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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Nothing sounds better than a home by the lake. The sound of the lapping water. Being able to fish for your dinner. Making s’mores over a fire. Unless that lake brings terror, as so many do.
Lake Timmeny has been home to Julia’s family for years. Along with her camp crew of David and Erika, Julia has many fond memories of the lake. Even as adults they still plan two weeks at the lake, all three families. But this year something is very different.
David has done the unthinkable and built a three story glass monstrosity that blocks the views from both Julia’s and Erika’s homes. Julia is irate, but Erika less so. Erika claims she is practicing mindfulness, and really, what can be done now. Julia is still seeing red. Her perfect vacation ruined by David’s thoughtlessness. Add in his way too young and rather risqué girlfriend, and Julia isn’t sure she’ll get through this one.
Izzy has come along with David’s family as a nanny to his two young children. Izzy lied her way into the job, but she had reasons for wanting to be at Lake Timmeny this summer. Reasons she can’t share with anyone, especially her mother. She took the job without meeting David, but once in the car for the drive, he gives off creepy vibes.
The lake is home to two previous disappearances. One in the 1960’s and the other back in the 1990’s. Neither girl was ever found. Now there are three young women at the lake that could be the next prey for the lake. After all, this is the sixty year anniversary of the first disappearance and the 30th for the second. As the story goes, the lake takes them.
Well written and suspenseful mystery for a great summer read. Izzy and Julia are full of secrets and suspicions. We see the story unfold from their eyes. It is easy to point the finger at just about anyone, because it seems that all have motives. I loved that this book was written from a young woman’s and a middle-aged woman’s point of view. Two clearly different viewpoints, yet their feelings merge often during the tale.
Some of the characters give off a very bad vibe, but can just as easily turn it around and then seem great. It’s the mark of a good mystery when you struggle to define any one person as the culprit.
Great beach read. Great anytime read.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fun mystery with lots of twists and turns. Thanks to Macmillan audio for the gifted copy through The Storygraph giveaway!
medium-paced
This was entertaining enough for a summer read but the end was somehow underwhelming but also too much/confusing at the same time.
Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the advanced copy <3
Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the advanced copy <3
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Having read both of Jamie Day’s previous novels, I was thrilled to be sent an ARC of her newest book. While the book was a slow burn for the first 2/3rds, overall it did not disappoint.
The Lake Escape is set on a lake in Vermont, where 3 friends: Julia, David and Erika all have houses next to each other and have been going to the lake in the summer their entire lives. The lake carries secrets where two women with no connections both vanished exactly 30 years apart and now David’s new girlfriend has vanished as well exactly 30 years after the last disappearance.
The story is told with dual POVs, coming from Julia and Izzy, who is the nanny hired by David. The story started off slow and it felt like it was going to be very straight forward and nothing surprising would happen until about 70% of the way through. Then the story really took off and I was shocked by the twists it revealed. While I had a small inkling that was partially correct in the end, I was completely wrong about the actual direction the disappearances went in.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The Lake Escape is set on a lake in Vermont, where 3 friends: Julia, David and Erika all have houses next to each other and have been going to the lake in the summer their entire lives. The lake carries secrets where two women with no connections both vanished exactly 30 years apart and now David’s new girlfriend has vanished as well exactly 30 years after the last disappearance.
The story is told with dual POVs, coming from Julia and Izzy, who is the nanny hired by David. The story started off slow and it felt like it was going to be very straight forward and nothing surprising would happen until about 70% of the way through. Then the story really took off and I was shocked by the twists it revealed. While I had a small inkling that was partially correct in the end, I was completely wrong about the actual direction the disappearances went in.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This might be my favorite Jamie Day book to date. I don't know if it was the idyllic setting or the way nothing was as it appeared almost immediately. I was hooked by Izzy's story right away and could not wait to find out her motives and the secrets she was keeping. There were a lot of unexpected twists and fascinating storylines to follow and I was completely captivated by the writing and storytelling. The lake went from a lovely holiday place to a dark dangerous place full of secrets. I love the way things were wrapped up in a unique format.
Note: I listened to the audiobook and the narration was perfect for enhancing the tense atmosphere.
Note: I listened to the audiobook and the narration was perfect for enhancing the tense atmosphere.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Overall this wasn't for me. There were some pros and cons within the story
Pros - The lakehouse setting was great
There is a come around moment at the end of the book that is pretty fun given how it starts
Cons - The characters are all extremely unlikeable.
There is simply too much going on. The story feels convoluted.
There are areas where the dialogue was a little cheesy and borderline immature.
