I hardly if ever read horror because I'm The Ultimate Chicken™ and I'm notoriously bad at handling creepy stuff. But I also like to branch out of my comfort zone every now and again, so when I was asked if I wanted to join the blog tour for Harrow Lake with the WriteReads gang, I immediately hopped on after reading the synopsis. It sounded absolutely terrifying but I was excited to also try something new. I am also clearly a masochist 😆

Since I tend to stay away from the paranormal horror genre, I don't really have much of a basis for comparison, but I'd imagine this book started out as many horror novels/movies do. It pretty much kicks off right away with Nolan's stabbing and Lola quickly being sent off to Harrow Lake. Ellis did a great job in creating such a sinister setting that steadily built in pressure as the story progressed; it's the feeling that makes your toes tingle and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up! As much as it had my heart racing and made me want to tuck my feet under the covers so that nothing could grab me from below, I really enjoyed how atmospheric the story was. Ellis also did a great job in describing the desolated eerie town. It was easy for me to picture the scenes playing out before me like a movie reel in my head--I think this would make a great show!

The story is told through Lola's perspective and I found her quite an interesting character. She's a little bit jaded, very isolated and considering she's the daughter of a horror movie producer, she has some fairly dark and violent thoughts, although she's good at pretending otherwise. She has a very twisted relationship with her father, Nolan, who was a right controlling bastard! I thought Lola was quite an unreliable narrator and I was constantly questioning what was happening because I wasn't sure if it was a dream or not, and if it was real how was all of it happening?! It was mind-forking in the best way. Pretty much all of the characters in this book skeeved me out and just thinking about most of them now really has my skin crawling. The population of Harrow Lake is exactly what I'd picture in a horror movie. Everyone was super weird and obsessed with the horror flick that made their town famous. The combination of creepy people with the oddity of the town being "stuck" in the 1920s and its tragedies really added to the story's ominous vibes.

That said, while this book started off very much like a paranormal horror, I loved the twists that it took towards the end. Some were predictable but the main plot twist was so different to what I expected, and while I normally don't like when things take such a turn, I was really pleased with how it worked out in this book. I also don't usually like the slightly cliched open endings (that maybe wrap things up a little too perfectly/easily), but I admit it was pretty satisfying to see here.

Overall, I'm surprised to admit that this was a very enjoyable paranormal horror that I didn't find as scary as I thought I would; though it was still creepy enough for me! I'm really glad I stepped out of my comfort zone for this book and I'm kind of hoping it'll become a show or something because I can 100% picture it on screen! Thanks to Dave at TheWriteReads for asking me to be part of this blog tour and for the publisher and author for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Welcome to the latest stop on TheWriteReads’ blog tour for Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis (Penguin, 2020). Harrow Lake is a young adult thriller, and you’re going to want to turn on every light in the house before you crack the spine on this one- or start reading long before it gets dark.

The book begins with an interview with Nolan Nox, famed horror movie director, whose daughter had gone missing a year before. Fall back in time and the story is now narrated by Lola Nox. After finding her father having been stabbed, Lola is unceremoniously shipped off to Harrow Lake, Indiana, to the home of a strange, distant grandmother she’s never met before, the mother of Lola’s own mother, who left, then disappeared, when Lola was five. Harrow Lake, the filming site of Nightjar, Nolan’s most famous film, is a spooky town. Collapsed mines that led to hundreds of deaths have provided the town myriad legends, including one resident-turned-mine-dwelling-cannibal, Mr. Jitters. Refusing to believe in stories, Lola begins to comb Harrow Lake for information, hoping to get to know the mother she barely remembers, but her search is impeded at every step.

Creepy townfolk. Eerie abandoned, caved-in mines with a collapsed church inside. A grandmother that seems half-mad on her best days. A mysterious figure who always seems to be watching Lola. Tiny hand-carved wooden insects that skitter and chatter on their own. Ominous shapes that move behind the wallpaper. NO INTERNET OR PHONE SERVICE. It’s every horror movie you’ve ever watched packed into one spine-chilling book, and Lola will need to gather all her wits about her if she wants to really learn the truth about Harrow Lake and what happened to her mother.

