Good storyline, I was invested the whole way through! Only downside was that it took me a bit longer to finish as I don't read on my iPad as often.

This is about two couples and two children and how their choices impact the rest of their lives. I don't want to spoil anything but I really liked how it touched on life and death, and it all came together at the end. That made it 4 stars for me. The female characters Vera and Evelina were really great characters and I didn't want the novel to end so soon, I liked it enough that I wanted to know more and for it to keep going.

Thanks to Penguin Random House and the author.

4/5 stars

This book was not what I expected.  I will not publicly post a review.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

A highly enjoyable, slow-burn mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed. The pacing was terrific and kept me turning the pages long after I meant to put it down.

This was an enjoyable read. The twists and turns kept me turning the pages well into the night. I would recommend this novel to my friends

Thanks to NetGalley for sending me a copy of the ebook to read and review. I really appreciated it and then realized I'd already purchased a copy, so I guess I was really keen to read this one.
And I'm glad I did.
In the season of COVID, I've been doing a LOT of reading. And have slogged through a lot of books because of a strange need for completion, even if I'm not enjoying the experience. This book, told through a number of interwoven perspectives, was not like that. Right away, I eased into the writer's world with an audible "ahhhh." This novel was very engaging, compelling, a joy to read.
What it's about? Without giving anything away, it's about a woman going missing and the aftermath, told from the perspectives of 7 people involved. As the book moves along, more is uncovered, not just about the disappearance, but also about how people are like onions - lots of layers - and how those layers can impact how they interact and react with each other. There were no stereotypes, no all good or all bad characters - like life, everyone has their flaws and saving grace.
Really enjoyed it - so THANKS NETGALLEY for the copy of the book I ended up not needing!

A suspenseful read from the first chapter. Questions keep layering on as each new character takes up the narration around the same incident. Just when you think you're seeing the light, another twist appears.. 

The children are the emotional hooks here.  I loved, them, feared for them, sometimes dreaded what they might reveal next about their burdened young lives. The adults are almost all unpleasant, even when they're trying hard. The dog with its uncomplicated friendliness is a necessary leaven in a book that's psychologically as well as visually harsh.

"How a woman becomes a lake' is as chilling on the inside as the winter setting and snowy lake in the first half of the book are on the outside.

Less of a thriller and more of a slow unravelling of a tragedy.  The general shape of the event is known pretty early on in the novel.  Although the exact sequence isn't clear until much later, the mystery wasn't what kept me reading, the fallout and the effect of the disappearance on the lives of the characters left behind was.

Celona does an amazing job with the various ways grief and trauma play out in different people's lives, both in the short term and, with a coda set in present day, decades later.  What they do less well is giving said people distinct voices, which can be a bit of a problem when the book is told from so many POVs.  To be honest, I might not have noticed if they didn't include two children (aged 6 and 10), so it didn't do much for my overall enjoyment of the novel and it won't stop me from reading more of Celona's writing in the future.

This beautifully lyrical literary thriller focuses on the disappearance of Vera, a creator of experimental films. Set in a small fishing town in deep winter, it cleverly follows the story of several troubled characters all tied up directly or indirectly in her disappearance. With each shifting perspective, the story unravels revealing deeply damaged relationships that inflict lasting damage on all involved. Celowna's seamless transitions from one character to another makes the story ebb and flow like the dark water lurking under the ice on the lake—the central focus of all the trouble. A beautifully written book.

I want to start off by saying thank you to NetGalley & Penguin Random House Canada for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is definitely a slow-burn mystery. I had higher hopes for it, unfortunately. It was beautifully written. There were some scenes that were truly captivating, pull you right in especially with how descriptive they are. However the characters were not relatable to me, even though they were complex. It was quiet depressing at times with the storyline of this family. And, I did not enjoy the ending. I felt each storyline ended in an odd way. 

Now, would I recommend the novel. That would depend; if your looking for an easy light quick read, and don’t mind family dysfunction, child abuse and the effects of grief and guilt, go for it (it is only 261pages) but if your anything like me fast paced, suspenseful, hit you in the face ending, I would say pass unfortunately. But I will for sure look into other novels by Marjorie

How a Woman Becomes a Lake begins like a lost woman mystery — a police officer finds an empty car idling with its doors open beside a frozen lake while responding to a woman’s call for help from the nearby payphone — but as author Marjorie Celona is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop who now teaches in the MFA Program at the University of Oregon, this modern “gone girl” trope is used with great intention to explore deeper themes of family dynamics, intergenerational trauma, grief, and loss. On the one hand, I can see that this wouldn’t be the twisty thriller that readers of the (apparent) genre would be looking for, and the sense that the writing is quite calculated and engineered keeps the characters at a bit of a remove, but Celona has a lot of interesting things to say about families, gender-based expectations, and relationships and I won’t fault her (too much) for allowing her craftsmanship to shine through. There's much more to love about the writing than merely like here.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC of How a Woman Becomes a Lake
I was not sure what to expect from this novel. It grabbed me right away.
What in interesting insight and view from different characters perspectives of life, and family, live, relationships. 
Such a deep, but simple look at life and death and everything in between 
This novel is written from so many perspectives without being at all confusing 
I honestly could not put this book down 
Wow just wow!
Simplest way to explain the story is a dysfunctional family, Leo and Evalina, kids Jesse and Dimitri, father takes both children out for the day. Kids misbehave, father disciplines one child by leaving him in the park alone to think about his actions. 
Family two, no children, Vera the wife takes off early morning  to walk her dog, never returns.  How these two events become entwined and affect the characters  lives.
The writing captures the reader from the beginning, just incredibly well written. I wanted the story to continue

Solid thriller. I had a visceral, physical reaction to the description of the initial moments on the icy lake with the brothers. Terrifying as a parent to relate to the father endlessly plunging his hands and reaching, reaching for the son who he believed to be lost in the icy waters.
Thank you

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. 

