A retreat to a manor house on a lake for Eve and her twin sister leads to discovery for Eve. Way more discovery than is expected. I was frustrated at not being able to "figure" this storyline out. When it unfolded I was dumbfounded. The mysteries that Eve is going on retreat to uncover are much deeper that I imagined. Well written.

Dark and spooky, this is more than your average mystery. The atmosphere is palpable from page one and the tension just grows as the plot advances.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

2.5 stars rounded to 3.

The story of Eve waking up in a strange house with no recollection of how she got there. She meets strange people (seriously what is with Gail and Hammond? The way they are developed they read like barely functioning robots) and stranger things keep happening.

This one was very unrealistic from the beginning, I mean seriously - you wake up in a place with no idea how you got there and the people you meet first aren’t giving you any answers but you calmly eat breakfast then go explore and organize the first room you come to? I think this made me quite reserved for the rest of the book.

I found it pretty obvious what was happening (the twist) from pretty early on so there wasn’t a whole lot of build up for me. I did want to finish the book to see how everything would be wrapped up and I will say the ending was pretty beautiful. The ending reminded me of another popular book, that I won’t name to avoid spoilers. I think if the ‘twist’ could have been revealed sooner and had the other characters work through some issues with Eve for a longer period of time it could have redeemed some of the book.

The premise of this book was really unique but unfortunately the execution just wasn’t there. The scope of themes explored was too wide and if the author could have narrowed down the focus it would have been better - I.e. slow destruction of the house and changing rooms, how did they get to the house, mystery of the ghost, conquering the fear, exploration of the island, love triangle, etc. there were too many topics explored that it felt like the author just forgot about some of them partway through.

Terrified of water, Evie has no idea how she ended up in Lakeview Manor on the Isle of Esse. But nevertheless, it’s creepy atmosphere is intriguing to her. When her middle twin shows up, also with no memory of how she got to the island, Evie begins to wonder if something else is at play. This was a delightfully creepy, paranormal, locked room-type story - my favorite! Perfect to kick off spooky season.

Thanks to Net Galley and Books Gone Social for the chance to read this debut novel ARC.

Honestly, I picked this book because I will read anything that has a haunted house and promises to be Gothic in some way. Lovely cover by the way.

The plot revolves around a woman who finds herself in a strange house surrounded by water-and she is deathly afraid of water. How did she get there? Why is she there? How did her sister end up in the same house? Who are these weird people on the island including the caretakers and two handsome men?

I almost gave up and did not read past the first couple of chapters because I couldn't figure what was going on and the main character did not resonate with me. However, being a debut novel, I gave it a chance and read through to the end.

Unfortunately, I figured out the main twist quickly and the rest of the story was flat for me. I did read on to find out how the main character got into the predicament she was in and how the rest of the characters fit into her world. There is an awkward romance which when the twist is revealed is even more strange, and some unnecessary cursing that read out of place since it only occurs in one section of the book. The dialogue is klutzy in spots and the mantra the main character repeats kept reminding me of the book "Live, Love, Pray" in not a good way. The twist is mostly explained although some threads were not clear.

Not my type of Gothic and definitely not a haunted house story, more like a psychological mystery/romance.

I rate this one 2/5 stars.

A great Gothic suspense with lots of twists and turns.

This book was unlike anything I have read before. Looking forward to more books by this author!

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I found it rather slow. The concept is great, but I just did not enjoy the pace. I am thankful to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Such a great idea for the story but just wasn't well written, didn't flow well. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC e-book.

The idea of the core story is brilliant, but just very poorly executed. Repetitive, predictable, slow, to the point of aggrevation. Even the MC gets frustrated by the sheer confusion of what is happening and what, if anything, it has to do with the point of this story.

Read this book if you love an extremely S L O W b u r n.