EEK. This was SUPER creepy. I haven’t read horror in years, but I loved it as a kid, and I deeply loved horror movies when I was young, so this was a flashback to my younger days. The hand carved wooden ‘jitterbugs’ in Lola’s mother’s room creeped me the HECK out, as did the constant references to Mr. Jitters. Harrow Lake seems about the worst vacation destination ever, and the weirdo townspeople add the perfect touch. Kat Ellis has really created a terrifying place- not quite Children of the Corn weird, but Gatlin and Harrow Lake could be sister cities.

Ms. Ellis really knows how to keep the reader guessing. It’s cliched to say that there are twists and turns on every page, but it’s the absolute truth here. Weirdness abounds in Harrow Lake and Lola, who is trapped there, is constantly thrown off by someone’s odd behavior, a strange noise, the phone lines not working, something else terrifying happening in the woods. It’s a mark of good horror writing for the reader to have their guard up THIS often because the terror never stops, and I don’t know how many times I said some version of, “OMG, just get on the road and WALK back home!”

The ending is as twisty as it gets, with a majorly satisfying conclusion that I found to be absolutely brilliant (and will remember Lola’s friend’s tactic should I ever need to use it!). Harrow Lake is a wild ride through a town I never, EVER want to visit. I’ll stay at home, where there are no collapsed-mine-mass-graves-with-creepy-cannibal-monster-people. But if you enjoy edge-of-your-seat horror that will keep you guessing until- I’m not at all exaggerating here- the very last pages, you’re going to want a copy of Harrow Lake.

Harrow Lake is set for release on July 9th, 2020.

Thanks to Dave at #TheWriteReads, NetGalley, and Kat Ellis for including me on this tour!

Harrow Lake seemed so creepy and dark from Lola’s perspective because of her mental scars but as a reader, I couldn’t really tell if that was the case or if it’s Lola’s slow realization of the darkness that the village embodies. Simply put, Lola is an unreliable view point, because her past knowledge and trauma shrouds the village in a dark mist. As she and her new friend Carter looks into the disappearance of her mother she find out more about the missing young women and the police desperate effort to keep it buried.

Then we have the town’s legend (name me a town without its’ own legend and rituals), Mister Jitters (when I read this, I was like “oh spare me, how scary”, at least on that I was right). I am telling you, I could hear tapping while I was in my bedroom alone (scared the shit out of me). The town has created this sort of ritual to appease this boogeyman, the anonymity added to the cemented fear that had developed in the heart of the people of harrow lake. (I am trying so hard not to spoil this book for you)

Then we had (for me) an unnecessary romance, trust me it wasn’t needed, although it made her more related and human. She was still on the journey of self-love and it wasn’t the time for crushes. I do like the fact that the author didn’t make it a really important subplot because that would have pissed me off

Teenager Lola Nox is the daughter of horror filmmaker Nolan Nox. The book opens with Nolan being interviewed for Scream Screen Magazine. As the questions turn to the disappearance of Lola the interview cuts off and we are then sent back a year in time.

The year before Nolan is found stabbed in his apartment by Lola. Whilst Nolan is in the hospital there is no one else to look after Lola so she is sent to stay with the Grandmother she has never met before in Harrow Lake, the place where her father filmed his movie Nightjar, featuring Lola’s mum who disappeared when she Lola was just five years old.

Harrow Lake is a strange small town haunted by the past in which a landslide killed some of the residents. Rumour has it that one of the buried residents now wanders the town of a night time looking for victims to eat after he got the taste for flesh.

From the moment Lola arrives she has a weird feeling about the place and her Grandmother, who seems to be suffering from dementia and treats Lola like she is her missing daughter, even making her wear her clothes she has kept all these years. She also keeps seeing a girl following her and jitterbugs tapping and moving on their own. It’s all in her head though, isn’t it?

