Oh wow what a brilliant book, I was engrossed from page one! Eva wakes up to find herself locked in her attic, why have her parents locked her in? She finds out she's been involved in an accident and been in a coma for a long time. Slowly she begins to recollect events and begins to plan a way out to find the truth. A by story from Maxine slowly begins to show the true story of Eva's life and who the person is who is trying to contact her. A whole web of lies and deceit lead Eva to England to find the truth.
Gripping from start to finish

At first, I found the book quite confusing but once I got into it I found it a brilliant read, well written with a very clever storyline. Highly recommend

Wow wow wow, there just aren’t enough words to describe how this book is!

A tragic accident left Eva with memory loss, she wakes to find she is locked in the attic and is told by her parents that she’s been in a car accident and they are going to care for her, as her memory begins to return, things just don’t seem right and some dark and twisty secrets start to emerge.

Dark, twisty and unputdownable!

This was a heartbreaking, shocking and gripping read from this talented author! This is a difficult book to review as I don’t want to give too much away.

The main character Eva is a very sympathetic one who I couldn’t help but feel sorry for. Her confusion is almost palpable at times and it was heartbreaking to watch her try to piece everything together. Her memory loss makes her an unreliable narrator which made for very interesting reading as I tried to work out what was real and what wasn’t.

The story does start of slow which I thought was cleverly done by the author as it reflected the confusion that Eva feels. It soon picks up though when the different threads of the story start pulling together and the many twists kept me guessing until the end. The ending really shocked me and I felt pulled the story together nicely.

Huge thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Trapeze for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

I found this narration really clever as you are getting the facts as Eva discovers and unpacks them. There’s no real other details coming at you until later on in the book and it really keeps you guessing throughout!
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This story was a real page turner with a lot of thrill. The story was really clever and gripping from the get go. The book seemed to be crafted really well and careful not to give away any twists too early!
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Towards the end of the book it became a real edge of your seat story as all the facts start coming to the surface. I found the ending of the book quite enjoyable and not too rushed like you find in some books!
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I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys thrillers! You’ll not be disappoint. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’d certainly read more!
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Lake Child is my first book by Isabel Ashdown and was a really great read, hugely exciting and jam packed with trepidation and fear. With numerous, unexpected twists and turns, I loved the author’s superb characterisation and the story-line was totally absorbing.

The Norwegian setting was perfect and its general remoteness contributed towards my sense of unease and the tense, atmospheric feel.

Lake Child was compulsive and compelling from beginning to end and I would recommend this impressive psychological thriller without any hesitation.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Orion Publishing Group via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion

The description for Lake Child instantly made me want to read it with a premise that makes you question a family and their intentions. I mean, surely you can trust your family. Can’t you?

In this book we meet Eva who awakens from an accident without her most recent memories. Completely relying on her parents to help her get better along with them telling her the events of what happened on the night of her accident. Pretty soon I found myself questioning the behaviour of all of the characters. Could anyone be trusted?

Lake Child has a steadily building tension, the kind where you feel unease as things just don’t seem to be adding up. If you do want a book that jumps straight in and moves super fast you may be a little disappointed. However what I did find was a book that ramped up the tension little by little along with making me question everything. Then with the addition of Eva’s paranoia I was pulled along on a very twisty journey. What also added to the intrigue was the introduction of a second storyline mainly because at first I wondered where it was going but it soon becomes shockingly clear.

The pacing of the story is pretty good and for the most part I had that all important need to keep reading. I just had to discover the truth especially as the story weaves an increasingly tangled web of secrets and lies. If you enjoy a story centred around family and secrets then Lake Child could be perfect for you. The added isolation of the setting also helps to give a darker edge to the story. With characters who may or may not be untrustworthy all combining to make Lake Child an intriguing and at times dark story.

I usually love Isabel Ashdown’s books but sadly this one didn’t quite work for me. I found most of the first half so very slow and a little repetitive, and it didn’t really help that the main character of Eva irritated me beyond belief. It certainly picked up for me when the second strand of the story began and it was from then that I really started to find it interesting. The second part was definitely much stronger than the first in my opinion and although I had already guessed the reveal, it was still an intriguing read. What did work in its favour was a tremendous sense of place, especially the Norway setting which was brought to life by the atmospheric and evocative descriptions.

Whilst I didn’t enjoy this as much as I expected to it certainly wouldn’t stop me from reading future books by this author.

