A House at the Bottom of a Lake
Ratings70
Average rating3.1
I read this almost a year ago. I remember it being eerie and haunting if not particularly scary. And remember the ending being a little disappointing.
Rating: 2.6 leaves out of 5-Characters: 4/5 -Cover: 5/5-Story: 2.5/5-Writing: 3.75/5Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller,Romance-Fantasy: 4/5-Horror: 1/5-Mystery: 1/5-Thriller: 1.5/5 -Romance: 4/5Type: AudiobookWorth?: mehHated Disliked Meh It Was Okay Liked Loved FavoritedSaw the movie, loved it, and when I saw it was a book first I had to put it on my TBR. Finally got to read it and boy... what a damn disappointment. One of the rare times the movie is better than the book.If you want actual horror I suggest just going straight for the movie. This... is like a whacky teen version. I wouldn't even know what to call it. There was a smidge of horror and the rest teen romance. I did like the house and what came with it a bit, but there could have been more. The ending was dumb. The story leading up to the ending was fine. It is a short read so... why not just add it to your reading goal and call it a day.
I kind of enjoyed the storyline, but I think the writing.. I couldn't take it seriously – maybe it's just not for me. (It kind of sounded like Olivie Blake's Atlas Six minus all her fancy prose lol
I think the idea of the 'being' in the house being a wax figure, and like Amelia said, "We could have shaped it into anything we wanted it to be" symbolizes many of the thing that could be shaped, like their feelings for one another, or continuing this path. I had to look on gr for other people's insights, and it does sound like the house wants them to stay together, whether if it's with good intentions, or wanting to trap them.. who knows..
I don't know what I just read... that was the weirdest roller coaster. Not in a good way either. Definitely isn't horror. And that ending? Huh?
2 stars for the vibes and writing style.
Love Josh Malerman's books! Was super excited after bored box to read more from him and wasn't disappointed. Very atmospheric and captures the feeling of falling in love at such a young age. As well as being super creepy in many parts. Very quick read, felt the last little bit need a little bit something more but overall and amazing read.
3.5 ⭐️
i think this was a metaphor that i only halfway understood but i did enjoy that it was unsettling
WTF is this book supposed to be about? I find myself reaching for any sort of meaning at all.
Meh. The ending was cutesy. For a certain age group - definitely not, Thriller or Horror.
The book is a little strange but it starts with a guy asking a girl out. Sounds simple? It's not. They decide to go canoeing on their first date and find a mysterious lake with a house under it. I enjoyed the premise but I would have liked a little more fleshing out of their personal lives outside of the lake and each other. The house is really strange and their attraction to it. I liked the ending although would have liked a little more info at that time. It sort of ended abruptly. But it is still worth it.
I was nervous to pick this up after seeing so many middling-to-low reviews of it, but am glad my curiosity won out! I thought Bird Box was fantastic and had to pick up more of Malerman's work.
The concept itself is so interesting - a mysterious house at the bottom of a lake! It took me a few pages to gel with the writing (it's a lot of teenagers being teenagers), but I was both literally and figuratively at the edge of my seat the whole time. The plot itself is relatively slow-moving, but the tension really got to me. It felt like I was holding my breath through half of this book and I had to put it down a few times to take a quick breather here and there. I kept texting people to be like, “this book is freaking me out!!”
I tore through this in just one sitting and have already recommended it to several other people. If the concept interests you, give this a shot!
2.5 stars but I'm rounding it up too 3 stars. Personally I think this novella was mismarked as a horror, feels more like a magical realism/YA book. Because of this I found it more boring with some interesting aspects. If your looking for a short YA romance with magical realism you may enjoy this.
The House on the Bottom of the Lake by Josh Malerman is a lovely novella full of nostalgia and wonder with just a touch of horror that takes it from saccharin to sweet.
I remember being 17, don't you?
Looking back on that period of my life, it was a magical but weird time. I sat on the cusp of adulthood, not quite a kid but also not quite an adult. More importantly, I saw myself as an adult; I thought I knew everything. Looking back on this weird age 20+ later, I now know that I knew nothing then. Hell, I barely know anything now.
A House at the Bottom of the Lake by Josh Malorman starts with a boy and a girl, Josh and Amelia. Two 17-year-olds, both are stepping out and trying something foreign.
“How can I say no? Canoening with a stranger? Yes. I'd love to.”
Both seventeen. Both afraid. But both saying yes.”“
They meet up for a canoe date. James's uncle has a place on a lake. But there is a second lake, one that no one uses that is directly off of the first one. Both self-conscious and not knowing what to do on this first date, they head out on Jame's uncle's green canoe. They find the second lake, and a bit of magic happens.
The magic isn't showy like dragons or unicorns, but it is the magic that occurs between two people connecting for the first time. It is that zing that flows through someone who meets another person, and they become their +1. They connect, marveling at this lake.
“For the first time in either of their lives, they were falling in love.”
On the second date, they find the third lake. If the first was beautiful, the second more so, the third lake was not. It was much less grand, with murky water, and smelled. There was something off about it. But the third lake had something; it felt unvisited. It felt like these two kids were doing something slightly naughty on a grand adventure.
And very soon after, they find a house on the bottom of the lake, one that was not rotting and crumbling from the pressures of the lake and time, but one that is held in stasis. As if it was waiting for them.
