NetGalley Buddy Readers discussion

We will be reading Sundial by Catriona Ward starting January 24th. Everyone is free to join us. Please use spoiler tags as needed.



"A story where nothing is what it seems—a thrilling hall of mirrors full of deeply disturbing twists. This book will haunt you." —Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Sundial is a new, twisty psychological horror novel from Catriona Ward, internationally bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street.

You can't escape what's in your blood...

All Rob wanted was a normal life. She almost got it, too: a husband, two kids, a nice house in the suburbs. But Rob fears for her oldest daughter, Callie, who collects tiny bones and whispers to imaginary friends. Rob sees a darkness in Callie, one that reminds her too much of the family she left behind.

She decides to take Callie back to her childhood home, to Sundial, deep in the Mojave Desert. And there she will have to make a terrible choice.

Callie is worried about her mother. Rob has begun to look at her strangely, and speaks of past secrets. And Callie fears that only one of them will leave Sundial alive…

The mother and daughter embark on a dark, desert journey to the past in the hopes of redeeming their future.

"A wild, twisted, family gothic unlike any you've read before, and one you won't soon forget."

Looking forward to this one!

Me too! I really enjoyed The Last House on Needless Street and I can't wait to see what she has in store for us with this one.

So jealous! 😭

Kristie wrote: "Me too! I really enjoyed The Last House on Needless Street and I can't wait to see what she has in store for us with this one."

Me too, I am a little worried that it won't live up to that one though, lol. Keeping fingers crossed!

I know! I'm trying not to let my expectations get too high.

Elyse - Were you declined for this one?

Kristie wrote: "Elyse - Were you declined for this one?"

Yes. 😒 lol

I hate when that happens.

Oh no. I hate when that happens too.

Tasha, were you able to start this one today? I started, but didn't get very far at all. I only made it 2% in. lol Right away though I am enjoying the writing and was wondering how on earth (view spoiler)[ the chicken pox made her know her husband was having an affair! I mean, it was explained quickly but I did read that line twice. lol My initial thought was that our MC is not going to be a rational person at all, but the explanation made sense. (hide spoiler)]

I made it to 9%, I think you will get a clearer picture shortly. It makes sense now but man(!) this marriage is crazy!! I'm not sure yet if both Irving and Rob are crazy and unreliable but they are both something. lol. This story definitely engaged me right away. I think it's going to be a quick, page-turning read.

Oh good! I'll get back to it later today.

I haven't had any time to read today unfortunately.

I haven't gotten there yet either. I hope to in the evening.

I didn't end up reading any of this yesterday but I'll have some time later this morning to read a bit.

I didn't either. I waited too long. I read a couple pages then couldn't remember what I had read and was dozing off. I'll definitely start earlier today.

lol. I think once we really get going, it's going to be hard to stop. At least I hope so!

I think so too. My dozing was definitely an indication of how tired I was and not the book. It was late and I had a migraine all day, so I was just done.

Looking forward to it tonight. I'm busy running around today and have a book that goes back to the library about 6pm that I need to hopefully finish so I'll get back to this one after dinner.

I read a little this morning and it's crazy. I feel like my head is spinning. Good, but crazy. It seems to have a similar vibe to The House on Needless Street.

Oh that's good!

4% - (view spoiler)[ That maggot trick was completely disgusting. Not funny at all. Eewww.... (hide spoiler)]

He is creepy and awful.

I got up to 23% last night and like her other book we read, I have no idea what's going on but it's good. Keeping me totally on my toes and wondering what the heck is going on. All the characters so far are (view spoiler)[ completely unreliable and I don't even know if any of them are sane! They are all actually quite frightening! lol (hide spoiler)]

I am 38% in and honestly, not sure what I think about this book. I read very little horror so this might be my issue at the moment. It's creepy and weird, the characters are all crazy, I don't know what's going on. lol. I'm going to keep going bc 1) it's NG, 2) it's got great reviews on GRs and 3) I loved her other book so I hope it all makes sense in the end. I was confused with that one but then it all just came together so I'm hoping my feelings now will all come together with this one as well.

Yes, her last book was like that too. I really liked that she made that one come together in a way that made sense. I'm hoping she can do the same with this one.

yep, let's hope so! lol

I finished this yesterday and gave it 4 stars. I liked The House on Needless Street better but I thought this one was also good. If this was the first I read by her though, not sure if I would have jumped on her next one so fast. Horror is not my usual genre so I'm not sure this is typical of the genre but sometimes it's just so weird! I do like how things are revealed to us over the course of the book when at first things come at you and it's all so crazy and your mind is spinning! I didn't like the animal cruelty but realized it was part of the story. I can see this being an issue for many, esp dog lovers.

4 stars and I may or may not jump on her next one, we'll see how I feel when the time comes. I'm really curious to see what you think about it, Kristie!

I agree. I feel like animal abuse needs a trigger warning ahead of time. A lot of people have a difficult time stomaching it.

I'm plugging through. Will add more comments later today. :)

It wasn't easy to read that stuff, esp since I love dogs, but I'm able to separate them thankfully.

yay! I'm excited there is a buddy read on this one! I'm playing catch up with my reads but I hope to start this one Saturday or Sunday!

