Harrow Lake

Was the Blurb/Genre Accurate: YesOverall rating: 3.75/5Writing: 3/5Plot: 3/5Characters: 4/5
Characters: Were solid and decently built up. I will say it is YA so their development isn't as deep as they maybe could have been. Also, the main narrator isn't fully reliable which can make character development a little tricky.
Narrators: Lola, except for the prologue and epilogue which is Cara and Nolan
POV: 1st person
Genre: YA Mystery Thriller, YA Horror
Type: Standalone
Content Warnings: death (off-page not too graphic), betrayal, child abuse ( off-page), talk of suicide, missing persons, stabbing

I wasn't sure about this book for the majority of it. If you're like me you might be wondering is this book actually paranormal or is it like Home Before Dark and actually a Thriller. Read the spoiler here if you want to know, but I'd say if the blurb interests you just jump in and don't know. That's not my usual stance on this but it works here so just give it a shot. It is not paranormal, the "paranormal" elements are more of her having a mental break to cope . Now, I usually don't love this kind of book. It has a few elements I'm not a fan of, unreliable narrator, fake paranormal activity but I actually really like how they pulled this off at the end. It's one of those rare occasions when this just works as an ending.

I do wish that the interview was more weaved throughout the story, or additional articles were added maybe. I just love multi-media storytelling though. It didn't get 4 stars from me mostly because it was a slow start, the above spoiler, and because I would have liked more time with Lola and the side characters so they felt a bit more real. I kinda felt like Carter and Cara were a bit flat. And their circumstances were a bit cliche and I would have loved some more nuance than there was.

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

This book was okay. It was suitably spooky and atmospheric, but it was also choppy in places. Plot lines were introduced and then dropped. It was also a little confusing to follow at times.

Review of this one courtesy of my daughter who is an actual Young Adult, and not a Curmudgeonly Old Git like me:

I really enjoyed this book. It was quite creepy in some parts but in my opinion this was good. The main character Lola is the daughter of a horror film maker Nolan Nox. Lola is sent to the town of Harrow Lake to stay with her grandmother, who she has never met; after her father is attacked. It is her mother (who left when she was 5)'s hometown and the town is also the setting of her father's horror film Nightjar, in which her mother stars as the leading role. As she explores the town and meets new people she realises not everything is as it seems.
Harrow Lake is a really enjoyable book and you have no idea what will happen next.The descriptions of the town are very good as you can picture where the characters are. The book makes you question your first impressions of the characters and story, for example, is the town really as creepy as it seems? The ending of the book was very good and unexpected. It had a lot of twists throughout the book that kept me reading. It had some good creepy moments and it keeps you on your toes. I really recommend this book. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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.