Whispers of the Lake by Shanora Williams is a slow-burning mystery that pulls you into the emotional journey of Rose, a journalist determined to uncover the truth about her best friend Eve’s disappearance. Her search leads her to a nearby town full of shadows and secrets, where every answer only seems to deepen the mystery.

I really connected with the conflict Rose faced throughout the story. Her internal struggle felt incredibly real, which gave the book a strong emotional pull. Shanora Williams does a great job showing how grief, loyalty, and fear can all exist at once.

The pacing was a bit up and down for me. Some chapters kept me hooked while others felt like they lost momentum. That said, the twists and perspective shifts added depth and kept me invested in finding out what really happened to Eve. I also appreciated the narrative moments that stepped away from Rose to offer a broader view of the plot.

While it was not my favorite from this author, I still admire her ability to create atmosphere and believable characters. This book made me think, and I enjoyed how the mystery unfolded piece by piece.

Overall, a solid and thoughtful read. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This thriller blew my socks off! Rose is a fascinating, flawed character going through a lot in life. She steps up to help a missing ex-friend (it's complicated) and finds herself in a creepy small town with unfriendly neighbors who won't answer questions about where her friend is. I couldn't put this down. Highly recommend!

Thank you, Netgalley, for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was a first read for me of Shanora Williams books. While the book was a bit predictable for me I did really enjoy it. It was well written with good pacing and I will be looking into more of her stories. The character’s were very believable to me as that is something I really looks forward too especially for a new to me author.

Thank you to all involved for allowing me to ARC this story.

I definitely enjoyed this story. The plot was good and I was caught off guard when finding out who the villian was., However, some of the writing seemed a bit immature.

m late on posting this but still wanted to give you guys my honest review. So I like the story, but I feel like I had trouble trying to figure out how much I wanted to empathize with Eve and her situation because she was a really complicated character. I think without the proper context, Rose had every right to be mad at her, but I knew she’d feel bad if she found out what really happened. Also I feel like the storyline was a little bit predictable; I had a feeling about who did it from the beginning I just didn’t know why until we got closer to the end. Overall I rate this book 3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

This story follows Rose who receives a call from Zoey, the little sister of her ex friend Eve. Zoey is concerned that something happened to her sister and needs help from Rose to look for her. Rose has mixed feelings about Eve but agrees to look for her. Eve’s last location is at a cottage at Twilight Oaks. While Rose is on the search you get diary entries of Eve so you get to see what she was up to in the months prior to her disappearance and what happened to end their friendship. Overall a good read . Wasn’t sure who did it the whole time. Enjoyed the twist at the end.

This might be the year I get into more thrillers, this one gagged me cause imagine if your best friend slept with your man and she goes missing. would u find her or do a quick prayer to the lord? The main character in this book definitely decided to go investigate where her missing friend is which lead her to this small town where things just seems off. Rose is stronger than me but this book had me glued to the pages, there was some drama, it was messy and the twists were twisting. Overall I really enjoyed this book. I highly recommend the audiobook as well! The narrator did such a good job. I’m going to have to read more of Shanoras thrillers. I absolutely love her writing.

Thank you to the author for this e-arc and alc

Whispers of the Lake was a solid domestic thriller that kept me hooked. The drama and pacing were on point, and there were some juicy twists, even though I saw a few coming. It still kept me turning the pages and guessing. Definitely a fun, bingeable read if you’re into twisty secrets, friendship drama, and suspense!

Entertaining psychological thriller and missing person mystery.

Rose Gibson is in the middle of finalizing a contentious divorce when her friend, Eve Castillo, a proximate cause of said marriage breakdown, goes missing. Rose and Eve haven’t spoken for months, but Eve’s sister is desperate to find her. Eve, a travel vlogger, apparently rented a lake cabin in North Carolina but is not now responding to her sister or any of her boyfriends. Despite Rose’s issues with Eve, she decides to go to Sage Hill to see if she can find out what happened.

I enjoyed reading the NetGalley ARC e-book along with listening to the audio book provided by the publishers. The setting was interesting and the action fast paced. The mystery of the disappearance solved by an amateur sleuth facing off with bad small town cops and residents was fairly predictable. Eve’s journal entries provided the details while Rose floundered around questioning people. Rose is helped by fellow journalists and computer hackers who can get her information. In peril at the climax, the conclusion follows quickly.

The narrators, Dominque Franceschi and Jasmin Walker, did a good job of voicing the characters and adding the dramatic flair that enhanced my appreciation of the book.