Yay! I'm gonna be playing catch up with you! Probably will start it some time on Friday.

Glad you are both joining! Maybe I'll finally get through it!

I'm about 10% in so far and liking it but wow I am kinda feeling creeped out a bit with these weird bizarre characters. I'd be afraid to close my eyes at night living with these people!

I agree, Jennifer! They are quite strange and don't feel like people you'd want to close your eyes around.

I feel like the writing started out a little disjointed and I wonder if that was intentional to make you feel a bit off.

I feel like I remember the disjointed start as well but can't say for sure at this point. I do know that I enjoyed The Last House on Needless Street more overall though.

I really enjoyed The Last House on Needless Street a lot. I've struggled with getting engaged with this one. I think it's another one that I will enjoy more if I can read a chunk at a time.

That might be. I'm not a huge horror reader so something about the other one worked better for me but I'm still going to try her other stuff as well. I don't remember what I rated this one but I think it was 4 stars.

Yes, 4 stars, so still good but I can completely understand needing to read this one in chunks.

Oh, that's good, Tasha! Hopefully, it's just another slow starter for me. I'm at 23% and right now (view spoiler)[ all of the characters are so sketchy! I think the mom is off and the little girl is pretty creepy too. I didn't like the dad at all either though and even the neighbor wasn't really likable. (hide spoiler)]

I am curious what is going on though, which is good. I got a widget for Little Eve, which has a pub date of October. I think I'm going to wait to see what I think of this one before accepting.

I'm catching up on my reads and just got through my other horror so getting ready to start this one. Side note, if you grab Little Eve, I have it and I'd be down to read it with you 😊😁

I'm waiting to decide about reading Little Eve later so not requesting it. Like I mentioned above, I really enjoyed The House on Needless Street but Sundial was a little too horror for me so while I 'liked' it, horror is not a fav genre. If you guys read it though, I will be interested to see what you think.

Thanks, Trisha. I'll let you know once I finish this one. It would be good timing for a scary read. :)

okay, phew, finally started

just 25 pages in but I thought I'd check back every time there's an Arrowwood update

(view spoiler)[ what an awful marriage they have. there is no way I'd stay
but this author always tries to show us something to misinterpret, so I'm curious to see where this is going (hide spoiler)]

I thought the same thing, Trisha.

2nd Arrowwood update / about page 68

just. . .(view spoiler)[ what?! lol these story updates are twisted

so the little girl can see. . .ghosts? but then why did she try to kill her sister? was that Pale Callie? and who is pale Callie? was there another sister? is it a person from Rob's old life

hmmm. . .Rob and Irving's marriages is even worse when seen through Callie's eyes. Why didn't she just let Irving have Callie and leave him
then she would take Annie and keep her safe - and end the marriage. (hide spoiler)]

I forgot all these things, lol. I'm enjoying reading your updates/comments.

Yeah, I have no idea what's going on. lol I've had a really hard time getting into this one. It is confusing to me (more so and in a different way than The Last House on Needless Street) and I don't like the characters. I guess I feel like it doesn't flow easily for me. Brought it with me on my trip though, so hopefully I'll finally make some progress.

Third Arrowood Update / around page 135
(when I missed reading the ARC I bought the hardcopy so that's what I'm reading)

oooh okay. I think it's making more sense now. There was a big part of Rob's story to Callie to give more of her childhood and I think that answered a lot of questions I was having

(view spoiler)[ okay so it sounds like they Girls also had this rage gene - this murder gene? - and the dad and Mia weren't letting them off the grounds because of it. Yikes. Is that why Rob is so off kilter and why she's with Irving - to fake normal? Because if so she is failing!! lol

and Jack, her sister, must be gone. Did Rob kill her?
but Jack must be who is visiting Callie - both of them could see ghosts. And Callie must have the ugly murder gene too. . .although maybe it's Annie and Rob who have it
Jack and Callie just can't hide their emotions.

the story of the dogs, the meat and the weird helmet with the controls. It all sounds just awful. .
I wonder if the baby Coyote is Callie's ghost dog. . (hide spoiler)]

I'm liking it more but it's also getting a little creepy (view spoiler)[ definitely more going on at this ranch place than I know. . .yet (hide spoiler)]

Tasha wrote: "I forgot all these things, lol. I'm enjoying reading your updates/comments."

I love reading the comments of buddy reads! lol it's so fun watching people discover the story!

Fourth Arrowood update
and even though I thought I was so clever before, I'm not sure I know anything anymore. . .

(view spoiler)[ I have no idea what's going on
did they switch places maybe? this is all so odd

I'm not sure what's going on with Callie but her stabbing the pillow was disturbing
and I'm still not sure what's going on with Rob - she dug a grave but is she really going to shoot the needle in to Irving? Why didn't she do it a long time ago? why stay with this horrible man? He cheated on her before they were even married. . .with her twin! Just yuck

Jack spiraling but staying there. I still don't get it. And sure, they were adopted - but then why did Jack always want to treat Mia so horrible. . .she hadn't replaced some special mom within month of her death. So odd to punish Mia when all she did was try to love them. Every update just seems to make jack and even more horrible person - only second to Irving. (hide spoiler)]