This book is a lot of fun!

Lola, raised by her famous film director father Nolan Nox, is a voracious reader and horror movie buff who has a passion for storytelling. After her father is stabbed and hospitalised Lola is packed off to Harrow Lake, her absent mother's hometown and the location of her father's famous film. Living with a grandmother who is a stranger to her and wandering a town whose trade rests on tourism relating to her parents' film credits, Lola starts to question why her mother abandoned her as a child. Locals scarred by landslides and floods believe there is something rotten in the town and tell tales of the bogeyman Mister Jitters.

This is a creepy and atmospheric coming of age tale that follows Lola's growing courage and her search for truth in the face of lies, urban legends, nightmares and muddled memories. Tough themes - sexual and domestic abuse - are handled sensitively. The author resists the urge to deliver a cloying teen romance subplot, the growing bond between Lola and Carter is believable but doesn't overtake the main drive of the plot. I enjoyed Lola's references to horror movies & books.

So good that I read this straight through eager to see how it would pan out.

If you know me, you know that I don’t read many horror novels. I am typically too much of a scaredycat to get to the good parts of the story, and some books/games have been able to really shake me to my core. But when quarantine came around and I found myself still in a book slump, I knew I needed to read something different to shake things up. So I turned off the lights and started this book at around 11 PM. By the time I was 30% of the way through the book, I had to turn the lamp back on, and I knew that I wasn’t going to sleep until I had finished this novel.

Lola was an…interesting character. She is introduced as this antisocial character who steals for the sake of “seeing if she could do it”, but when her father is stabbed, she has to go to Harrow Lake to live with her grandmother. Harrow Lake just happens to be where her father found her mother to star in his hit horror film, so she knows that many secrets lie within this town. As the book goes on her character fleshes out a lot more. She goes from being a character that no one could connect to being a character who has been kept trapped into being told how to feel by everyone around her for years.

Mr. Jitters has to be one of the scariest psychological horror characters that I have seen in a long time. Is it just a childhood scary tale that everyone still somewhat believes in like the Boogeyman? Or is there genuine evil within the city limits of Harrow Lake? The other townspeople of Harrow Lake are also rather eerie. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was really wrong with the town, and I still couldn’t figure it out once the book was over, but something definitely went wrong in this town after the mining accident in 1928.

The atmosphere that the story has is amazing. I could feel the tension build in certain scenes when Lola couldn’t even trust her own eyes to tell her the truth. I felt at some points like I was watching a horror film rather than simply reading a book, the imagery was so descriptive. In a few scenes, I could even feel my skin crawling as I was reading the pages. There were a few sentences that missed the mark though, such as “Her hands wring together in front of her, two pale moths feeling their way blindly.” I don’t know, I just couldn’t compare hands to being like moths in my mind. But most of the description was perfect for each setting.

The thing that brought my rating down to 3 and a half books for this title was the fact that the ending felt so rushed. There was so much amazing buildup and I was looking forward to how it all tied together. Then, when the climax was reached, Kindle told me that I only had around 11 minutes left in the book. A lot of my questions were left unanswered and disappointed me a lot. I was looking forward to seeing what would happen with a lot of these different stories, but then I felt like the threads connecting the book together were just snipped at the end. I didn’t feel a sense of satisfaction like I thought I would at the end of the story.

Overall, I would still recommend this book to anyone looking for a new psychological horror story to read. The rest of the book is simply too good to let the end deter you from enjoying the journey.

I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.

3.5 stars

I started Harrow Lake with an open mind and hoping I wouldn’t be scared too much, haha. While reading I had to say that I was sucked into the story from the start. The creepy vibe is something I did feel that grew throughout the story. Harrow Lake doesn’t seem like a place I’d want to be sent while my father was recovering.

Kat Ellis’ writing made me fly through this book and added to that creepy feeling. At times this book got slow for me, but it didn’t take long again for it to pick up. While I don’t agree with everything that happened, this author definitely surprised me with some twists in Harrow Lake. I definitely felt like I was in an old horror movie when she described the setting. It was interesting to see how much the town didn’t change to keep tourists coming.

The one thing that made it hard for me to completely get sucked into the story was being able to connect with the characters. It stayed kind of shallow for me at times. I didn’t learn enough to become completely invested, especially in Lola. Her character did interest me, but also left me with a lot of questions. There is clearly a lot that has happened in her past and I felt like that took a bit too much of the backseat in this book. Especially her use of “Optimal” during the book. I really needed more information about this and felt I was missing a big part of her story/history. It’s clear that there is a lot going on with her relationship with her father as well. I think it would’ve grabbed me a lot more if that went deeper in Harrow Lake.

That being said, after reading Harrow Lake I would love to visit a town like Harrow Lake (as long as I can make it out alive), even though I’m a scaredy cat. I loved the element with Mister Jitters. I love the mysterious/scary part of the horror story. Also, it does get ‘horrory’ in the sense that there are elements that made me think “ewww”, but not as much as I expected to get in a book like this. I also really enjoyed the cast of side characters in Harrow Lake. We didn’t learn a lot about all of them, but they really added to the story and atmosphere.

All in all, even though this book left me with some questions, I thought Harrow Lake was an interesting read! It definitely keeps me wanting to explore this genre and pick up the other books Kat Ellis has written. I enjoyed reading outside of my comfort zone and her writing style kept me going!

