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A review by denali_epub
Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis
4.0
★★★★
Something creepy this way comes…
As most of you know, until recently, I didn’t tend to gravitate towards thrillers or horror novels. It takes a lot for me to consider a book to be well and truly creepy. That being said, Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis isn’t a book to be read in the dark.
There are so many things to say about this book. It didn’t earn five stars from me, but it’s definitely one of my favorite creepy reads of the year. Like many fellow reviewers, I would consider this to be more of a psychological thriller than a horror novel, but either way, I meant what I said. Don’t read this book in the dark. While I was reading, I was convinced that every sound was the dreaded Mr. Jitters coming for me.
That being said, the supernatural elements of this story weren’t really what set me on edge. It was the setting, Harrow Lake with it’s an eerie atmosphere like a town captured in a snow globe and doomed to never meet the modern world. Harrow Lake is set in our present day, but the town itself is still trapped in the 20’s, obsessed with the movie that put it on the map. Nightjar is the film that brought Lola Nox to life, and it’s also pretty much the death of her.
Arriving in the town where Nightjar was filmed, Lola’s sanity is slowly unraveling as the story goes on. Perhaps that’s the most unnerving part of the story, an unreliable narrator who was already off before arriving in Harrow Lake. Lola’s father is controlling and overprotective, forcing Lola to become obsessed with being the Optimal daughter, and you can tell she’s already on her way down the rabbit hole before Harrow Lake beings to pluck at her brain with needle-like fingers. Lola’s descent into madness is truly gut-wrenching, and I was invested enough in the book that I felt as if I were tumbling down with her.
With all of that in consideration, however, I wish there had been some more concrete answers to some of the questions left open at the end of the novel. There were missed opportunities to turn this book into something truly horrifying, which is why I landed on a four instead of five-star review.
Harrow Lake is just the book for anyone looking for a spooky October read, psychologically compelling and riveting up until the very last page. Personally, I can’t wait to see what Kat Ellis comes up with next.
Something creepy this way comes…
As most of you know, until recently, I didn’t tend to gravitate towards thrillers or horror novels. It takes a lot for me to consider a book to be well and truly creepy. That being said, Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis isn’t a book to be read in the dark.
There are so many things to say about this book. It didn’t earn five stars from me, but it’s definitely one of my favorite creepy reads of the year. Like many fellow reviewers, I would consider this to be more of a psychological thriller than a horror novel, but either way, I meant what I said. Don’t read this book in the dark. While I was reading, I was convinced that every sound was the dreaded Mr. Jitters coming for me.
That being said, the supernatural elements of this story weren’t really what set me on edge. It was the setting, Harrow Lake with it’s an eerie atmosphere like a town captured in a snow globe and doomed to never meet the modern world. Harrow Lake is set in our present day, but the town itself is still trapped in the 20’s, obsessed with the movie that put it on the map. Nightjar is the film that brought Lola Nox to life, and it’s also pretty much the death of her.
Arriving in the town where Nightjar was filmed, Lola’s sanity is slowly unraveling as the story goes on. Perhaps that’s the most unnerving part of the story, an unreliable narrator who was already off before arriving in Harrow Lake. Lola’s father is controlling and overprotective, forcing Lola to become obsessed with being the Optimal daughter, and you can tell she’s already on her way down the rabbit hole before Harrow Lake beings to pluck at her brain with needle-like fingers. Lola’s descent into madness is truly gut-wrenching, and I was invested enough in the book that I felt as if I were tumbling down with her.
With all of that in consideration, however, I wish there had been some more concrete answers to some of the questions left open at the end of the novel. There were missed opportunities to turn this book into something truly horrifying, which is why I landed on a four instead of five-star review.
Harrow Lake is just the book for anyone looking for a spooky October read, psychologically compelling and riveting up until the very last page. Personally, I can’t wait to see what Kat Ellis comes up with next.