Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Lake by Natasha Preston

12 reviews

toris_in_her_own_world's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

They spent the entire book talking about "that one summer," and trying to keep it a secret. The main character sucked at acting like it hadn't happened though since every other page she was mentioning it again.

It didn't really make any sense to me that this whole thing was because a girl was accidentally knocked into the fire when she was a kid. Like is that really worth killing people over???It also just made no sense to me that the two main girls couldn't tell anyone for like, YEARS. I'm pretty sure they would have been forgiven for a mistake they made in a panic when they were kids.

The ending was honestly not very good. It was a twist, but it only created more problems, instead of fixing any. I have not disliked a book this much in a long time. However, if you like mysteries with ambiguous endings and don't mind a little gore, you might like it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

kat_a's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Stalking, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Blood, and Car accident

julells's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I really loved the idea of the book and it was definitely okayish written. However the entire plot turned out to be rather irrational and the ending was just really disappointing to me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

ruthypoo2's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book is fine for a YA thriller and it reads very YA. There’s mystery and best friends with a secret and budding romances and new friends, all rolled up in a traditional summer camp setting. The story is a little slow to start as it takes its time establishing the characters’ backstories and evolving relationships. There are creepy sightings and hints about a past tragedy woven throughout the first couple of weeks as campers and their counselors arrive and get settled into the day-to-day camp activities.

Mid-point the pace picks up with more action and a various suspicious behavior occurring that causes the main character and narrator, Esme, to question who she can trust. The final act takes the reader down a dark and winding path, and for me, it didn’t entirely add up that the consequences for some of the characters was rightfully deserved. I liked the ending and while it probably wouldn’t hold up in the real world, it was calculated and twisted enough to fit the psyche of the culprit who engineered the events.

I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narration by Lillie Ricciardi. Her voice is clear and she captured the youthful naïveté and banter of the teenage characters.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

rene_reads02's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

addybug1125's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.75

I disliked the main character, esme. I felt that I couldn't get too into her character because she didn't feel real. There were a lot of missing pieces regarding her background but Kelly being hinted at. I felt that there were too many praises for her thinking, once I noticed it, I couldn't go back. I hated the ending. Very typical horror story ending. There's much more I could say but don't

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

arthomas's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

faithmari's review

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

jillkaarlela's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

This dark, twisty thriller full of suspense, drama, secrets, revenge, and a little romance has everything that makes a ya mystery/thriller great. The suspense keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. I wouldn’t say that this is particularly scary, but I would definitely say that this is for an older audience, like 16+. No spoilers, but it does end on a HUGE cliffhanger, and the author has no plans of a sequel which ahh I need to know what happens. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

immensekassing's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Kidnapping