Reviews with content warning for Torture - The House Across the Lake

Dark n twisty at its finest. Every time I had a new theory, I was almost immediately proven wrong. A little slow to set the scene but about halfway through, it picks up and does not stop! Twist after twist - read the last 150 pages in one sitting and skipped dinner.

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elthewallflower's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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meeklovestoread's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I liked the pacing of this book. It kept me entertained. And I like how the author handled the huge twist.

HOWEVER, my goodness! This book was messy and the big plot twists was outlandish and ludicrous. It was so out of left field and although I didn't mind it and it didn't make me angry I can completely understand why people would rate this low and/or dislike this book because of it.

I felt like the twist would've been awesome if the author actually forwarded/gave the reader hints throughout the book then maybe the twist would've been more effective.

I didn't mind the female character, however, the withholding of information until the end made no sense considering we're already in her head anyways. And she was also picking another big secret from everyone else anyways so the author withholding said information from the reader made no sense.

The book just felt unorganized towards the middle-end because it felt like the author was jumbling multiple ideas at once and never wanted to just stick to one so he chose them all. Overall its not a bad book, but if you like thrillers that make sense and are symbolic through and through then you can skip this one. I did find it entertaining though so I'll give the author that.

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rebriley95's review

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I know this book was supposed to be a thriller but it was completely insane. The plot twists were unexpected but very unrealistic. Not a bad read, but probably wouldn’t recommend it.

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espressoreader's review

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tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

This is what happens when an author has a bunch of ideas on sticky notes and then decides to chose which one to use by playing pin the tail on the donkey. Unfortunately, the reader is the donkey in this scenario. The plot of this book was about 3 different mismatched and then mangled story arcs that were never spliced.

The alcoholism of the main character took too much time. Does it happen? Absolutely, but functional alcoholics are functional not constantly at the booze at the cost of other things, and dysfunctional alcoholics don’t make good narrators. Too much of the main character’s personality was obfuscated by the addiction. I am aware that it happens in life, but that does not render it a good person to select to guide the whole book.

Fail.

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