This is the first book by Isabel Ashdown that I have read and I was so intrigued by the blurb and that gorgeous cover! Seventeen year old Eva Olsen is recovering at home after being in a coma as the result of a car accident which nearly claimed her life. She is still very confused, suffered traumatic injuries and has no recollection of the events leading up to the crash. Her parents are at her beck and call; always there with words of comfort and support…so why is Eva locked in an attic room, why does she feel like she isn’t being told the whole truth and is there really someone out there that wants to silence her for good?

I found this story to be a slow burner but this is done for a good reason as the tension builds and the truth is revealed bit by bit. Eva is obviously not a reliable narrator due to her memory loss and it was easy to side with her parents until more details about the events come back to Eva. Even then she is confused and unable to trust anyone around her which was slightly frustrating at times. I was totally gripped and every twist was a total surprise to me. Lake Child is such an atmospheric read and I was drawn into the story and the surroundings of Norway.

Highly recommend.

Set in Norway, 17 year old Eva wakes and her parents tell her she’d been in a terrible car accident and they are going to look after her while she recovers. Eva’s confused and a little scared as she has no memory of the accident at all….

As she slowly recovers, she starts to remember little things and she’s now doubting her parents are telling her the truth…..and why they are keeping her in a locked room?

Isabel Ashdown’s writing really conveys Eva’s confusion and her state of mind while she tries to remember everything…..the tension is slowly building with plenty of twists to keep you turning the pages……just what is happening? And how is this linked to Maxine in London?

Gripping, compelling and with an ending you won’t see coming……brilliant.

Thank you to The Author, publishers and NetGalley for a free copy of the ebook. This is my honest, unbiased review.

Thanks Netgalley for this ARC. My first book but this author and she didn't disappoint. Great story. Kept me guessing.

This is a brilliant mystery thriller that had me hooked from the first few pages.
Eva realises she is being kept in the attic room of her home and locked in each night. Her parents tell her it’s to stop her sleep walking and is helping her recover from a near fatal car accident she was involved in.
Eva eventually gets her strength back and is determined to get out of that room but what will she find when she does?
I won’t spoil this book as there’s several revelations and twists in store which I loved.
I couldn’t even attempt to guess what would happen next as just when you think you know what’s going on, it’s turned completely on it’s head.
I loved the character of Eva and was desperate for things to work out well for her.
This is a gripping mystery thriller that I highly recommend.
Thanks to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Lake Child is a beautifully written book. Dark and atmospheric, it is set in the Norwegian forest by a lake and this gives the book a cold and remote feel, where the claustrophia of living in one room has our protagonist, seventeen year old Eva, climbing the walls, desperate to get out.
But why is Eva in a locked room? According to her parents, she has been in a terrible accident, though she has no memory of that. They tell her that she is too ill to get out of bed and must have peace and quiet to recover – and that she is only locked in because she has been sleepwalking and they need to keep her safe from the dangers of the lake.
But Eva is convinced that her parents are hiding something from her; the more so because she has received no visitors, not even her closest friends, Rosa and Lars.
Eva is full of questions and as time passes these only intensify and she rebels desperate to grasp onto the small memory fragments she has, but which stubbornly refuse to coalesce into anything substantial.
She fears that her parents have some malign intention in locking her in. She is their prisoner, but she doesn’t know why.
Meanwhile, in London, Maxine is working with a journalist who is her ghost writer, working on a novel to tell her story – the story of a missing daughter.
Though I really loved the writing in this book and enjoyed the way that Isabel Ashdown has written a complex and twisted thriller with many false leads and interesting twists and turns, ultimately this just was not a book for me. I found the pace a little too slow and the outcome, when revealed didn’t come as a huge surprise to me. I am, however, I am glad to say in a very small minority, so please don’t take my word for it, most people have loved this book. So read it for yourself and then decide.

Lake Child is a dark and unnerving thriller set in Norway. Eva has been in an horrific accident that she has no recollection of. Severely injured she finds herself confined to the attic at home, locked in for her own safety. But Eva begins to question why she is locked in, why no one comes to visit and why are her parents being so evasive. Eva is desperate to escape her prison in the attic and find the answers to just what happened that night.

