It's been a while since I've been able to find a good thriller that I couldn't put down, and I really enjoyed this one! I was immediately hooked, and I probably would have read it all in one sitting if I hadn't started it late at night. If you're a fan of true crime documentaries/podcasts, or "whodunnit" mysteries, I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an e-arc copy of this book.

Calling all True Crime fans!! This is the book for you. I really thought the switch between podcasts, articles and even snippets from social media were unique and neat! The book really grabs your attention quickly and the change of POV keeps it extra interesting. I was a little disappointed that I was able to guess the ending (minus a little twist that snuck in) but all in all, I thought it was a great story that really kept me wanting to keep going.

I will definitely be recommending this to all my true crime fanatics.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this pre release copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC! This one hits shelves in November :)

I'm on the fence of giving this one 3 or 4 stars. I really need a 3.5 rating option!! I figured out the ending about 55% the way through, but it did keep me reading. It's my first Katherine Green book, and now I'm tempted to read her first. I'm going to settle on 4 because I loved the interjection of the podcast and social media posts. Happy reading if you like mystery/thriller books!

✨Spoiler Free Review✨

Title- The lake of lost girls by @katherinegreeneauthor
Rating-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As you all know I love me a podcast thriller book 👏🏽 this fast paced thriller had alternate timelines, podcast transcripts , social media posts, different pov’s and police transcripts creating the perfect thriller.

In 1998, a series of chilling disappearances of female students from a North Carolina college rocked the community, leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions and shattered lives. Decades later, the discovery of a girl’s corpse sparks a chain of events that entwines a true crime podcast and the sibling of one of the vanished victims into an intricate web of secrets and lies rooted at the ominous Doll’s Eye Lake.

This was a well done thriller that kept me guessing right up to the end. I did not guess the plot twist at the end at all.

Add this one to your tbr book besties.✨😮‍💨

This will be available November 5, 2024.

Thank you @netgalley and @crookedlanebooks for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

The novel follows a podcast based on true crime as they investigate the disappearance of four students over 20 years ago from the same area. As they dig deeper into the old investigations, they uncover a web of secrets, lies, and long-buried traumas.
The pacing is methodical but relentless, drawing the reader ever deeper into the mystery with each twist and turn. Greene expertly ratchets up the suspense, keeping readers guessing until the final, shocking reveal.

The Lake of Lost Girls combines two of my favorite things: Books and True Crime Podcasts. I really enjoyed reading this book and could not put it down! I loved all of the characters but I often doubted if they were being honest or telling the whole truth. I was able to figure out the twist, but I loved the wild ride it took me on. Thank you Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange of my honest review.

It's 1998, and female students are going missing at Southern State University in North Carolina. But freshman Jessica Fadley, once a bright and responsible student, is going through her own struggles. Just as her life seems to be careening dangerously out of control, she suddenly disappears.

Twenty-four years later, Jessica's sister Lindsey is desperately searching for answers and uses the momentum of a new chart-topping true crime podcast, Ten Seconds to Vanish, that focuses on the cold cases, to guide her own investigation. Soon, interest reaches fever pitch when the bodies of the long-missing women begin turning up at a local lake, which leads Lindsey down a disturbing road of discovery.

This story was riveting and absolutely consumed me! I will be reading more of Katherine Greene’s books after this! I completely loved it and cannot wait to read more.
This story was full of twists and turns and lovable characters.
I highly reccomend!
thanks to netgalley, the author and publisher for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review 🎉

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for allowing me to read an e-arc copy of this book in exchange for my honest review! This book releases in November 5, 2024 and is an adult mystery/thriller fiction.
Overall, I give this book a basic middle-of-the-road 3/5 stars. It was okay, nothing great, nothing terrible. I had figured out the “plot twist” about 50-60% of the way through so that was disappointing. The FMC felt under developed for me. She was pathetic in a lot of ways and not very smart. The entire story was completely unrealistic as well.
With that said, I wasn’t bored while reading it and it did keep my attention fairly well. I also enjoyed the social media posts included. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the podcast aspect of it, but it was more unique which I appreciated.
All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mystery’s and aren’t good at guessing the ending too soon!

