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henrygravesprince's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Overall, I think the book pulled off what it intended to do.
Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Minor: Sexual harassment, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Incest
Hallucinations; Unrealityunicornpng's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
With most horror/thriller novels, I always feel like the ending gets rushed. I feel that's somewhat the case with Harrow Lake, but it feels much more earned compared to some other books I've read lately. There have been breadcrumbs left here and there, so it feels more like a payoff than a frantic rush to the finish line.
Honestly, the worst thing I can say about this book is that it's over! I want to read more!
Moderate: Death
Minor: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault
courtney_scott1025's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Abandonment, Body horror, Confinement, Murder, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
ruthmoog's review against another edition
4.25
But in the end it was less of a horror spectacle than just a really sad story.
The repeated use of "optimal" was irritating, I had thought Lola's behaviours were pointing to some neuro-spiciness but by the end I thought not so much. And still some mysteries were unanswered.
Loved the descriptions of the tree and the Jitterbugs.
Graphic: Gaslighting and Alcoholism
Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Death of parent, Alcohol, Abandonment, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Body horror, Mental illness, and Suicide
Trauma, Sexual abuse, Missing persons, Grooming, Memory suppressionfoldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Incest, Confinement, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Grief
Minor: Suicide and Gore
aileron's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, and Incest
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, and Abandonment
tabby2920's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Death of parent
max_vampire's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Alcohol and Alcoholism
readbydusk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Suicide and Sexual assault
onceuponabookcase's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
- There are secrets being hidden in Harrow Lake, and those secrets become fairly obvious to the reader. And they're not great secrets. But they're nothing like what you expect.
- From about half way through, you realise what kind of story this actually is, and that nothing is really going to come of it. And as a horror novel, it quickly becomes ridiculous. Why is Lola so fixated on the myth of Mr Jitters? When nobody else is.
- Harrow Lake is meant to be a horror, but it absolutely isn't a horror at all. People might want to call it a psychological horror, but I'd disagree. It would be a great book to read if you wanted to read about mental health and where the mind can take you. But as a reader, expecting to be scared, it was majorly disappointing.
- This book had one moment that was truly scary; when a puppet - the one of the cover - moves of it's own accord. It's a moment, and that's it. But once you realise what's actually going on, which is really obvious to the reader, so isn't scary at all. There was a lot of eye-rolling.
- I finished the book thinking, "Really? That's it?" Honestly, it felt like a waste of my time.
- I want to point out that my negative reaction is about this book being a horror and the aspects that were meant to be scary, not at Lola's mental health. This book should have been marketed differently, I might have had a completely different reading experience.
- Other people really enjoyed this book, so do read other reviews before deciding whether or not you will.
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Suicide