I read a lot of psychological thrillers, suspense books, paranormal stories and as such whilst I thought this book was engaging and interesting I did not find it scary nor creepy in any sense, but I can see why those that are not used to these genres or those that are scared easily would given the nature of the plot. You need to remember this is a YA book so the horror aspect isn’t going to be what you would find in a Stephen King or Dean Koontz novel.

The book is based around Lola and her time in Harrow Lake. I can’t say she is a particularly nice character, in fact, she grated on me quite a lot with the way she viewed the world and her attitude which was down to the way she had been brought up, such as you shouldn’t say sorry or thank you to people nor show weakness.

The storyline itself is full-on and intriguing. As we know from the beginning that Lola disappears I was held captivated wanting to know what happens to her, does the creepy man get her? Is there something more sinister going on? I was eager to find out.

The ending I had mixed feelings about, partly because I was left wanting to know more about the past, but happy there was closure for Lola.

My first thoughts are, there is no way this is meant for young adults! Oh my goodness. As I was reading through the book, this thriller is one that is going to give anyone nightmares. I definitely recommend reading with the lights on. Try reading in the afternoon, so that you can give yourself some time to get over the crazy that is wrapped up in these pages.

As Lola is investigating the disappearance of her mother and navigating through the days at her grandmother's house, she is struck by many things. She and her mother look a lot alike.  This leads many of the townspeople to think that she is her mother, at least at first. As she tries to untangle the mystery surrounding her mother's disappearance, she is struck by how many people do not want to know what happened, and why young ladies are still disappearing, at an alarming rate. They are all tied back to the movie that her father directed in the small town.

She befriends Carter, and together they begin to look into her mother's past. There are so many unanswered questions, and the questions continue to pile up. Lola is doing her best to unravel the mystery, but she seems to be unraveling as well. The deeper she digs, the more danger she seems to be in, and there seems to be something lurking the shadows...

There were a few things that really struck me about this book. First, I felt that the writing was really choppy. There needs to be a good editor to go through this and smooth out a lot of the scenes. It just feels as though there are things missing, and to many unanswered questions at the end. I felt it dropped off rather suddenly, with no real answers being given.

I had some high hopes for this book, but other than giving me nightmares of the things in the dark, I just didn't feel the book did full justice.

I don’t read many YA novels. Why? I am guilty of having misconceptions about the genre coupled with the belief I just wouldn’t connect to the characters. I think the term Young Adult scares me a little. Am I young enough? Too old to find a way to enjoy the stories? Will the plots involve what matters to me?

This review is the proof that branching out can be an extraordinary thing. When I heard about Harrow Lake, I was seduced by the title. My eyes scanned the blurb and I spotted details I look for in novels – a small town, and a stalker. So I put my doubts about YA in the trash and agreed to take part in the blog tour. I don’t regret it!

I can’t say I warmed to Lola when I began reading. With little knowledge about her and her family, I found her behavior quite similar to so many teens in search of freedom. But when she finds her father attacked in their apartment and is sent to the home of a grandmother she doesn’t know, in a small town where her mother grew up and her filmmaker dad hit the jackpot with a famous movie, I was rattled. All happened very fast and my only choice being to follow Lola’s narrative, I opened to her.

Lola doesn’t know much. Her dad is in hospital. Her mother left her years ago. Quickly, it becomes clear she’s her dad’s whole world and is required to live under strict rules. Her father’s presence is clear, despite them being miles away, and it made me feel quite uncomfortable. I recognized signs of a troubled relationship, some subtle, other less subtle, but always shown and not told, which was something I really appreciated from the author’s writing.

Harrow Lake. The name itself is mesmerizing. Years ago, Lola’s father filmed a movie there and it became huge. So huge that the little town feels stuck in time. Upon Lola’s arrival, I felt the atmosphere of the place. It took me a few pages to understand there was something strange going on and was comforted in my idea by the inhabitants. Old-fashioned clothes, a claustrophobic feeling, the unease of untold threats at every corner. I would not choose Harrow Lake for a vacation! Lola isn’t happy to be there, but her urge to rush back to her old life soon has to fight with her will to discover more about her mother. After all, Harrow Lake is her hometown, the place that made her famous and changed her life… So why not follow the ghostly trail she left?


