Reviews with content warning for Child death - The Lake House

I desperately wanted to love this book. Unfortunately the author's casual disregard of the abuses of adoption and medically forced deliveries ruined it. The characters were beautiful and the story had great promise, but I found the abuses and inaccuracies a downer.

I think it important that it is made clear that a cord being wrapped around the neck during childbirth is a common occurance and not a fatal one. I believe the author's use of this as a manor to further plot quite distasteful and probably led her own miseducation due to gaslighting by the medical industry. Parents who seek out doctors are led to believe that a cord around the neck is fatal and a baby only survives due to the "greatness" of the abusive doctor they have hired to deliver their babies. In reality fatalities due to a cord being rapped around the neck are minimal and most often happen before the baby can be born. Cords wrapped around the neck are simply slipped off by mother after birth during natural births when doctors and the overbearing hands are not involved. I would encourage this author to research more about the abuses of medically led deliveries before casting it as the normal and right way for babies to enter the world.

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crufts's review against another edition

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

2.5

A big old shrug for this mystery novel. Between characters that I didn't find especially interesting or unusual, a bulky cast of named characters, more than three interwoven narratives at different time periods, and reams and reams of exposition and description, The Lake House didn't leave much of an impression on me.
The central mystery is decent, but it unfolded much too slowly; I think the pacing would be better if the novel were cut to about two-thirds of its 595 pages.

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bexdubyah's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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rowiash's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is not for everyone, but it was right up my alley; the slow buildup, multi-faceted characters, and twists and turns as new clues lead to new theories made for an enjoyable summer evening read. The vast majority of those twists felt earned by careful groundwork laid along the way, though one in particular was a bit out of nowhere - but by that point I was already invested and gave it a pass for brightening a fairly tragic story. Themes of motherhood and identity, especially in regard to Eleanor, really hit home for me and made it seem like the author had something to say beyond the mystery plot itself.

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