I love the author’s writing so have been really keen to read Lake Child and I’m so happy to say that it more than lived up to expectations! This novel follows Eva who wakes up to find she is locked in the attic room of her parents house. She doesn’t know what happened or how but she’s on edge. She starts to have memories but she can’t quite figure things out and her parents are being evasive. Gradually secrets and lies are brought to the fore and the speed of this novel begins to ramp up. The writing in this book is stunning – I felt like I was right there with Eva in this house in the snow and icy cold. I could envisage everything that was being described and got completely swept away in this novel. I read this book in one sitting as I just didn’t want to put the book down. It’s a perfect read for the colder weather and I highly recommend it!

Lake Child by Isabel Ashdown I just Loved. Lake Child may be a psychological thriller, and I was gripped after the first few pages of this brilliant book that I could not put it down. Eva Olsen is seventeen and wakes up in the attic of her family home the forests of Norway, bed bound after a horrific accident she has no memory of. Her devoted parents are by her side. Eva's memory of the accident starts to return slowly and she begins to doubt everything her parents have told her.

Why is Eva in the attic of her family home?

Why is the door locked?

Why hasn't any of her close friends visited her to see how she is?

Can she escape from her parents?

WoW.....This book has so many twists and turns I just loved it!

I highly recommend this book and this author. I have always enjoyed her books I have read and this one is 5 star read!

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

A intriguing psychological thriller that starts slowly then spirals deeper and deeper into webs of lies and mysteries.

Eva Olsen, 17, wakes in her parents house to find that she's been in a horrific accident. She's weak, scarred and can't remember a thing. How does she know her parents are even telling the truth? Why isn't she in her old bedroom and what are they keeping from her? She can't even talk to her old friends. All she has strength for is staring out of her bedroom window into the snow and forests of Norway. But she does eventually find her inner strength and a way to test the boundaries she's had forced upon her. The question is, what does she then find out?

This is one of those 'I've started and now I've GOT to finish it tonight' books.

I casually started it late Saturday afternoon as my children nagged me for one thing after another. It's always a challenge to get into a book in such circumstances (especially when I should be parenting!). But by the evening, as I sat outside their bedrooms, willing them to fall asleep and getting further and further into the book, time fell away from me. Suddenly I realised they'd been snoring away for ages, and I was too wrapped up in mysteries and twists to notice. I eventually scarpered downstairs and stayed in one spot until it was done.

I liked Eva and thoroughly enjoyed the ride, although some elements of the end were a little neat for me. Would certainly come back to this author again.

Imagine waking up in a dark unfamiliar room that is bolted from the outside, covered in scars and with no memory of what happened and how you got there?

That is the nightmare Eva Olsen faces made even worse upon discovering that it's her own parents that have locked her in the attic with no contact with the outside world. They say it's for her own protection after she was involved in a car accident in which she was very seriously injured and the driver who, having escaped, remains unknown. It appears she had been kidnapped from a local bar although no one knows by whom or who she may have left with.

The accident has left Eva without her most recent memories - from that night or those leading up to it - but not everything is as it seems. Why have her best friends, Rosa and Lars, not been to visit her? Why has no one but the police been allowed to see her? The questions they ask just seem to confuse Eva even more as she desperately tries to recapture and retain the memories that linger on the periphery of her mind. But as secrets from the night in question start to surface, Eva also begins to question her parents' motives. Nothing they have told her seems to be the truth, and she begins to wonder can she really trust them?

One night, Eva convinces her parents to go into town for some annual celebrations and she uses this time to make her escape. Armed with just a knife she deftly removed from the tray on which they brought her meals and kept hidden until the time was right, Eva set to work on the door hinges. Once the door fell away, she couldn't believe that she was finally free and she quickly packed a bag from her own untouched bedroom before making her way down the stairs. But she hears the sound of the TV which is never left on. Of course they wouldn't leave her on her own, unguarded. So Eva begins to quietly make her way out when she hears another sound. The piercing cries of the fox in her dreams. Eva is confused...and then she hears the sound again...but it's not a fox. How could they keep this from her? Where does this leave Eva now? For she knows now, she cannot escape.

Suddenly the story shifts and takes us to London where a grandmother is being interviewed for the writing of her memoirs about the disappearance of her granddaughter almost two decades ago. And there are even more secrets surrounding that story as well as bit by bit we are given tiny morsels to try and piece together. How was the disappearance of baby Lorna Gregory in England connected to Eva's accident and subsequent amnesia in the snowy forests of Norway? I thought I had it all figured out until a final twist threw a whole new perspective on everything we thought we knew.

