Although the ending was pretty satisfying, I found HARROW LAKE to ultimately be middle of the road. The parts that were creepy became way less so after they were repeated time and time again, and nothing in the scare department felt very fresh. Although I liked the premise of the book, I felt like the execution was just missing that bit of pizazz to make it truly unique. ( )

This took me forever to get through. I was expecting a true horror story when it was an imagined horror story based on trauma that the main character, Lola, experienced. Just not my cup of tea ( )

What we have here is a delightfully creepy tale, one where the monsters aren't necessarily hiding under the bed. What initially seems to be a tale infused with the supernatural, instead brings us monsters and fright of another ilk. It avoids romance, choosing lies, half truths and a very creepy town to grab readers, pull them in and spit them out at the end with a very satisfying resolution. ( )

Lola is sent to live with her grandmother in Harrow Lake while her father recovers from an attack. There she learns about the towns dark past and about her own family.

This book I found just ok. The story is a family mystery/ horror. Told from the pov of Lola the story unfolds and all becomes clear to what happened

The story did have a few creepy moments but I didn't find the story scary. If I had read this book in my teen years then I probably would have freaked out. For me I more interested in the family mystery side of the story and what really did happen to Lola's mom.

The story for me was interesting, the horror part was creepy at times but for me not so scary, and overall an ok read. ( )

3.5

Book source ~ Tour

Meet Lola Nox. She is the daughter of famous filmmaker Nolan Nox. Her mother, Lorelei, played the lead character in Nolan’s most celebrated horror film, Nightjar. Set in Harrow Lake, Indiana, the birthplace of Lorelei, but she took off when Lola was five so she doesn’t really remember her. Nearly as long as she can remember it’s just been her and Nolan. And Larry, Nolan’s right-hand man. When Nolan is near fatally attacked in their New York City apartment, Larry ships Lola off to her grandmother in Harrow Lake. A grandmother she has no knowledge of. The moment Lola gets there strange things begin happening and Lola needs to figure things out before she goes crazy. Or ends up dead.

Okay. This is one weird and disturbing tale of a 17-yr-old girl with a strange family set up. Told entirely from Lola’s POV it’s not always clear what the hell is going on in this creepy town. She’s never been to her mother’s birthplace so she doesn’t know anyone, not even her grandmother. Odd things keep happening, the town is disturbingly obsessed with the slasher movie that put it on the map, and women disappear from it with no explanation. On top of all that, there are signs that the town will once again slide into a sinkhole like it did before but was rebuilt. And the cherry on top? There’s a scary story about a guy named Mr. Jitters who turned cannibal when he was caught in the first sinkhole and he’s still around after nearly 100 years. Creepy much? The story is twisty and turny and has a great ending, but I feel the execution is lacking. At times, the story just stops then jumps ahead without any transition. Maybe that’s just the style of this author, but it feels incomplete to me. However, don’t let that stop you from reading this tale straight out of your nightmares. ( )