Scan barcode
esenxali's review against another edition
2.0
I had such high hopes for this but it was so boring. also the use of the word ‘optimal’ is the most jarring thing. it’s like the author heard that word for the first time and ran with it. it’s literally used in every sentence
sassyykassie's review against another edition
5.0
I could not put this book down. I was having dreams about the monsters unveiled in this story and it was so well done. Creepy, unreliable narrator. A mix between Night Film and It. i hopes everyone reads it during this Halloween season
someonetookit's review against another edition
3.0
Actually kind of disappointed at this one. As soon as the photo on the chair came up, I felt like I knew what the real deal was. Especially after the grandmother loses her shit.
I have been told by many MANY people that this novel was super creepy but alas, except for a couple of moments (I live rural so tapping on windows is a thing), I didn't feel the mojo.
If you are a beginner to 'horror' type novels then I feel like this may have you on edge. If not, my advice is to go with something along the lines of Imaginary Friend instead
I have been told by many MANY people that this novel was super creepy but alas, except for a couple of moments (I live rural so tapping on windows is a thing), I didn't feel the mojo.
If you are a beginner to 'horror' type novels then I feel like this may have you on edge. If not, my advice is to go with something along the lines of Imaginary Friend instead
callentha's review against another edition
2.0
2,5 ⭐️ Maybe horror is just not my genre. Who knows. Yes this was creeping at different points and I liked the ending but mostly it was confusing.
laurareadsthrillers's review against another edition
2.0
Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis
If you like the books: Final Girls Support Group by Grady Hendrix
If you like the books: Final Girls Support Group by Grady Hendrix
tyto_alba's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 Stars
I feel like this book was a little too all over the place for my liking. It was hard to get pulled in for the first quarter or so because the main character was so annoying and unlikeable. She said the word "optimal" way, waaaaaaay too many times, for no reason that is ever given. It actually began making me angry to continuously have to see this word used. She also seems to hate everyone she comes across, being down right rude or hostile to even the people she doesn't hate.
Then the plot begins to become more interesting as she explores Harrow Lake and meets the people there. She begins hallucinating (?) or seeing strange things, and the "mystery" is actually compelling to read, especially as she finds more out about her mom. Unfortunately, what she finds out about her mom isn't handled with any kind of gravity. When she finally discovers this big "revelation" about her mom, it was already so painfully obvious that I spent most of the previous chapters angry at how embarrassingly stupid she is for somehow not seeing it. And then nothing comes of it anyway. It feels like it's only there as a twist without being a surprise at all to anyone but Lola, which is just plain frustrating.
There are also many plot threads that don't go anywhere, including the above revelation. Certain characters mean absolutely nothing to the plot (Mary Anne is a great example), and entire scenes are only there to be clunky "red herrings," though they presumably only exist to throw you off what to expect the genre of the book to be, I guess. For example, anything that happens in the museum and the several dream sequences. The ending (no spoilers!) feels wildly unearned because nothing at all leads to that point, raising more questions and answering some of the ones you did have in the most forced (and unbelievable/unrealistic) way possible.
Even character plot threads mean nothing. The grandmother was interesting because she was dealing with memory issues surrounding Lorelei and Lola looking so much alike and projecting onto Lola, and has a lot of anger and guilt. This is only briefly touched upon, making a potentially deep character utterly lack real depth, rendering the grandmother little more than a cheap scare tactic. Carter has issues with his family, but again, it's only mentioned to give the illusion of depth where there is none. We ultimately know little of Carter other than how other people in his life treat him. The shape of Carter is only formed by the shadows of other characters, and I don't really count that as development. Cora is there, and that's it. She shows up only briefly enough to tease that she has a personality, then she's gone.
The town itself could have been amazing. They are all begrudgingly obsessed with the movie Nightjar that brings in tourists, but all the personality and lore that goes into the town is dumped about halfway through to focus on "Mister Jitters," which is only interesting for a little until Mary Anne shows up and Lola becomes impossible to believe as a narrator. Not that I don't like unreliable narrators, but I like creepy small towns more. These two tropes could have gone wonderfully together, but the effect is more that they cancel each other out.
In conclusion, this book really wasn't for me. I felt disappointed with the development of the story, which is made worse because the only reason I powered through my initial dislike of Lola was for the creepy town atmosphere.
That said, this book seems to be generally loved, so I don't want to dissuade anyone from reading it if the synopsis seems interesting.
I feel like this book was a little too all over the place for my liking. It was hard to get pulled in for the first quarter or so because the main character was so annoying and unlikeable. She said the word "optimal" way, waaaaaaay too many times, for no reason that is ever given. It actually began making me angry to continuously have to see this word used. She also seems to hate everyone she comes across, being down right rude or hostile to even the people she doesn't hate.
Then the plot begins to become more interesting as she explores Harrow Lake and meets the people there. She begins hallucinating (?) or seeing strange things, and the "mystery" is actually compelling to read, especially as she finds more out about her mom. Unfortunately, what she finds out about her mom isn't handled with any kind of gravity. When she finally discovers this big "revelation" about her mom, it was already so painfully obvious that I spent most of the previous chapters angry at how embarrassingly stupid she is for somehow not seeing it. And then nothing comes of it anyway. It feels like it's only there as a twist without being a surprise at all to anyone but Lola, which is just plain frustrating.