Harrow Lake is a real psychological horror novel. The fears in Lola’s head resonate all around town and the place seems to draw her in, closing in on her. Few books manage to spook me, but this one did! I couldn’t believe it. Kat Ellis has done a great job playing on my nerves. I knew something was off, but couldn’t figure out where it came from. Was it Lola’s tainted view on the setting, or was it the town itself? I can’t give away much about the plot but there’s a kind of magic that pulls you in and before you know it, you HAVE to keep reading.

The town people were weird, and that might be the side of the novel I liked the least. Some felt completely out of it, but my focus was on Lola, and I glossed over the little bits that would have had me suspend my disbelief.
Overall, Harrow Lake is a creepy and spooky YA novel digging deep into the heart of its protagonists.

Lola Nox, daughter of the famous horrorfilm-maker Nolan Nox, has to move to Harrow Lake - where once his most famous movie was set. Her mother left her when she was little, and now that her father is hospitalised after a mysterious attack, she has to stay with her estranged grandmother. Harrow Lake is a strange town - one where the people are superstitious and old-fashioned. They even believe in monsters and have their very own one. No problem for Lola, as she is never scared. And there's really no need to be...or is there?

This book kept me on the edge of my seat and made me want to keep reading until I turned the last page. I needed to know what happens next!
I don’t usually read horror or psychological thrillers very often, so this was definitely a bis surprise for me!

When a landslide almost a century prior to the current happenings in Harrow Lake buried a church and several of the town’s people, it also created a monster. One that is still roaming the place, and now is coming for Lola.

However, creepy Mr. Jitters isn’t the only thing in the book that made my spine tingle. Behind very dark secrets, there’s also spooky tunes that garnish the town’s weird 1920s vibe. Invisible speakers, caves whose halls reflect the sounds – music and tunes is something that can turn into something very spooky when done nicely – and Kat Ellis delivered.

A thrilling, captivating and spooky book perfect for brave teenagers or adults!
4.5 stars from me.

I really enjoyed this! I was fully absorbed from the first page. Assumed the dad was going to kill the daughter but boy was I wrong!

So much happened in this book that it took me quite a while afterwards to fully process it. I was so submerged into the story.

My review will be going up for the blog tour on the 10th May over at nuggetstumpblog.com

Harrow Lake is an addictive read that will raise the hairs on your arms and send shivers down your spine. Maybe don't read it in the dark, late at night, well not if you want to get a good night's sleep that is!

Lola is sent off to the mysterious town of Harrow Lake to stay with a grandmother she has never met. Harrow Lake is her mother's hometown and the town which is famous for being the setting of her famous father's hit horror movie, The Nightjar. In fact, the whole town is obsessed with the film and Lola arrives just as they are preparing for a Nightjar Film Festival! Everywhere she turns there are reminders of her mother, the mother who walked out on her when she was little.

Harrow Lake is such a creepy place. It's like the town that never moved on, dominated by its history of a landslide in the 1920's and the filming of The Nightjar, it's the perfect setting for such a haunting story. This is a small town set firmly in the past. The houses are old with no wi-fi, there's no phone signal, the villagers are odd, the town seems full of secrets. It's easy to imagine them believing in old urban legends such as Mister Jitters, a creepy, shadowy, puppet like monster and performing weird rituals to keep him at bay.

Harrow Lake is a really atmospheric novel and it is such an addictive read. The whole way through I found it so hard to predict where the story was going which made it all the more enjoyable. Lola herself comes across as an unreliable narrator at first and I had no idea how much of what was happening was real or her imagination.

The story seems to have many layers to it, on its surface it seems to be a chilling story about a town, scared by the rumour of an underground monster, Mister Jitters. But scratch beneath the surface of this and it becomes a lot more complicated than a shadowy figure creeping around at night. Sometimes real life is scarier than myths and legends.

I enjoyed reading the book but the ending is what made it for me. Although I had figured a few things out I still loved the way it ended and was happy to see most of my questions were answered!

