Harrow Lake

My first thoughts are, there is no way this is meant for young adults! Oh my goodness. As I was reading through the book, this thriller is one that is going to give anyone nightmares. I definitely recommend reading with the lights on. Try reading in the afternoon, so that you can give yourself some time to get over the crazy that is wrapped up in these pages.

As Lola is investigating the disappearance of her mother and navigating through the days at her grandmother's house, she is struck by many things. She and her mother look a lot alike.  This leads many of the townspeople to think that she is her mother, at least at first. As she tries to untangle the mystery surrounding her mother's disappearance, she is struck by how many people do not want to know what happened, and why young ladies are still disappearing, at an alarming rate. They are all tied back to the movie that her father directed in the small town.

She befriends Carter, and together they begin to look into her mother's past. There are so many unanswered questions, and the questions continue to pile up. Lola is doing her best to unravel the mystery, but she seems to be unraveling as well. The deeper she digs, the more danger she seems to be in, and there seems to be something lurking the shadows...

There were a few things that really struck me about this book. First, I felt that the writing was really choppy. There needs to be a good editor to go through this and smooth out a lot of the scenes. It just feels as though there are things missing, and to many unanswered questions at the end. I felt it dropped off rather suddenly, with no real answers being given.

I had some high hopes for this book, but other than giving me nightmares of the things in the dark, I just didn't feel the book did full justice.

Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis is not at all what you think. Marketed as a YA Horror novel, you would think that maybe this might be a campy horror story. Perhaps with a 1980s vibe.

You would be entirely wrong.

Instead, Harrow lake is a story of intense psychological horror. I think in a lot of ways, psychological horror is much scarier than slasher horror. The reader can eternalize much of the plot; we readers all have psychological quirks. Harrow Lake is a good book for that. The lead character, Lola, has broken parts of her psyche. She has suffered her mother abandoning her, a father who smothers her, and deep mental wounds that sound much like PTSD. This leads to a realistic characterization of mental illness and a developing and strong protagonist.

Lola Nox is the daughter of the famous Horror movie directer Nolan Nox. Nolan made his fame with the movie Nightjar, and he also met Lola's mother on the set of Nightjar because it was filmed in her hometown, and she ended up being her star. Nightjar has an almost cult-like following to it. After an accident with Lola's father, Lola ends up staying with her estranged grandmother in Harrow Lake while Nolan recuperates. Harrow Lake is dark, and something is off with it. Something is not right. The reader can not tell if the town is off or Lola's perceptions of things are off. As Lola navigates the village of Harrow Lake and her traumatic memories, things escalate in the story to a fevered pitch.
What is real? What is imagined? The reader won't know till the very end, and I can't tell you more because of SPOILERS!

Harrow Lake ended up being one of those books that I appreciate as a reader but has aspects of it that didn't sit well with me. In a lot of ways, Harrow Lake is perfectly crafted. The narrative moves page to page. The horror is almost palpable. The lead character is one that the reader can empathize with. However, I had a difficult time with the supporting characters in the story. I did not find them wholly believable. That was hard for me because the supporting characters are a huge part of the narrative. In the scheme of things, it is a small thing set against the excellent writing and Lola as a character, but it was a bit hard for me to get over it.

All in all, this is a solid and exciting story. It is terrifying and so much more than you thought it was going to be. The visuals that the author Kat Ellis creates are gripping, and the pacing is frenetic.

This story is a must for YA Horror fans.

My first book of 2021 and it was a 5 star read. I could NOT put this down. There was so much I loved about it. My library copy is filled with post-it notes: I found so many incredible lines that I marked for sheer genius (they get logged in my journal).
It hit all the right buttons with me:
isolation, crazy town folklore (bordered on folk horror), a snarky main character (Optimal!), layers upon layers of secrets to dive into:
-Mr. Jitters
-History of Harrow Lake/Nightjar
-What happened to Lorelei?
-What the hell is the deal with Grandmother? And Grant?
-Cora is amazing
-Creepy museum
-Super creepy puppet doll
-Another creepy puppet doll! and an imaginary best friends
-a Bone Tree
-just teeth, in general
-fairgrounds with creepy rides
-secrets written on scraps of paper and hidden
-jitterbugs
I loved this and highly recommend. It slightly reminded me of Night Film, more in tone than in execution.
Can't wait to read more by Kat Ellis