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Rachel L's Reviews > The House Across the Lake
The House Across the Lake
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by
Rachel L's review
bookshelves: audiobook, ghosts, mystery-crime-or-suspense, horror-or-spooky
Jun 24, 2022
bookshelves: audiobook, ghosts, mystery-crime-or-suspense, horror-or-spooky
2 stars
Wow, Riley Sager has really bombed with these last two releases. This is possibly one of the worst suspense novels I have read in a while.
The House Across the Lake has the most interesting premise, a nosy neighbor who spies on her neighbors across the lake and thinks a husband has murdered his wife. But in reality, it was beyond boring and the twists were completely unbelievable and laughable. I found myself muttering “what the fuck” to myself while reading this book and not in a good way.
Not sure if Sager has lost his touch/giving into pressure and demand for more books, but this one and Survive the Night were not it. I’m mad I wasted a libro.fm credit on this one. I think I’ll never get that reading high like I did for Home Before Dark and Last Time I Lied ever again…
Side note: I thought the main character of the book was an old woman because that’s what the narrator of the audiobook sounds like. Imagine my surprise when halfway through I figured out she was 35. Publishers, can we not do this? It made things confusing for me as a reader since I didn’t have the physical copy of the book on hand.
Wow, Riley Sager has really bombed with these last two releases. This is possibly one of the worst suspense novels I have read in a while.
The House Across the Lake has the most interesting premise, a nosy neighbor who spies on her neighbors across the lake and thinks a husband has murdered his wife. But in reality, it was beyond boring and the twists were completely unbelievable and laughable. I found myself muttering “what the fuck” to myself while reading this book and not in a good way.
Not sure if Sager has lost his touch/giving into pressure and demand for more books, but this one and Survive the Night were not it. I’m mad I wasted a libro.fm credit on this one. I think I’ll never get that reading high like I did for Home Before Dark and Last Time I Lied ever again…
Side note: I thought the main character of the book was an old woman because that’s what the narrator of the audiobook sounds like. Imagine my surprise when halfway through I figured out she was 35. Publishers, can we not do this? It made things confusing for me as a reader since I didn’t have the physical copy of the book on hand.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
June 17, 2022
–
Finished Reading
June 24, 2022
– Shelved
June 24, 2022
– Shelved as:
audiobook
June 24, 2022
– Shelved as:
ghosts
June 24, 2022
– Shelved as:
mystery-crime-or-suspense
October 17, 2023
– Shelved as:
horror-or-spooky
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Jun 24, 2022 04:51PM
Seems to be the common theme….
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Good review Rachel. Sorry it was such a let down.
I have seen too many poor reviews on this one. This one is a definite pass.
Aww bummer! I was hoping this one would be better than Survive the Night!! Home Before Dark was SO good, couldn't put it down....maybe I'll pass on this one.
Oh no! I have this on my tbr pile and now I am a little nervous to pick it up, I am so sorry it was a miss for you! Thank you for your great and honest review Rachel🧡
I didn’t even enjoy Home Before Dark, so doubt I’ll be picking up this one or Survive the Night. Thanks for your honest review. Hee, regarding the choice of narrator- that would be misleading.
bummer, I hope your next book is more enjoyable.
Agree with you on the narrator! It just didn't fit the character. I even googled her to see what she looks. The photo used for her seems to be one from her younger years, so I am assuming she IS an older woman!
Bummer! Great review, Rachel.
David wrote: "Seems to be the common theme…."Glad I am not alone!
Jenny wrote: "Good review Rachel. Sorry it was such a let down."Thanks Jenny, me too
Tracy wrote: "I have seen too many poor reviews on this one. This one is a definite pass."Yeah I cannot say I could recommend it
AmandaLovesToRead wrote: "Aww bummer! I was hoping this one would be better than Survive the Night!! Home Before Dark was SO good, couldn't put it down....maybe I'll pass on this one."I feel exactly the same way! Home Before Dark was excellent, this and Survive the Night were not.
Ellie wrote: "Oh no! I have this on my tbr pile and now I am a little nervous to pick it up, I am so sorry it was a miss for you! Thank you for your great and honest review Rachel🧡"You never know, you might enjoy it!
