I really thought I was going to enjoy this book, and although the idea of it is great I found it fell a little short of my expectations. Some of the book was too simple and some, descriptions especially were very over complicated.

I'm leaning into spooky, atmospheric reads this October and Ms. Mangin's debut indie novel fits that description to a tee. From the very first moment the main character is thrust into confusion as she wakes up on an island not knowing how she had gotten there. As she explores the house and meets a small cast of intriguing characters, Eve keeps losing time and her way. The House seems to be an entity in itself and no answers come easily.

I did find that some of the twists suggested themselves to me early on, but I rooted for Eve to solve her mysteries all the way through. I think some of the dude characters could have been more developed, but some of that was explainable by the plot itself. And the ending was a little quick for my taste. All in all, I enjoyed this book and look forward to seeing what this author brings in the future.

The synopsis made me think I was really going to like this book. Sadly, I didn’t like it at all. It reads like a YA book. The paranormal aspects seemed to get lost in dialogue that was redundant; it was aggravating. Then comes a rushed romance that’s not romantic. The main character wakes up in a house with no memory of how she got there, yet she’s not upset or worried and can’t wait to explore. Huh? Round and round the book goes, until it becomes obvious how it will end, but it just keeps going and going and going. I had to force myself to finish it.
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book.

In the mood for some spooky season reads, I stumbled across House on the Lake and the cover alone had me intrigued.

Eve wakes up one morning, looks around and realizes she has no idea where she is. She looks out the window and all she sees is water setting off panic because open bodies of water are her greatest fear. Slowly, a vague memory comes to her that she is here on some sort of retreat. She sets off the explore the rest of the manor with no understanding of how she got there and what she is supposed to be doing. She meets the manor's caretakers who are rather odd. Then her identical twin Lyn appears and she doesn't know what is going on either. Eve explores the island and the manor, but strange things keep occurring. Rooms in the house seem to move and Eve keeps seeing a familiar women, but no one else does. Lastly, Eve meets the mysterious brothers Nick and Ari who are on the island to do some type of work for the owners of the house. She is inexplicably drawn to both of them leaving her even more confused and conflicted. Eve knows she has only a limited amount of time for her retreat, but as the days go by can she truly figure out what what is happening on the island. Lastly, how will she leave if she can't even go near the water?

This premise of the book had me. A creepy manor, some paranormal activity and a dash of romance makes a great spooky read. Despite all that and my intense curiosity to see how it would all play out, I didn't love this book. At times the writing felt a little young and at others the details seemed overly complex. I guessed the basic component of the ending, though there were a few surprises along the way. Overall, the plot is unique. I loved the setting and the details about the manor. It just felt like the book was trying to do too much and I found myself skimming through parts to get to the conclusion.

Like always, this is just my opinion! There are others that absolutely loved the story and you might too.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for my free digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was definitely a mind twisting book. You start thinking it’s going in one direction and suddenly it veers off into a totally different way.

Eve is an interesting character, she is deathly afraid of water and yet the retreat she booked is on an island. She wakes up in a beautiful white room yet she has no recollection of getting there. She meets the care takers in the kitchen and their behavior is confusing and causes her hesitation about staying and suddenly her twin sister is there.

She begins seeing things and hearing things and the whole experience becomes weirder and weirder.

You definitely have to read this yourself to understand what i mean.

A very different read from what I have read before , I did enjoy this book. There was lots of mystery and a intriguing story that was creepy at times.

How is this a debut?? It’s incredible! And how does it only have 3.45 stars in Goodreads?? All of those readers are crazy!

Water freaks me out, so the atmosphere and spooky vibes of this book were spot on. It was PERFECT to read for spooky season! It was the perfect mix of mystery, paranormal and horror.

This is great for fans of T Kingfisher!! Can’t wait to see what this author does next.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This book had so much potential but fell very flat. The writing style and the characters themselves were just not great. The characters did things that made no sense and the writing itself was placid and lacked emotion.

The story wasn't believable nor were the actions of the characters. I didn't get pulled in to the plot or characters, and the writing itself made it very hard to get through.