This was more paranormal romance than Gothic thriller, and I just wasn't feeling it.
The plot sounds amazing. Amnesia. Creepy old house. Even creepier caretakers. Fear of water despite being surrounded by water. Feeling a loss of control. All these things should have worked, but there was too much telling rather than showing. The story became overly convoluted in an attempt to keep the big twist shrouded in secrecy. Honestly, it wasn't that hard to figure out what was going on and how the story would end. If this book had been edited down a bit and dropped the love triangle nonsense, I would have enjoyed it much more than I did.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dark thriller that had you hooked from the off. The book was very well written. Great plot. Very exciting. Fast paced to get your heart racing. Loved this book

Eves acceptance of everything made this book difficult. If I ever woke up in a place I didn’t remember going to and then the rooms changing every time I opened the door I’d be ready to jump off the roof. Eve also falling in love with two men she knows nothing about is super unrealistic too. I figured one about 30% in to this book that these people weren’t real but I was surprised to learn why which is why I give this book more than 1 star. I feel like it has potential, but could have been better executed. Also many typos in this Kindle edition. Thank you @NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read and review.

This book was definitely very unique - I haven't read anything like it before.

Having said that, I was also very confused for a large part of the book. Different things kept happening and when you thought it was one thing, something else would happen and it just kept going. I was never sure about what exactly was going on, especially since our main character didn't seem to, either.

I wasn't a huge fan of the ending, although it was extremely unexpected (which I think is very important for a book like this) and I'm not sure I really liked the kind of explanation for everything.

This book wasn't really for me, but I did finish it and can see how some would love it. It was definitely a good read for this time of year.

I love the cover of this book and the synopsis really intruiged me but sadly I really struggled to enjoy this book, if I'm honest I found it very confusing and although the ending tied things up I'm still none the wiser. Maybe I need to revisit at another time.

Slightly strange, slightly confusing thought provoking book. A few twists along the way. Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy

I received a free copy from Netgalley to review.

I really enjoyed this book. I particularly liked the characters Nick and Ari. I did sort of guess what was going on but not everything. Kept me interested from the beginning right till the end.

The House on the Lake is Mangin's debut novel.
It drops you right into a mystery and as the central character seeks to figure out what is going on, so does the reader
Eve finds herself at Lakeview Manor - an island that she has no memory of coming to. She doesn't swim and this is the last place she would willingly come to.
Mysteries begin and the twists and turns of the book were never what I expected.
The house is haunted, the people around her are creepy and this horror story is frightening.

Cuddle up, keep the lights on and stay on dry land.

Eve wakes up, unsure of where she is or how she got there, but the more she talks to the innkeepers, the more she realizes she must be on the retreat she was planning to research before seeing if her twin sister wanted to join her for a week. When Eve’s twin, Lyn, shows up and can’t recall how she got there either, instead of being surprised or overly concerned, Eve just assumes Lyn knows more than she’s saying so she tries not to worry too much about how she got to this very strange house, and instead focuses on the fact that she’s been given free rein to “snoop” wherever she wants on the property. There’s a lot more to the storyline, and although it started off a little on the “spooky” side, I definitely don’t consider this to be a horror book. A mystery? Yes, sure. It’s a short read (took me about 4 hours?) and even though I still don’t think everything was explained away perfectly, I don’t think this means it was an unsuccessful story. To the contrary: I’m glad I read it and hope it finds an audience who will appreciate some of Eve’s “interpretations.”

The House on the Lake
Author: Holly Hill Mangin

Book Review
Published Date: March 16, 2021

After waking up at the Lakeview Manor on the Isle of Esse, Eve Beckett has one question: How did she get there? With no recollection of how or why, Eve sets out to figure it out for herself.

Despite being deathly afraid of water, Eve is drawn to the manor. She loves a good mystery, why would she want to leave just yet? As events at Lakeview get weirder and weirder, like rooms shifting location and individuals randomly showing up, she comes to realize more than just her arrival is odd.

As spooky season approaches, this is the perfect read. It was quick and one to just jump right into.

Thank you NetGalley, BooksGoSocial, and the author for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review.

Honestly, the premise and structure of this book has the bones for a really interesting plot. However, the beginning is not believable even as a mystery/paranormal/thriller. The dialogue is too rushed and somewhat cliche. The author tells more than shows. I think a lot of people will enjoy this thoroughly, but I ended up being disappointed in what could have been written more fleshed out and less obvious from the start.