Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Stillhouse Lake

4.5 stars and PHEW what a ride. This was exactly the kind of thriller I've been craving — well-written, good character development, tension, and a satisfying conclusion. I immediately found the next book in the series and will be starting it immediately.

Content Warnings

hopelessromanticbookworm's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This is my first ever crime related book I have ever read and I have to say it is the best! It keeps you gripping from start to finish. It keeps you thinking of so many possibilities, making you wonder who the character can trust. Believe me, there was a couple of times I was wrong. I can’t wait to read the next book! 😍 x

Content Warnings

redstringraven's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

mendthecat's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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

2.0

So far I've only seen positive reviews for Stillhouse Lake, unfortunately I seem to be in the minority. There are two reasons:

I've read this story before. As in, I've previosly read this one book (to be fair, I think it may have been published after this one, but I read it first, so...) where the main character (female) is taking care of her brother and has moved to this new place. There, she meets this guy who becomes her love interest. Some murdery thing happens, she becomes a suspect, etc. In Stillhouse Lake, our MC is also female and is now a single parent to two kids. They too change to a new place - stillhouse lake -, trying to escape people who threaten her and her family and want to make her pay for her husband's crimes. In this new place, she meets a guy, who also becomes a love interest. Even the endings have similarities, specifically
the kidnapping of someone close to the MCs
. All in all, there were way too many plot resemblances for me to be able to enjoy this.

As you can tell by the synopsys, there's a killer, who seems to be imitating our MC's husband crimes. Rachel Caine is not subtle about who it is since you can guess it from the first time they show up. I mean, it was pretty obvious from their first lines that they're up to something. As such, when the reveal time came I wasn't surprised. Some people don't necessarily need an unpredictable plot to appreciate a mystery/thriller, and I agree to a certain extent. But between this and the fact that I have read another book with an identical plot...

In sum, I was pretty disappointed, even though I would have, probably, enjoyed this book more if it wasn't for the fact that the story - plot and characters - are nothing new to me. It was, all things considered, too predictable and familiar.

Content Warnings

katemreads's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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