Reviews with content warning for Violence - The House Across the Lake

So much I didn’t expect happened in this book. It’s a mix of mystery and horror that’s pretty well-done. The characters, are lovable despite their short-comings. This was a great book to end spooky season with and I look forward to reading more by this author.

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grettypop's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Casey Fletcher is recently widowed, spending her days alone at her family's lake house. At this time of the year, there are only a handful of other residents. Eli, the kind elderly man across the lake; a handsome new arrival who is updating her neighbors' house; and Katherine and Tom across the lake. Now Katherine is a famous former model, living in a glass, modern home with her tech startup millionaire husband. And since Casey has nothing else to do, she picks up her recently deceased husband's binoculars and begins watching the famous couple in the glass house across the lake.

The story takes a sinister turn very only on, and while I thought I was able to predict who is responsible for the series of unfortunate events... I was dead wrong. Riley Sager has this unique sense of mixing human evil with the possibility of a paranormal occurrence. Without spoiling anything, you have to go into this story open minded and ready for anything.

My only issue was with the ending. It felt like things got wrapped up too quickly, a lot of resolution rushed while the problems have existed for years.

But I did not see a lot of the twists and turns coming, and that is what makes Riley Sager such an incredible author!

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tectonixduchess's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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jj_tj's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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tracytcamp's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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zoeblair17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Dark n twisty at its finest. Every time I had a new theory, I was almost immediately proven wrong. A little slow to set the scene but about halfway through, it picks up and does not stop! Twist after twist - read the last 150 pages in one sitting and skipped dinner.

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talia1353's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

1.5

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rahanahava's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

3 1/2 stars

As with all Riley’s books, I enjoyed it to the end. The last minute twists are always a pleasant surprise.

I quite enjoyed this one having a “supernatural” element that wasn’t explained away at the end by a natural explanation. The open ending (somewhat) also makes me happy. Even if there’s not another book knowing that the story may or may not go on makes me smile.

Only Criticism I have is I listened to the audio and while the narrator was good, I felt like she was an “older” woman more like a Helen Mirren (who I could see rocking something like this) versus someone like a Julia Roberts (who I imagine the character being by description). 🤷🏻‍♀️

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