Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - The House Across the Lake

Once the big plot twist comes the appeal for me went down a little bit bc I think the supernatural element was a bit cheesy but overall was a super fun read that kept me on my toes the whole time

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taryn_g's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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abbyynormal's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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courtnetto's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book really had me hooked from the get go! Was one of those books that just kept you engrossed and wanting to find out what happens next!
This book follows our main character Casey Fletcher, a failed actress and widow, who lives in a house on Lake Greene, when one night she discovers a body floating on the top of the lake, she immediately jumps on her boat to go and aims to bring the ‘dead’ body back to land, only she suddenly comes back to life, coughing and spluttering. This is when we are introduced to Katherine Royce, a former model.
Katherine and Casey spend time talking after Casey saved her life, even having a beer or two while they are there. Eventually, Katherine goes home as it’s getting late but Casey tells her to keep the blanket. Soon after, we are also introduced to Tom Royce (Katherine’s husband) who also comes over to Casey’s house to meet her and thank her for saving Katherine’s life by bringing over two bottles of $5,000 red wine to celebrate. Except, Tom seems rather suspicious as he has to be one to open the bottle and decant the wine into glasses for the two women… it’s only when Katherine proclaims that she isn’t feeling good and collapses outside of Casey’s house that Casey realises something isn’t right.
Along the way, we also meet Boone Conrad who is staying at another house on the lake to do maintenance for the owners of the house. Boone and Casey become close and often talk. Casey even sneaking little looks at Boone skinny dipping through her binoculars.
However, the focus of this book is discovering what happened to 3 young women after they suddenly just vanished, except one of the people living on the lake know who’s done it and they have even dealt with it in their own way.
I loved all the characters in this book, right up until the very end when we saw the change in Tom Royce. I really felt for Casey keeping that massive secret, but in other ways she didn’t need to try and ruin someone else’s life by trying to frame them for the disappearances.
Such a great read and had me so hooked all the way through!

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