Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Lake by Natasha Preston

20 reviews

botanicalreader's review against another edition

mysterious medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Blood, Animal cruelty, and Fire/Fire injury

julells's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I really loved the idea of the book and it was definitely okayish written. However the entire plot turned out to be rather irrational and the ending was just really disappointing to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

ruthypoo2's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book is fine for a YA thriller and it reads very YA. There’s mystery and best friends with a secret and budding romances and new friends, all rolled up in a traditional summer camp setting. The story is a little slow to start as it takes its time establishing the characters’ backstories and evolving relationships. There are creepy sightings and hints about a past tragedy woven throughout the first couple of weeks as campers and their counselors arrive and get settled into the day-to-day camp activities.

Mid-point the pace picks up with more action and a various suspicious behavior occurring that causes the main character and narrator, Esme, to question who she can trust. The final act takes the reader down a dark and winding path, and for me, it didn’t entirely add up that the consequences for some of the characters was rightfully deserved. I liked the ending and while it probably wouldn’t hold up in the real world, it was calculated and twisted enough to fit the psyche of the culprit who engineered the events.

I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narration by Lillie Ricciardi. Her voice is clear and she captured the youthful naïveté and banter of the teenage characters.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Blood

kat_rowlen's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A bit slow in the beginning but definitely picks up. The “train of thought” writing style took some getting used to. This was definitely a page turner 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Child death

addybug1125's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

1.75

I disliked the main character, esme. I felt that I couldn't get too into her character because she didn't feel real. There were a lot of missing pieces regarding her background but Kelly being hinted at. I felt that there were too many praises for her thinking, once I noticed it, I couldn't go back. I hated the ending. Very typical horror story ending. There's much more I could say but don't

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Stalking, and Gore

vj_thompson's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

If you can get through the terrible dialogue and the child-like behavior, I think it’s worth finding out how the books ends. The. Ending. Is. Crazy!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Animal death, and Gore

Moderate: Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Death, and Bullying

Minor: Kidnapping and Car accident

richofficer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This book was incredibly repetitive, the characters and their encounters with Lillian and her doings seemed as if they were going in circles the  entire time until they just reached the end. I also thought that the ending was quick for no reason, and I thought it didn’t make too much sense. Although the not-so-good writing made it hard to get through each chapter, the intriguing plot and similar, but also simple and creative occurrences with the dolls and deer made it easier to get through so props to the author for their creativity.

I genuinely thought the people that  died could’ve made it out with how fast-paced Natasha made the ending, it seemed like it happened over a few minutes and it didn’t seem realistic with how Olly and Kayla died only being shot in the stomachs and not even given enough time to bleed out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Child death

Minor: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Car accident

featherinthewind's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

do not read this if you want a decisive answer and ending because what the hell. I will say this book is much better than her other ones but I did notice it had the same issues as others. For one, there are so many characters to keep track of and only a few really matter. I couldn’t keep everyone straight and only started to match names to descriptions half way through. The story was strong and kept its edge and suspense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Stalking, Animal death, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

bellaguiliano's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Animal cruelty, Death, Animal death, Gore, and Murder

arthomas's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Stalking, Child abuse, Car accident, Bullying, Torture, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Murder, and Toxic relationship