The Lake House - Book Review

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Claire has lived with debilitating anxiety for her whole life. When her parents send her to summer camp at a remote lakeside retreat, she is horrified to find that the camp is gone. All the buildings have burned to the ground and there are no survivors, only Claire and two other girls who arrived late. Suddenly Claire's habit of always thinking of the worst-case scenario comes in useful as the girls must fight to survive on their own with limited supplies and a mysterious killer on the loose.

The Lake House is a supernatural thriller for young adults written by Sarah Beth Durst (author of Drink, Slay, Love and the Queens of Renthia Series). It is not to be confused with the Kate Morton novel of the same name, nor the movie with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, which I have been meaning to get around to reviewing in my Sandra Bullock Movie Marathon series.

This novel is a quick, exciting thriller, without too much violence, and with no other adult themes like sex, making it suitable for teen readers. There are also strong underlying themes about the power of female friendship and valuing your own strengths, reminding me a little of the film The Craft: Legacy (2020), the much more upbeat sequel to The Craft (1996). This speech, said by one of the other girls to Claire in response to her apologising for having a panic attack, was especially moving:

"I don't know who told you that broken means weak, but that's b*llshit. You are the smartest, most capable person I've met. And just because your body doesn't behave the way you want it to all the time does not mean that you aren't strong." (From page 211)

Technically this a supernatural horror story, but while the supernatural element is important to the plot it seemed to fade into the background of what was primarily a story about surviving in a hostile environment. There was a particularly creepy part near the end, but the potential for scariness wasn't fully explored. Or maybe I'm just a bit jaded from too many scary stories and have just blithely glided past something that would haunt another person's dreams. In any case, I liked the way this book ended and enjoyed having characters I could cheer for who just deserved better than what life had given them so far.

The Lake House is a quick read, good for times when you want something exciting but not too grim. It was published in 2023.


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