Reviews

North American Lake Monsters: Stories by Nathan Ballingrud

addicted2booksstefania's review against another edition

1.0

I’m currently at the lake, and I took this book with me thinking it would be a perfect beach read. A book literally entitled North American Lake Monsters, I happily took it hoping it would be a thrilling story that I could read while drying off.

Wrong.

My first mistake was not reading the synopsis. I honestly avoid synopses when I can because I think they’re typically inaccurate. I totally judged a book by the cover and I paid for it (psychologically and literally).

I actually enjoy thriller and horror books. What’s not scary is a white man making women and people of colour victims in horror

codyjj74's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective

4.25

cathatrix's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

0.5

mangobanango's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

spookypasta's review against another edition

3.0

I wanted to love this, and I did love some of it, but some of it felt very forced. I would still recommend this book to a friend looking for a collection of short horror tales. The first last stories were my favorites.

_tourist's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

too much america, not enough lake monsters

nerdwerewolf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Violence

theogb451's review against another edition

4.0

A good collection of short stories but maybe not quite a great one. It certainly unsettles in the way good horror should but somehow most end up feeling just a little too slight as they are, either they need to be shorter and more precise, or expanded to longer narratives. Lots of good ideas though and I'll definitely check more out from Ballingrud.

ripbar's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

stephend's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75