alicia88's review
4.0
This was a fun read. I’m working my way through the Rewind or Die series and this fit right in.
radicalrachelreads's review
5.0
Urban legend campfire story fun!
My second book by Renee Miller. I love her writing style - draws you in and super easy to read. This would’ve been great to read while vacationing at the campground. I agree with the reviews that say it’s urban legend stories around the campfire fun!
My second book by Renee Miller. I love her writing style - draws you in and super easy to read. This would’ve been great to read while vacationing at the campground. I agree with the reviews that say it’s urban legend stories around the campfire fun!
oddly's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of those great stories that is exactly what it sounds like—just like all the best B-movie horror shlock of the 80s. You want a blood lake monster? You get it in Blood Lake Monster.
There was actually a lot more story here than I was expecting, which was great. The story begins from Maribel's perspective, but she soon vanishes and her sister Anya picks up the story. About half the story is set at the time of Maribel's disappearance and half is later, when Anya comes back to see if she can discover what happened to her sister.
I did get attached to Anya because she is well-characterized, but some of her decisions in the second half of the book were confusing. I was put off by the ending, which added in some details that I felt were unnecessary. But, I loved the rumor of the blood lake monster that was the town's urban legend, spread from kid to kid and embellished, but strangely reflective of the truth.
All in all, a fun Rewind or Die entry!
There was actually a lot more story here than I was expecting, which was great. The story begins from Maribel's perspective, but she soon vanishes and her sister Anya picks up the story. About half the story is set at the time of Maribel's disappearance and half is later, when Anya comes back to see if she can discover what happened to her sister.
I did get attached to Anya because she is well-characterized, but some of her decisions in the second half of the book were confusing. I was put off by the ending, which added in some details that I felt were unnecessary.
Spoiler
mainly, her being impregnated by the person who killed her sister and it turns out that he was their brother.All in all, a fun Rewind or Die entry!
voidedlux's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
djohan's review
dark
sad
tense
fast-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
2.5
catsluvcoffee's review
3.0
Blood Lake Monster is Book 12 in the Rewind-or-Die series, a series of novellas giving you that charming nostalgia of the glorious B-movies of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Number 12, written by Renee Miller, takes its turn by channeling the voice of urban legend. As we are often lead to believe, this urban legend has its origins in the truth—in this case, of what really happened to Maribel Daniels. After Maribel Daniels disappeared, no one knew the reality of that night. Now her sister Anya is back to find the answers that eluded her all these years.
Miller has written a very character-driven story. Both Maribel and Anya well-fleshed out and are portrayed in a way to be relatable. What happened to Maribel is horrific and the reader is there to experience it along with her. Afterward, the focus switches to Anya and her drive to discover what happened to Maribel. Her arc and the evolution of her character is no less important than Maribel's.
While the B-movie "toxic avenger" trope is carrying the weight of Blood Lake Monster, there's a lot more here to be traversed. The trailer park that the girls grow up in and life of poverty is explored in some detail as is the obvious bullying that occurred. While Maribel's ill-timed pressured swim was badly fated to occur at the moment that a truck accident permeates the lake with toxic waste, under all that sludge is a story of a girl turned vengeful lake monster, able to enact her retribution angrily on all of the male species that dare to enter her waters. There's a bit of a twist at the end that didn't particularly sit well, but aside from that, Blood Lake Monster was entertaining and original.
Website | Twitter | Pinterest
Miller has written a very character-driven story. Both Maribel and Anya well-fleshed out and are portrayed in a way to be relatable. What happened to Maribel is horrific and the reader is there to experience it along with her. Afterward, the focus switches to Anya and her drive to discover what happened to Maribel. Her arc and the evolution of her character is no less important than Maribel's.
While the B-movie "toxic avenger" trope is carrying the weight of Blood Lake Monster, there's a lot more here to be traversed. The trailer park that the girls grow up in and life of poverty is explored in some detail as is the obvious bullying that occurred. While Maribel's ill-timed pressured swim was badly fated to occur at the moment that a truck accident permeates the lake with toxic waste, under all that sludge is a story of a girl turned vengeful lake monster, able to enact her retribution angrily on all of the male species that dare to enter her waters. There's a bit of a twist at the end that didn't particularly sit well, but aside from that, Blood Lake Monster was entertaining and original.
Website | Twitter | Pinterest
enchantressreads's review
4.0
Maribel has been bullied most of her life for being different: larger, not as pretty, more plain. Her biggest bully is Luke Wilson. Hell is not enough for Luke Wilson. After a night of heavy drinking, Luke and his friends confront Maribel coming home from work. She never makes it home, but anyone swimming in the lake near her trailer park is in danger of being killed by a mutant fish thought to be caused by a chemical spill.
