Kiss, Marry or Kill: 29
A book for Saltburn lovers, are you a shameless pet parent, sharing your phone passcode with your spouse, plant-based is dead (long live plant-based)
This is my weekly series for subscribers only, where I’ll share things that caught my eye this week in a fun and flirty way (kiss), a sustainable way (marry), or a not-so-good way (kill). And yes, this trendy game is technically “f***, marry, or kill” but we run a family-friendly-ish show around here.
Kiss (things I like right now)
Looking Glass Sound, Catriona Ward
After watching Saltburn (do we need to talk about that movie, because I’m STILL THINKING ABOUT IT and WILL watch it again), my TikTok was full of “books that are Saltburn-y.” I was dubious that any of them would actually capture the spirit/vibe, but this one had been in my periphery for a while, so I gave it a go. Surprisingly, it met the hype—without any of the… no spoilers, so let’s just say “sex stuff” of the movie.
Looking Glass Sound follows a trio of teens (Wilder, the awkward outcasty type), Harper (the beautiful redhead), and Nat (the strong, buff, handsome one) as they explore their summer vacation island and the ghost stories it harbors. By the end of the summer, they share one terrible secret, and the ghosts become—at least in Wilder’s mind—real.
As the story follows Wilder into college and adulthood, it becomes a real mind-f*** for you, the reader, which mimics beautifully what Wilder is also experiencing in the story. The narrators are always unreliable and you never quite know what is and isn’t real as the story leads you through a twisting, turning, sometimes precipitous path. It’s not “one big twist,” it’s a series of gentle but powerfully written turns that leave you so disoriented, the payoff is tremendous.
I won’t spoil anything, but I loved the inventiveness of this story, and have a soft spot for books in which books (in this case, a manuscript) plays a central role. Whether you liked Saltburn or not, Looking Glass Sound passes the vibe check.