I had a really hard time with this book. It jumped around so much, I found I was lost a lot of the time. At the end of the book, I thought to myself, "what did I just read?!" I was engrossed in it at first, but then right away there was a climax in the action, and I thought it was done. Unfortunately, it dragged on longer. I just couldn't get into it after that. I would write a synopsis of it, but I can't. I really have no idea how to. I'm just glad I'm done with it. ( )

After the death of Wilder's Uncle Vernon, his family decides to use Vernon's cabin on the shore of Maine's Whistler Bay for a much needed summer vacation. Wilder decides that he will make friends and maybe even find a girlfriend this summer. He quickly finds friends in local teens, Nat and summer resident, Harper. The group quickly becomes enamored with the local lore of drownings and the Dagger Man of Whistler Bay. However, the fantasy soon becomes too real as Wilder, Nat and Harper find the victims and figure out that the perpetrator is someone close to them. Still dealing with the impacts from that summer, Wilder sets off to college in Pennsylvania. Suffering from panic attacks, Wilder finds a friend in Sky, who comforts Wilder and has a special interest in his trauma. Years later, after Wilder attempts to put together his summer at Whistler Bay into a memoir, Sky publishes Looking Glass Sound, a bestseller based on Wilder's memories. Wilder makes his way back to Whistler Bay in order to confront his memories and set the record straight.

Looking Glass Sound is a story within a story within a story that bends, stretches and tests the limits of what you believe is reality. The three stories told in succession create an underlying current of unknowing, unease and suspense. With each of the characters warping slightly in each of the story retellings, I wasn't quite sure of who everyone truly was and it seemed like everyone was an unreliable narrator. Everyone's story seemed like an atonement piece to try to rewrite their past with small bits of their true selves coming through. While it seemed like the main character should have been Wilder, I think the real focus of the story was the first victim of the Dagger Man, Rebecca. I thought it was really interesting that Wilder interacted with the Dagger Man after he was caught, it was insightful to see the thought process of a murderer and how the meeting affected Wilder. With many secrets, twists and unknowns, Looking Glass Sound is a unique horror experience.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )

I think I've lost my grip on reality. Another excellent bent unsettling book from Ward. The writing is excellent, the story lulls you along until the plot and characters fold in on themselves. ( )

This book broke my brain. It’s one of those novels where nothing is as it seems; something I should be used to with this author. Unlike Little Eve which was a DNF, and The Last House on Needless Street which nearly was, I didn’t get stuck in this at all. The romanticized summer tale that Wilder starts had me from the start, but my experience taught me to doubt everything and I did, but there were oddities and inconsistencies that made me suspicious. But it wasn’t just that it was the other description of the book that I knew about before taking delivery of my final copy. Things sure did change from that to this and it made the confusion worse. Just take a look at the LT description and the automatically filled ones and you’ll see what I mean. What a trip.

At its heart this is fiction within fiction. It bends and plays with what the reader accepts as reality and the timeline. It’s one of those books you want to start over as soon as you finish so you can read it with full knowledge and see if you can spot the tells. I read the last 25 pages or so three times just to get it straight. I took copious notes. I made timelines for different characters’ appearances. I decoded the odd word lists. It all connects and while not entirely satisfying (the witches thing did my head in), I stuck with it and I’m glad I did. ( )

As soon as I finished the last page I immediately wanted to start over and read it again knowing what I know now. ( )