You have to love a small spooky, town story with some locals who never truly pulled themselves out of the last century. Especially when there is a creepy story of a monster that will ruin the lives of the residents should they step out of line. But what if, after all that, the real monsters are people? And what if they turn out to be our parents?
This isn't any spoiler territory, I can assure you. This book very quickly reminded me how our parents are themselves to us first and people second. That is one of the hardest things to write about especially from the eyes of a child and Kat Ellis manages it so well here while also managing to maintain some unsettling plot details and a strange town atmosphere.
When we meet Lola, I'm not going to lie that I found her irritating. In the first few pages it is very easy to find her annoying and slightly spoiled. As the story unfolds, her background is expanded to the point of feeling pity for this girl and her constantly shifting loyalties to both Nolan and Lorelei. There is a deep conflict in her that I found very interesting with a sense of resilience that is hard to not admire straight away.
Some moments within the plot are genuinely hard to grasp and figure out but the creep factor is never far away. As the tension rises in the story and Lola becomes more paranoid it is hard to tell what might be the nasty reality of Harrow Lake or what might possibly be a monster lurking around the corner. I would love to see concept art for Mister Jitters as well.
Overall, a definite must read for horror fans while being an impressive take on the horror movie legacy and what damage it can leave behind.

I am a sucker for any good horror novel and this book truly grabbed my attention right away. Sadly it did not always stay that way. Now, keep in mind while reading this that I read an ARC which means there will be changes before the final copy is submitted. This means the issues I saw with the story might not be there when you get a finished copy.

 

That being said, I felt the writing was very choppy. It made it hard to really dive into the story at times. I felt almost a disconnect as if I could not connect to the characters as deeply as I'd hoped to. This was really the only big negative thing I had to say about the entire book. It never made me want to put down the book. The fast pace kept pushing me to turn the next page, find out what happened next. A town, Harrow Lake, trapped by its own dark past...what is there not to love about that? The world-building was well done, I could clearly envision each scene as if it was unfolding in front of me as I read. There are a few Trigger warnings I feel need to be mentioned. As a victim of childhood abuse, some of this hit me hard. I admit I might have skimmed some of those sections of the novel. That is alright though because I know I can handle it but not everyone might be able to. That is why I mention the trigger warning below:

 

Trigger Warning: There are scenes of both childhood abuse and trauma in this novel

 

Despite being targeted at a young adult audience, this book is full of edge of your seat, nail-biting moments. This is not a book for those faint of heart. If you enjoy a good thriller or horror novel though, this might be right up your alley. The book feels similar to the Netflix show Black Mirror. The author is at atmospheric magician! I felt chills while reading and though I did not relate to the characters as I like, I felt drawn to finish the novel.

 

I think my favorite aspect of the entire novel as that it explored the idea of perception and reality. If you believe so deeply in something does that make it real? Will that become a reality? This was a decadent dark, twisted read.

 

Overall, this was a good novel. It has some issues but those are easily fixed with another editing pass. It chilled me to the bone at times, making me shiver though the bright sun shone down on me. It had me looking over my shoulder, waiting for something to scare me on purpose. I sat on the edge of my seat binge-reading this book and could not get enough! If you are looking for something a little creepy to get your mind of the state of affairs today, pick this one up July 9th!

3.5 STARS
I read and reviewed this book for a blog tour, so thank you to the blog tour organiser, the author and the publisher for letting me take part in the tour and for sending me the book, all opinions are my own.

This book is a YA horror novel, set in Harrow Lake in which we follow Lola Nox, the daughter of Nolan Nox who happens to be the director of the famous film Nightjar, filmed in the town of Harrow Lake 19 years prior to the events in the book. After Lola's father is attacked in their New York apartment, Lola is sent to stay with her grandmother in Harrow Lake and strange things start to happen while the annual Nightjar festival is being organised.