The actual story was excellent and really kept you gripped all the way through. There were twists and turns and secrets revealed and red herrings and was the best kind of murder mystery/ horror where you weren’t entirely sure what was coming but were definitely enjoying the journey.

Obviously, due to the opening prologue, we are aware that Lola will, eventually, go missing and so we are on tenterhooks, trying to piece together the mystery. But most of the fun was in untangling the skeins of mystery, superstition, lies and diversions.

FEEDBACK
I was so excited for this book. Horror is one of my favorite genres and I still have yet to find a book to give me the creeps. Between the cover and the description I thought this was the one. As I continued reading it seemed like this might actually be the one. Then I got toward the end and my hope dropped. Let’s start at the beginning. This novel was really well written. I loved the atmosphere and everything was described so well every event that happened I could easily imagine. Growing up with a horror film director as a Dad, Lola has a wild imagination and was interested in the town her mother grew up in and the legends. As her time progressed there, she really started to believe the stories of Mister Jitters. I personally wished Ellis would have continued this path. It was so intriguing and held my interest. Was Mister Jitters real? Or was this all in Lola’s imagination? This is what kept me interested throughout. Then the ending hit and I was so disappointed. I get it, I do… but I don’t like it. It was so lackluster to the buildup created and just let me feeling unsatisfied. What I did find very successful was the interview in the beginning and the end tying into the story.

Is it possible to like and dislike a character? If so, that’s how I feel about Lola. In the beginning I really disliked her character. I don’t know what it was but I just couldn’t get into her. I started to like her a little more throughout the novel but she never clicked with me. And I just can’t pinpoint it. I don’t know if it was her attitude or just the way she was presented. I think this is also one of the reasons I didn’t like the ending. I had a hard time connecting with Lola so it just seemed like… Okay? There were moments I enjoyed her character a lot. When she wasn’t holding back and being honest. I understand that a lot of her actions were because of how she was raised so I don’t hold it against her character at all. The townsfolk of Harrow Lake really helped with the creep vibe. They either helped further Lola’s fear of Mister Jitters or helped her personality grow. Thank goodness for the other characters.

“But when you’re alone in the dark, impossible things grow bones and flesh.”

SPOILERS
IF YOU DO NOT WANT THE ENDING SPOILED DO NOT READ THIS SECTION

Okay here it goes. This ending was so lackluster for me. The whole time we are trying to find out if Mister Jitters is real. At one point Mary Anne (Lola’s imaginary friend) comes back into her life. This is where it gets to, is any of this real? At one point, I was thinking this was going to be a Wicker Man sort of deal. Larry stabbed Nolan, tricked Lola into going to Harrow Lake to be sacrificed to Mister Jitters. Personally? I think that would have been a way better ending. First, we find out Lorelei was murdered then dumped there. It was Larry and Nolan who did it. Then the most ambiguous ending for Lola. This honestly sucked. I read this when thing waiting for something supernatural or anything really to find out this. I get it. The real monsters can be the ones we know but this just didn’t work for me for this specific story.

END OF SPOILER

“No, it’s this place, this town where time doesn’t move forward like it’s supposed to. Where stories get stuck in your head like a tooth burrowed deep in your flesh.”

FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis was a not what I was expecting. While the beginning and the environment are creepy, the ending was a huge miss. The entire buildup of the story just dropped into something that was not the least bit satisfying. I really wish there was more. The characters were okay. Lola was not my favorite character but I still enjoyed reading her story. I just found it hard to connect to her and really care. This story wasn’t a failure but it just wasn’t what I was expecting or hoping. I do recommend this book if your looking for a creepy and fast paced story with an ending you might not expect.

Thrillers have become one of my favourite genres recently, even though I've rated very few of them 5 stars. When this tour was announced, I was ecstatic! The blurb, though quite vague, had me hooked. I love small creepy towns, close knit communities shrouded in mysteries, and that kind of vibe.



Harrow Lake definitely delivered in that regard. From the get go, the story and the world building were very mysterious and atmospheric. The first couple of chapters set up the mood of the story brilliantly and hinted at some supernatural aspects, which is not my favourite kind of mystery, but it can work when done well. The mentions of Mister Jitters and unexplained disappearances were just the right amount of spooky for me.



Unfortunately, after a strong start, the story went downhill. For the most part of the middle the plot was nearly non existent. In trying to keep everything creepy and mysterious, and explore the superstition of Mister Jitters and making the reader believe he exists, the plot was pushed to the side and it's when the book slowed down for me and lost the initial excitement.


I feel like the characters were somewhat sacrificed for the sake of the atmosphere, too. I wanted more development for Lola, especially to justify the choice the author made about the ending of the story. I don't want to spoil anything, but the "twist" at the end of the book needed more to be fully believable, in my opinion. I thought she was well done, for most of it, but some parts just didn't make sense because they were revealed too late, to justify the twist. The supporting characters needed to be more fleshed out, too, mostly Lola's grandmother. She had a really big role in the story especially in bridging the supernatural with Lola's mother's disappearance, but she was reduced to the creepy old lady who wasn't always all there.

Some of the most interesting bits of the story were never actually explained, and it's the main reason for my rating. Like I mentioned before, the plot hinted at the supernatural, and revolved around Mister Jitters and the legend of him, just to flip towards the end and change into a psychological thriller - no doubt for the shock value - yet it just left a lot of loose threads, which I wish were addressed more and tied together. Again, not to spoil anything, I filled in the blanks myself which I think was the author's intent, but it didn't satisfy me in the end.


