A review by rachelshubin
Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I reallllllly had this book high on my anticipated reads for 2023 and was severely let down. And that’s okay, because it means Every Summer After was just better! I’ll still recommend and probably reread ESA at some point. 

I couldn’t get into the story, didn’t really connect or like the characters very much. Jamie and Philippe (though barely in it) annoyed me, more so the former. Fern didn’t express herself well enough for me to identify with. 

The one thing I appreciated was it was very visual in the writing, so I could totally picture Brookbanks. I’m just sad I wasn’t more enamored. 

There is some very important mental health representation in the book, but I felt the details came WAY too late in the 11th hour for it to resolve my feelings. I think I was more appreciative of the story after I read both the author Carley Fortune’s personal essay at the end as well as the bonus content in the Barnes and Noble edition. 

Hopefully I like Carley’s next book better!
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