How A Woman Becomes A Lake is a dark, sad, dramatic work of fiction that will not be for everyone. Thankfully, I really, really enjoyed it. I would have to say this ended up being one of my favorite thrillers of the year. 

I thought Celona's writing was absolutely magnificent. The way she was able to put me on an emotional roller coaster that kept me hooked on every page was wonderful. My heart was broken so many times throughout these pages. The characters were so incredibly flawed in a way that twists your emotions to make you feel multiple things for each character. The story is told through multiple person POV. I feel like each glimpse into their thoughts provided a layer of intrigue and interest to the story. I really just can't praise it up enough. 

If you're looking for a dark mystery that will break your heart I'd recommend giving this one a try.

Slow burn, lyrical. The impact of failure by those you love. 
You know the lake, feel the lake, smell the lake.
Definitely a more literary approach to crime fiction.

A beautifully written but ultimately very depressing story of family dysfunction, child abuse and the corrosive effects of grief and guilt.

A captivating story from the very beginning.   Evelina and Leo are separated, but Leo takes his boys on a day trip to a lake at Squire Point.  Jesse, the oldest is scared of his father and tries not to upset him.   Dmitri is Leo’s favourite and Jesse is jealous.  This particular day Jesse decides to play a trick on his father, the trick ends in disaster and changes their lives forever.     
Vera and Denny, live in the same small fishing village.   On New Years Eve, neighbours hear them arguing, Denny wants to go partying and Vera doesn’t.  The next day Denny sleeps in, but Vera gets up and takes their dog Scout to Squire Point for a walk.  There she meets a boy, all by himself and phones the police to let them know.   The boy is shivering, the weather is very cold, and the lake is frozen.  That very same day Vera disappears!  Is there a connection?   
It is a dramatic, heart wrenching story, with several twists and turns, especially when Leo, the detective, who first discovers Vera’s abandoned car, gets involved in their lives.    
A quick engaging read, a literary thriller with psychological infusion.   I could not decide between a 3.5 or 4, mainly because I thought it withered out towards the end.

I’ve seen How a Woman Becomes a Lake by Marjorie Celona listed as a thriller in a few different places, and went into this book expecting a wild ride. However, what I read wasn’t what I was prepared for at all. Instead of a story full of twists and turns, I found a beautifully written mystery about how the lives of a handful of characters unfortunately crossed.

For me, How a Woman Becomes a Lake fits more into the literary fiction genre than thriller. I think readers who expect something similar to popular titles will be let down. However, if you’re in the mood for a slow-burn mystery that focus more on characters than plot, you’ll be in for a treat.

The story takes place in a small town on the west coast, and starts on New Year’s Day. Two young boys are out with their father when another local woman goes missing. The characters seem to have nothing in common, until a police report shows that the missing woman called the boys’ mother right before she was reported missing. Immediately, everyone denies a connection, but throughout the book we see all of the pieces slowly come together.

As I mentioned, it’s not a fast paced book. Instead, it dives into the character’s lives and shows us their triggers, as well as what motivates them. Not everyone is who they appear to be at surface level, and there is something sinister hiding among them. The families are anything but perfect, but they move along, pretending that everything will be fine.

The author does a wonderful job of showing that seemingly good characters shouldn’t always be trusted, and even those painted as a villain can have some hope left in them.

For me personally, this wasn’t the type of book that I typically love, but the writing style and overall atmosphere kept me hooked. The story was, simply put, beautifully told. It has a cold setting, perfect for reading on winter nights. Curling up on my couch with a blanket and candle really made the reading experience for me.

I’d recommend How a Woman Becomes a Lake to readers who like slow-burn thrillers, similar to Emma Donoghue’s The Wonder.

Thank you to the publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, for sending me a digital copy of this book via NetGalley. How a Woman Becomes a Lake by Marjorie Celon is out now and can be purchased wherever books are sold.

It has been quite a while since I have been sucked into a book so quickly and completely. Marjorie Celona has a gift for crafting characters of great such interest and such depth that they seem to belong in the non-fiction section; their emotions and reactions have an amazing realism about them. They are not easy to let go of once you put the book down... or, perhaps, it is the characters holding onto you. 

When a woman takes her dog for a morning walk at the lake  in the morning on New Year’s Day, there are numerous directions, complete with various twists and turns the tale can take. These only increase in number when she finds a young boy standing in the snow, alone and freezing, and almost forces him into her car for warmth. Her gorgeous dog is an unwitting lure to the boy. 

Neither of them knows at this point that the world is about to shatter and spin out of control in ways that nobody could have predicted. They will both be launched into a lifelong nightmare of silence, although for one of them, it will be all too short. 

I honestly cannot see this title in the mystery genre, it is perhaps more fitting for thriller. It is a slow pace, but it is steady and unrelenting. I would highly recommend this title to those who like a good solid read! It kept me a little unbalanced throughout... just when you are sure you know what is coming - nope! 

Born and raised on Vancouver Island, BC Canada, author Marjorie Celona’s debut novel, Y, won France’s Grand Prix Littéraire de l’Heroïne, and was nominated for the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the ARC!

#NetGalley
#HowaWomanBecomesaLake

This was an interesting read. This book was less about what happened to Vera and more about the dynamics of people and their relationships. I enjoyed the parts from Vera's point of view and really think they added something unique to the book.

I like that it leaves some things unanswered since I think that makes it more real. This story felt like it could have happened in real life. The characters were well fleshed out and developed. Not everyone was likeable or redeemable which is also real life. Not everyone has a happy ending. The theme of this book for me was "life goes on" and while the mystery surrounding Vera is important to the story, it is more about how people deal with life and what happens in it.