I'm torn on the rating. I think I will settle on 2.75 rounded up to 3 for the sake of Goodreads and this star business.

I don’t know exactly what it was. But I was intrigued from the start. Maybe it was the writing style, the way we meet Lola, with her lists, her secrets and her habit of stealing small things – but she immediately wormed her way into my heart. And that never changed.

She is an unreliable narrator and that worked very well for this story. We meet Lola and immediately you can tell that something isn’t quite right here. The way she talks about her dad Nolan or Larry … her obsession with doing and saying The Optimal thing …

And then she finds her dad in a puddle of his own blood and gets shipped off to her grandmothers. To Harrow Lake. A place she doesn’t know, except for the scenes in her dads most famous movie Nightjar, starring her mother.

When Lola arrives in Harrow Lake, her mother is everywhere. The whole town is stuck in the 1920s mixed in with memorabilia for Nightjar. And full of stories about disappearing girls, Lorelei and Mr Jitters.

Kat Ellis masterfully creates a creepy, mysterious atmosphere, using all the senses in her descriptions which makes the reading experience so rich and wonderfully eerie. The people in that town are all … let’s say a little unusual having lived if this decaying town.

After her suitcase mysteriously disappeared (and her grandmother not being really fussed about that) Lola is forced to wear the clothes Lorelei wore for her role Little Bird, slowly changing her more and more into that character. Lola is determined to find out more about her mother, now that she is in her hometown and gets help from Carter.

I quite liked him. His conversations with Lola were everything. Such small things but with a big impact. Through this, we not only learn more about Lorelei but also about Lola, about Carter and Cora and about the town as a whole. It’s very intriguing to peel back layer after layer.

While Lola is a very well developed character, with multiple layers and buried memories, the other characters pale a bit in comparison. We get to know Nolan quite a bit through Lola, and Cora and Carter, too. But in the end, it’S all about Lola and her trying

The ending was very well done. While I suspected the underlying cause pretty much from the start, the journey was intriguing and there was still a twist at the end I did not predict. I loved how Lola slowly unravelled what happened, secret after secret, reality blurring with stories and tricks of the mind.
I actually really enjoyed the conclusion, how not every tiny little detail got neatly wrapped up. But I got all the answers I needed.

Hello dear readers, before I begin I want to just let you know that I received this book as part of a book tour with The Write Reads in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Harrow Lake
Author: Kat Ellis
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

The Horror Genre

So I am still new to the horror genre. It’s not a genre I have read a lot of books from, so maybe I have set the bar too high, I’m not really sure.

When I thought about horror books, I had assumed that I would be losing sleep, seeing things in the dark, and being generally scared by what I was reading.

When I was reading Harrow Lake, I never really had those moments. I never felt like this Mister Jitters was going to keep me up at night. I never felt the fear.


On the shorter side

I am still on the fence on how I feel about the length of Harrow Lake. Coming in at 368 pages, that is plenty of time to scare someone, but it’s not too long that the horror turned into annoyance.

Harrow Lake didn’t seem to find a good balance in my opinion. There were times where I was annoyed, but then moments later I felt like I had hope that there was going to be something scary just around the corner.


Felt empty

The overall story itself felt kind of empty and full of holes. The whole premise of the story makes no sense. I don’t think the protagonist would be sent off to her grandmother’s house when her father got hurt.

If he was going to get better in just a few days, she could have stayed at home and someone could have watched her.

Even if that was the case, and she was shipped off to her grandmother’s, there are too many moments in the story that happen just for the sake of happening. There isn’t much rhyme or reason to it all, and the most description we get is “this place turns people bad”.


Scares seemed vague

The most “scared” I ever got when reading Harrow Lake was one of the first scares. The evil monster was still new, and we didn’t understand it yet.

After that, the scares seemed excessive, like they could be avoided with a bit of reason from the protagonist.

When a “scary” moment did happen, it felt like the writing just wasn’t developed enough. Like we were only getting the very surface of what was going on, and that didn’t go deep enough for me.


I’m sorry to say that I didn’t like this book. I always feel bad when I get a book from an author and didn’t like it.

*4.5 but rounding up*

I’m not usually in to YA books, but from the moment I heard about Harrow Lake, I knew I was going to love it, and it instantly went on my to buy list. So, when the chance arose to be a part of this ultimate blog tour, I jumped at it, and I am extremely grateful to have been accepted on to it.

From the very first page, it grabs your attention, and won’t let go. I was picking this book up at every opportunity I got, even if I only had 5 minutes to spare. I have been finding it difficult to concentrate on reading during this lockdown, but not with Harrow Lake. I flew through it in a couple of days (with a lot of shh’ing at Alex along the way, when he tried to talk to me).

Of course it wasn’t as scary as the horrors that I usually read, but I am not judging it next to the likes of James Herbert, and Stephen King, because the target audience is completely different, and that wouldn’t be fair at all. Considering that this is actually a YA book, I would say that this was the perfect amount of creepy, and there were a few times where it sent shivers down my spine.

I particularly enjoyed the urban legend aspect. The entire town seemed to be terrified of the tale of Mister Jitters, and it really helped to build the atmosphere in the story. Despite every part of you telling you that it’s impossible for Mister Jitters to be real, throughout the book you actually do start to doubt yourself, just like Lola, and I loved that psychological side to the story.

