I went through different experiences while reading this book. The majority is a survival story of three girls left behind in an abandoned camp ground. As they try to survive, they also try to solve the mystery of what happened there, whether it was human or supernatural. This sounds like a great plot, and for the most part it is, but this story focused predominantly on the girls and their relationship with each other and themselves. It's so character driven in a story that demands more plot.

The Lake House is a creepy summer camp story for a YA audience. Our three main characters are multi-faceted and real. The dialogue can be mildly irritating, but mostly appropriate for the age of the characters and the audience of the book. Fourteen-year-old me would've loved this (though she would've rolled her eyes a bit).

This book is a bit gory and weird, fair warning! I was hoping I would enjoy this more than I did, but I did like it okay.

THE LAKE HOUSE by Sarah Beth Durst. I received a copy from Harper Teen & NetGalley, but unfortunately fell behind on this one & it’s been out for a while. 😅

THE LAKE HOUSE centers around three girls who arrive at an off-the-grid summer camp to find a burned down lodge & no survivors, except them. When they find a dead body, they learn none of this was an accident & that someone is out there hunting them.

THE LAKE HOUSE was so much fun — very thrilling, very I didn’t know what was going on (especially because I went in blind). Our main character has anxiety & holy wow, I found the rep to be so relatable. There’s also bisexual rep & that character was so amazing, 10/10 love her. In fact, all three characters had totally different personalities that were so well done & watching them come together and forming a friendship was my favorite part of the book.
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There’s also the horror/thriller element in this one that was pretty good! But for me, it’s the friendship & characters that stole the show & had me invested in what was going on.

I liked this. It's good, but sadly, I was expecting more. I know a lot of people will love this. I wish I was one of them, but from the start, the set-up seemed off to me. It didn't quite make sense. I had questions.

"The Lake House" by Sarah Beth Durst takes readers on an unexpected journey through survival, mystery, and horror. The story focuses on three young girls, Claire, Mariana, and Reyva, who arrive at a seemingly abandoned summer camp in the woods of Maine, with the exception of a dead body. Stranded and with no one to rescue them, they must work together to uncover the mystery behind the camp’s destruction and survive the dangers lurking in the woods.

Durst skillfully blends elements of survivalist tension with a gripping mystery. The distinct personalities and backgrounds of the characters add depth, as they must rely on each other to navigate their harrowing circumstances. The initial chapters are particularly engrossing, with an intense atmosphere that makes readers feel as though they are being stalked through the woods. However, a twist in the plot might divide readers; I've seen reviews rave over it and others bash it. I thought it was fine!

The backstories and emotional struggles of the characters can occasionally slow down the pace of this one.

Overall, "The Lake House" offers a compelling and thrilling read that blends mystery, survival, and the strength of friendship. It may not be perfect for everyone, but it provides an intriguing and immersive experience for fans of deep-in-the-woods mysteries.

Read if you like:
👻 Engaging Survival Mystery
👯‍♀️ Strong Platonic Friendships - no romance here
🫣 Atmospheric Suspense
⛺️ Summer Camp Vibes

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think this is a good introductory horror book for teens! It works well as either a Halloween recommendation, or a summer one as well.

The Lake House is part survival story, part paranormal thriller.

I enjoyed Sarah Beth Durst's writing style and flew through the book. The friendship between the three girls was well developed and kept me engaged until the end . There was a lot going on when the supernatural stuff came into play and the story felt crowded. The survival plotline had enough meat on it's own to carry the book.

I will read more of Sarah Beth Durst's books as I enjoyed her writing and character development.

Thank you to HarperTeen and NetGalley for the gifted e-arc!

I was truly invested in this story - until the author introduced a supernatural element with no warning - and one that did not ring true for me. I still enjoyed the story but was not invested as much in it. I liked the survival aspect of this story and feel it would have been better if the author focused on that instead.

I greatly enjoyed this book! It was a wonderful exploration of teen girl friendships set against the backdrop of a mysterious, spooky camp where they have been stranded. I thought the pacing was a tad slow at the beginning but once we were going, WE WERE GOING. Some things genuinely shocked me and this was overall a very fun book.

A great premise that somewhat delivered. I liked the friendship that developed between the girls, and the atmosphere was somewhat spooky.

