Such an atmospheric interesting read that grabs you from the beginning! Truly unique and storytelling here feels alive! I really enjoyed it! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for early arc of this book!

📣 Review 📣

To Those Willing to Drown by Mark Matthews

Thoughts:

"The lake speaks most honestly to those willing to drown."

Beautiful and gruesome all wrapped in a story of folklaw; pulling together the author's knowledge and research into the stories, customs, and traditions of Torch Lake located in Northan Michigan.

The story follows two families, and although one of the past and one of present, both have struck deals with an entity of a well that must be repayed. And there is no way of getting out of it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the author's way of telling this story. It is presented as three parts in which a reader can invest in the characters and their backstories.

The author builds tension well, and there are some macabre scenes. Though I would add that the horror isn't mindless. It's part of the story and well within the characters' storyline and their descent into a desperate madness.
There was a scene in which you believe, or a want to believe, that a certain character will be saved and, just like the character, you hope someone is going to intervene but the horror continues. And the act is completed.

The characters themselves are well developed, and their thoughts and interactions flowed well, moving the story forward.
I liked the writers observations and found myself highlighting them as I read on my Kindle to reread after the chapter was complete. Often thought-provoking at times

To Those Willing to Drown is essentially a bold horror novel and a very entertaining one at that, but I also feel that there is a sensitivity to the writing as it bravely explores grief; thoughts around death and the afterlife.
I would caution those with a sensitivity to the loss of children to check before reading, as it does deal with a child dying and the exploration of what happens to souls.

The ending, however, was beautiful and leaves a sense of hope. It's probably one of the most satisfying endings I've read in a little while.

This slow paced story builds up the myth and folklore of Michigan's Torch Lake. There are stories of historical natives seen with their beliefs and traditions on the lake, a civil war surgeon who lives near the lake, and modern day people as well. There are monsters and nefarious things in the lake.

To Those Willing to Drown was an absolute wild read. The story kept me captivated with it's horror concepts of psychological abuse, addiction and what felt like a true folklore type story. The pacing was good and there was so much going on with all the characters. I am from Michigan and have seen Torch Lake so I loved the setting, the little history tidbits we got as readers and the mention of the Native people that used to thrive off the beautiful lake. I wanted more details about the lake monsters and to know more about their history but they were still fascinating. This story was gory and gritty at times but it was wholly unique and the horror fit the story well. I loved that the author wove real life horrors with the supernatural ones and I think readers are going to eat this story up!

This was a very interesting read that did keep my attention. I didn't know what to expect or where it was going to take me. I do wish there was more information about the lake creatures. I wanted to know how it all began and why that lake was chosen. I enjoyed the pace of the story and the way the characters responded to different situations did seem realistic. Towards the end when the name changes from Sharon to "Charon" it threw me off. I wasn't sure if that was a typo or if it was supposed to occur. I would recommend this book to friends to read.

To Those Willing to Drown by Mark Matthews is a harrowing and deeply psychological horror novel that explores trauma, addiction, and survival through a dark and unsettling lens. Matthews’ writing is raw and immersive, pulling readers into the characters’ emotional turmoil with stark, unflinching prose. The horror is both psychological and visceral, making for an intense reading experience. However, the novel’s relentless bleakness and heavy themes may be overwhelming for some, and the pacing can feel uneven at times. While it delivers powerful and haunting imagery, it’s best suited for readers who appreciate emotionally intense, character-driven horror.

(testing) —From the March 2025 edition of The Midwest Book Review—

To Those Willing to Drown is a Torch Lake Souls literary horror novel that is highly recommended for readers of deep horror that revolves around physical and psychological quandaries rooted in pain. Sensitive readers usually don't pursue the horror genre for just these reasons—but avoidance would translate to missing out big time, because Mark Matthews creates a powerfully thought-provoking, multifaceted story that proves nearly impossible to put down.

Matthews remains wickedly adept at grabbing readers, hurting readers, and practically daring them to continue—rewarding those who do.

There's a playful choreography to this grim story. Truly unique. Like the lake itself, the storytelling here feels alive. Matthews unassumingly dances readers along that precariously thin line separating humanity's best and worst. Even with a pretty good idea of which direction Matthews will shove you eventually, you'll catch yourself smiling right before he tosses you into the next unimaginable horror.

To say anything more would spoil the dance, save this: I won't be putting myself near any wells anytime soon.

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏.”

This was an eerie and tragic, yet hauntingly beautiful folk horror steeped in supernatural and mythological elements.

Told from multiple pov’s with multiple interwoven timelines, books like this can sometimes be complicated to follow, however each character is so distinct, it made it much easier to understand as we flicked back and forth.

The themes in this book are dark, with child loss and grief holding a big place in the storyline, but it was written well and handled with care. There was a lot of potential for this to be longer - that being said I feel like the pacing was well done and for quite a short book, it didn’t feel rushed. That ending, however, has me on the edge…..

Thank you so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of this book.