Harrow Lake definitely lived up to my expectations. It was tense, creepy, and impossible to put down!

I give Harrow Lake a 4.5 star rating.

A massive thank you to The Write Reads, and Penguin Random House, for allowing me to be a part of the Ultimate Blog Tour, and also to NetGalley for providing me with the e-arc of the book!

Harrow Lakes tells the story of Lola Nox, the daughter of a well-known horror filmmaker. She returns to the setting of her father’s most famous work, Nightjar. There she tries to discover more about her mother, her past, and the mysteries of the town.

The atmosphere alone will hook you in. It’s a creepy town, stuck both in time and in the story of Nightjar. It’s filled with urban legends, looming dangers, and monsters. But who are the monsters, evil creatures or evil humans?

The themes of thriller and horror go hand in hand so well. Some of the action around the middle gets repetitive, and it feels like it’s going nowhere at times. But that allows for the revelations to be slowly unveiled. There’s space for you to make your own assumptions about what is going on. Must of it makes sense, but there are some small plot holes. You won’t care though, because you’ll be so enveloped in the story.

With these genres is easy for stories to fail the landing. And although I’m sure some people won’t like where this story goes, the end wrapped everything up perfectly for me. I won’t say more, but it checked all the boxes on how I enjoy in my mystery/thriller endings.

Because this is an atmospheric, creepy story, the characters aren’t the main focus. They’re compelling to an extent, but the intrigue and mystery are what drives the story. Still, some deserve recognition.

🗡 Lola, the main character, seems weird at first. This is understandable with how isolated from people she grew up, heavily protected by her father and missing her mother. So she’s abrasive and doesn’t know how to deal with people in general. She’s been a bird in a cage all her life, and being alone in Harrow Lakes gives her some freedom. But a freedom that may not bring good things.

🐞 Lorelei is a real-life urban legend. She’s not physically present, but she has such a significant presence I had to name her as one of my favorite characters. She’s the real mystery of Harrow Lake, and you slowly get to know her through Lola. However, it’s hard to determine where Lorelei begins, and Little Bird ends.

🌲 Harrow Lake is its own character. It’s such an atmospheric town, with a darkness that permeates the soil and its people. It was built on tragedy, and the mythos of Nightjar only elevated that sinister aspect.

As expected, relationships and character dynamics aren’t the focus of the book. But at the heart of the story is the complicated relationship between Lola and her parents.

Lola misses Lorelei and wants to know why she left her. But Nolan is too much of a protective father to tell her what happened or let her lead a normal life. So Lola grew up to be a rebel teen who doesn’t know how to deal with her father. Still, I would appreciate one or two more scenes between father and daughter to fully grasp their influence and connection with each other.

Also of note, there’s a small hint of a romance. It was cute seeing Lola have a crush, but as expected, she doesn’t know how to handle it. And she has other things to worry about. The girl has her priorities straight.

P.S: I ship Lola with the sister of the love interest.

If you’re into atmospheric mystery stories, Harrow Lake is the perfect choice for you! It will keep you attached to the book, and you’ll want to know what comes next. Also, you’ll end up wanting to watch Nightjar and visit Harrow Lake, even if both are super creepy.

This book is for fans of Stranger Things and Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls. If you want to go to the Upside Down of Stars Hollow and instead of it being deserted, find some creepy people there, pick up Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis. A thriller with horror elements, this book is bound to caught some active imagination.

Harrow Lake, as its name suggests, is set in the town of Harrow Lake. It is not just the people or the weather that make this a chilling experience for a read – the characters themselves have depth and give the feeling that they are either hiding something or there is something that they do not know yet.

When Lola’s dad has an accident, she is sent to her grandmother’s in Harrow Lake. Her mom, Lorelie, left her when she was 5 years old and being in her mom’s hometown, sleeping in her room, and discovering town legends and secrets, Harrow Lake presents an opportunity to Lola to confront her memories and understand who she is. The town is eerie, the people reminding her constantly of the legacy of her mom. Lorelei was the lead in Nightjar, the movie directed by Lola’s dad, and the town is stuck in the time when the movie was being staged there.

Lola has seen the movie numerous times and when her suitcase goes missing, she turns to portray Little Bird, the character her mom played in the movie. That obviously brings up the connections about her mom in the town people’s folks. Even her grandmother mistakes her for Lorelie a number of times.

This constant struggle for Lola to carve her own identity in the mix of all the legends, questions and stories appealed a lot to me. The atmosphere of the town and people’s memories and relationships to Lorelie played an important role in Lola’s character development.

To me, the power of a Horror story comes from secrets, whether it is the attempts that the characters make to hide them or to find something to answer their questions.

Lola arrived at Harrow Lake, knowing very little about her mom. In this town, there is no ignoring the fact that Lorelie existed and lived a life, even if she left Lola years ago. There is history here that needs understanding and some of it requires going down memory lane and confronting the way that Lola sees her reality.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. As someone who does not read Young Adult often, I connected with the protagonist. The town of Harrow Lake successfully gave me the creeps. This is a fast-paced book and if you like Psychological Thrillers with the horror twist, I would highly recommend it.

