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

Interesting read so I'll start with the set up - We follow Casey, a former actress, turned alcoholic, who is coming off the tragic death of her husband, Len, who drowned in the lake where her family's lake house is located and where she is residing now (after a slew of bad publicity from paparazzi). While here Casey takes to spying on her just as famous neighbors who live across the lake from her, where she sees some troubling events that cascade into further turmoil and tension. I heavily advise going into this book while HEAVILY suspending your disbelief, it will come in handy quite a lot with this read...

I really wanted to give this book more than a 4/5 but ... the reveal that

Len possessed/inhabited Katherine's body the whole time

almost ruined the whole book for me. At first I thought maybe it would be saved by that very final twist/reveal but to no avail. In fact, that last reveal somehow saved the book a bit for me, as I would've given this 3 or 3.5/5 without it.

That being said, the first like 85% of this book was great and a very fast-paced read that I didn't always want to put down. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey this book took me on (even if I didn't like all of the outcomes) and plan to pick up this author again!

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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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