First and foremost, thank you to Netgalley and Penguin UK books for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Wow. Where do I even start? This was such a gripping and engaging read. It only took me a few days to finish it.
The story is set in two timelines, with both stories intertwining at the end. The author did so well with the dual narration. The format works! Reading from the two different perspectives was what I enjoyed most. I read the book without knowing anything about it and I could honestly say that it surprised me. It was not the kind of story that I was expecting at all! What's more, I loved the writing style. I thought that it was a massive improvement from Day Of The Accident, which I read back in August.

If you want a fast-paced yet (a somewhat) chill thriller, I recommend this. Although it is full of twists, you'll be able to catch on quite fast. Kudos to the author!

I’d like to thank Penguin Books UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The House On The Lake’ by Nuala Ellwood in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

In 2002 an eleven-year-old girl is training to be a soldier by her father who she calls Sarge, who’s teaching her to shoot a gun and preparing her for a new mission to end the injustices of the world. He calls her his Soldier No. 1 but if she crosses him he locks her away in a room. In 2018 Lisa has escaped from her controlling and violent husband Mark taking three-year-old son Joe with her. They’ve been given the address of a safe-house, Rowan Isle House, but when the vicar’s daughter Isobel comes knocking on the door Lisa doesn’t feel safe.

‘The House On The Lake’ is a story of two parts, the first part in 2002 I felt could almost be classed as a ghost story and the second part a psychological thriller in the present time, with Rowan Isle House featuring in both. The characters are intriguing and draw you in and although the two plots appeared to be separate for a good half of the book, they moved closer together until they become connected. This is a thought-providing novel that kept me guessing and the further I read the more I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and can recommend it without hesitation.

Very well written book and I actually felt the tension. The book flows really well with well developed characters.

This books was absorbing and emotional and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This story is told by two characters, 13 years apart, united by a creepy Gothic house called Rowan Isle. In 2003, thirteen year old Grace is living with her father, a man suffering from PTSD from his time in the service. He treats his daughter like she’s a soldier and makes her life a misery. In the present, Lisa and her little boy are running away from her controlling and violent husband and finds Rowan Isle House the perfect place to hide. The house is as much a character in this story as Lisa and Grace, think Manderly, or Hill House. Ellwood is one of my new favorite authors and I eagerly await her next novel of suspense

This book frustrated and irritated me, but I wanted to see where it would lead. I wanted to help Grace escape and felt angry with her father for his behaviour but understood it at the same time. I enjoyed the twist at the end although I knew something of the sort was going to happen. I read it to the end because I felt I had to give it my best shot, but I did not enjoy it very much.

Whilst it’s clear that ‘The House on the Lake’ by Nuala Ellwood has plenty of fans, I’m afraid that I could barely finish it. The novel deals with important themes: the role of fathers (a strong pointer given in the epigraph), PTSD, grooming and manipulation to name a few. However, the narratives exploring them and the connections between them, other than thematic, just do not come across as very convincing.
Whilst Rowan Isle House is a gothic-inspired character in its own right, so grim is it, that I can’t imagine anyone, however desperate, actually thinking that it’s a suitable place for their three-year-old son to bed down. Why not just stay in the car overnight? And would a child of that age really be quite so anti his mother despite his father’s best intentions when the latter is out at work for the best part of each day? Focusing on the previous inhabitants of the eponymous house, social services might well be stretched but it is unlikely that no one would have made proper enquiries into the lifestyle and education of Soldier over the years – father and daughter have been in situ for quite some time!
This tale is an opportunity missed to explore the complexities and subtleties of parent-child relationships. There are many novels on the shelves which do this in far more thought-provoking and nuanced ways.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books (UK) for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

An unusual story told in 2003 and present. Who is Lisa and what has she done. Who is the little girl living by the lake with her father who is suffering from PTSD. How far will he go? How are the two women connected? A story of strength, determination and loss.

This book bored me. I finished it but I skimmed most of it and then I was disappointed with the ending. It was all very well written but there was just a certain spark missing.

It took me a while to get into, but once I did I raised through this twisty page-turner. I liked that you couldn't tell who you could trust and while I did work out some of the twists there were enough that I was kept guessing to the end.

A really gripping read, spanning 2 time periods. It's a fast paced thriller where the 2 stories collide, with lots of twists and turns along the way. Not what I expected, but it will hook you right from the beginning.

I'm afraid I was unable to get into this book, so I did not finish reading it.
That is why I have only given a two star rating.

Although this book at great foundation and a pretty good revealing ending, I just felt there was something astronomical missing from the story... whatever was missing, made it a little boring in a lot of places.

It took me a bit to get into the story, and at first, I didn’t think I was going to finish reading it. I’m glad I did though, the ending was worth reading in the end.

The characters were a mismatch of different people. Lisa, abused with and desperate mother, I found she controlled difficult situations with calm and ease which was great, I wish there was more on her back story but there is a decent amount so you can paint the picture. Joe, the troubled young boy, also mentally abused my his father (manipulated into thinking his mother was evil and a monster) had his sweet moments but was extremely temperamental and totally understandable. Grace, the wild, feral child who we get to read in-depth into her story, her life. Poor kid never really had a proper go at life but to me she was sweet, but lonely, naive and scared. Isobel, the pale, too sweet girl. She had two personalities which we get the pleasure of reading about.

