Review by ashley55tay - The House Across the Lake

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ashley55tay 's review for:

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

1.5

slow-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

The characters were relatively surface level and I had trouble connecting with them and becoming engrossed in the story. I love an unreliable narrator, but this was not done well - I hate when the main character straight up lies to the audience in order to ensure their shock at what was really going on.

The perspective from Casey’s mind means we are hearing all her thoughts about her husband’s death and the missing girls, and she just happened to never block an intrusive thought about how she murdered her serial killer husband and has to fake believing the neighbor across the lake may have been the one that committed those murders? The possession reveal threw me off in a pretty negative way, I would have been more open to it if we had even a hint of any weird or supernatural happenings aside from a random ghost story and the possessed Katherine somehow knowing Casey’s phone number. Finding out in the finale that Tom really was trying to kill his wife the whole time and his attempt to go after Casey seems almost laughable after spiritual takeovers.

Content Warnings