3.5/5 Stars

Claire, Reyva and Mariana think they are heading to Camp Lake House, in the middle of the wilderness for the summer. When they arrive, they discover that there was a fire, leaving no survivors. Then they find a dead body in the woods, and quickly learn that they aren't the only ones on the island. Someone is hunting them and they need to work together to survive until they can be rescued.

Based on the cover, I thought it was going to give spooky/horror vibes, but I didn't get that from this. Although enjoyable, I was hoping for more than just a generic survival story. I wanted mass murder and destruction. I did like the friendship that developed between the girls through out the story. I liked how much they helped and supported one another, especially with Claire's panic attacks. I did think the twist ending was interesting, and I liked the angle it took, for the most part. The ending, ending annoyed me a bit <spoiler> with the girls going back to the island </spoiler> but alas, you can't win everything.

Overall, a very quick read, but I'm not going to lie, I don't think this is going to be anything memorable for me.

The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst is a decent younger YA horror mystery thriller. Since the time I read it, it doesn't stand out to me as much as it did at the time. I wish it felt more gritty and realistic in comparison to how it turned out. Honestly, though, I do remember that I found myself very annoyed by the characters throughout. I kind of wish this was a bit more of a survivalist story.

This one was just okay. When I requested it, I was not aware it was YA. I was exoecting this to be much scarier than it was. This was a me problem though and I would likely not have requested it if I had known it was YA.

I really enjoy an isolated thriller and this one didn't disappoint. The atmosphere was creepy and the book was full of twists and turns. I found it completely engaging from beginning to end.
This is a YA book, if you are accustomed to reading adult thriller / horror books, please keep this in mind. It does read for a YA crowd as intended. With that said I'm accustomed to reading adult thriller / horror books and really enjoyed this one.

I love Durst's standalone fantasy novels, so I thought I'd give this YA effort a try. I understand that tropes come with YA, and they were definitely present. It's a nice addition to my horror section for my students, however.

This book was amazing!

The girls are so human and lovable, I really enjoyed watching them grow, they are not the same at the end of the book and their arc was flawlessly executed.

The setting was well-developed and the girls got immerse in it, they interacted with nature and have conflicts and that's the main purpose for that.

And that plot twist, let me tell you, I wished for it but I couldn't think it was possible. I was so wrong and I loved it.

The writing style was dynamic and I can't wait to read more books by Sara Beth Durst.

I love a good horror and suspense book (when its done well). I had such high hopes for ͓̽T͓͓̽̽h͓͓̽̽e͓̽ ͓̽L͓̽a͓͓̽̽k͓͓̽̽e͓̽ ͓̽H͓͓̽̽o͓͓̽̽u͓͓̽̽s͓͓̽̽e͓̽ based on its synopsis because it seemingly had all of the elements that I love in a good horror and suspense book. Let me mention that I have never read anything by Sarah Beth Durst before, so I was unfamiliar with her writing style, which I was also excited for because I love reading writings by new-to-me authors. Unfortunately, this was a little lackluster for me. There were parts that were rushed and others that were slowed down, which made things feel unorganized. The survival scenes were amazing, which makes me think that the author dove deep into those scenes. While this was amazing to read it also further emphasized the lull of the non-survival scenes. Overall, I did enjoy reading this book and would still recommend it to others to read.

The Lake House is an intriguing YA thriller with a heart-pounding premise about being abandoned on an isolated island. I could relate to Claire's anxiety 110%. I'd love to read more of Durst's work, as the teen-thriller category could stand to expand more.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. The Lake House is available now.

I was so excited about this book because I have loved other books by author Sarah Beth Durst. Yes, those were fantasy and this is not, but her writing was just so wonderful in those other books that I didn’t expect it to matter. Unfortunately, whether the concept or the genre, The Lake House just didn’t work for me.

This book follows Claire, a teen girl who is on her way to a summer camp (that never starts off well, does it horror officionados?). She has two other girls with her: Mariana and Reyva. They are dropped off, the boat speeds away- and then they notice something odd. The Lake House has been completely burned down, leaving nothing behind but a single dead body. They have to somehow survive being stranded in the wilderness and, even worse, something is hunting them.

It’s a decent premise, with a lot of potential. You take a group of people who don’t know each other, plunk them out of their element, tell them to survive, then add an actively evil agent: the makings of a fun book or a spooky movie. For some reason, though, these elements clashed. Sometimes the book felt solely like an outdoor survival type of novel. Much emphasis was placed on gutting fish, hiding tracks, etc. While it was interesting to see these characters learn and adapt to their surroundings, it didn’t mesh well with the other element. That of an evil being (supernatural or human, I’m not telling) that wishes them harm.

Oddly for me, I enjoyed the survival aspect more. It could be because there was more detail to those sections. The author seemed more enthusiastic about those parts, which in turn made me more interested in them. The natural element of danger- that of finding food, shelter, etc- seemed more pressing than the physical danger they were in from the mysterious being. I’m not a survival manual kind of gal, so I was surprised by this.

The other danger felt a little half-baked and underdeveloped. I wish a little more time had been spent building a sense of impending doom with this. And I definitely would have liked more detail or background on it. The premise had so much potential! It just didn’t pay off.

There were things to both like and dislike with the characters. It was refreshing to see three teen girls without the cattiness that is often described in those sorts of interaction. They worked well together and acknowledged each other’s strengths. That was great to see. They weren’t caricatures, although they could have been if written less deftly. Mariana is the “material girl”, but she is also a great mechanic, for example, lending an extra layer to her personality.

