A review by cassiecollins
The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Please don't let the rating fool you, I wouldn't say the book is poorly written at all. But, I found it to be...rather boring. The protagonist is passive—with the few times she takes some initiative leading only to right-place-right-time occurrences rather than any plot-driving action. Scenes that could be brief are drowned in arbitrary details, turning them into multi-page affairs; whereas scenes where you want more detail are skeletal. Most of the "twists" you can see coming a mile away (unfortunately the identity of the antagonist being a big one). I really don't hate it, but the book has just too many pitfalls to rate any higher, in my opinion.