The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager: A Book Review

Another House Across from Something

I always find it funny the trends you see across genres. For example, the word 'girl' could be found in almost every title back in 2017, or how recently all the romance covers look the same with cartoon characters.

Another trend I've seen recreated through the last decade is having a house across or near something. For example, one of my my favorite movies is The House on the Left. There are also books such as The House by the Lake, or The House Next Door. There's a long list, including this read, The House Across the Lake.

I picked this up after applying for a library card(a crime, I know for how much I read). I heard of Riley Sager from the popular booktokers and thought I would give him a try as an author, this book being a popular one of his. I wasn't sure what to expect going in as I didn't read the book blurb so everything was a complete surprise to me.

Overview of THATL

Her face plastered on every magazine cover possible, Casey Fletcher is a famous actress now known to the world for her alcohol problem after embarrassing herself on a Broadway stage. No better way to fix it then being sent by her mother to their family lakeside house where her dear husband died the summer before. Drowned in her sorrows and her waning career, Casey starts to find herself interested in the new neighbors across the lake after saving the popular model Katherine Royce from the lake. But not everything is what it seems.

The Cons of THATL

· Pacing

This story doesn't really start until 180ish pages in. Besides a backstory narrative added around the 60 page mark, the first half of this story wasn't interesting and slow to catch my attention. I put the book down several times trying to get into it.

· Characters

Besides Casey, there aren't many characters in this story other than the neighbors across the lake, a live-in handy man, and another neighbor. Even though they make appearances most of this story has Casey alone, drinking in the cabin. It doesn't make for great reading when nothing entertaining other than spying on your neighbors with binoculars is the only entertainment she has.

The Pros of THATL

· Female Characters

One thing I always find hard to read is when it comes to male authors and how they write female characters. In this case, Sager did a great job writing a believable female lead.

· Twists

There are 2 twists in this story. The first being one that could have carried the whole rest of the story and where the plot starts to pick up in pace. I could see a whole different ending for this book if the second twist didn't occur. Mind you, the second twist is laughable and one I did not see coming. I honestly couldn't decide if I should have put this part in the pros or cons just because of how outlandish it was, but considering I talked about it to several people while I was reading made me think it was a pro to the story that otherwise was just okay.

Overall Review Summary

This is a short review today because overall this story was just mid. There wasn't many cons and there wasn't many pros to go along with it leaving it somewhere in between. I know this is one of those books that in a few years time I will completely forget I read expect for remembering that ridiculous twist once in a blue moon.

For my first Riley Sager book, I wasn't impressed and do find it curious why people rave about his writing. I found it hard to push through this story taking over 2 weeks to read it. Maybe his style just isn't for me.

In the end, I'm going to give this 2.5 stars out of 5. Maybe I'll give him another go sometime in the future, but for now I'm going to try and finish my physical TBR shelf instead of getting something from the library.

Have you read any Riley Sager books? Do you like his strange twists? Tell me in the comments below.

If you love reading book reviews with far more content, check out my last two, Lightlark and Animal Farm. Don't forget to subscribe to the blog to get the latest updates. As always...