See my full review and author interview on my blog, Armed with A Book. Many thanks to the author, publisher and The WriteReads for the complimentary review copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“I keep my secrets safe.”
Lola is the daughter of a famous horror movie director and the actress who was a star in his most famous film – Nightjar. The filming of Nightjar took place in her mother’s hometown, Harrow Lake, and tourists gather there every year as there is a cult following of the movie. The town looks just like it did for the movie – how it’s always looked, except for when the land shifted and a sinkhole swallowed the church. After her father is stabbed, Lola ends up in Harrow Lake with her maternal grandmother, whom she hasn’t had contact with since her own mother disappeared when she was five years old. Harrow Lake might holds secrets about her mother as it definitely holds secrets about its own past.

As part of TheWriteReads Book Bloggers group, I was offered to be on a book blog tour for Harrow Lake. While I don’t normally read many thriller books, I was promised this one wouldn’t be gory. The rest of the plot intrigued me and I was given a free advanced copy in exchange for a fair review and a blog posting for the tour. The book comes out July 9, 2020.

As Lola finds herself staying in her mother’s old room, wearing her mother’s old clothes, she starts uncovering the secrets surrounding the town. There are rumors of a man in the caves who became a monster and eats people. This creature, Mister Jitters, seemed to fill her mother’s imagination and Lola starts to get taken with the story, too. Yet, Lola can’t seem to make the pieces of her mother’s story fit and she finds out the most important secrets are the ones she was keeping from herself.

Harrow Lake is a bit of a suspenseful book. I didn’t read it before bed just in case it got scary, but I didn’t need to worry that much. The thrill comes more from not knowing what the secrets are. The books touches on some adult topics, so I would recommend it to mature readers, but while they are not graphic, I won’t list them here or it will give the ending of the book away. Readers who enjoyed The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins will enjoy Harrow Lake.

If you’re after a good, gripping horror that will get you all turned around, then this book will certainly do the trick. We jump from place to place, darkness seeps in unnoticed and there’s a terrifying taptaptapTAP that follows you everywhere! A good horror can be difficult to find but I absolutely loved that nothing about this book felt safe – there was no motherly character to cling to, no safe room where the monsters couldn’t find you and no light at the end of a cave tunnel. This kept me guessing from start to finish. Who could Lola trust? Could she trust herself? The book is fast paced and flits from thought to thought, mirroring the fracturing of Lola’s mind perfectly and keeping you firmly within the grip of the story. The best way I could describe the feel of this book would be to cross Slenderman with Until Dawn – a terrifying monster lurking in the shadows, but a very real horror skulking beneath. I devoured this story in an afternoon and wish I could do it all over again!

3.5 stars

This book is every bit as eerie and intense as the blurb suggests. Complete with a haunting atmosphere and an overwhelming feeling of trepidation that is ever-present throughout, the author uses classic horror elements and unsettling imagery to create a compelling tale which often left my head fizzing with intrigue.

There are many moments where the lines between reality and tricks of the mind are skilfully blurred, during a story that began with an original concept and became gradually more complex along the way as several interesting themes were added to the mix. All of this takes place in a chilling and creepy setting that you would be unlikely to forget in a hurry.

Lola is the teenage daughter of acclaimed film director Nolan Nox, and has lived a very sheltered life due to his exhaustive attempts to keep her out of the public eye. One evening, Lola returns to their apartment to find her father seriously wounded, and so is sent to stay with her grandmother in the town of Harrow Lake for the duration of his recovery.

Harrow Lake is the place where Nolan shot his most iconic film, Nightjar, and also met Lola's missing mother Lorelei, who starred as the main character Little Bird. As well as having an unusual obsession for Nightjar, the people there believe in the puppet-like figure of Mister Jitters, whose presence has been used as an explanation for a series of mysterious events.

From the moment Lola arrives, the place gives her uncomfortable vibes as she realises there is no wi-fi or telephone connection to speak of. There are many secrets hidden in Lorelei's old room, and she begins to experience some strange visions that make her wonder if Mister Jitters does really exist. As more frightening incidents take place, it is apparent that Lola's life is in severe danger.

The defining feature of this book is the setting, without question. Harrow Lake is like the town that time forgot, and is certainly not the kind of place where I would like to take a holiday. With the help of some well-chosen words, the author uses location and repeated sounds to impressively convey a high level of tension, as well as the ongoing sense of impending danger.

Although there were moments where some of the action became slightly repetitive, the plot was still relatively gripping. I enjoyed the subtlety with which some of the themes were handled, and how they eventually came to the fore later in the book as the realities of Lola's life steadily began to emerge. This is for me where the storytelling was at its most effective.

With the exception of the beginning and the end, which take the form of a transcript from a radio interview, the book is told entirely in the first person from Lola's perspective. I found the narrative to be reasonably engaging and what seemed clear to me from an early stage is that the author had a very thorough and detailed understanding of her main characters.

There is more to Lola than originally meets the eye. At first, she seems somewhat aloof and even a trifle unlikable, but as you begin to learn more about her it soon makes sense. This is in many ways a story of self-discovery, and I found her relationship with Nolan to be one of the most fascinating elements of the book.

While Nolan appears very little in person, his influence over Lola is wholly evident and she often finds herself imagining what he would say to her in a particular situation, to either advise her or to dismiss something as arrant nonsense. It makes for compelling reading, especially considering what you learn towards the end of the book.

The only thing I have to seriously question about Lola's viewpoint is the constant use of the word 'Optimal'. It is capitalised on every occasion and I thought early on that it might have some significance - I know what it was trying to get at - but it turned out to be just a fairly meaningless meme.

