Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for a copy of “How a Woman Becomes a Lake” in exchange for my honest opinion.

Miss Celona has written a book that captures the essence of Jia Tolentino’s “New Yorker” essay from which she borrowed the title. It is more literary fiction than a mystery to solve. The characters were complex while being real and in the moment.

The cover of the book is beautiful and draws you into the story before you even open the book.

Told in various distinct voices, How a Woman Becomes a Lake Marjorie Celona by is a well paced thriller that delves into the complicated lives and dark secrets of a small town. With compelling characters and rich writing, Celona has crafted a mystery easily enjoyed at the cottage or your favourite chair on a rainy day.

I was supplied with a free copy from NetGalley and let me just say I'm glad I received the offer.

Looking back on my read, it indeed is a drawn-out story but it also should be classified as a page turner. It is deftly woven with each chapter being dedicated to a different character and this is done in a way that definitely draws you in deeper and deeper.

I do not want to review with spoilers but the prose attached to one of the characters is so beautifully written that I am seriously considering leaving it behind to be used in my eulogy. It really touched me and stood out against the predominant form of writing in the rest of the book.

My only negative criticism would be applied to the beginning of the final chapter. It seemed out of place to me and hinged on being considered filler, much like you'd expect from a high school paper.

Very good book, definitely recommended, and quite possibly the perfect title.

I enjoyed this book the characters we well written and the mystery was very captivating the only thing that I didn't like to much was I found that there were to many characters. In a mystery type of book it makes it very hard for the reader to keep track of what is going on. I also felt that the story line although well written jumped around a lot. The plot was really well done however and something that really kept me interested all of the family secrets were very well written. A woman goes missing and the police are called to try to figure out what happened to her so so the whole book is them talking to people of the city to see what happened. I found that was very interesting because you got a lot of different view points and different people seeing different things. I also thought that this was a cool way to write it not just because I don't see books like that to often but because you get to try to solve things along with the detective since you are getting the information at the same time. The only thing I didn't like was the jumping in time frames it made it a little confusing in the beginning however the longer it continued the more I got used to it. Not a bad read, not my favourite, however I would for sure give this author another try in the future.

I finished this book in a day and quite liked the writing style and different perspectives. I don't think I'd call it a thriller but it was very intriguing and I wanted to know more and was anticipating what would happen with each character. My only complaint about this book is having Eveline's perspective at the end of the book left me with some questions and I was curious to hear more from her. I really enjoyed this authors style and would definitely read more from her.

So I'm not sure what to say about this book... I am not even sure how I feel about it. I can't even formulate how to discuss this novel without giving away the whole story, but I will give it a try.

On the one hand, I didn't particularly like it. It felt as though it was a jumble of many characters thoughts, feelings and experiences...and that can be good in many novels, but there's something off about it here.

It's a fairly short, quick read. It's set in a small fishing village and opens up on New Years Day with the viewpoint of two boys and their father down at the local lake where they're making a commitment to starting the year off differently. Simultaneously, it's the tale of a woman's disappearance and the reverberating experiences of those whose lives she touched.

It's as if you're not quite sure what's happening, because although the author gives you the multiple viewpoints of many characters, it's as though you have a blindfold on halfway, because there's still things that you don't know and can't get a grasp of. You know something sinister has happened, but you can't quite figure out how it's happened, or why, or if it even happened at all I guess.

I guess to summarize, I can't say I liked this book. It was too vague and ambiguous, and a bit all over the place for my liking. You never truly know what you know, if you catch my drift.

<i>I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher of this advanced digital copy for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review!</i>

In How a Woman Becomes a Lake, Marjorie Celona brings a tale of love and relational dynamics, complex trauma in children and adults and grief mixed with transcendence.

I enjoyed many aspects of this read particularly the complexity of each character that were flawed yet elegantly envisioned with a rich but simple rendering.