A good, fun read. Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperTeen for the ARC.

2 stars. I did not like how immediately the story started and that we only got some information of the characters past in bits and pieces throughout the story. I think having a bit more emotional connection to the characters before the trouble started would have made more of an impact. I also did not enjoy the supernatural element because it felt tacked on and not integrated into the story. It felt superfluous and as if the author was like hmmm supernatural things are more marketable what if I add that in, The story and action was propulsive and I enjoyed that it did feel as if there were stakes in the story. I did enjoy the mental health representation because for the most part Claire's mental health issues felt true to life. I would describe this book as feeling as if the author saw a bad horror movie and said now what if I turn that into a book.

OMG this book had so much potential and I was sooooo sad that I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have.

I honestly was kind of bored... there was no terror or mystery or fun involved in this thriller. The jump scares were not fun, the mystery DID NOT MAKE ANY SENSE and I honestly don't know why I kept reading.

I really really REALLY loved the characters so much and I loved the friendship between them, BUT the book should not have been advertised as similar to Yellow Jackets. That was just bad marketing because it never even touched that level of danger.

Overall, I kind of wished I stopped after the first "jump scare," I hoped for more from these book characters.

This was requested when I first found out about NetGalley and I had requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before they were archived. I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it! I am giving this book three stars, as I don't want to give it a good or bad rating, since I did not get to it and we have to leave a star rating.

Oh my. This was not what I expected from Ms. Durst. It has all the twists her books usually do but was much darker, on every level. I *loved* it!!!

The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst is basically summer camp, but with everything gone wrong. With the tag line: Three Strangers, one secret waiting to be unleashed, I had some really high hopes for a good YA thriller. That was kind of what I got.

The Good:
Sarah Beth Durst definitely knows how to grab a reader and pull them into the story. I read the first chapter and I was invested. I wanted, no, needed to know more. Three completely different strangers all stuck together, it was a mystery in itself worth solving. I liked that the ending was wrapped up nice and neat with a big old bow on top. That’s about where the good ended for me.

The Bad:
There was a lot of dialogue between the girls that felt like rabbit trails, or chasing squirrels. I thought it might go somewhere, but never really did. Possible spoiler warning - I was not expecting a fantasy element. Everything I read about this book left me to believe this was going to be a straight up classic thriller. So just be prepared. I also felt like it started to get simple near the end and lost the pull it initially had on me.

The Mentionable:
Gunshot Death, blood & gore, there is a suicide, panic attacks, anxiety, broken bones, fire.

I think I went into this expecting something completely different then what I got. Maybe my own assumptions getting in the way. Whatever way you look at it, I don’t know that this was necessarily the book for me. There are those out there that I know will love it and I look forward to hearing their reviews and seeing what they loved about it!

Huge thank you to Harper Collins Frenzy for the gifted e-Arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

For the reveal of evil entity in a cave, this book needed to be a lot more scary. At no point during this read was my heart racing or was I frantically reading to find out what was happening. While I know this is only YA, I have read some truly terrifying YA horror suspense books and this just didn’t do it for me. I appreciate the representation of the type of anxiety where you can only jump to the worst case scenario and I think that was well done. Plus, I enjoyed how all three girl’s personalities balanced each other out but I just wanted this to be way more scary.

This was a DNF for me at about 20% I just couldn't get into it at all, I didn't enjoy the characters and I felt it was super predictable, just not the book for me.

Thank you Frenzy Books for the eARC! This book sounded like an interesting horror, but it wasn't as spooky or thriller-y as I had hoped it would be. I felt a bit indifferent and bored at times when the plot was all about the girls trying to find their way off the island. The plot twist near the end wasn't too satisfying either. One thing I absolutely loved though, was the friendship between the girls. I loved how supportive they were of each other, and they were just such a great example of a sisterhood. Also, yay for the female mechanic rep and the chronic pain and anxiety rep. Well done! I would highly recommend this book more for the relationships and characters rather than the "horror" aspect. Still a decent read nonetheless.

This book was an alright read for me. It was very predictable and hardly did not like some of the characters in it. I do love the aurthor fantasy books, but her new thriller was disappointed in a bit. The cover is pretty creepy and cool looking. Thanks for letting me read it.