In terms of the supporting characters, they were something of a mixed bag. I found Lola's grandmother rather freaky, and I grew to like Cora for being the only one who had the sense to want to escape Harrow Lake. Carter was portrayed as a kind of romantic interest for Lola, but I thought he was given very little personality, while his mother Ranger Crane was not too well developed either.

The ending was dramatic and interesting, and I really did like the neat little twist that came about there. I just had a few issues with the what happened in the passage just before the end. It seemed to lack clarity, and there were some questions left unanswered about Lola's fate.

Overall, this was a well written young adult thriller that succeeds with a sinister atmosphere, an all-encompassing setting, and a number of innovative ideas which help to raise the tension by an extra notch. Not all the characters were well developed or plot strands fully resolved, but for a book that is a bit different from my average read, I found it mostly enjoyable.

Harrow Lake is a creepy read that posses some quality aspects of horror, the eeriness of a lake, a forest and a dark folklore that revolves around Mr Jitters. A girl who was sent away to live with a grandparent whom she didn't know existed and the secrets that begin to worm their way to the surface sets for a chilling read, with an atmosphere that any classical horror fan would enjoy. The way, I found that the storyline was written could at times be disorganised and I had to re-read what I'd already read to actually understand what was going on but this wasn't always the case. Overall, the atmosphere and the visualisation aspects of the book were written really well, I could feel the small town intensity vibes, where Lola was expected to be like the mother she didn't really know, living up to those expectations can be difficult but add some dark secrets and jumpy events, you may need to sleep with the light on!

3.5 stars

In my previous review, I said I love small-town romances. Now, let me say that I also enjoy small town thrillers/horror stories. For me, setting a horror/thriller in a small town makes it more atmospheric. And for that, Harrow Lake didn’t disappoint.

A beginning that hooks the reader…

The story started with a transcript and it sets the mood right away. The blurb already suggested that Harrow Lake would be eerie and thrilling but the transcript is what really sets the atmosphere. It what hooked me right into the story. And the atmosphere didn’t change till the end. In fact, the story only gets more and more intense as it progresses.

A story that keeps surprising…

Harrow Lake, the small town, is the perfect setting for the story. It has all the right elements — the history, the myths and legends, the mysterious townies and lack of modernization. What surprised me though is the author’s amazing writing style. Kat Ellis carefully picks locations in Harrow Lake that’s perfect for each scene. She also uses the same descriptions and even terms. With her style, Harrow Lake just became one of the scariest settings I’ve ever read.

But of course, the setting isn’t everything. The plot itself is very intriguing. Right from the start, there are are so many questions I want answered. And as the story progresses, the doubts increases and I found myself more eager to keep reading even if it gets really scary and I started reading at midnight.

It is a good thing that the book is told entirely from Lola’s perspective, except for the transcripts. It makes most of the elements in the story vague. There are so many things that I was intrigued by right from the start, like Lola’s real relationship with her father. I was so intrigued by that since chapter one. But as with most protagonists/narrators in this kind of genre, Lola isn’t reliable all the time, which makes the reveals truly surprising. Speaking of Lola…

A main character that grows on you…

Lola is not someone you’ll root for from the start, but she sure grows on me. I found her character really intriguing. I know there’s so much more to her than what she’s showing or telling, and it’s easier to see that as the story progresses. But wow, I definitely wasn’t expecting that reveal in her character. I like it when a character surprises me.

As for the side characters, my favorite was Cora. I like her guts and she stayed true to her character till the very end. I couldn’t say the same for Carter, Cora’s brother and served as Lola’s kind of love interest. He’s okay but his personality is somehow lacking. Lola’s grandma is creepy for me and that’s all I can say about her. Other two characters that I would’ve wanted more from were Grant and Ranger Crane, both were Lola’s mom’s friends in Harrow Lake. They’re two characters who the readers might or might not suspect about something and I won’t say more to avoid spoiling anything.

As for Nolan, Lola’s father. He’s an interesting character. He’s not always in the scenes but in Lola’s head, her father is always there. In every scenes, Nolan is always in Lola’s mind telling her what she should do and don’t. His influence to her makes Lola for what she is. It’s freaky the way Lola clings to her father that way and the reveal at the end will make it clear.

An eventful ending BUT…

I do love the ending, or more accurately I loved the events that lead up to it. But I wanted more from the ending, like about Lola. Sure, I know what she’d become after Harrow Lake. But I didn’t know what happened after she got out of that climactic event. I wanted to know what she did next after she realized everything.

Love love love this book. I'm so happy that I was given the chance to read it. It's creepy and keeps you wanting to know what's going to happen next. The only thing that really bothered me with this book is the grandma. Honestly couldn't stand her character.

I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I found Harrow Lake really intriguing and atmospheric! From the start you’re thrown into a world of confusion and tension. The creep factor is already dialled you as you start and this only increases as the book progresses!

I’m not a fan of horror at all, and I was worried I’d got in over my head with this one. But I really enjoyed reading it - because it’s super creepy but not terrifying, because it’s also half a mystery, and because it’s well written.

Lola is a girl who has been kept secluded, pretty much, by her father, and is sent to stay with her grandmother while he recuperates from a stabbing. She ends up in the town where his big horror movie was filmed, and where everyone in town knows who she is. Lola may not always be a likeable main character, but she is sympathetic - she’s torn away from everything she knows and into the deep end of this small town.