Told primarily from Eva's POV, with the England connection told through a series of interviews, this complex story was cleverly written...despite moving at a glacial speed for the first 30%. I admit, there were times I'd wondered whether to continue as it was incredibly slow and very confusing and repetitive in the first quarter or so...and for me, a book shouldn't take that long to engage the reader. I really was very close to giving up on it. BUT then it picked up...and when it did pick up it really picked up. And then I couldn't put it down.

As secrets begin to unfold, LAKE CHILD takes us on a journey through Eva's confused and convoluted memories surrounding her accident and her family. Dark and atmospheric, the chilly Norwegian landscape only adds to the mystery and intrigue as Eva clings to the shreds of memories, fighting to remember what really happened that night. And whether she can truly trust her parents.

As I fought my way through the first 30% of this book, I really didn't think I would enjoy the rest of it...but I did. Suddenly, everything began to fall into place and secrets unraveled and the truth was finally revealed.

LAKE CHILD is a dark and incredibly atmospheric thriller that is so intense and even suffocating. I had that claustrophobic feeling witnessing Eva's confusion and the incarceration in her parents' attic. Nothing made sense...until it did. The entire tale had a kind of complex ingenuity to it wrapped up in that atmospheric Scandi-noir.

While the first part is thoroughly confusing, repetitive and moves at a glacial speed, I would urge you not to give up! It does begin to make sense, albeit further on than I would normally like, but it is worth it in the end. While I wouldn't say it was gripping from the start, LAKE CHILD is shrouded in mystery, intrigue and dark secrets that make this an intense and compelling thriller that is both dark and atmospheric.

My only complaint is the amount of time it took to engage me as a reader, with the first half being far too slow and confusing with too much repetition. I've said before that it shouldn't take 30% of the novel before it starts to get interesting. Normally I would have given up long before if not for someone else assuring me it would all begin to make sense soon. I'm glad I stuck it out, as not many would.

Having said that, LAKE CHILD ended up being a clever, complex, twisted thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed by the end. And that cover - WOW! That alone was atmospheric in both colour and detail.

I would like to thank #IsabelAshdown, #NetGalley and #OrionPublishingGroup for an ARC of #LakeChild in exchange for an honest review.

Being a fan of Ashdown’s work, I’ve come to know what to expect of her writing; exceptional plotting conveyed in beautifully written prose; and I am pleased to report that she has managed to do it yet again!

Lake Child is a moody and atmospheric thriller set against the stunning backdrop of the Norwegian fjords. Ashdown hooks you in from the first line and I was gripped ‘til the final page. This is a dark, brooding and unsettling novel, which I found rather creepy (in a good way) at times!

I loved how the dreamy yet vivid descriptions of the valley were seamlessly woven in with the secrets from the night of the accident. Ashdown has such a talent for making the reader feel like they are right there in the room as a scene is being played out; it makes for such a tense and compelling read.

I did think I had it all worked out by about two thirds of the way through the book, but the twists just kept coming and I’m pleased that the ending was a total surprise. Ashdown has delivered yet another intricate and anxiety-inducing page-turner and I can’t wait for her next!

Lake Child by Isabel Ashdown is one of those books that’s very difficult to review for fear of giving too much away. It’s a gripping psychological thriller that drew me in from the very first page and didn’t let go until the final page had been turned. Full of twists and turns that will keep you on your toes throughout, the surprises kept on coming thick and fast, so much so that every time I thought I’d finally worked out what was happening, something else happened that made me realise I’d got it all completely wrong!

I warmed to the character of Eva and the situation she found herself in from the very start, my heart aching for her as she attempted to put the missing pieces of her memories back together again. The fear and confusion she felt were palpable as we slowly moved through the story, with Eva being such an unreliable narrator that you never really knew what was real and what wasn’t.

Lake Child is a book that builds slowly, with the tension increasing in momentum as the threads of the story gradually begin to come together. It’s a heartbreaking and shocking read, brilliantly written by the talented Isabel Ashdown, keeping me on the edge of my seat as we raced towards its thrilling conclusion.

A suspense filled, atmospheric thriller that I would highly recommend. A must read.