The storyline had great promise but found the ending just happened with the snap of your fingers. It was a little rushed and it felt like I took a U-bend and slammed straight into the core of the mystery. There wasn’t much of a proper run up to it which is disappointing. I hope Mark got karma. I do. But we don’t hear anything more about him at the end and that was a little ‘meh’.

The OOMPH was missing from the story but it’s a good read. I guessed the mystery long before it was revealed though so it wasn’t much of a surprise for me... and I don’t like mysteries where I can easily guess the ‘who dunnit’.

I was frustrated by this book but wanted to read on in equal measure. There is nothing overly sophisticated in the writing of this book and some of the switches from one character to the next are clumsy, but I enjoyed the heartfelt honesty of the book. I wanted to save Grace and felt so angry with her dad that he stole her childhood but you also understand his motive. I enjoyed the twist in the tale because part of the desire to read on stems from wanting to piece together the connection between the characters. It’s not the most outstanding bit of literature I’ve read but it’s easy to read and the story is ok.

A very enjoyable book. At first, I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it, but, after a few chapters, I was hooked. It is a sad tale of love, friendship, mental and physical cruelty. Lisa, Grace and Isabel are all victims, but react differently. Are the good really good and are the bad really bad?

Wow, wow, wow!

Just about sums it up! This book will completely absorb you and have you second guessing every moment.

A must read!

Lisa needs to disappear. Her friend's rambling old home in the wilds of Yorkshire seems like the perfect place. It's miles away from the closest town, and no one there knows her or her little boy, Joe. But when a woman from the local village comes to visit them, Lisa realizes that she and Joe aren't as safe as she thought. What secret has Rowan Isle House - and her friend - kept hidden all these years? What will Lisa have to do to survive, when her past finally catches up with her?

This was okay but could have been great. Ellwood has the perfect setting that instantly creates a creepy, intense atmosphere and one that lends itself easily to fear and spooky goings on. Throw in a creepy, old house and it is utter perfection. However, the plot was a bit lacklustre. There are twists in this but Ellwood takes too long to insert the first one and I found myself bored, sadly the twists were then not enough to save the read.

Looking at the plot as a whole, it is decent and provides some entertaining moments, by entertaining I mean chilling. It is clear from the beginning that Lisa is not what she seems but can you figure out the truth before Ellwood reveals it? I have mentioned the setting being a great choice for this book, but the people in the village are perfect as well. Again, it soon becomes clear they have secrets and have a role to play in the plot. It was worthwhile reading this to discover how everything slots in.

Ellwood has flashback chapters throughout, which at times, I think I was reading the book purely for these. They provide more clues and had me more on edge than the rest of the read and are a worthy addition.

'The House on the Lake' is an okay read but not a thrilling, scintillating one. The atmosphere is sublime but the action somewhat lacking.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books UK for an advance copy.

I’ve seen a lot of positive reviews for this book so can only assume it’s me that’s the issue because I just didn’t really enjoy it. I hate giving negative reviews so I couldn’t give any lower than a 3* as I really enjoyed the Day of the Accident. But I just found this really slow going and neither of the storylines really gripped me. I definitely felt more could have been done with the present day storyline with the abuse Lisa had suffered and would have found the escalation of that within her relationship a more interesting sub story than the flashbacks with Grace and Soldier Number 1. Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

It’s hard to know what to expect from this book from the opening chapters. It follows two separate narratives – that of Lisa, a young mother on the run from her abusive father, and Grace, a teenage girl writing her journal decades before, detailing her life as a ‘soldier’ under her father’s strict rule. Their stories are linked by the house on the lake, and Isobel, who befriends each of them. Despite the years separating the two narratives, as the book progresses they become inextricably tied, and each hurtles towards a violent conclusion. The characters weren’t always accessible, but the pacing is strong and it’s a compelling story as you are driven to find out what secrets each person is keeping.

This was a very unusual , dark and in some places quite disturbing book. The story unfolds by means of a diary kept by young Grace or Soldier 1, as she was called by her deeply traumatised and unbalanced father. Brought up in isolation in the old house by the lake, living an almost feral existence, one wants to rescue her ! I don't want to issue any spoilers but the past and the present collides when she slips a piece of paper to a young mother needing refuge , telling her she hide there safely. It's good to come across an original and different book

When Lisa disappears to her friends derelict house, miles from home and in secret with only her 3 year old in tow it seems that she has not found safety at all.
Told alongside Lisa's tale is Grace, resident in the house when it was slightly less awful, with her strange father and a very odd upbringing.
Isobel brings them together- friend of the child Grace and later kindly neighbour to Lisa and Joe.

The descriptions of the house in particular are very atmospheric in both time lines and the occupants of the village lend to the isolation with their attitude towards first Grace and her father and then strangers in general. However I could have done with more information about why Lisa was on the run to begin with as aspects of the story (particularly absconding to dereliction with no food or water and a child in tow) were really hard to believe.
Overall a good read, some beautiful descriptive writing but I struggled with the plot at times.