There are also many plot threads that don't go anywhere, including the above revelation. Certain characters mean absolutely nothing to the plot (Mary Anne is a great example), and entire scenes are only there to be clunky "red herrings," though they presumably only exist to throw you off what to expect the genre of the book to be, I guess. For example, anything that happens in the museum and the several dream sequences. The ending (no spoilers!) feels wildly unearned because nothing at all leads to that point, raising more questions and answering some of the ones you did have in the most forced (and unbelievable/unrealistic) way possible.
Even character plot threads mean nothing. The grandmother was interesting because she was dealing with memory issues surrounding Lorelei and Lola looking so much alike and projecting onto Lola, and has a lot of anger and guilt. This is only briefly touched upon, making a potentially deep character utterly lack real depth, rendering the grandmother little more than a cheap scare tactic. Carter has issues with his family, but again, it's only mentioned to give the illusion of depth where there is none. We ultimately know little of Carter other than how other people in his life treat him. The shape of Carter is only formed by the shadows of other characters, and I don't really count that as development. Cora is there, and that's it. She shows up only briefly enough to tease that she has a personality, then she's gone.
The town itself could have been amazing. They are all begrudgingly obsessed with the movie Nightjar that brings in tourists, but all the personality and lore that goes into the town is dumped about halfway through to focus on "Mister Jitters," which is only interesting for a little until Mary Anne shows up and Lola becomes impossible to believe as a narrator. Not that I don't like unreliable narrators, but I like creepy small towns more. These two tropes could have gone wonderfully together, but the effect is more that they cancel each other out.
In conclusion, this book really wasn't for me. I felt disappointed with the development of the story, which is made worse because the only reason I powered through my initial dislike of Lola was for the creepy town atmosphere.
That said, this book seems to be generally loved, so I don't want to dissuade anyone from reading it if the synopsis seems interesting.
zooloo1983's review against another edition
3.0
This is another book I failed to make any blinking notes on and after reading the blurb I was so excited to listen to this one! So off we started and wow what a beginning, Lola’s Dad has just been attacked in their apartment and to keep Lola safe, he sends her away to a small tour called Harrow Lake to live with a Nan she has very little memory of. This Nan, is her Mother’s mum, her mother who is missing, the Nan who is losing her mind slowly.
Then we hit Harrow Lake, and I got bored. Yes, things started to happen but a lot of it was just a little…well weird. It didn’t make any sense and I am still not sure I ‘got’ the ending. I mean I got the obvious ending but the ambiguous one, not so sure!
This town was just blinking bizarre, Lola’s mother was a superstar and she filmed the film that made her here, it was also where she met Lola’s Dad. The whole town felt like a shrine to her, there was even a place you could go just to see everything about her mum. Then the Nan starts hiding her stuff and she makes Lola wear her mother’s clothes from the film, well it was just all a bit bonkers. There was a lot, I felt, that wasn’t explained and that for me was one of them. Although, I may have just missed it in the audiobook.
The legend of Mr Jitters would have been terrifying but because I was already confused with it everything and that includes a few eye rolls at times, it didn’t work for me. However, the thing that did scare me was the town it was truly suffocating and no one ever seemed to be able to leave. Lola was stuck. This did unnerve me.
I do wonder what experience I might have if I hadn’t listened to this book and whether it is a book I should read instead. Maybe in the future, I might give it a go and see what I missed and if I can pick anything new up but for now, I think Harrow Lake can stay right where it is!
Then we hit Harrow Lake, and I got bored. Yes, things started to happen but a lot of it was just a little…well weird. It didn’t make any sense and I am still not sure I ‘got’ the ending. I mean I got the obvious ending but the ambiguous one, not so sure!
This town was just blinking bizarre, Lola’s mother was a superstar and she filmed the film that made her here, it was also where she met Lola’s Dad. The whole town felt like a shrine to her, there was even a place you could go just to see everything about her mum. Then the Nan starts hiding her stuff and she makes Lola wear her mother’s clothes from the film, well it was just all a bit bonkers. There was a lot, I felt, that wasn’t explained and that for me was one of them. Although, I may have just missed it in the audiobook.
The legend of Mr Jitters would have been terrifying but because I was already confused with it everything and that includes a few eye rolls at times, it didn’t work for me. However, the thing that did scare me was the town it was truly suffocating and no one ever seemed to be able to leave. Lola was stuck. This did unnerve me.
I do wonder what experience I might have if I hadn’t listened to this book and whether it is a book I should read instead. Maybe in the future, I might give it a go and see what I missed and if I can pick anything new up but for now, I think Harrow Lake can stay right where it is!
bmulford's review against another edition
2.0
Ambling from set piece to set piece, some of the horror is done well, some parts just pass you by. Not *optimal* (that bloody word) when you can mentally see the iPhone note used to build the plot while reading it.
You end up splitting your time between wondering how you got to a plot point, and seeing the next plot point coming. The premise and the messaging are good, but unfortunately bungled. Disappointing but curious what else the author can do.
You end up splitting your time between wondering how you got to a plot point, and seeing the next plot point coming. The premise and the messaging are good, but unfortunately bungled. Disappointing but curious what else the author can do.
courtney_scott1025's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I liked this book and am a sucker for a book set in Indiana as I grew up there. It just kind of fell flat in certain areas. I don't regret reading this, but I thought some of the ideas could have been a little better fleshed out. I also did not realize that this was about a teenager, and I wasn't super into the young love scenes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Abandonment, Body horror, Confinement, Murder, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse