Sundial

Took off a star for bad science.

"Everyone has one story that explains them completely. I thought I knew what mine was. I was wrong - "

SUNDIAL by Catriona Ward was voted for the November pick of the month for the Wine And Crime Book Club, which is how I finally came to read this psychological horror thriller. I know most classify it strictly as horror, but I actually found it to be more on the thriller side of the spectrum.

All Rob ever wanted was a normal, quiet life: a husband, a job she loved, 2.5 kids and a white picket fence. On the outside looking in, it appeared her dream had been realized. Until the elder daughter attacked the youngest, prompting Rob to do a search of Callie's room and belongings, which yielded a gruesome discovery of tiny animal bones. A disturbing amount of animal bones, which is more than just a casual cause of concern to Rob because she knows exactly what it means: her past that she'd hoped died in the desert with her family has made itself known and those secrets are about to come to light.

I loved Ward's writing style for this story, which is told in past and present tense. The mother daughter duo head back to Rob's childhood home so that Rob can explain to Callie their past, which will explain their future. As Rob tells of the family history, the author does so by putting us in Younger Rob's perspective, then reverting to present tense actions, conversations between Rob the mother and her daughter Callie.

Throughout the entire story, I was never sure if the ghosts were real, or if they were just the ghosts of the past showing themselves as part of Rob's story. I love that we get the story chronologically as Rob goes through it from the beginning, so we learn things as she did over the course of her childhood to young adult years. I had a few suspicions as to what a few things meant, versus what they were introduced as, but I never figured out the actual truth on my own. Lots of twists, turns and intrigue that kept me turning those pages....well, it did once I abandoned the audiobook. I'm a huge lover of immersion reading, but I just could not do it in this case. I downright grew to hate the voices of the young girls the narrator used. Especially when it got a part where Callie would speak in emoji, which even when I read those parts, I couldn't stand it either. I was in complete agreement with Rob on that point. LOL

SUNDIAL is one of the rare books that I loved for the plot and not the characters. I actually found all of the characters unreliable, untrustworthy and unlikeable. The plot though - it was so interesting and mysterious that I just had to know what was actually going on in this family dynamic. I was not disappointed!

I'm very excited to read more of Catriona Ward's works - I added her other three novels to my TBR immediately upon finishing this one!

okay. So I don't normally read books so soon after they're released. Look at me go. haha

I like the story, but I think there was a lot going on. A lot of details, and a lot of flip flopping between two different storylines. So many characters. I think the first story should have just been the story, maybe a couple flashbacks and then the other story could have been a novella, or a prequel. There was just so. much. happening. Everyone in this is a lot.

Not bad tho! Still like it. I got through it in a day. I also love the cover.

"𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝑶𝑲 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆." 𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕝 - Cᴀᴛᴿɪᴏɴᴀ Wᴀᴿᴅ ⭐ ( 0 / 10 ) WHAT!!? IN THE DUMPSTER FIRE HAIL! Yall. I don't know how to put this on my goodreads because this? I'm never listening to anybody again. Listen, I figured I read Last House on Needless Street and that was decent and I'm on some horror genre kick right now. So I go into Barnes & Noble pick out my book, then realize my subscription of Scribd just renewed that day so I put it on the list, BECAUSE the review in front of the book said scariest book I've read all year. These people sit on a thrown of lies! Lol. Honestly, it was good in the beginning when the storyline was singular, but then Rob starts telling her story which is a flashback to her growing up and then it jumps back and forth between present and past because its a story within a novel. Aaaand THEEEEEN she loses her damn mind and jumps forward in time to when? Idk. I have zero idea. And then theres this witch and soul eater and bad blood and yall. -To the Trashcan-. And then there was a baby twist. The smallest non twist that there ever was in the history of everdom... Witches man. Was she even a witch? Was it even a her? All I know is sisters and daughters and Im upset this is all I got for yall. ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘. 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝘑𝘢𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘖𝘶𝘵 Damn witches!!!

If the whole book went at the pace of the beginning, then it would be a solid 3 star. Push through and get to that late middle and ending, it's worth it!