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A review by megwoman25
Summit Lake by Charlie Donlea
5.0
This book is amazing. At first it reminded me of the book "The Divide" by Nicholas Evans with the location, the main character and how the book was written only this book was 10 times better. (no offense if anyone loved that book.) There are no spoilers in this review as it would ruin the book ;)
After reading this book, I feel like this book has to do with the choices we make and how those choices define where we go and who we are in life. So many things happen in this book that could have been avoided had their choices been different. I think anyone can relate to the idea that our lives could be completely different if we had gone with choice B instead of choice A. Just using my own life as an example, I have often wondered had I not dated my ex would I have ever met my husband? My ex got me to join this club I had never heard of and even after we split, I still spent time there and that is how I met my husband. Would I have joined that club or even known about it had I not endured this terrible relationship in my 20's? Would I had still lived in that town or ever learned of this club from someone else and been there on that exact date and time? Would I be married to someone else? Would I be married at all? Was it fate? Or was it my choices that decided my fate? Just like if I had left the house 10 minutes earlier last Monday, would I have been the one in that horrible accident instead of just being stuck in the traffic that followed it? Choices are imperative to where are lives are now.
So with that being said, this book captured my attention from the start. It starts off with a murder and the book is from two different perspectives. You have Becca Eckersley, the victim, who you meet first during her death and learn more about by reading the 14 months before her death as well as those who went to school with her and how this shapes her life in general. The other point of view is Kelsey, a reporter who has just had a life changing issue of her own and is sent by her editor to the town of Summit Lake for a month to take some time off to take care of herself but also to find out what happened to Becca . When Kelsey starts digging around into what happened, she finds a cover up and so with various people in the town helping her she uncovers these secrets and unearths something quite frightening. She also feels this deep connection to Becca that she hasn't felt in any of her other cases and that propels her to find the truth and helps her deal with her own demons.
I thought I figured this book out early on and then as the chapters went by more and more of what I thought I knew, I didn't. The past would shine a light on something but then what Kelsey was discovering in the present made me question myself. The whole book kept me guessing. I usually can guess plot twists but this one took me by surprise. It was so well written that I didn't think to question anything I read. And the thing is, when I learned the truth, it made my eyes misty. It held way more depth than I could have imagined and it really broke my heart. And then it made me think about the choices that everyone in this book made and had they just tweaked things a little, gave more thought or said something else, that everything that happened in this book could have been avoided.
Also, I could not put this book down. It kept me up late many nights in a row and I would constantly question myself in the shower about who did it and I never once got it right. I was going to rate this book 4 stars but after reading the entire thing, I will give it 4.5 and round it to 5 because as a debut, this book is everything and more. I look forward to reading anything else Charlie Donlea writes next.
After reading this book, I feel like this book has to do with the choices we make and how those choices define where we go and who we are in life. So many things happen in this book that could have been avoided had their choices been different. I think anyone can relate to the idea that our lives could be completely different if we had gone with choice B instead of choice A. Just using my own life as an example, I have often wondered had I not dated my ex would I have ever met my husband? My ex got me to join this club I had never heard of and even after we split, I still spent time there and that is how I met my husband. Would I have joined that club or even known about it had I not endured this terrible relationship in my 20's? Would I had still lived in that town or ever learned of this club from someone else and been there on that exact date and time? Would I be married to someone else? Would I be married at all? Was it fate? Or was it my choices that decided my fate? Just like if I had left the house 10 minutes earlier last Monday, would I have been the one in that horrible accident instead of just being stuck in the traffic that followed it? Choices are imperative to where are lives are now.
So with that being said, this book captured my attention from the start. It starts off with a murder and the book is from two different perspectives. You have Becca Eckersley, the victim, who you meet first during her death and learn more about by reading the 14 months before her death as well as those who went to school with her and how this shapes her life in general. The other point of view is Kelsey, a reporter who has just had a life changing issue of her own and is sent by her editor to the town of Summit Lake for a month to take some time off to take care of herself but also to find out what happened to Becca . When Kelsey starts digging around into what happened, she finds a cover up and so with various people in the town helping her she uncovers these secrets and unearths something quite frightening. She also feels this deep connection to Becca that she hasn't felt in any of her other cases and that propels her to find the truth and helps her deal with her own demons.
I thought I figured this book out early on and then as the chapters went by more and more of what I thought I knew, I didn't. The past would shine a light on something but then what Kelsey was discovering in the present made me question myself. The whole book kept me guessing. I usually can guess plot twists but this one took me by surprise. It was so well written that I didn't think to question anything I read. And the thing is, when I learned the truth, it made my eyes misty. It held way more depth than I could have imagined and it really broke my heart. And then it made me think about the choices that everyone in this book made and had they just tweaked things a little, gave more thought or said something else, that everything that happened in this book could have been avoided.
Also, I could not put this book down. It kept me up late many nights in a row and I would constantly question myself in the shower about who did it and I never once got it right. I was going to rate this book 4 stars but after reading the entire thing, I will give it 4.5 and round it to 5 because as a debut, this book is everything and more. I look forward to reading anything else Charlie Donlea writes next.