A review by danaslitlist
The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Riley Sager’s books are hit or miss and I always go into them with the expectation that I’ll at least enjoy the majority of the book even if I’m not blown away. In this case it helped that I knew this is considered a polarizing reading experience. So I can understand why this book didn’t work for a lot of people and the comments about Sager’s work being formulaic and full or cliche tropes are fair; however I really enjoyed this one. 

I think Casey is a great example of an unlikable/flawed main character who is still compelling. While I couldn’t support her or her bad habits, I still found myself feeling strongly for her and wanting her to be okay. Her flaws made her feel fleshed out. And I think the exploration and explanation of her alcoholism was actually integral to the story so I didn’t mind it constantly being mentioned. 

I also liked the twist.
There are a few Sager books where the explanation of events may not always be grounded in true crime and instead take a paranormal route and they haven’t always hit the mark for me but have left me curious to see him take on a story more fully focused in that direction. I think it was done well here and having it happen with 3 hours left (according to the audiobook) for the twist to be explained and fleshed out was an ideal amount of time to get questions answered without it feeling rushed or shoe horned in.


Again, I can see why people didn’t like this, but I had a lot of fun and honestly would recommend this to people. Especially those who don’t mind some camp, cliches, and a good time.

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