Lake Child is a brilliantly written and thought out thriller. Eva’s confinement to the attic, the house by a lake surrounded by trees and the cold and dark of the Norwegian landscape give this book a very claustrophobic feel. Eva develops a kind of cabin fever being contained in the house, and she goes to great lengths to get out. She is intent on punishing her parents for her forced captivity, and for stopping her friends from seeing her and from keeping secrets and will go to any lengths needed. There is a sense of paranoia and fear, a darkness that is engulfing her. There are so many questions in the first half of this book that they build up adding tension and suspense for the reader and for Eva as a character.

I loved the writing style and characterisation of this book, it had dark and light, fear and hope, and the obvious good and bad characters. This book has two very distinctive parts where the plot completely goes on a different trajectory that I really hadn’t expected. I have to be honest and say that at first I was not sure about this plot turn, but as I read on I was completely gripped and pulled into Eva’s story with all its twist and turns.

Lake Child is a dark, chilling and suspenseful read. Eva is a strong central character who isn’t afraid to ask difficult questions and deal with the shocking answers. Family is very much at the centre of this book; the importance of family, how far you would go to protect your children and the secrets you keep in a family. Thrilling and intense I honestly couldn’t put this book down so read it in a day.

Imagine at 17 waking up in a dark room, covered in scars, and the door is locked. Terrifying, right? Well, this is exactly the situation that Eva Olsen finds herself in, in the LAKE CHILD by Isabel Ashdown, and what follows next is a complicated tale of unravelling secrets, betrayals, heartache, and hope in this excellent psychological thriller.

Eva's parents have her under lock and key in the attic room ever since she returned home from the hospital after an awful accident where the culprit was never found. They won't let her best friends visit her and they are definitely hiding something from her. But what? Eva has always had a wonderful relationship with her parents but something isn't right. If only she could remember what happened, maybe it would hold the key to the mystery. But Eva is a very determined young woman who will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth, even if that truth could destroy everything that she has ever known.

Compelling, shocking, and completely unputdownable, LAKE CHILD by Isabel Ashdown is everything you want in a thriller and more. There is confusion, lies, twists, and turns that will leave you speechless, and a main character that you really care about and connect with. I don't want to give too much away because it would ruin so many elements of this story but suffice it to say there are so many things that you will just not see coming!

LAKE CHILD by Isabel Ashdown is superb and I cannot help but think it would make a perfect tv drama, and I cannot wait to read more from this fantastic author.

Well this was the book that kept on giving. Just when I thought I had it all worked out, BAM, another piece of evidence fell into place, forcing me down another path completely! It darned near made me dizzy spinning around all the way through.
Eva wakes up confused. Her parents tell her she has been in a bad car accident which has left her with scant memories of what happened. She also finds herself locked in the attic room, kept away from everyone apart from the police who still keep asking her what happened. She only knows what her parents have told her. But then her memories start to come back and they don't quite match what she has been told. And then there's another big shock in store for her which throws things in a whole new direction. What on earth happened to her...?
I said that this book kept me guessing - well, that's a bit of an understatement. All the way through I really felt for Eva as I was as clueless as her as to what had happened on that fateful night. It's no spoiler that she's an unreliable narrator - her early explained memory loss makes that obvious but I felt that some of the "reveals" were a leap too far and I had to suspend belief a little too much along the way for the book to work for me.
The plot itself was very convoluted and started off rather slowly. Obviously this reflects the confusion that Eva is feeling but it didn't really progress the book enough for me initially. That said, the story intrigued enough to make me want to know the truth so I never thought of abandoning it. I did put it down a few too many times though as some parts did drag a bit. But, once the threads started coming together we went off like a bullet train and then it was a race to the end. It was multi-layered and multi-faceted - probably too much so for my personal taste and, as I read quite fast, I maybe didn't appreciate it enough along the way. For me, the story demanded a faster paced delivery to really work and that wasn't something I got. That said, it's more my fault than anything the author did. Maybe we just don't click? It's my first book by the author - I do have others on my tbr, recommended by friends, so I just have to read them to find out.
All in all, a solid read that although I enjoyed, it didn't quite hit the spot. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Set beside a sparkling lake surrounded by snow laden mountains, this atmospheric book is set in a beautiful but remote area of Norway. Seventeen year old Eva wakes from a coma after a terrible accident, confused and bewildered she is unable to differentiate between reality and her nightmares. Slowly, she begins to piece together the events of that fateful night. Who was driving the truck that crashed? Why was she in it? Where were her friends? As her parents nurse her back to health, questions remain unanswered and Eva wonders if she is safe in her own home. Answers begin to emerge throughout the book and with many twists this enthralling mystery is finally solved.