As Lola tries to find out more about the creepy town legend or her mum, we also get lots of glimpses into how her life has messed her up - she’s seeing things, and this is really not helped at all by the town who all add to her feelings of discontent and like she’s being watched. It’s incredibly well put together.

I am definitely not telling you about the ending because it would ruin it, but I both loved it and found it a little disappointing. I wanted more answers than we got about the town! But I did enjoy how it all played out and how we find out various things.

Overall, this was a 3.5 star read for me but only because I felt there were a few loose ends I’d have liked tied up - while I’m sure this is intentional, I like answers! But the writing and atmosphere is definitely worthy of 4 stars!

A fantastically creepy YA Thriller/Horror that feels unique, chilling and rapid – an excellent story that is both refreshing and yet traditional, using some horror tropes in new and spooky ways.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
4 Stars

Synopsis: Lola, the daughter of a well known filmmaker is quickly sent to live with her Grandmother – a woman she has never met – after her father is attacked in their own home.

Stuck with her Grandmother in Harrow Lake, the place where her father’s most iconic horror movie was shot, Lola begins to learn more about this town. However, nothing is as it seems and the more she learns the more chilling the town becomes. There is a weird obsession with the film, people are disappearing, and something monsterous has learned of Lola’s presence. Lola soon realises this town may be the death of her but Lola has secrets too, in Harrow Lake nothing is as it appears.

I love horror and thriller books, but I usually stick with adult horror as I am not scared or spooked out easily, I also love all kinds of horror from subtle gothic creepiness to outright gore to psychology tension, so this means I tend to stay away from teen or YA thriller/horror books. BUT when I read the synopsis for this particular title it sounded sooo good and I just had to give it a go, and I am super glad that I did because this was a very creepy read and I loved it! So a massive thank you Dave @The_WriteReads (who is awesome btw!) for giving me a spot on this #blogtour because I really enjoyed this book and am thrilled to have been given the chance to read it!

— Easy To Read, Clever And Creepy —
The Writing Style/Narrative. Kat Ellis has a very direct way of writing that is easy to read, is incredibly clever and very creepy. It is both a simple style but also a powerful and effective one that utilises the senses, particularly auditory imagery, in order to create an intensly creepy atmosphere that works phenomenally. Ellis masterfully uses repetition and sound to give this story the terrifying atmosphere it aims for, and her rich descriptions really draw you into the story – it is nostalgic and timeless – and her evocative prose is powerful and immersive. The direct style and prose is perfect for this story as it leads you further into the chilling town of Harrow Lake, gripping you and shocking you, the harsh and direct approach adds depth to the creepy events and serves to make you tense and jump at each thrilling surprise.

However, Ellis also manages to be metaphorical and elusive, the prose can be quite beautiful at times which perfectly balances out the harsher aspects, allowing us time to breath while also not letting us go. She weaves a clever story parrying the beauty and horror of a little town, full of tension that is rewarded with shocking scares and reveals, as she perfectly balances the nuances of the 1920’s style influence and the older forms of horror with a refreshing perspective creating something unique and new.

Interestingly enough this is written in the first person from the perspective of Lola, our main character. Many of you know by now I am more of a fan of the third person narrative but I found this to be both surprising and effective. The first person narrative gives us a lot of insight into Lola, her thoughts and her motivations – this adds a great dynamic to the story as a whole and supports the tense atmosphere created. The narrative is incredibly effective and gives us a very specific view of each character we meet or each scenario that arises – Lola being relatively young makes naive decisions at times based on emotion (this is realistic behaviour adding to the impact it has) – all of which makes the story more chilling and powerful. This perspective also allows us to see rationalisations of Lola’s choices, it gives her character more depth (looking at what has influenced her behaviour) and makes her seem more determined and motivated, strengthening our connection to the character.

Kat Ellis has an incredible writing style that perfectly balances the direct and elusive prose used. This effectively creates a creepy atmosphere that continuously maintains tension and gives us rewarding reveals that shock and chill us. Moreover, the perspective used is effective and insightful allowing a greater connection with the main character as well as with the story.

— Captivatingly Creepy, Immersive And Thrilling —
The Story/Plot. In this book we follow Lola, a 17 year old girl and daughter of popular horror filmmaker Nolan, who thinks in terms of “Optimal” responses – carefully considering which answer will lead to the best outcomes for her. Lola is very close with her father, and seems scared of upsetting him (though she does often). She steals and buries her secrets and is significantly isolated, she isn’t allowed a social media presence or much socialisation. We follow her as she goes to stay with her Grandmother in Harrow Lake, a town where her fathers most prolific film was produced and set, after Nolan is attacked in his own apartment.

Harrow Lake is a place stuck in time, it has the appeal of a small town but underneath that it has dark secrets – people are disappearing and the film has become a small stown staple in the community. Mr Jitters is a local myth, monster, that supposedly lives in the caves and yet the authorities seem to want to explain away the disappearences – Harrow Lake is an odd little town where secrets tend to be buried.

I really loved this concept of a small town linked with a horror film – the idea of Mr Jitters and the noises that accompany him were deeply chilling and intriguing. As a figure of fear he was powerful, the descriptions of him, those who fear him, his presence and Lola’s experiences were all very effective. The atmosphere created around him was very realistic and really pulled you into the story, you could almost hear the jittering/clicking/tapping noises that meant he was close – it was very gripping and I ended up reading this in one sitting because I was so intrigued and thrilled!