The twist was interesting but I didn't think it made up for the list of cons to provide an overall really enjoyable thriller to me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Pros - The lakehouse setting was great
There is a come around moment at the end of the book that is pretty fun given how it starts
Cons - The characters are all extremely unlikeable.
There is simply too much going on. The story feels convoluted.
There are areas where the dialogue was a little cheesy and borderline immature.
The twist was interesting but I didn't think it made up for the list of cons to provide an overall really enjoyable thriller to me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Please note that I received this via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
I liked this book just because for once an author resisted the urge to have 2o POVs to get to a plot/ending. Day stuck to two main characters which I think helped with the plot and flow. I thought that there were a couple of minor holes here and there, but nothing that bothered me that much. I do think that at one point there was just too much stuff happening though that didn't quite worked, hence the 4 stars, really a 3.5 star read. I really couldn't put it down at one point and thought the ending just cried out for even more information.
"The Lake Escapes" follows three childhood friends (now adults) Julia, David, and Erika who go to the lake that their respective families went to every summer. Now that they are in their late 40s with some small and in some cases teens, one of the friends (Julia) is angry her long-time friend David has built a glass monstrosity and has ruined the perfection of the lake. David, brings along a new girlfriend and his new nanny too (Izzy).
The majority of the story is told via Julia and Izzy's perspectives. We occasionally get some newspaper articles, etc. read but it stays at that level throughout. I did like the insight we get into both of these characters and Julia's slow realization that she really doesn't know her friends just as much as she doesn't see or know her husband. I think at times she was blinded by the reality of what her life actually was. Her hands-off approach to her business and daughter was head shaking inducing to me.
Izzy was good, it takes a while to get at what she is there for (outside of her love of true crime podcasts). I thought once that was firmly established her character worked more.
The plot of two women going missing at the lake and David's recent girlfriend going missing too was interesting. I was curious how they would all tie together. I think Day did an okayish job with that. The flow of the story works too.
I thought the setting of the lake which at times felt dark and ominous worked with the story. When Day gives us details about the two women who went missing before and the one who is missing now at times you imagine a monster of the lake going about its business.
The main issue I think I had was the ending and there should have been some cuts here and there to make it worked. Way too much information dumping and the explanation behind one major incident which served as the catalyst of the events today did not work at all. I legit went what in the world is happening? This is some Days of Our Lives Marlena is possessed by the Devil mess. It just did not work for me at all and I had to go back a few times because it just felt really out of flow of the rest of the book.
I liked this book just because for once an author resisted the urge to have 2o POVs to get to a plot/ending. Day stuck to two main characters which I think helped with the plot and flow. I thought that there were a couple of minor holes here and there, but nothing that bothered me that much. I do think that at one point there was just too much stuff happening though that didn't quite worked, hence the 4 stars, really a 3.5 star read. I really couldn't put it down at one point and thought the ending just cried out for even more information.
"The Lake Escapes" follows three childhood friends (now adults) Julia, David, and Erika who go to the lake that their respective families went to every summer. Now that they are in their late 40s with some small and in some cases teens, one of the friends (Julia) is angry her long-time friend David has built a glass monstrosity and has ruined the perfection of the lake. David, brings along a new girlfriend and his new nanny too (Izzy).
The majority of the story is told via Julia and Izzy's perspectives. We occasionally get some newspaper articles, etc. read but it stays at that level throughout. I did like the insight we get into both of these characters and Julia's slow realization that she really doesn't know her friends just as much as she doesn't see or know her husband. I think at times she was blinded by the reality of what her life actually was. Her hands-off approach to her business and daughter was head shaking inducing to me.
Izzy was good, it takes a while to get at what she is there for (outside of her love of true crime podcasts). I thought once that was firmly established her character worked more.
The plot of two women going missing at the lake and David's recent girlfriend going missing too was interesting. I was curious how they would all tie together. I think Day did an okayish job with that. The flow of the story works too.
I thought the setting of the lake which at times felt dark and ominous worked with the story. When Day gives us details about the two women who went missing before and the one who is missing now at times you imagine a monster of the lake going about its business.
The main issue I think I had was the ending and there should have been some cuts here and there to make it worked. Way too much information dumping and the explanation behind one major incident which served as the catalyst of the events today did not work at all. I legit went what in the world is happening? This is some Days of Our Lives Marlena is possessed by the Devil mess. It just did not work for me at all and I had to go back a few times because it just felt really out of flow of the rest of the book.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved all the twists and turns that came from this book. I was so shocked by all the different aspects of this book. The entire time you think that the book is going to go one way and then it went a completely different way. I loved the ending and how it all happened. It was exactly what I was hoping the outcome would be. All the questions I had for this book were answered.