Seventeen year old Eva Olsen wakes up in the attic of her home bed bound after a horrific accident. Her devoted parents are by her side. She has no memory of her accident. As her memory starts to return gradually, she also begins to doubt everything her parents tell her. Why is she in the attic? Why do her parents lock her in? Why does her parents not let her friends visit?

This story is told through Eva's point of view. This story is more complex than I first thought. It's a bit slow and confusing at times. Theres a traumatic event and it can also be very touching. We are introduced to a new character about half way through who puts a different perspective on things. There are plenty if twists to keep your interest as you flick quickly through the pages. Once the story starts unfolding, you will be gripped. Just when you think you know where the story is headed, another twist is revealed and off in a different direction we go. This is a well crafted book with a lot taking place. It's beautifully written with complex characters. Everything was tied up at the end.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Orion Publishing Group and the author Isabel Ashdown for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lake Child is the second book by Isabel Ashdown, which I have read, and it’s a cracker. Dark, full of mystery and devastating secrets this is a book that will both thrill and chill you.

There was a very mysterious and sinister feeling to the opening pages. Teenager, Eva, is being held by her parents in a locked attic. Convinced her parents are hiding something from her, Eva is determined to find out what they are keeping secret. We also know that Eva was involved in a horrific accident. The police haven’t been able to find the person responsible for what happened. The local community are gripped by what has happened to Eva as it isn’t very often that such a harrowing, but exciting event happens in their local area.

I loved the setting of Isabel’s latest book, Norway, and I loved the image of the isolated house on the lakeside with the forests surrounding it. The time of year which Isabel chose to set her book, which is winter, for me, was perfect. It creates a very sinister atmosphere. During winter, Norway receives very little sunlight, and this creates a more impending sense of danger as Eva’s parents believe that someone is watching them from within the forest.

In England, far away from Norway, distraught grandmother, Maxine is writing a book about the disappearance of her granddaughter, Lorna. She is doing this with the help of a ghost writer who is interviewing her for the book. Lorna’s disappearance became a media sensation, and still, people are trying to work out what happened to her. But Maxine is a mysterious character, and it certainly seems that she is trying desperately hard to keep some facts about her past a secret.

I was very interested to see how the two storylines were going to come together. They are pulled together in a very captivating way. As the plot progressed, I could begin to see how the storylines were going to collide. Although I did work out some parts, there were also some shocking and chilling reveals that I hadn’t predicted and they took me by surprise. There was one reveal where I did actually gasp as it dawned on me what had happened. It’s not very often that a twist has that effect on me.

Throughout the novel, I didn’t warm to Maxine very much. I couldn’t quite work it if she was taking advantage of her family’s tragic situation by speaking to the press. I couldn’t work out if she was distraught by what had happened and if she was willing to do anything to find her granddaughter.

Although the opening was gripping, and I wanted to know what was going on in Eva’s world, I did find it to be a bit of a slow start. The suspense soon begins to build however. You may feel the same, so I would definitely stick with it as the plot becomes darker and much more gripping. I felt exasperated for Eva. I wanted her to get to the bottom of what was really going on. I wanted to shake her parents for not being truthful with her.

Lake Child is a thoroughly enjoyable read which will grip and shock you. I couldn’t stop reading as I reached the final chapters; I was desperate to know what was going to happen. Atmospheric, chilling and very satisfying.

This is a very atmospheric psychological thriller, the beginning was a little slow, but once you read a few chapters you become engrossed.

It was hard to work out whether 17 year old Eve was mad, or were her parents mad. Eve is locked in the attic after a car accident which had left her in a coma. But if she had been in accident why is she locked on the attic?

Gradually Eve’s memory starts to return, and she starts to doubt everything her parents have been telling her.