The story as a whole is relatively fast-paced, it is definitely a quick read but one that definitely connects with you. The creepy scenes, the action, the mystery and the tension all works wonderfully to create a very powerful and chilling story that consistently shocks and surprises you. The addition of the past intertwining with the future, the absence of Lola’s mother and the memories that are uncovered makes this an intense and interesting story of fear, loss, separation and shadows. This book works on many levels and will consistently keep you intrigued be it through the fear of Mr Jitters or through the odd behaviours of those closest to Lola.

The other thing I really enjoyed about this story was the cyclical structure, I really enjoyed how it opened with an interview and then jumped back to follow Lola. Moreover, I really enjoyed the bigger twists and shocks, the ultimate reveals were impactful and worked to reward the built up tension and mystery. I will say that there were a couple of things I would have like explained a little more, the story isn’t entirely perfect but everything that is revealed and the conclusions that the story comes to works very well and I really enjoyed this book. This was a fantastic YA horror/thriller, it is creepy, shocking and chilling and perfect for those who love quick horror reads that get straight into it!

— Intriguing And Chilling —
The Characters: There are quite a few characters in this story but I will only be focusing on a few. Each of the characters created are very compelling and intriguing, some are even rather chilling. I really loved the relationships that were built between each character and the development they go through, particularly Lola.

Lola: Initially I wasn’t sure about Lola, she didn’t seem to have much of a personality instead she would aopt personas from movies, but as the story goes on and you see why she is so stifled her character becomes much more interesting and compelling. Lola develops nicely over the course of the book becoming more independent, headstrong and decisive, her relationships with others slowly becomes stronger but as a whole she seems to struggle to connect with people. She is a very realistic character who is flawed but believable and quite the powerful main character in this story.

Lola is very close to her father, who I personally found to be a bit creepy, though she does rebel slightly. Lola is quite fascinating when it comes to her dealing with Mr Jitters and the creepy events in Harrow Lake, and the more you learn about her the more you connect with her. In the end I quite liked Lola’s character and found her to be ultimately strong and brave.

Lorelai: Lola’s mother. Lorelai is mostly in memories in this story as she left Nolan and Lola when Lola was a child. Her absence is the source of Nolan’s control over Lola, he fears she will leave too. Lorelai is also a big part of Harrow Lake and you get to learn more about her through Lola.

Nolan: Lola’s father, and horror filmmaker. Nolan is a little possesive and very scared of Lola leaving but he seems to want to protect her. Nolan is a big part of Harrow Lake as he produced the movie set there. His injury is the reason for Lola going there and he is alays considered in Lola’s decision making. Nolan comes of as quite a strong character in terms of personality but not entirely likable – he was well crafted.

Larry: Larry is Nolan’s best friend and seems to carry out duties set by Nolan. Larry comes off as very unlikable, perhaps due to the perspective. He seems rigid and doesn’t listen to Lola, what he says is usual final and he can be quite blunt. He was quite interesting but again not likable – though this was effective.

Mr Jitters: The monster/villain of the story, the local myth. We hear the legends surrounding Mr Jitters in Harrow Lake and he makes quite the compelling horror character. The traditions, the stories, the noises and the impact he has on the characters all serve to makehim a creepy and chilling character that definitely makes you sit on the edge of your seat as you read this book. I really like him as a horror figure!

Lola’s Grandmother: Lola’s Grandmother is an odd character who seems to add to the creepy atmosphere of the story. She has moments of delusion, seems to behave in strange ways and doesn’t seem to like Lola very much at all. She was complex and interesting to me as a character and seemed to fit in very well with the theme of the story. She definitely made me uneasy and yet I also felt sympathetic at tims – it worked wonderfully.

Overall: This was a fantastic horror story that was creepy, chilling, thrilling and shocking. The horror figure was compelling, the characters were intriguing and the setting was phenomenal. I loved every minute of this story and its fast pace made it an easy read. This is definitely a story where the built up tension leads to a wonderfully shocking pay off.

I would definitely recommend this to horror/thriller fans who want a thrilling and creepy read that is fast and direct. It is perfect for those who want to jump right into the horror!

*I received an eARC via #Netgalley @penguinplatform of this book in order to participate in an #UltimateBlogTour organised by @The_WriteReads #TheWritereads with an honest review- #HarrowLake by @el_kat.

Thank you so much to The Write Reads, Kat Ellis, and Penguin Random House for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC!

I read around 54% of this book in one day and I was really enjoying it. Very early on, the writing made me feel as if I was in the book experiencing everything alongside the MC. I was particularly amazed by how the book succeeded in making me feel unnerved, even when nothing particularly “scary” was happening. Unfortunately, around half-way through the book, the tone seemed to drastically shift and I wasn’t quite sure what was happening. From then on, the book seemed to go back and forth between a style that I loved and a style that baffled me. It kind of felt as if there were two books about the same plot being merged together. One was an all-out, full-of-monsters horror. The other– which was the one I was enjoying for the first half of the book–was a super creepy psychological thriller. I think that either book would have been great on its own; they just didn’t go well together.

One of the things that this book excelled in (perhaps too much) was making you question almost everything you were reading. For me, this is a tool that works very well as long as you tie everything up in the end. When I reached the end of this book, I still didn’t quite understand what I had read and I was swallowed in confusion. If this was the type of reaction the author was hoping for, then right on. It’s just not the kind of ending I myself like to reach.