What an outstanding book! Atmospheric doesn't even begin to describe it; Isabel Ashdown perfectly conjured the landscape in Norway, so much so that I felt as if I should have been wearing snow boots and a padded jacket whilst reading Lake Child.

Eva's whole story is massively intriguing from the start; she's recovering from a mysterious accident and her parents have her locked in the attic. I couldn't read fast enough to find out why she was locked in the attic and to discover the mystery surrounding the night she was involved in a crash. Then just as the story reaches fever pitch, we are distracted by the interview of a grandmother of a missing baby in England that threw my mind into turmoil and made me put on my virtual running shoes to see how the two stories were linked. I thought I saw it coming but, with an abundance of family secrets stashed in the closet, I could only see the tip of the iceberg.

Isabel Ashdown must be part-Viking to have embraced the scandi-noir genre so expertly. I say scandi-noir but maybe this is scandi-psych as it twisted my brain into knots with the shots of intrigue and surprise being fired at me relentlessly. As chilly as the landscape is, the warmth of family and friendship shines through, excluding the dysfunctional family in England of course; they wouldn't have looked out of place on the Jeremy Kyle show, that's for sure. The contrast between the two families is portrayed excellently; they really are like chalk and cheese.

Gripping from the start, Lake Child is filled with mystery, intrigue and dark family secrets. Set against the backdrop of a cold and beautiful Norwegian landscape, it's a real ice-gripper. A highly recommended read.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

As a huge fan of Isabel’s previous psychological thrillers when I was asked to arrange the #blogtour I immediately put my name down to open the tour alongside my fellow blogger Joanne Robertson because I adore her writing so much. (Isabel’s writing NOT Jo’s BTW although Jo does write brilliant reviews!)

Lake Child has an extremely atmospheric and claustrophobic feel about it from the opening chapter. Eva has woken up recently from a coma after being involved in an horrific car accident of which she has absolutely no recollection. This is pretty scary anyway, but when you add in the factors that she appears to be locked in a secret attic room in her parents house in Norway and is not allowed out then the tension is even more heightened for the reader. Eva begins to suspect her parents are lying to her and her isolation from her friends is making her fear for her life.

With another story running through the book featuring an elderly woman in London writing her memoirs about her granddaughter’s abduction 18 years ago, the reader is taken on quite a journey trying to figure out if and how these two stories are connected.

I thoroughly enjoyed this atmospheric and dark thriller and was kept gripped throughout. Highly recommended.

Lake Child was a cover love choice. The beautiful colours struck me and I couldn’t take the title off my mind. I knew the book would be atmospheric and complex.

How can I put words in the experience that is Lake Child? Mainly set in Norway, in the middle of nowhere, with a young Eva struggling in the aftermath of an accident and being cared of by her parents, the novel sets the tone straight away. Eva is locked in her house’s attic, scars covering her body while her mind feels like cotton candy. She has no recollection of the events that led her there. This is one of the things I am scared of. Not remembering. This scenario has been used before, but rarely had it been so powerful.

Reading Lake Child felt like standing in the middle of a forest when snow is falling. The crisp sound of the fresh white coat under my feet made me feel both safe and afraid. The sound is familiar, but it doesn’t feel right. Just like Eva and her parents. Why is she in the attic? Why won’t they tell her what happened? The short and vivid chapters accentuated the undercurrent of secrecy. Isabel Ashdown has a knack for creating a suffocating and intense atmosphere. In this forest, I was left on my own device with Eva. I lifted my face to the sky and let the snowflakes land on my skin. Some burnt, like the discoveries of lies. Others comforted me, in the shape of a mother’s love, or a father’s warm hug. A few snowflakes tickled. Where were Eva’s friends? Some snowflakes tasted bitter. Where was her memory?

The more I read, the more anxious I became. I couldn’t comprehend Eva’s parents. I couldn’t figure out what would justify locking your own daughter up in your house like a Disney princess. Eva’s friends’ silence was baffling. Nothing made sense, and yet… Yet I could feel that there was a picture underneath all that snow. A complex picture which would make sense of this accident, its consequences, and the burning secrets surrounding Eva.

Eva’s choice to go look for the hidden truth is bold, and I admired her for the length she goes to in order to shake answers from those around her. I wanted to slap everyone until they finally gave up and came clean. I would have been less patient than Eva! I would make a terrible book character!!

