Help! We're trapped inside this podcast and we can't get out! Just kidding, that didn't happen to us. It happened to our friend. Or did it...? This week, the squad attempts to untangle the complexities of Catriona Ward's latest novel, Looking Glass Sound. We spend a good chunk of the podcast nailing down the plot, but we also find time to discuss the merits of stories within stories, watery books, and, obviously, gay stuff. If you feel like you can explain any of this better than we did, please drop us a line at thesquad@booksquadgoals.com, and if you're not all Christmased out, check out Emily's 12 Days of Christmas Movies series on the blog! Stay tuned for our upcoming othersode on our favorite things of 2023 (1/9), and read Biography of X by Catherine Lacey to prep for our next bookpisode (1/23) which will also feature an interview with Emily Austin, author of Interesting Facts About Space. Happy (???) New Year!TOC:30 - Unhinged milk conversation3:55 - Actual welcome & intro question9:49 - Dog advice11:30 - Goodreads summary (featuring a mistake)14:25 - Remembering what happened in this book16:55 - Establishing basic plot points27:26 - When things start to spiral36:40 - The “present” of the book47:30 - Witchcraft?51:02 - Stories within stories - do these work?56:00 - Catriona Ward’s other books that we’re obsessed with1:01:08 - Gay stuff!1:06:30 - The setting and wet books1:10:50 - Character specifics and humor1:14:21 - Emily’s ONE critique1:19:00 - Ratings1:26:45 - Listener feedback1:33:10 - What Emily wrote for the blog1:40:00 - What’s next on the pod