An enjoyable read, some surprises along the way, and characters that you want to know more about.

You can't help but feel sorry for the main character, even as the story unfolds and you realise there is more to the situation that previously revealed.

Thank you to NetGalley for a review copy.

This was another edge of your seat, don't read in a dark room offering from Nuala Ellwood. Having really enjoyed The Day of the Accident I was keen to read this and it didn't disappoint.

Initially I really struggled to see how the parts of the story fit together - but as is usual in this kind of story, everything pulls together well at the end.
Full of suspense, it was impossible not to turn the pages and continue reading and I finished this in 2 sittings.

Split between the present day and 2002, we learn about the events that have happened, and are currently happening at Rowan House in the Yorkshire Dales. Soldier Number 1 tells of her childhood and growing up with her father in the house, while Lisa is running away from her husband along with her 3 year old son.
Most of the characters have their own quirks and so it's difficult to know who to trust and these add to the dark eerie atmosphere.

As I read it was easy to picture the scene Ellwood sets with clear descriptions that almost make you feel like you are in the book yourself.

I received an eARC of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.



I received an eARC of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Great book with some good twists and turn: very gripping. Can’t wait to read more from this author! Thank you for letting me read this great book x

A great story which had me gripped till the last page, full of twists which kept me guessing. I will be reading more books by Kuala in the future.

A very easy to read but gripping book. I read this quickly over a couple of days. Definitely recommend

A fantastic story and an easy read, I was able to sail through this quickly. It is spooky and atmospheric and keeps the reader gripped from the start. Highly recommended for fans of the genre.

I loved this book so much, i read it over two days, I just couldn’t stop reading it. It read like a film and the scenes were running through my mind and I kept thinking this could be a fantastic film. The twists and turns that this book had kept me guessing and kept me reading wanting to find out what was going to happen. The ending turned out to surprise me which is what I love and dislike guessing the end and being right.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Woah! This is a gripping and at times I felt spooky read. Told from two perspectives one in the past and the other present day this book simply flowed between the two. I went through a few emotions reading this, cross, spooked and at the end just very sad. One of the best books I’ve read and it will be one I read again.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Another excellent read from this author. I like her books anyway so was thrilled to be able to read and review. The book has everything: creepy, isolated, string characters you like and a huge mystery.
Absolutely 5/5 on Amazon and goodreads.

The House on the Lake is a story told in the past and present and from the perspective of two characters. It’s an easy read and covers some interesting issues including PTSD and domestic abuse. There are some truly scary moments when one of the main characters, Lisa was on the run. I enjoyed the way the story moved between the characters and between the two time frames. For me, it lacked tension and I was disappointed with the ending as I felt it was unsatisfying.

This is a cracking good read. Full of suspense and twists and turns. Lisa has taken her young son Joe, and fled an abusive relationship. She's been given the directions to a safe house but when she arrives at Rowan Isle House she is horrified to find it's an abandoned and creepy building with no water, electricity or heat. Her son is confused and angry with her and she feels like she's failed as a mother. When she meets a local woman Isobel, some hope is restored as she shows them kindness and generosity. But Lisa is to find that she can run, but she cannot hide from her past. Perhaps the most interesting part of this story however, is that of Grace, the girl who lived in the house previously. Grace and Lisa's stories become entwined and the tension builds to a stunning conclusion.

I didn’t like this book. I didn’t like the style of writing. Having said that I couldn’t put it down & had to keep reading to the end. It was very hard to understand what the plot was about until about half way through.

I really enjoyed this book. It has two main characters; one in the present day, a woman who is seeking shelter in the house and the other is a young girl who used to live there. Each chapter has the name of the character at the beginning so you know which story you are following. The book is well written and the characters were believable. I was invested from the start and even though I didn’t know where the story was going, I was compelled to keep reading in order to discover the outcome. I definitely recommend this book. Thank you #netgalley.

This book had me gripped from the very beginning and I became so immersed in the story that I felt like I was actually the main characters and had inhabited their world.

We learn about a young girl growing up in a isolated house with her father who is training her to hunt and act like a soldier. You are constantly on edge when reading this book as the tension builds and you never know what she is going to endure every day under the ruling of the man she refers to as Sarge.

We also meet Lisa, a desperate mother who has left an abusive relationship and is hiding out at Rowan Isle House with her young son.

The description of the house she seeks refuge in was so vivid you could smell the years of decay and damp and feel the darkness within the house and all the trauma it had witnessed.

As we delve deeper into the book we discover how these two stories and the house are connected.

This is such an emotional read dealing with such issues such as ptsd, mental health and abusive relationships but the core message is the strength of character that both women have shown even when they have felt at their weakest. They are survivors and can finally face a future where they can be themselves.
.

