The Lake of Dead Languages

I loved this book. I couldn't put it down and even wrote song lyrics about it after the fact. I think that Goodman's work fell off a little after this one (her first), but that doesn't diminish the power of this one. Can we really escape our past? How much does place affect who we are as people? What is the nature of the parent-child relationship? How important are friends? Can we bleed together? All of these questions and more are explored in this book. The lake is as deep as you want to make it - a quick “day or two” read or a month-long analysis. Either way, you'll enjoy it.

I wanted to give this book 4.5 stars, but that's not an option
For the most part... I absolutely adored this book. It started as a recommendation from my English teacher for a project we had to complete by the end of the year in my senior AP Literature class. So it began as another hoop I had to jump through to maintain my high grade in the class. But it became so much more than that.
As the book began, I had a bit of a hard time; this was the reason for the half star reduction. It had a slow start, but once the plot twists started showing up, I became so enveloped that I finished the second half of the novel in one day.
The twists at every turn kept me guessing, on the seat of my chair, at school, at work, and at home, until I had reached the last page.
Goodman has a way of captivating the reader with her Gothic and eerie style like nothing else I've ever read.
It's become one of my favorites, and I wish I could read it again for the first time.

I really liked this book, though it was disappointingly easy to see all of the plot twists coming. This didn't rip off The Secret History, it was more inspired by it and took on similar themes and plot devices. I would re-read it, and I would definitely recommend it to a friend.

I've seen this book compared to
The Secret History, a book I loved.
I enjoyed solving the mysteries of
the book and I enjoyed the Latin
words and phrases that added depth
to the book.