Anya, Maribel's younger sister, comes back to town 10 years later. Her mother has passed away, and Anya feel comfortable finding clues to her sister's disappearance. She hopes and prays that her sister is still alive, but there's a legend about the Blood Lake Monster. Maribel was killed by Luke Wilson, and she became something else entirely in Blood Lake. Her desire for revenge, added to the chemicals dumped in the lake, have created a monster. She will not stop killing until she gets revenge on her killers.
Revenge stories are the best. I hated how Maribel met her end, but I was rooting for her completely. I did want a little bit more from Maribel's end, but I'm really glad with how the story panned out. It's got everything you want in an old horror movie: a good background, some revenge, and some great body horror. I can't wait to read more from Renee Miller.
TW: rape, body horror, grooming
Anya, Maribel's younger sister, comes back to town 10 years later. Her mother has passed away, and Anya feel comfortable finding clues to her sister's disappearance. She hopes and prays that her sister is still alive, but there's a legend about the Blood Lake Monster. Maribel was killed by Luke Wilson, and she became something else entirely in Blood Lake. Her desire for revenge, added to the chemicals dumped in the lake, have created a monster. She will not stop killing until she gets revenge on her killers.
Revenge stories are the best. I hated how Maribel met her end, but I was rooting for her completely. I did want a little bit more from Maribel's end, but I'm really glad with how the story panned out. It's got everything you want in an old horror movie: a good background, some revenge, and some great body horror. I can't wait to read more from Renee Miller.
TW: rape, body horror, grooming
kkehoe's review
3.0
Not a bad little read. Nice monster weeks vengeance story that should have ended before its completely ridiculous twist epilogue.
brennanlafaro's review against another edition
4.0
This is write-up number ten for a book in Unnerving’s Rewind or Die series, and my excitement to pick one of these little ditties up has not diminished in the slightest. Kudos to Eddie Generous for, among other things, rounding up such a vast array of tropes in the process of introducing horror readers to so many new and wonderful authors. I realize now that Renee Miller has multiple books out, but this is the first I’ve had the pleasure of picking up. Blood Lake Monster follows up the aquatic horror in The Kelping, by Jan Stinchcomb, with a dose of swampy, land-locked lake creature.
Some of the titles in this series deliver exactly what they advertise - a VHS B-movie, popcorn munching good time. Some go a bit deeper, and this is arguably one of those. Maribel Daniel is treated not-so-nice by a lot of the locals, boys especially, mainly for being different - not acting like a giddy, flirtatious high school student. Not to mention having no fear of verbally cutting them down to size. Luke and his friends take this as a personal affront and when the boys try and teach her a lesson (how absolutely dare she!) things go awry.
Blood Lake Monster actually puts the focus more on Anya, Maribel’s younger sister, ten years after the inciting incident. Thirteen years old when everything happens, and having had lots of time alone with her thoughts to process the events, she returns to the trailer park where she spent her formative years, intent on proving her sister’s death was a murder and that Luke was behind it. The story deals heavily with revenge, and although you get gross-out half-fish swamp monster with razor sharp claws, blood, guts, and gore, the tale is accompanied by ethical dilemmas and discussion a plenty.
Unnerving continues the tradition of putting out phenomenal women authors who all have original stories to tell. Miller’s book stands up alongside Hailey Piper, V Castro, Jessica Guess, Jessica Quigley, and more in a series that celebrates marginalized voices and has, not remotely as a coincidence, put some of the best fun, horror fiction of 2020.
Some of the titles in this series deliver exactly what they advertise - a VHS B-movie, popcorn munching good time. Some go a bit deeper, and this is arguably one of those. Maribel Daniel is treated not-so-nice by a lot of the locals, boys especially, mainly for being different - not acting like a giddy, flirtatious high school student. Not to mention having no fear of verbally cutting them down to size. Luke and his friends take this as a personal affront and when the boys try and teach her a lesson (how absolutely dare she!) things go awry.
Blood Lake Monster actually puts the focus more on Anya, Maribel’s younger sister, ten years after the inciting incident. Thirteen years old when everything happens, and having had lots of time alone with her thoughts to process the events, she returns to the trailer park where she spent her formative years, intent on proving her sister’s death was a murder and that Luke was behind it. The story deals heavily with revenge, and although you get gross-out half-fish swamp monster with razor sharp claws, blood, guts, and gore, the tale is accompanied by ethical dilemmas and discussion a plenty.
Unnerving continues the tradition of putting out phenomenal women authors who all have original stories to tell. Miller’s book stands up alongside Hailey Piper, V Castro, Jessica Guess, Jessica Quigley, and more in a series that celebrates marginalized voices and has, not remotely as a coincidence, put some of the best fun, horror fiction of 2020.
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