NZLisaM wrote: "I didn’t even enjoy Home Before Dark, so doubt I’ll be picking up this one or Survive the Night. Thanks for your honest review. Hee, regarding the choice of narrator- that would be misleading."I loved Home Before Dark, so you may be opposite of me and love this one and Survive the Night. It's worth looking into.
Debra wrote: "bummer, I hope your next book is more enjoyable."Thanks, me too!
Brooke wrote: "Agree with you on the narrator! It just didn't fit the character. I even googled her to see what she looks. The photo used for her seems to be one from her younger years, so I am assuming she IS an..."I did the exact same thing! I could tell by her other books she's done that she's probably older...
Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️ wrote: "Bummer! Great review, Rachel."Thanks Val!
Jessica wrote: "Oh no"Oh no no no no no!
Oh my a 2... I sample the audio and I wonder who cast this narrator. She does sound old.
Kay wrote: "Oh my a 2... I sample the audio and I wonder who cast this narrator. She does sound old."I should've sampled it! But I preordered so that was dumb of me
I'm sorry this didn't work for you, Rachel .... Nice review :))
Beata wrote: "I'm sorry this didn't work for you, Rachel .... Nice review :))"Thanks!
Yeah that narrator was NOT the business. I seriously thought at the beginning that she was in her sixties or seventies.
La Loves a Little Tea and Books wrote: "Yeah that narrator was NOT the business. I seriously thought at the beginning that she was in her sixties or seventies."Same!!
Just finished this, and I sooooo agree! I loved, loved, loved The Last Time I Lied, and Home Before Dark is so really great too. But this book......it was horrible! The narrator was the wrong fit for this. She is a very acclaimed narrator, voicing Memoirs of a Geisha. But the narrator is around 60 years old. The main character in this book is 35. I did a non-scientific study and played the audiobook for someone, and I asked, "How old do you think the narrator is?" 62. So why did she read for a 35 year old?
Love your honesty. I gave up on Sager because his books are too slow for me. Nothing pops off until the 70% mark.
Lisa of Troy wrote: "Just finished this, and I sooooo agree! I loved, loved, loved The Last Time I Lied, and Home Before Dark is so really great too. But this book......it was horrible! The narrator was the wrong fit f..."I felt exactly the same way! Book was awful and an even worse narrator on top of that. So sad.
I thought the same thing about the narrator!!! She sounded much older!
I thought she was an old woman too & I read the book!!
I read the physical book and for some reason I felt that she was an old woman too!
Same girl, same. Survive The Night will be coming off my TBR.
Ally wrote: "I thought the same thing about the narrator!!! She sounded much older!"Glad it wasn't just me!
Whitney wrote: "I thought she was an old woman too & I read the book!!"!!!
Kayla wrote: "I read the physical book and for some reason I felt that she was an old woman too!"LOL
Kate wrote: "Same girl, same. Survive The Night will be coming off my TBR."Some people liked it but it was a bit too ridiculous for me. If you haven't read Home Before Dark yet, I loved that one.
Totally agree on narrator, just didnt fit the character.
Agree about the narrator!
Completely agree on the narrator! I had a hard time visualizing the character and had to keep reminding myself she was in her mid thirties.
Rachel, thanks for the great review. I’m almost finished with this novel and YES you are spot on with every critique you’ve made. So disappointing 🙁
Yes! The narrator was a poor choice for the character. I couldn't not get an old lady picture of our my head. And with names like Tom, Catherine, Wilma, Len, I just went ahead and imagined everyone as older. Still enjoyed the story, it just wasnt with people in their 30s
Yes, the narrator was killin me!!
I think the audiobook killed this for me because the Narrator was 104 years old
I had so high expectations for this book since a lot of people really hyped it up but this was just disappointing. Haven’t read anything by Riley Sager before this book so that wasn’t a good start I guess
Sophie wrote: "I had so high expectations for this book since a lot of people really hyped it up but this was just disappointing. Haven’t read anything by Riley Sager before this book so that wasn’t a good start ..."I would recommend Lock Every Door or Home Before Dark! Both of those are much better than this one.