A House on the Bottom of a Lake's narrative touches on various dichotomies of ideas. The story's main characters have feet in two worlds: reality and dream, 17 and older, horror and beauty, and seclusion and society. A house sitting perfectly nestled on the bottom of a lake is in itself a dichotomy. It is something “other” inside of something natural and normal.
“Curiosity killed the cat and the snooping seventeen-year-old girl.”
Do not go into this story thinking that this is a horror novel. Malerman writes many great horror novels: Bird Box, Mallory, and Pearl. A House on the Bottom of a Lake is about young love first and how terrifying that can be. Later as we learn more about the house, it is creepy and unnatural. It is “other” with fear of the unknown vibes. This otherness enhances the connection between the two main characters but never overshadows it.
Overall, this is a great story. Malerman shows real range with his character creation in his bibliography of work. But the one thread going through his books is true authenticity. His characters feel real, and this story is no exception. The House on the Bottom of the Lake is both fantastical and character-focused. I fell a little bit in love with the idea of Josh and Amelia, and I think you will too.
A House at the Bottom of Lake...unfortunately it's mostly all in the title. At its best, this is a weird, mysterious, and creepy book about young love and coming of age. A less generous interpretation might see only a book about two teenagers who discover a (possibly haunted) house submerged in a lake and...not much else. The plot and premise just seemed a bit thin. I think this could have been an excellent short story, but as a novella I don't think there's enough here to justify the word count. I've read two other books by Josh Malerman and so far this is my least favorite, which is a real shame. Maybe there's more here. Maybe I could give the book another read, perhaps a visual read rather than listening to the audiobook (although the narrators did a great job)...but overall it's just kind of “meh+.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (3.25)
I'm not a horror fan, but I enjoyed this one. The dread and tension were both palpable for the most part. The ending was kind of meh, but otherwise it was really quite enjoyable.
This was disappointing to say the least. It was sold told me as a horror novel but really it's more magical realism with a touch of spookiness.
The whole house at the bottom of a lake concept intrigued me, and it's what kept me from DNF-ing it. I had so many questions and was hoping to get them answered as the story went along, but in the end I was just left very confused.
I looked up an explanation of this whole book, and I still don't get it. I still don't understand how the house is a metaphor of their relationship... sure, they had insecurities and uncertainties, being that this was their first relationship, and I guess the spookiness of the house is a reflection of that. But what's up with the clay "person", the floating clothes, and everything staying in tact and not floating. What did it all mean? cos honestly I don't know.
This book was not for me. If you like magical realism, and making sense of metaphors, you'll probably like this one.
The ending was....doodoo literally doodoo trash like huh do u not how how many time I kept reading the ending like 50 times.
To each his own, but the fact that this was only 4 hours long is the only reason I didn't DNF it. I am a fan of Malerman, usually, but this one did almost nothing for me.
At some point I remember thinking, this is one giant, long sex scene.
Really this is a story about a relationship, a first “real love” relationship and I think I wanted a horror story about a house at the bottom of a hidden lake. Sigh.
Two things that drove me nuts:
This a small town, yes? How do these kids not know each other from school already?
Why does no one go to the library or even (yack!) google info about the damned house?
Willing suspension of disbelief and all of that.
This isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. Let's just get that out of the way.
A lot of people tend to be disappointed in a story that doesn't explicitly give you every detail and answer by the end. And this story is no exception. I've seen a lot of mixed reviews for this book because of that very reason.
I, however, LOVED the mystery surrounding the story and how the author chose to reveal and conceal details at just the right moment to give me goosebumps. Is it a horror story? Probably not in the sense that you're immediately thinking of. But I was definitely scared while reading it.
Something else I loved was how authentic the teenage characters felt in this book. Reading about them falling in love felt so instantly familiar and comfortable, like snuggling with a favorite blanket.
Overall, I highly recommend this suspenseful and touching read.
Eerie, beautiful, and symbolism for days!
I enjoyed the book immensely. There were some creepy parts, but nothing felt like it was all out horror like Stephen King. It is more like We Have Always Lived in the Castle, but teenage first love. I love the ending because it doesn't really settle anything. It does not definitively tell you this is exactly what happens, but you can't stop thinking about it and the more you think about it, the more sense it makes.
There are two big things that don't make sense though. 1. How were they gone all those days and their parents didn't worry? 2. How did they just magically get scuba equipment and become so proficient at diving? I know I'm not supposed to think that deeply into a YA novella, but those two things made me stop reading more than once because it didn't make sense. So provided you can overcome a few leaps in logic, this is a great creepy book.
If you are expecting a Stephen King kind of horror, pass on this one. If you like We Have Always Lived in the Castle and books that make you feel like this is the world I live in, but tilted a little, then you will like this book. There were a couple moments when the writing was a little clunky, but it didnt't stop me from reading this book.
Overall I like the book but I would have liked to have found out more about the house prior to it being at the bottom of the third lake. There were definitely some ominous moments where things did not make any sense to me. I felt like the relationship between Amelia and James seemed very rushed. I don't know if it was due to the fact that the book was so short and they needed their characters to connect quickly but needless to say, I didn't feel the love. I liked the book but maybe I would have liked it a bit more if it was longer and they provided more of a back story of the characters and the house.