A quick, fast-pace, emotionally charged, missing person mystery thriller. When Rose's best friend goes missing, she travels to a lake-side cottage where Eve was last known to be. Secrets lurk around the small town and Eve's journal entries give suspenseful context along the way. Shanora Williams writes immersive and juicy books with a mysteriously sexy tone. I enjoyed this one!! 4 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this plot. Creepy atmosphere at the lake, great cast of suspicious characters and properly curious protagonist. A really easy read that keeps you guessing up til the end!

Whispers of the Lake by Shanora Williams is a masterfully written psychological thriller packed with suspense, secrets, and jaw-dropping twists. The characters are complex, the pacing is perfect, and the tension builds with every chapter. Just when I thought I had it figured out—bam! Another shock. A total page-turner from start to finish

This was an okay read. I just wanted to find out what happened to Eve. I read a lot of thrillers that are very complicated and intricate so it isn’t fair to compare this one to those. Just a different level.

Another amazingly insane thriller by Williams. This story will stick with you, and you'll barely be able to put it down. The plot twists will have you suspecting every character. I loved the protagonist, Rose, who only wants to find her best friend, even if it will kill her.

I've really come to enjoy Shanora Williams books. She's become one of my go to authors. This book was not different. After a fallout with her best-friend Eve, Rose tries to move on but still thinks about her every day. When Eve's sister reaches out to Rose saying she's concerned about her sister because she hasn't heard from her, the investigative reporter in Rose can't help but to start digging. What she finds is a lot more than what she was expecting. This book was a fast paced thriller that keeps you guessing. The people the Rose encounters in her search for Eve are strange, secretive and also a little intimidating but she can't stop until she finds her friend.

This book started off strong with a haunting, atmospheric setting that immediately pulled me in. The lake backdrop created the perfect mood for a mystery, and there were definitely some suspenseful moments that kept me curious. I also appreciated the emotional layers the story tried to explore, especially around grief and trust.

That said, the pacing dragged in places, and some plot twists felt a little too predictable. I also found myself wanting more depth from the characters their emotions and motivations didn’t always feel fully developed, which made it harder to stay completely invested in their journey.

Overall, it was an okay read nothing groundbreaking, but enjoyable enough if you’re in the mood for something moody and mysterious. I’d say 3 stars

Being under 300 pages I knew for this book to be successful, it had to be fast paced from start to finish. That is what this was.

We follow Rose a journalist who just found out her best friend was missing and what she will do to find her.

I love it when I think the twist is easy and I think I guess it. Then the twist just comes out a left field. I love being on the edge of my seat through out the book.

Shanora’s writing pulls you in and doesn’t let you go as you are trying to piece together Eve’s movements. We not only get Rose’s POVs but a snippet of Eve’s from her diary.

✨Available on KU✨

Genre: Thriller
APK: Ebook
Pages: 270
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Series or Standalone: Stand-alone

Shanora Williams knows how to write the best popcorn thrillers! Her latest release, Whispers of the Lake, is a story surrounded by lies, infinitely and a missing friend.

After finding out that her now old best friend Eve broke girl code in the worst way and not wanting to have anything to do with her nevertheless, Rose Howard is determined to find out where Eve is after disappearing without a trace. 

The things going on in this book were messy but good and entertaining as I devoured this book in a couple of days! I can always count on Shanora to hit me with a good twist. 

Trigger Warnings: child abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, mental illness, murder, violence

Solid fast-paced thriller. I enjoyed the element of the main character battling the turmoil of wanting to help find a person that did her wrong in the past. The twist was executed well and really matched the anticipation built throughout the novel. I think the diary entries were also a nice touch so we built a connection to Eve's character throughout a story where she wasn't able to have her own POV.

I did feel at times the main characters actions were a little frustrating/confusing in the beginning. I think booking a stay at the house your friend went missing from was a bit risky for a character that is supposedly used to sneaking around for her journalism career, especially since near the end of the story she felt comfortable putting herself in the dangerous situations. I wish that we got a bit more time with her backstory and a few of the side characters (Nico, Herbert, Kennedy) to see the dynamic of her working with others to get information about the disappearance. At times it felt like deeper character development was sacrificed for action scenes, which still created an entertaining story, but I definitely could have been more immersed in the world with these characters before starting uncovering the mystery. Overall, I would still check out other stories from this author!

What I Liked:
Quick chapters
Steady pacing
I was completely caught off guard with the killer reveal. Legit didn’t see that coming at all.


Issues I Had:
Even though this book is billed as a thriller,
I felt it was more of mystery to me.