My first time reading a Katherine Greene novel and she did not disappoint.

The Lake of Lost Girls is an engaging read that will keep you guessing. Even when I was sure I knew whodunnit I was questioning myself.

The story takes place in a sleepy college town with a horrific past. In the late 90s several college girls vanished never to be seen again. Lindsey was 6 years old when her sister disappeared and the POV varies between her quest to find answers in the present day, and her sister, Jessica's, POV in the past. There has been a renewed interest in the the case thanks to a hokey podcast, so there are also podcast snippets, blog posts, and social media post sprinkled in.

Personally, I'm getting tired of the podcast trope and could do without author's adding in the shallow and obnoxious dialogue in their stories. We get it, a lot of true crime podcasts are exploitative and make light of murder. Luckily Greene didn't include too many excerpts and she kept them short.

Pacing of the novel was good and there was enough suspense to keep me turning pages. I finished this book in less that 24hrs.

I did find some of the characters a bit shallow and 2 dimensional, none of them are that likeable and I find the college characters to be over the top and somewhat obnoxious.

There was a good twist at the end but I saw a large portion of it coming early on and then figured out the rest near the end. This caused me to feel like the ending was a bit drawn out; however, I was still questioning my instincts until the final reveal.

Overall, a good page turner!
Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the free digital copy in exchange for a fair review.

Moving back to and fro in the narrative timelines, you can feel the addition of layers to this suspense. You doubt every character, you doubt every action but then you are driven mad to know how it ends, so you read it despite needing to sleep. Highly exciting, thrilling and a bit disturbing. Highly recommend if you are into mysteries and thrillers.

This was my first Katherine Greene read and it absolutely will not be my last. This book was such a wild ride, it kept me guessing from beginning to end. I enjoyed the suspense and the twists throughout. I would recommend this to any of my friends who are craving an “edge-of-your-seat” kind of read that you can’t put down.

While I’m not a big fan of alternating timelines, this was perfectly written for this story. The past and the present needed to be told. This is the story of four college girls who go missing. It is definitely a page turner! I requested to read and review this book from NetGalley, and so glad I did. This is the first book of read from this author, and looking forward to reading more in the future.

Publication date: November 5th, 2024
Page count: arc 248
Genre: domestic thriller
Setting: Mt. Randall, NC
POV: multiple, duel timelines

Great book! A fast paced, thoughtful, well written fun read! Great job about building up the suspense, and wondering “who done it”. Amazing twist! I will definitely be reading more books by this author!


Thank you to author, publisher, NetGalley for advanced copy. This is an honest voluntary review.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Lake of Lost Girls is a mystery thriller centered around the disappearance of several coeds at a North Carolina college in 1998. Twenty-four years later, the body of a girl is found, a true crime podcast is started, and the sister of one of the missing girls is drawn into a decades old mystery that started, and ended, at Doll's Eye Lake.

While the premise and plot is strong, the writing itself is a bit... eh. I don't know if it's because I got an ARC, but the writing is a bit clunky and awkward. There was a lot of description of exactly how our main characters are feeling, and a lot of bland descriptions about hotels and towns, but none of it made me really feel connected to the characters.

I did first guess the ending at the 5% mark, then thought: there's no way I guessed it so fast... Then around 38%, I was like yep, I know exactly what happened.

I'm also not sure the author understood what a small town was like. Somehow its a tiny small town, but also has a huge fancy hotel with a Michelin star chef and a giant park outside with food stalls lining the street.

Finally - for a book that claims to be about the "examination of sisterhood and the culture of true crime" I personally feel like there was zero reflection on these topics aside from some very surface level thoughts in the beginning of the book that never really impacted the overall tone of the story. It was a lot of "women are being murdered, true crime is so gross, my sister can do no wrong because we loved each other" with zero critical thinking sprinkled in.

All in all, there's a lot of great mysteries that reflect on sisterhood, and a lot of great mysteries that tackle true crime. I do not feel like this was one of them, and can't really recommend you read this unless you're bored and just want an easy book to tackle, because admittedly, I did finish it in one sitting.

