Three young teenaged girls arrive at a house camp on an island in the middle of the Maine woods; none of them wanted to go, but their parents, who had been there themselves long ago, promised them a wonderful, transformative experience.
They have doubts, and these doubts are more than realized. Dropped off by boat and left to make their own way through the woods to house, they are stunned to find the Lake House is a burned shell. The discovery of a fairly fresh corpse who has been shot is not a comfort. They have no way to communicate with the outside world, and no food or clean water, and presumably there's a killer on the loose, possibly still on the island. And then things get worse, when they must survive a horrible evil that makes the island its home....
I loved the growing friendship between the girls, and especially how Claire's anxiety and tendency to catastrophize proves incredibly valuable. The other two girls also emerge as fully three-dimensional characters with much to offer the survival of the group, and the trio works through a lot together, growing in understanding and acceptance of themselves and each other. Though the horror was not exactly to my own personal taste (I had to take it with lots of grains of salt), it offered nicely high stakes and plenty of twists. The friendship and survival elements were totally my jam (I am always up for catching fish with a tennis net, starting a fire with a hair dryer battery, etc.) and so I ended up being both gripped and entertained.
A great one for 12-14 year olds who like friendship stories mixed with supernatural horror. This really falls into the sweet spot of upper middle grade/younger YA!
disclaimer: review copy received from the author
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