The story is told through Eva’s point of view, as she gradually starts to regain her memory, the story unfolds, and leads you down a completely different path to what you expect, with a much more complicated story about a missing baby.

At times a little confusing and slow, but there are enough twists and turns that keep you engaged. With family history, interlocking secrets, traumatic events and a story that at times is very touching. Cleverly woven together tying everything up at the end.

This is a very well written book, with lots of red herrings to through you off.

I loved the setting in this book, atmospheric Norway.
It was a bit hard to get into, slow to start. But, I liked the writing and the rest of it was solid with a good pace afterwards.
In the end, I did enjoy it, I felt curious to see where it's going.

Thanks a lot NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

At first when I started reading this book I was intrigued, then I was hooked. A psychological thriller par excellence. I could not put this book down. So many twists and turns and so many lies. Eva wakes up after being in a coma due to a horrific car accident. Unfortunately Eva has no memory of what happened and only has her parents word of what happened. I could not put this book down, I had to keep on reading I HAD TO KNOW THE TRUTH!!!!!! This read got my heart racing and tapping my kindle faster and faster. When the truth was finally revealed I was shocked and could not believe what I was reading. How far would you go to protect the ones you Love????? Heartbraking, shocking and gripping all in equal measures. I LOVED IT !!!!!! An easy five stars and so Highly Recommended.
I would like to thank the author, Orion Publishing Group and Netgalley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

Eva Olsen, just 17 years old, wakes to find herself in the attic of her house bedbound after a horrific accident. Her devoted parents are by her side looking after her. Unfortunately her memory of the accident and the events leading up As she starts to get stronger she realises that she has been locked in. Why is she in the attic and not in her bedroom? Why has she been locked in? Why aren't her best friends visiting her? Eva is determined to find out what is going on, and who she can trust.

Oh my! Eva found herself locked in the attic with her parents getting her food and water. She was apparently in an accident and had lost her memory. But nothing made sense to her anymore. The clues obtained from the subtle actions of her parents burned a single sentence in her brain - She had to escape, her mother was a liar!!

My first book by author Isabel Ashdown led me down the cliff of rocky precipice where I knew there was something hidden under every rock. Eva was portrayed well as a confused, partially amnesiac teen where the returning memory brought out her panic and fear. Her character was the driving force behind this novel.

I loved the way the author could create an atmosphere of swirling darkness around her. The continuous shafts of gray and light made me feel as if I was in the midst of an approaching storm. Twists after every few chapters made sure that I would read the book with bated breath.

The author's writing with the insertion of a parallel story made me think about rumbling clouds which would bring about lightning ready to strike the nearest victim down. The story was a slow start with repetitive scenes, but the book picked up pace, and I was soon swept into my kindle by the force of the author's words.

Sometimes even the subtle strokes of a sentence can show a wealth of approaching action. The parallel story lines were deftly connected, though I could guess the ending, it still left me shocked. This was one such where I didn't want to be proved right.

I was left with the two lines burning a hole into my psyche.

"Twisted are the people who travel the path toward darkness. More twisted are those who sell their soul to the devil."

Eva has been in a terrible accident, and when she wakes up nothing is as it seems. Her memories of the recent past remain tantalizingly out of reach, the driver of the vehicle she was found in can't be located, her best friends are mysteriously absent from her life, and her parents are keeping some pretty big secrets. And to make things worse, it appears that the police might be in on the deception. Whether it's to keep her under control or for her own good, Eva is locked away 24/7 in the attic of her parents home and begins to go to extreme measures to gain even a paltry glimpse of freedom, claw back her memories, and uncover the secrets that everyone seems so desperate to keep from her.

I can't say a whole lot more without dropping some serious spoilers, but hold hell what an amazing rollercoaster ride! I was gripping my seat for 90% of the book and bawling my face off for the other 10%. I mean, I got so wrapped up in Eva's story that I almost forgot to eat dinner the first night that I picked this baby up. Everything from her parents approach to Eva's recovery to attempting to solve her own case, and from reconnecting with her friends to Eva's budding romance, is so emotionally fraught that it hurts.

