the sea, Wilder Harlow begins the last book he will ever write. It is the story of his childhood companions and the shadowy figure of the Daggerman, who stalked the New England town where they spent their summers. Of a horror that has followed Wilder through the decades. And of Sky, Wilder's one-time friend, who stole his unfinished memoir and turned it into a lurid bestselling novel, The Sound and the Dagger. Even as an adult, the still lurking pent-up frustrations of teenage angst make Wilder Harlow the most unreliable of narrators. His entire life has been shaped by the events during the summers of his youth, and his perspective is skewed at best. It would be easy to pity Wilder, but by turns, he is both the hero and then the villain of the piece. The same can also be said of his friends. Their various actions and reactions are a constant reminder that humans are far from perfect. We’re all capable of doing good, being the sort of people we aspire to be, but we’re also more than capable of being just as bad. It turns out the only thing that makes us different is that some people are better at hiding their flawed tendencies than others. A feeling of powerlessness is core to the horror genre. The main characters here share a deep sense of vulnerability. This is very much a coming-of-age novel. Adolescence is a prime vulnerable state, a transition between childhood and the mystery of adulthood. Not knowing who you are. Trying on different roles, names, behaviors, hoping for love, of whatever sort, always susceptible to rejection and/or betrayal, and/or disappointment. There is added vulnerability with their families. Any teen going through changes would benefit from a solid base of parental constancy. Wilder’s parents are going through more than just a rough patch. Nat does not seem particularly close to his only parent. Harper refers to a pet dog that protects her from her father. There are enough secrets in the world. Bad families, bad fathers. Pearl’s mother, like Nat’s, is long gone. In addition to whatever else assails them, there is self-harm. The New England location is ideal, and the passing of the seasons feels palpable. The languid summer days flow into grey autumn dusk and then the bleak winter nights. I was fortunate a few years ago to travel around Maine, very close to where the book was set, and there is desolate beauty to the coast in the darker times of the year. This dovetails perfectly with the novel’s overall tone. Writing is power,’ she says. ‘Big magic. It’s a way of keeping someone alive forever.’ ‘Why would someone want to live forever in a book?’ ‘Maybe they don’t. Maybe the writer keeps them prisoner.’

Looking Glass Sound Review: An Unsettling, Twisty Horror Tale

Looking Glass Sound is the latest release from one of my favorite voices in the Horror space, Catriona Ward. I respect her work so much and feel she brings her own unique brand to my favorite genre. 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:In the right hands, narrative can be a kaleidoscope, fracturing into more and more wondrous configurations. Just - I think Catriona Ward maybe spilled a little blood into her kaleidoscope, here..." - Stephen Graham Jones

Looking Glass Sound - Catriona Ward - Mijnsite Review: Looking Glass Sound - Catriona Ward - Mijnsite

The psychological horror deepens as Catriona Ward weaves layers upon layers of uncertainty to the story. The lines between reality and fiction slowly blur as Wilder descends deeper into existential crisis, making the reader question everything they believed. Wilder is left broken and alone as he begins collegiate life, unable to cope with the psychological trauma of his summer at Whistler Bay. Enter the overly friendly Sky Montague, a Proust-obsessed aspiring author who insists on becoming roommates with Wilder. But is Sky truly the altruistic friend that he seems, or is he just pumping Wilder for information about the Whistler Bay murders? With prose of poetic clarity, Looking Glass Sound reveals secret after secret in a structure as intricate and insidiously enmeshing as a cobweb. Haunting, disturbing and beautiful, it's a truly extraordinary book. I think it may well be a masterpiece.” But as Wilder writes, the lines between memory and fiction blur. He fears he’s losing his grip on reality when he finds notes hidden around the cottage written in Sky’s signature green ink.Honestly the ending not a big fan of. Yeah there were twists but were they good? They were okay. Witchcraft is real in this world. Harper was able to put Wilder into the book so he can live forever and now she’s damning Pearl to the same fate. I just didn’t understand how this is a bad thing when Harper wanted the same thing and that was okay. I received an ARE of Looking Glass Sound from Tor/Nightfire in return for a fair review. Thanks, folks, and thanks to NetGalley for facilitating. Can you please turn down the volume on that thing? But then it started to go a bit off the rails for me. Part two, when Wilder decided to write a book was very repetitive. It was the same story but with slightly different names, and I didn't enjoy it at all. I have liked Catriona Wards previous books that I have read but she has brought her writing and storytelling to a new level here. I will be very surprised, even at this early stage if this doesnt end up being my favourite read of 2023.

Sound while in looking glass: How to get it to work properly Sound while in looking glass: How to get it to work properly

The author of The Last House on Needless Street, Catriona Ward, delivers a masterful story about friendship and betrayal, dark obsessions, and the impossibility of escaping your own story. "Here's your next obsession." (Kelly Link, author of Get In Trouble) Dork,’ I mutter as I follow him inside. I know Uncle Vernon died in hospital of a heart infarction.Looking Glass Sound is Catriona Ward’s deeply unsettling literary horror that will lure readers in with its charming coming-of-age façade but leave them entangled in a web of metaphysical dread. From the retro cover design to its late 1980s northern Gothic setting, Looking Glass Sound is dripping with nostalgia for a simpler time that may never have existed. Much like Ward’s other novels, Looking Glass Sound isn’t a traditional horror story. The scares here skew more psychological than bloody. 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.