Looking Glass Sound Catriona Ward
I really like how Catriona Ward can write about a lot of different settings, time periods, locations and interests. Her focus seems to be on the psychological thrillers and mindbends and I'm all for it. That being said, Looking Glass Sound was disappointing for me. I enjoyed the first twist and the "descent into madness" from Wilder's POV and the reveal that it was all a plot written by Pearl. I didn't even mind the reveals and the family affairs and the bit of implied magic with Gracie being a mix between Nat, Wilder and Harper - I enjoy how it was implied that there was real magic at play with the parts of the book showing up in Pearl's manuscripts. However, that's where the positive aspects stopped for me.
Most of the coincidences and reveals felt pretty on the nose and contrived. Every chapter felt like a gotcha moment and not necessarily for the better. The story became confusing and half of the time I was backreading (in my e-reader which honestly became twice the pain) to try and understand a whole chapter that didn't make sense to me the first read. I understand there's re-reading value but this was way too convoluted and confusing for my liking.
I do believe in the compliment sandwich method so let's end with some points I enjoyed: the original characters were nice and I really liked the 80s setting. I enjoyed the foreshadowing in some details like Wilder's father with the cufflings, and Vernon's polaroids. I didn't even mind that Pearl (Skye) decided to change her identity in the novel... although most of the early stages of the book felt like queerbait, which I struggled with by the end of the novel.
All in all, this was a fairly weak read for me, written in poetic prose that I enjoyed, and it didn't put me off Catriona Ward at all.
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