As a result, I found Eva to be a realistic and rather likeable character, even before her memories start to come back. I mean sure, she's impulsive, emotional, and a little (okay, a lot) dramatic at times but it all added to her charm. It helps to remember that she was just 17 when she was in a horrific accident, survived a coma, and woke up to some serious amnesia - I rather thought she was handling her situation impeccably well, even if some of her decisions were a little misguided. Investigations are hard enough, let alone when the primary witness can't remember a thing and no one seems willing to tell the truth. Now add a very sweet romance with a junior officer into the emotional maelstrom that is Eva's life and you have just enough hope to light the way.

Her parents, Ingrid and Tobias, were also incredibly compelling characters. Their stories are buried a little deeper than Eva's but no less important. I spent most of the book judging and hating them for their actions against their daughter, but had to check my bias and assumptions when their leg of the plot finally started to come to light. I ended siding with them, locked attic room and all, because of their unwavering dedication to their daughter, the tenderness with which they treated her, and then lengths that they went through to ensure that Eva was safe and thriving.

Really though, this story had it all including some incredibly misdirecting leads in the investigation into Eva's accident. I mean it has everything! Creepy, inappropriate weirdo who makes inappropriate passes at young girls? Got one. Strangers running around the woods in the dead of the night? Yep, got those too. Skeezy, drug-dealing bartenders who serves minors? Can't leave him out. Ashdown really likes to keep you guessing and it's utterly fantastic.

But that's not all, just as things start to look like they're on the upswing an incredible secondary plot rears it's head and steals the show entirely. Double the mystery, double the fun, this tantalizing secondary plot is set in London and subtly brings all of the disparate pieces of Eva's story together. There is a fabulous interplay between the two tracts and the tension created by them is palpable. And just in case Eva's accident wasn't enough of a mystery, this little twist injects endless possibilities and keeps you guessing page after page. Up until the London plot came into play I thought that I had this story all figured out and then bam! everything I thought I knew went straight out the window. The ending was so far from what I expected that I had to take a few days to digest it before I could sit down and write my review - it was fantastic!

Lake Child is equal parts cerebral and engaging, and Ashdown's delectable prose will leave you craving more. If you like mystery, drama, and some seriously deep character building I can't recommend this book highly enough. Borrow it from the library, buy it for yourself, buy it for your friends, or maybe even get a start on your Christmas shopping and buy a case load - it's worth it.

*blog link forthcoming on September 24*

So I'm just going to start off by saying Wow, what a story this has been.

Okay so I agree with what a couple of other reviewers said in that the story is a little confusing in places to begin with, but in my opinion it didn't last long (the confusion that is)  and I soon found myself being drawn into Eva's story and her journey. I was literally captivated, and couldn't wait to see how everything would piece together come the end.

What an ending it was, just when you think you have it partially figured out, the author goes and puts a twist in place. I loved it and thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. 

The whole story was very well written snd the characters were superb, there was literally times when you didn't know which characters could be trusted and those that couldn't. Just brilliant.

This book was incredibly slow to start with and a little predictable. It went round and round in circles for a long time to begin with!

Once it got going more stuff started to happen but I wasn’t really gripped by the story line and it wasn’t exactly a shock ‘twist’.

I’ve given the book 3 stars rather than 2 due to the easy writing style and the fact it tied up all the lose ends nicely.

Eva wakes up in her family's attic with no memory of how she got there or why her parents are keeping her in there. They say it's for her protection after the road accident she was involved in with an unknown driver who appears to have kidnapped her.

Eva's best friends, Rosa and Lars, who live on the neighbouring farm come to visit one day but Eva sees through the attic that her mother turns them away. Why is she being locked in the attic? Eva can't seem to get a straight answer from her parents. Her memory starts to return in odd flashbacks but make no sense. So Eva decides to starve herself in a bid to get her parents to unlock the door and let her out.

Written from Eva's point of view, the reader ialso wonders what on earth can be going on. Eva's mother is a doctor and they seem genuinely worried about Eva as her weight plummets. As the story unfolds we see that this story is far more mysterious than we could have imagined. Slowly the fragments of memory come together in a cohesive whole which leads us down a completely different path into a much more complicated story about a missing baby.

It's not easy for a writer to successfully navigate the reader through so many twists and turns in a narrative like this but the author pulls this off beautifully without losing the reader's attention. My only disappointment was with the ending in which everything is tied up far too neatly.