I’ve read countless books that are lengthy yet say few words. How A Woman Becomes a Lake says some much within 261 pages which is attributed to Celona's skill for her craft. In yet, I feel that the book could have ended on page 242 leaving some ambiguity and pieces left for readers to ponder, I do I appreciate the author’s vision casting with the remaining last scenes. Again, a nod to Celona's ability to create feeling and draw in readers.

Overall, I devoured the book in less than 24hrs and am left with visions of the lake, a spiritual connection to the land, story and characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A slow burning mystery/drama that is beautifully written. Realistic and relatable characters and descriptive scenes pull you into the story.
It's not my kind of read so I did find some parts a bit much and the ending a little flat but it really is a well written novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Books Canada for the opportunity to read this book. I’m not sure what genre to call this book. It is intriguing and beautifully written with what starts as a mystery and then becomes a murder mystery yet it also has a heavy classical literature feel to it. The story flows smoothly and the characters are quickly developed but in a manner that I couldn’t describe to you exactly what any of theses people looked like with the exception of Vera. I like how their physical descriptions are not made an important part of the book. It helps you to concentrate on the main storyline along with the subtext. I did have the plot of the book figured out from the beginning but that surprisingly did not detract from the book at all. I have read another book by this author and this one is as excellent of a read as the other. I find I can’t really tell you many details of the book as I believe you should read it and learn everything for yourself. I would say this is a story of a sad and frightened little boy and the people that made him into the person that he is. I felt so many emotions while reading this and I was a bit disappointed with parts of the story but in general it is a wonderful book.

I'm going to start this review off by saying that I have picked up Y, Marjorie Celona's first book, probably about a hundred times and never followed through with actually reading it. I will need to remedy that, as this one was sooooooo good.

How a Woman Becomes a Lake is one of my favourite books I have read this year.

I don't want to get too personal, so I won't say too much, but this book gave me all of the feels - Evelina's anger and despair, Jesse's terror and rage, Leo's unpredictability and Lewis's dependability, Denny's deep grief and Dmitri's innocence and confusion - they were all written so profoundly well.

This book was a masterpiece. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc.

On a cold New Years' morning, a woman takes her dog for a walk near a frozen lake. She finds a small boy by himself, who claims he is waiting for his father. She calls the child's mother and the police but the call is cut short. That is the last that is heard of her. The boy claims that the woman left and that his father picked him up. The mother goes along with the story, and the woman's older husband is suspected of foul play, however, the detective investigating the disappearance feels there is something wrong.

Marjorie Celona's lyrical novel, How a Woman Becomes a Lake is difficult to place in one category. A literary novel that is part mystery and thriller, but also a ghost story and an examination of the psychology of trauma. Well worth a read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in return for an unbiased review.

Although not a fast paced, page turner novel I really enjoyed this book. It was different and thought provoking. A dark mystery, well written.

This is a character-driven mystery told from multiple points of view which worked well in unfolding the elements of the plot. This is not a fast-paced tale but more a quiet story of family dysfunction, loneliness, regret, yearning for a better life, and being tied to the past by a difficult childhood. While generally well-done, I did find the ending quite abrupt. A 3.5 star read for me. Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada and Netgalley for this copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A woman calls police, telling them she has found a little boy lost in the woods, but when a police officer arrives on the scene, there is no sign of either the woman or the child. The mystery slowly unravels throughout the book, which is told through the perspectives of several key characters. The reader will learn about the complex relationships these characters have with others close to them, and that sometimes, spontaneous actions and decisions have far reaching and unexpected consequences.

I found the plot to be fast-paced and I read it quickly. Although I had an inkling about what may have transpired, I was still surprised by how everything played out.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Marjorie Celona, and Hamish Hamilton for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #HowaWomanBecomesaLake

I enjoy reading character-driven novels, and while there's a mystery in this to add to it, I think at it's core, it's a character piece. The suspense element was well done - perfectly layered without being manipulative. I liked the pacing of the novel as well.

I do think this novel is two different pieces of writing though. We have the mystery that is the core of the novel, but then we have Vera's perspective, which is poetic, grandiose, and at the danger of being meandering. It reminded me a lot of The Lovely Bones