Thank you to Penguin Books and Net Galley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
This book wasn't quite what I was expecting. The story flicks back and forth between the past and present.
I found the history of the soldier and his daughter quite dark, and uncomfortable reading at times, and possibly wouldn't have chosen this book if I'd have known.
The present, with Lisa and her son, was more the story I was expecting to read, unfurling with a dramatic storyline.
Having said that, both components were absolutely necessary, and made for a gripping read the way they interjected with each other.
As I progressed through the story, I couldn't quite see where the book was heading to draw to a conclusion. I was expecting some sort of physcologically thrilling WOW. Although there was an unexpected twist, it was, just an account of the event taking place.
All in all, this book was easy to get into, absorbing throughout, and I did enjoy it.

I was given a copy of The House on the Lake by Kuala Ellwood in exchange for an honest review. The book is based around Lisa who moves to the house on the Lake with her 4 year old son Joe. The other part of the story is in diary form by Grace who is 12 and lives with her Father in the same house several years earlier. It soon becomes clear Graces father is suffering from ptsd and Lisa is on the run from her husband. I found Graces parts of the story hard to read but i kept with the book and was glad I did. It was slow going to begin with but the pace did pick up.

I enjoyed Day of the Accident but found this title far harder to get into. There are many descriptions of the fraught relationship with the little boy Joe and although I'm sure they are highly accurate of a child in turmoil, they began to get repetitive and wearing quite quickly.
The story kept me guessing and thinking up far more elaborate plot points than actually unravelled in the end which left me with a sense of slight emptiness overall. However, it did keep me interested and credit must go to the 'life goes on' ending especially where the domestic abuse storyline was concerned. Never wrapped up neatly and fairly in real life, that type of abuse is incredibly difficult to prove and not really thought of as a crime at all.

Once again this author has written a really gripping and exciting thriller. Lisa needs to take her young son and flee from her home to somewhere safe, a place where they won’t be found and where no-one knows them. A friend offers her the use of her house which is in a bleak and isolated park of Yorkshire, but it is far from ideal being filthy, derelict and doesn’t have even basic utilities such as electricity or water. The child is very unhappy and angry asking constantly for his father. Lisa’s past is recounted alongside the story of the woman who grew up in the house and her troubled upbringing. Twists and turns, a nosy neighbour gets involved and Lisa begins to worry that her secret will be discovered. Creepy at times but psychologically thrilling and with a great unexpected twist at the end.

This all takes place at Rowan Isle House and its told from two separate time frames, switching back and forth between them.
We have Lisa and toddler son Joe who are running from her controlling husband Mark, the dilapidated house being her hideaway to lie low for a while.
Then roughly fifteen years previous we have a young girl living an unconventional lifestyle with her ex SAS father who goes by Sarge and treats her like a soldier under his command her life with him is far from easy.
Both are residing at this house by the lake just at different points in time.
This was told from two POV's both Lisa and Grace.
So, Lisa, I did think that she was the worst incognito person I had met in a while, she stunk at subterfuge not even changing their names or origins.
Her erratic behaviour actually draws attention to herself, shes hardly discreet and is asking to be apprehended.
So plot-wise this is rather slow and plodding and not much happens in regard to Lisa and Joe.
I also wasn't that invested in the young Grace's life either know of the two she was the more interesting.
I also thought the grand finale here was a tad rubbish and anti-climatic.
I kept reading hoping it would get better and it just didn't.
I have read this author before and enjoyed her writing previously but this one for me though still well written missed the mark entirely.
Disappointing considering I liked her past work.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of The House On The Lake.

Having thoroughly enjoyed The Day of The Accident by the same author I was excited to read this novel and it certainly lived up to my expectations.

The House on the Lake tells the story of Lisa, a woman who is clearly in a desperate situation. She has fled with her toddler son in an attempt to escape her emotionally abusive husband and is in need of somewhere remote to stay. Her friend Grace has said she can always stay at her old home, Rowan Isle House, so Lisa travels there in the hope of finding some solace. When she arrives there with her very fractious son she is greeted by a starkly abandoned property which is filthy and without amenities. Realising she has no other option Lisa tries to make the best of the situation, and when Isobel arrives at the house and offers the hand of friendship, despite being wary Lisa is also grateful for her help. But deep down she is terrified that her husband will catch up with her and feels she can trust nobody. Trying to keep things together whilst in a house that harbours secrets and stories of its own, will Rachel ever be free of the past and able to stop looking over her shoulder?

There is an air of intrigue and menace in the writing style of this book from the outset and it grabbed my interest immediately. The result is a story laden with atmosphere and tension and with dual story lines via two different characters I found myself fully engaged and intrigued through until the end.

I definitely recommend this novel and for me Nuala Elwood has become a writer whose work I will continue to look out for and have a pretty good feeling I will always enjoy.

My thanks to #Netgalley, #PenguinUK and #NualaEllwood for a copy of #TheHouseOnTheLake in return for an honest review.