The Lake – Natasha Preston

This may seem pretentious but I haven’t been updating all that much only because of the fact that I’m kinda sick and tired of everything right now. Physically, I feel like I’m miserably failing, and mentally? Well to be honest, I really can’t handle something too deep and then we have this book that I needed to reread in order to write this review.

sigh.

This was one of the books that made me want to put my head through a wall about, I don’t know, SEVENTEEN TIMES and then put myself into a fix of eating ice cream and watching bad disney y2k comedies (emphasis on bad, i don’t know how actors put themselves through the trouble of all that…)

Okay so I think I’ve had enough with mediocrely written murder mystery YA novels, and I don’t know why I put myself through all the torture that is Natasha Preston’s novels. I’m so concerned right now because it’s like the same DANG THING every single book.

Trigger Warning: this book has an on-page character death, animal death, some mentions of blood/gore, guns, severe injury, and some ableism.

Let’s start with the summary + some okay parts. The Lake follows 2 girls, Esme and Kayla, going to a camp that they did something bad at about 8-9 years ago. They think that it’s going to be full of second chances, predictably blonde romances, and perfection. But of course they needed to jinx it the second it began. They start getting threatening messages of someone saying he/she knew what they did and they’re gonna do something to them. Typical messages. Essentially I think that person was looking at horror movies that weekend and probably thought to be the most obvious, cliché type threat sender. It wasn’t, like, new or anything- it was one hell of a pathetic attempt to scare the two girls.

UNFORTUNATELY IT WORKED.

I suppose the setting worked- a rurally set campsite along with fireplaces and whatnot- the aesthetic made it past the finish line. I also think that the somewhat classic horror type scares set the whole story on edge with the semi-lightheartedness of camp games, camperlets…? and canoes were probably some of the most descriptive parts of the book. I liked that.

And the characters were sort of different- ethnicities and sexualities set it off slightly, and the balance was fine. Nothing too mixed, such as many races + ethnicities grouped together and unnecessary cultural events that completely diverted the storyline into tangent subtopics. Good job, Natasha.

Also the fact that I could predict most of the moves that the main characters would do, which resembled a badly set 90s horror movie. Decent.

However, that’s where the good parts end.

This book’s characters are some of the most bland ones I’ve read. For starters, we have the trope with the pretty, typical blonde best friend and the “plainclothes” main character. God, can someone stop the authors who write these characters? I’m literally in tears from how it’s described:

there’s my bestie. kayla is boy-crazy, loves pink and heels, and falls in love about every three minutes.

p2 of The Lake, Natasha Preston

she arches one perfectly shaped eyebrow in the mirror and fluffs her blond hair. kayla is gorgeous, with fake tanned skin, huge blue eyes, thick lips, and a killer figure with curves in all the best places. i’m [esme] pretty sure i’m gonna look like a middle schooler – petite, skinny, pale – in the camp uniform, especially next to her.

p7 of The Lake, Natasha Preston

Chill with the stereotypes, please. Please.

*starts crying*

These characters sound like they’re from every high school drama movie with the plain main character and her blonde best friend who only cares about boys and pink (SO TYPICAL.) Tell me where the variation is, huh? Does the blonde have a secret beanie babies collection? Is the main character actually pretty but is just one hell of a self-deprecating person? i nEeD tO kNoW~~~

50%-68% of the time, I don’t care about the characters in thrillers since the plot is really what matters (see AGGGTM series). But there’s a difference between having uniform characters and having the most badgering, stereotypical character traits known to reader-kind. Esme and Kayla were so, so stupid in the way they reacted to dilemmas and predicaments that could’ve gotten easily solved by phoning home and cutting short the camp, but no. Be the hero and get everyone seriously mentally hurt because that’s what these protagonists do!

My eyes are in dire need to be bleached.

2. The thriller is honestly more childish than I would’ve expected. Cringe truth or dare games with some sentimentality? I mean, okay, but what about the fact that there are crushes and ghost stories? I honestly don’t understand the point of the crushes thing, especially when you’re at camp to enjoy the outdoors (in case you can’t tell, i’ve never been to an overnight camp :DDD)
This romance and gossip and over-mawkish perspective of the entire story has one of the most confusing sub-storylines that I’ve ever read. It could’ve been avoided completely, since this is labeled a psychological thriller (though the only thing that thrills me is the characters and how they morally represent the IQ of moist bread.)

Also, the plot.
What I think is challenging is the way of executing a good murder mystery/thrill-inducing book. This requires more planning that usual since you also need the factors of “is this believable/doable?” because most cannot figure out how to mix up some of the climactic points and the ending. Generally, thrillers have some unbelievable aspect, but this book was maybe a hairline away from being actually impossible. The entire escape plot, the fact that there were somehow guns near a camp for CHILDREN, and the fact that a minor is stalking Kayla and Esme.

It’s like a lengthier, slightly more romantic Goosebumps book with the most predictable plot “twists”. It was like a rollercoaster with a straight path. No tortuous turns, no loops, and basically no good speed. What I’m trying to convey here is: .

And so many quotes about the stereotypes. I know I’ve stressed on this maybe a bit more than necessary but…

___

kayla and I weren’t part of the popular groups. we were in the middle- the best place to be. no need to pretend like the popular people did, and we didn’t have to fear like unpopular people.

The Lake, Natasha Preston

Wow. What a way to express that you and her aren’t like oThEr GiRlS. Congrats, you have my vote on the platitudinous part of the book. No need for this because I think I get it.

I’m not even going to pretend that I’m not interested in tall, dark, and handsome. I would have to tilt my head up to look at him…
&
I’m not spending the entire summer pretending that boys don’t exist.

The Lake, Natasha Preston

Stop. Stop right there, Esme.
1. WE UNDERSTAND THAT YOU’RE SHORT. STOP DROPPING IT INTO DIALOGUE EVERY 13 SECONDS. Literally I don’t care. Good for you, you’re short. For what it’s worth, from the perspective of a toddler, you’d be a giant. Is that what you’d like? Great, you’re welcome.
2. Stop romanticizing this trope so much. Yes, tall and dark and handsome is super attractive. BELIEVE ME, I know. I personally love that type but like still. I don’t care 2x. Good for you, but the point is about the psychological thriller, not your hyper-nonexistent love life. Don’t put it in so often. Please. I beg.
3. Yeah, I get that you don’t wanna pretend boys aren’t actual human beings. But again, you’re here to enjoy camp, not fantasize about your potential romance with someone you just met. Didn’t Frozen teach you anything? “Cute” male specimens don’t actually matter when you’re in danger of being hurt, or worse, ejected from camp [insert HP reference here.]

To all of you potential thrill writers- take this sorry excuse of a MM book to remind you what not to do.
The Lake (Natasha Preston), a beautifully written novel- no no no no no no no no no.

More like The Lake by Natasha Preston- the limits of the psychological literature trope.

The writing was poor, I didn’t like most of the dialogues, descriptive elements, and everything in between – rather than a nice buildup, it was more of “this happened, then this happened, and then… THIS HaPPENED.”
The mystery also got solved pretty early and almost 3/4 of the way through, it was more of finding the person who they knew did all the terrible stuff written in the pages. Took the fun out of the entire book.

I refuse to write anymore- considering I write a lot about books, this is considered medium-length but I think that’s fair enough for this book.
Natasha Preston, you could’ve done better. 

“is this a psychological thriller though?” some may ask.
“it was disappointing, is what it was…” i would say cheerfully, while mentally lying down on a rough rug filled with pain.

Anyways, that was my review!! Hope you liked it as much as I despised this book! Love you guys, and keep reading!

Peace, Gianna <3