Halfway through Eva’s story, other characters appear out of nowhere, adding layers to what is already a heavy crust of mystery. Why? How? With no apparent connection to Eva, those chapters caught me off guard. The race began to speed up and suddenly, my wariness extended to all characters. It was about Eva and myself against the world. I really wanted her to get to the bottom of things, no matter what. I am in awe of how the author managed to give all characters multiple sides, creating rainbows of grey, black, and white.

With a spending writing bound to draw the reader in, Isabel Ashdown delivers a taut and unnerving psychological thriller. The slow pace perfectly complements the setting and allows the reader to understand the power of families…

I couldn’t put this down and finished reading it in just a day! It’s a taut, tense and edgy thriller that will keep you guessing and turning pages at high speed!

Eva wakes from being in a coma for many months. Her parents tell her she was involved in a serious car accident, but immediately, Eva senses that something is amiss. Why are her parents acting so strangely? Why are they keeping her locked in the attic instead of allowing her to sleep in her own bedroom? And why does nobody come to visit her? Where are her best friends who she spent every single day with, prior to this incident?

Eva is determined to get to the bottom of what is clearly some bizarre mystery. She knows for sure that the truth is being kept from her. Why? She doesn’t know, but she’s going to find out. Searching the Norwegian landscape from her attic window for clues, Eva builds up her strength and willpower in her pursuit of answers as to what really happened to her.

And then … wait a minute … suddenly the story changes halfway through the book, and we’re reading about Maxine, a woman in London being interviewed about her grandchild who was kidnapped as a baby and was never found. Not only is the story different, but so is the timeframe! This happened years before the original one that we were reading about. What on earth is going on and how are the two narratives related, because surely they must be.

It slowly becomes clear that Maxine is far from a reliable witness. As the interviews continue, supposedly for an ‘autobiography’ that’s being ghostwritten for her, it’s obvious that she’s conniving and dishonest and that although she clearly did have a traumatic history, she’s using this for monetary gain as much as she’s able to. But the question persists: how is she connected to Eva?

Ashdown’s writing is compelling, immediately drawing the reader in and not letting go until that final page. Her characters are well rounded and it becomes easy to understand their actions and motives as the plot progresses and is slowly revealed. There are loads of ‘aha’ moments and I guarantee you will be left shocked and breathless on more than one occasion.

I highly recommend this 5-star read! Absolutely brilliant!

Can you imagine waking up in a room you are not familiar with and without any memory of how you arrived there?
That’s Eva’s worst nightmare, being retained at her own house by her parents, with no memories from her last months and without any contact with the exterior. Of course she will try to escape and discover the truth; because the only thing that she knows for sure is that her parents are lying to her and there’s something much bigger hiding behind all the blank lies.
I don’t want to talk much about the plot of the book in case I make any spoiler, just to let you know that I started this book flying to London and I sat in a coffee shop till I finished it, leaving all my appointments in stand by till I finished it!
This is a psychological thriller with a few twists and surprises awaiting for you on your trip. There were a few hints for the reader to know where the plot was going to but there were some unexpected twists too that made the book more real and complex.
There are characters I didn’t like but I fully understood their part on the plot. Sadly I don’t understand them when you find them in our society; how can you close your eyes when something horrendous happens around you? Why not face it and go to the police instead of lying and look at another side? Really, sometimes I wonder what type of society we live in!
This is a book with many layers and interesting situations that you will not know who to trust. Because if your parents lie to you, who can you believe?
Ready to discover the Lake Child?

This is the first book by Isabel Ashdown that I have read and I was so intrigued by the blurb and that gorgeous cover! Seventeen year old Eva Olsen is recovering at home after being in a coma as the result of a car accident which nearly claimed her life. She is still very confused, suffered traumatic injuries and has no recollection of the events leading up to the crash. Her parents are at her beck and call; always there with words of comfort and support…so why is Eva locked in an attic room, why does she feel like she isn’t being told the whole truth and is there really someone out there that wants to silence her for good?

I found this story to be a slow burner but this is done for a good reason as the tension builds and the truth is revealed bit by bit. Eva is obviously not a reliable narrator due to her memory loss and it was easy to side with her parents until more details about the events come back to Eva. Even then she is confused and unable to trust anyone around her which was slightly frustrating at times. I was totally gripped and every twist was a total surprise to me. Lake Child is such an atmospheric read and I was drawn into the story and the surroundings of Norway.

Highly recommend.