This feels like such a tough book to review. The premise and structure of the book felt like they worked really well; I enjoyed the true crime podcast element and the way that the murderer got revealed was well done. I found the writing--especially the dialogue--tough to hang with. There was a lot of info dumping and repetition of the same information (first in dialogue and then in exposition, or vice versa) that made the story drag.

The book's format is unlike any I've seen before. Instead of the characters narrating the events, the readers are placed in the position of a motel witness observing the happenings. The story contains podcasts, flashback to events and ldifferent points of view. Despite this unconventional format, the book is a page-turner that leaves the reader wanting to know what happened to the girls. It's a story that draws you in and makes you feel the stress of the characters. The writer's storytelling ability is the standout feature of the book. It's perfect for anyone who enjoys plot twists that catch them off guard. If you're looking for a book to read, this is the one.

3.5 stars, rounded up

"The Lake of Lost Girls" is a dual-timeline story of two sisters, Jessica and Lindsey, one of whom went missing from Southern State University in North Carolina twenty-four years ago. The novel is meant to appeal to true crime fans as present-day Lindsey attempts to unravel the mysterious cold case disappearance of her sister.

While the book kept me turning pages, I felt like it relied too heavily on exposition and "telling" me information rather than letting the characters' actions drive the story and speak for themselves. The inclusion of the podcast "Ten Seconds to Vanish," was an interesting concept, but it didn't quite hit the mark, mainly serving as a repetitive summary rather than advancing the plot or deepening the mystery. The same goes for the included "social media" posts and photos that didn't unlock any clues or offer fresh information. I have recently read several other "true-crime" fiction novels that did a far better job incorporating these modern elements, so maybe that's why they seemed to fall extra flat for me here. This, coupled with a pacing that felt slow and repetitive until an ending that seemed rushed yet overloaded with explanations, made my reading experience a mixed bag.

[see spoilers in Goodreads review]

Despite figuring out the mystery halfway through and feeling that the ending was a bit rushed and packed with too much explanation all at once, I didn't hate the journey. It was an easy and mostly enjoyable read that managed to keep my interest. But, I wish it had taken the time and shown us more instead of relying upon telling us about things.

(2.5 stars)

I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. The chapters with Jessica's POV were far and away the best; I found myself skimming a lot with Lindsey, who just seemed kind of bland to me. I did like some of the things the book delved into - how parental grief affects surviving siblings, the ghoulishness of true crime podcasts who treat it like entertainment (looking at you, Crime Junkie). But I also figured out the twist pretty much right from the beginning, and ultimately, I just didn't end up liking it that much.

holy crap!
I just finished this in one sitting. It’s currently midnight and I am blown away by this whole story. Thrillers always get me out of a slump and this was exactly what I needed.

The plot had me hooked, the almost thinking i have it figured out just for the twist to come and have me with my jaw ok the floor. Omg. What a brilliant story.

It’s 1998 and girls keep going missing at Southern State University. Jessica Fadley is watching it happen and is unable to stop it as she is on a path of destruction in her freshman year of college with her own demons she’s fighting when suddenly she becomes the 4th girl to go missing. 24 years later and her sister Lindsey is still looking for answers on where her sister went. Told in a dual timeline alternating between Jessica and Lindsey, Lindsey slowly begins finding out what just happened to her big sister all those years ago. But the truth.. is something she can’t unlearn and may turn her own life upside down.

The Lake of Lost Girls was such a fast paced read that leaves you guessing until the very end with a twist I’m certain you won’t see coming. The author throws in little social media/podcast clips which I thought was such a fun way to loop in how quickly stories can catch the attention of millions and how twisted things can get along the way. I will say the alternating chapters, Lindsey and Jessica feel very similar and are written similarly so it was a little hard to remember who was who at times and the chapters are so long (i’m a short chapter girl) but overall the development of the plot isn’t too slow and leaves you wanting to keep reading. With that said, I’ll give this a 4/5⭐️ and say this one is definitely worth checking out when it releases in November! Thank you to netgalley for the ARC!