Each of them has something about their past or personality that they don’t want others to know. The reader only knows Claire’s secret right away, of course. I liked these secrets because they were believable. Claire has crippling anxiety. As someone with an anxiety disorder, I could relate to that. I do wish that there had been more to her personality than her anxiety, which overshadowed things a bit. On the other hand, I was cheering for her to succeed despite her (justified, in this case) extreme worry.

The things that were done well were, unfortunately, not enough to push The Lake House into the “like” category for me. I fully acknowledge that this is probably a wrong person for this genre sort of situation. Sarah Beth Durst has written other books that I have adored. I would still recommend those to everyone and their cousin. At the end of the day, though, this book just wasn’t for me.

The Lake House is a phenomenal YA thriller from start to finish. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed! Highly recommended! Be sure to check out The Lake House asap.

This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

The Lake House kept me reading all night wanting to know more. It had twists I did not see coming and I found all the characters to be entertaining in their own ways. The ending left me shocked.

This was a terrifying YA thriller, that would be perfect to read when you want to scare yourself!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Thank you to the author and publisher for an early copy of this book.

I think in general, I enjoyed this book, but there were certain parts of the book that didn't make sense, and left me wanting for more resolution. Overall, while a bit disturbing, I think its a good YA book.

Ominous!

Claire has been sent on an enrichment retreat by her parents. She meets Reyva and Mariana who have also been sent to “grow through experiences” at The Lake House summer camp. The three soon discover that nothing is what they expected. The danger builds along with the creepy foreboding. The teens learn that they have to run and hide to save themselves because no one is coming to help.

Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed the whole mystery of the story. I like how ominous the reveal was. The three main characters grew on me.
Mature content: PG for brief kiss, survival struggles such as hunger and dehydration.
Violence: PG-13 for finding a body killed by shooting, being shot at, being held at knife point, suicidal death by gunshot with no details.
Language: PG-13 for 14 swears, no f-words.

This book has everything. A gripping thriller that kept you turning the page the entire time, along with a lovely tale of friendship and loving and embracing who you are. The summertime "enrichment retreat" for three young girls is sent.

The Lake House was on fire, and the camp director was dead, when these tardy guests finally arrived. They believe they are alone, thus their major concerns are with surviving and escaping the wilderness. But they quickly discover that they are not alone; a man armed with a gun is after them. Finding food and water is only the first step in their deepest form of survival.

interesting and entertaining, I will be definitely be reading more from this author.

The Lake House is Sarah Beth Durst’s YA thriller that does overtime as a survival horror. It follows three teen girls who arrive at the Maine-based Lake House camp expecting a sun-soaked summer of adventures and fun on the island but instead find themselves trapped in a terrifying nightmare.

Our protagonist is Claire, a world-class worrier. A pessimist at heart, she always thinks of the worst-case scenario in every situation, obsessing over every single detail so that she can be prepared when things inevitably go wrong. This year, she’s working on her extracurriculars in preparation for college, and her parents have signed her up for summer camp at Lake House she can add an off-the-grid experience to her application as well as make some new friends.

But when Claire arrives with Reyva and Mariana, her fellow would-be campers, all the girls discover at the site of Lake House is a burned-out husk of a building. Now that the boat that brought them here is gone and there’s no cell service, they’re also stuck. Worse, once they start exploring the surrounding woods, they also find the body of their camp director, dead by gunshot wound. Frightened and confused, the girls have no way off the island and must find a source of food and shelter before the storm arrives, not to mention the possibility of a killer on the loose.

I had mixed feelings about The Lake House. The vibe it’s going for is a bit of old-school slasher horror meets One of Us is Lying, which provides plenty of oomph to get the ball rolling. And roll it does, at least for the first half. We have three girls trapped at camp Lake House, or what’s left of it, each with their own reasons for being there, each with their own unique set of skills to bring to the table. For a while it was an awesome and suspenseful survival story, with shades of Lost. Claire’s anxiety and wariness ends up being an asset to the group as she alerts her new friends to all the potential dangers they could face out in the wilderness.

It goes on like this, with the characters sharing their stories and their strengths as they overcome the terrors thrown their way. Eventually though, we hit a peak and the intrigue high starts to wear off, leaving behind the doldrums. The horror element fades to the background as the plot trots out trope after thriller trope, even as the story’s overall pacing hits a wall. While there was no actual slowdown per se, it just felt like we were going around in circles stalling for time as we made virtually no headway on solving the greater mystery.

To be fair, if I hadn’t read any of the author’s previous work, I might have enjoyed this one a lot more. But having no less than half a dozen of Durst’s other books under my belt including her Queens of Renthia series and Bone Maker (my personal favorite), The Lake House simply felt underdeveloped and dull in comparison. Its premise was also too simplistic, the writing lacking in the deeper nuances that I know Durst is capable of, which is why I can’t see this as anything but a letdown. I suppose it’s fine if you aren’t expecting too much, but the author has written better books and I would recommend passing on this one.

This was an enjoyable edge-of-your-seat fast paced survival thriller with supernatural elements featuring strong female characters. I ended up enjoying it, although in the beginning, thanks to Claire's Debbie Downer vibes it was looking like a DNF. Surprisingly, by the end Claire ended up being my favorite character. (I just wish she would get help her panic attacks!) I have to say this book turned out completely differently than I had expected. The supernatural aspect fully took me by surprise.

More like 3.5?

This definitely had a twist I wasn't expecting, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I appreciated the survivalist elements and the way the girls bonded with and supported each other.

Definitely kept me on my toes! Totally expected it to go one way and it went a completely different way. It was enjoyable and will definitely be recommending this one!