The main character, Eve, was easy to like and root for. The plot was confusing and difficult to stick with it. I did enjoy the the author’s atmospheric writing as Eve investigated a mansion that had as many twists and turns as the plot itself. Overall, the story didn’t work for me.

My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions expressed are
my own.

Not a Gothic thriller as I was expecting. This novel reads more like a YA paranormal romance which isn't really my thing. Good suspense and creepy, haunted house vibes though!

"A cleverly plotted mystery with a cast of memorable characters. A GOLD MEDAL WINNER and highly recommended!" --The Wishing Shelf Book Awards


An island is the last place Eve Beckett ever thought she’d end up. Deathly afraid of water, she has no memory of arriving at the foreboding Lakeview Manor on the Isle of Esse. Her love for a good mystery, however, especially when it comes to strange houses and the paranormal, has her second-guessing her desire to leave.


But there’s something odd going on at Lakeview. Dark and dusty rooms shift location, and there’s a mysterious woman only Eve seems able to see . . .

When Eve’s mirror twin shows up, also with no memory of how she arrived on the island, and the property manager warns them away from his brother—one Eve has no wish to avoid—the number of mysteries surrounding Lakeview becomes too much. As she learns more about the manor and its inhabitants, the question becomes not just how but if Eve will ever leave the island

What a thriller a book full of suspense, twists and turns!! Could not put this down!!

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review "The House on a Lake" by Holly Hill Mangin. The plot to this story is very intriguing, twins wake up in a creepy house surrounded by a lake and they both suffer from amnesia. The main character in our story suffers from aquaphobia, and they meet some interesting characters that take care of the property. I'm rating this at 3.5 stars. The story kept me mostly interested but overall wasn't as creepy as I wanted it to be, there was a little romance but I couldn't see the appeal or the connection between the two characters. And for me it was slightly too predictable. Knowing this is the debut novel for this author I'm looking forward to future books to see their growth as a writer and storyteller.

Thanks to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for this book.
It was an interesting story, and the end it was something that I would never imagined.

The story was about Eve, a women who doesn't remember to sign to a retreat on an island and she is afraid of the water so since the beggining the book is so interesting because who is the person who signed up in the retreat?

As the story unfolds, characters appear who are as mysterious as they are disturbing. Eve has contact with a "ghost", 2 brothers as different as they are beautiful and 2 people who are in charge of the place that she is staying.

I really like the story, was different from others that I read before. It leaves you thinking about your life and the reactions to your actions. I recommend it, you will have a good time

This book had so much promise that ultimately just fell flat for me. I didn’t bond with any of the characters so when the “big reveal” dropped, I didn’t care enough - and it was also slightly predictable.

I felt like nothing of substance happened that had me at all intrigued.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. The pace for this novel was fast, and I stayed hook the entire time (though the plot really seemed to evolve as the story went on). The perfect dark and spooky feels to welcome in autumn, and it most certainly had me uncomfortable to read in the dark. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

I'm all about a good spooky story for October, and The House on the Lake did not disappoint. This fast, engaging mystery kept me engaged throughout and I loved the twists and turns. Definitely worth picking up!

This was an enjoyable read that had good pacing throughout.

I think the author has done a good job with their storytelling, and I liked it.

Eve ends up on an island and inside a lakeveiw manor, one of the twists is that she has no recollection of how she got there. Strange occurrence start to happen and that peaks her interest. She loves mysteries and the strange happenings is calling for her to solve them. Her final mystery would be, how she got to the manor and is she able to leave. A ghost story with thrills and suspense. There are plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing and engaged into the story.

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this review copy, I received this review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

So many twists and turns you keep engaged from the beginning because it doesn't all come together until the end! Everything revolves around Eve and how the heck did she arrive at Lakeview Manor?

You will love this one and the ending will leave you stunned!

Thank you Netgalley, the author and the publisher!

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial/ the author for the eARC.

Allow me to quote page 178: "Just, lay off the mozzarella, all right?"

Yes, that is a direct quote, said seriously, by the main character Eve. I really wanted to like this book, but I just could not get past the super cringey dialog and writing style.