Staff Writer: Kathleen
Published Date: November 5, 2024
Number of pages: 331 pages
Format (physical book/e-book/audiobook): E-book
Genre: Thriller
Tags: Mystery, Suspense, Co-Authored
Cardigan rating: 4 out of 5
Wow. Wow. I’m not a thriller person, but something about this one had caught my eye- not that I remember what. For our very first review of the year, we were all tasked with reading a book outside our preferred genre- new year, new read, one might say! Personally, I read a little bit of a whole lot of things, so that was a tough assignment for me. The only genres I don’t really read are thrillers, specific sub-genres of mystery, most romance, and true crime, and when I’m not vibing with a book, I won’t hesitate to drop it, so I knew this was going to be a struggle. I came across The Lake of Lost Girls in my wishlist on Libby and figured it was probably going to be another failure, but this one stuck.
I had predicted one smaller twist early on, the connection between Jess, one of our titular lost girls, and Ryan, the reporter assisting Lindsey, and I thought I knew where the rest of the story was going, but I was dead wrong. Pun unintended. The person I thought was the perpetrator wasn’t fully innocent, not at all, but they weren’t guilty like I thought they were, which could really just be me not having enough literary mystery solving experience, since a friend who also enjoyed the book knew exactly what was happening early on. Speaking of where the story went, it felt a little like the victims were being blamed for falling prey to creepy married men, which I didn’t love. Teenage girls don’t hold the higher ground in this kind of power imbalance, even if they are in college technically, so to lay the blame on them doesn’t sit well with me. Yes, it’s fiction, but stories shape people’s opinions and views. A single character expressing a view that’s less than savory isn’t a negative- villains and anti-heroes exist, and fiction would be boring without them- but it’s the way these viewpoints are framed that matters, and in this case, the authors don’t make it clear that, no, it wasn’t the victims’ faults in a way that kind of makes me wonder about their actual viewpoint.
One thing I did really appreciate was the way it looked at true crime. The true crime podcast didn’t really add to the plot, but it did add to the setting. It definitely reflected the way I feel about the genre- it feels very exploitative, like it’s profiting off of people’s pain, usually women’s pain. It’s rarely done with respect to the families of victims, especially podcasts like the fictional one in the book, but true crime is so beloved that it’s almost like blasphemy to say you don’t enjoy it. But also, I just enjoy world-building, even outside of fantasy, so it was a nice touch in that regard.
Overall, while I had complaints, this was definitely an enjoyable book that I didn’t want to put down. If thrillers aren’t your usual cup of tea either, give this one a try- you just might be surprised!