Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - A House at the Bottom of a Lake

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman

16 reviews

everyatom's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.0

I was gonna give this book 1 star but I realized that it is actually super consumable content in a way. But the way that almost the exact sentence about "falling in love...deeper into the lake....deeper in love..." happened like 5x in this book is crazy. I felt icky reading about teenager sex. Stupidly abrupt ending, not in a good way. Felt like the editor said something ominous should be tacked on the end, but for no reason whatsoever. I don't expect straight up clear cut answers to everything in a horror novel, but I do like allusions to why things are happening the way they are, but nope. Felt pointless to read because there was not even a glance in the direction of resolution by the end. I don't need it tied up in a bow but man, I need somethin

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katie_k1's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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andrewhatesham's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

3.0

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seawarrior's review

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3.0

While the premise for this book was intriguing, I don't think Malerman pushed the horror as far as it could go. Maybe that was intentional. It's more of a somewhat doomed love story between two teenagers who are forging the first real romantic relationship they've ever had. The relationship itself and it's development through the teenagers' preoccupation with the house is the meat of the story. I had some trouble getting engaged with it since I notoriously dislike romances, but imagining the house and how strange and wonderful it seemed was entertaining.

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juliarenae's review

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

excellent vibes for anyone who likes something bordering on surreal and full of spooky whimsy. Very direct writing and was slightly disappointing at the end especially. the writing of the imagery my fav part. A good quick spooky read, the ending was slightly disappointing.

Worst part of the book is when the author discusses in detail of two teens having sex, very unnecessary.

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jebowman123's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

2.0

I was not expecting this to be so boring. Maybe I just don’t have any imagination, but two kids pining after each other in a dark lake because they’re using an exploration of a flooded house as an excuse to see each other is just not my idea of a thriller. Is this a YA book? Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention when I picked it up.

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tifftastic87's review

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Edit: the more I think about this book the more frustrated I get about how anticlimactic it was. I've lowered my rating from a 3 to a 2.5.

This, for me, was pretty mid. It has all the boxes ticked to make me anxious:
✅️ underwater
✅️ claustrophobia
✅️ dark spaces
✅️ creepy basement
✅️ haunted house

But the story was just not there for me. When they did finally get to the big spook it was pretty anticlimactic.

The narrative style didn't do it for me, I think because of all the headhopping. I didnt get to know enough about the characters to actually care about them, so it was more about the house.

There are some interesting themes and the house feels like a metaphor for that rush of first love you get as a teen. Which is maybe heavy handed?

The story wasn't awful, and I didn't hate it, but there wasn't anything about it that I feel like was missing in my life. There was a lot more romance than I was expecting and it felt like an afterthought to the story itself. But I would have found it more enjoyable if they were just friends hanging out.

I dont like their physical intimacy seemed to wake up the cosmic horror part of the house

especially since they're kids. If the romance needed to be a part of it, why couldn't they have just been 18 or 19?

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