I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst Published by HarperTeen on 4/25/23
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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Claire’s grown up triple-checking locks. Counting her steps. Second-guessing every decision. It’s just how she’s wired—her worst-case scenarios never actually come true.
Until she arrives at an off-the-grid summer camp to find a blackened, burned husk instead of a lodge—and no survivors, except her and two other late arrivals: Reyva and Mariana.
When the three girls find a dead body in the woods, they realize none of this is an accident. Someone, something, is hunting them. Something that hides in the shadows.
Something that refuses to let them leave.
Short and Sweet Review
Claire has a lot of fears and to deal with them she’ll go through a checklist in her head. Claire is sure her worst case scenario won’t come true but she’ll be ready in case it does. When Claire and two other girls, Mariana and Reyva arrive to the summer camp they’re supposed to be staying at and see the lake house burned to the ground and find the director dead, they know they’re in trouble. The girls are stuck on this island, where they have no contact with the outside world, a killer running loose, and even some mysterious force that doesn’t want them to leave.
The Lake House is a survival, horror, mystery and I’m glad that the way the book was described is actually what the book was like. Claire, Reyva, and Mariana are the last campers to arrive and what they end up seeing is not what they expect. The girls have no choice but to figure out how to survive on the island especially because they don’t know when or even if help is coming. All the girls know for sure is that there’s a murderer on the island and they have to stay vigilante. The first half of the book is mainly survival and trying to avoid who they think is the murderer and trying to get off the island. The second half deals with the same thing except now we have the supernatural element involved and the girls were trying to avoid the consequences of getting stuck on the island with (I’m not even sure what to call it. A ghost? A spirit?). Anyway the girls also see their boat driver, Jack come back, and he’s around their age and he seems shocked about the things going on but he knows more than he lets on. I did like the bond that the girls formed, they’ve only known each other for a few hours before they’re thrown into something they really weren’t prepared for. The girls were resourceful and put their heads together to make sure that they would at least be able to survive. I will say some parts of the books confused me, mainly with what ever weird force was at work. I wish that part was explained more. The ending was okay, I’m not sure why all three girls had a memory lapse.
This was a good book and I enjoyed seeing the girls form a bond and truly try to find a way to make it out alive. I would still want some explaination about the paranormal parts and the ending could have been better, but other than that if you’re looking for a creepy and suspenseful book check this one out.
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