I was not expecting what happened in this book when I first read the blurb. I have to say that my first impression of this book was that the "Optimal" thing Lola keeps repeating really got on my nerves, but as the book progressed it stopped a lot and it didn't bother me as much. Right from the start, you can tell that Lola has some quite severe mental health issues and I thought that these were not handled very well by the author. No one ever talks about her problems and it's as if even she isn't aware, no one helps her, and most of the time they just rub it in or make it worse. This is a YA book so I don't think the mental health rep was very well done.

However, around 60% in, I did start to enjoy this book a lot more. The scenes started to get better, but they still weren't great. I scare so easily and I'm a total wimp, but nothing in this book scared me or creeped me out, so that was a bit of a disappointment and not what I was expecting. If you have a thing about teeth, I have to warn you that there are a few instances of teeth being talked about/handled, etc.

I honestly didn't think that we got much of an insight into who Lola was as a person, and the same goes for the other characters. It felt quite impersonal and I honestly don't really have much to say to describe Lola than she kept saying "Optimal" and saying things her father said to her. I was really bugged by her and her father's relationship too.

I figured out the ending with about 40% to go, so I was a bit disappointed, but I do know that other people have loved this book, so I think that it just wasn't for me. I did enjoy the end more and some scenes were really great, but there wasn't anything more about them to make them stronger. I also really liked the writing style. I would recommend to people who aren't used to horror because I personally didn't think it was scary so it would be a good place to start if you want to ease into horror. It's not a bad book and I did like the author's writing style, it just wasn't the book for me.

As her father lies in the hospital, Lola is sent to live with her maternal grandmother to Harrow Lake, a town with creepiness galore.

In all fairness, the beginning was very tepid and Lola’s introduction did not particularly endear the character to me either. As the story moved further, it seemed as if stuff was happening to her rather than her doing anything as the protagonist of the story.

I persevered because I wanted to get to the creepy / horror stuff as the book is tagged as “Horror“.

Post the 20% mark the book started getting interesting and I that put me in a devouring mood as I sat up late to read more and more despite the weak writing style.

Lola’s journey to figuring out once and for all the truth of the town’s secrets ultimately becomes a quest for her to learn more about her mother. The kind of life she had had to endure and the successes she achieved.

In this phase of the book, I was rooting for her – Lola – to go and achieve all that she wanted to figure out. She did a little though.

A side plot of romance was introduced by abandoned altogether as Lola kept obsessing over the creepiness / monster of Harrow Lake and the massive success (her mother) of Harrow Lake. The path Lola took to prove all there was to, set up expectations for how the story would and should end, especially with the revelations that happened.

Maybe because I had those expectations, I was disappointed in the ending. Giving out details here would be unfair to the readers and the author but suffice it to say that the end left me wanting and cast shadow on Lola being even called the protagonist of the story.

Harrow Lake is the only book you’ll have to read during sunlight, because at night it will scare you so much that you’ll have nightmares!
Let’s start saying that the story is based on a town where a famous movie was filmed, Nightjar, after that (1920) the town seem to have stopped; they have a lot of tourism from the old movie, but their core has remained the same.
We will meet Lola, the main character who seems that her family was part in the horror movie; director, main actress… All the story will begin when she will have to move to live with her grandmother at Harrow Lake, where to movie was filmed. Oh yes, you can expect a creepy atmosphere and some really weird characters; even their own boogyman!
Lola is a special character, don’t dismiss her, she seems too simple and pleasant, but without her this book wouldn’t be the same. She will be the one talking to the reader and showing the mysterious and real Harrow Lake.
This is a book to not dismiss, it’s creepy and twisted, like an old movie that you have no idea where the scare will appear but you can’t stop watching it! I don’t normally read horror books, but I loved this one, so believe me, take a chance on it.
Harrow Lake has scared and surprised me at the same time, different and twisted is a book I recommend you to read!
Ready to discover the real Harrow Lake?

Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis is not at all what you think. Marketed as a YA Horror novel, you would think that maybe this might be a campy horror story. Perhaps with a 1980s vibe.

You would be entirely wrong.

Instead, Harrow lake is a story of intense psychological horror. I think in a lot of ways, psychological horror is much scarier than slasher horror. The reader can eternalize much of the plot; we readers all have psychological quirks. Harrow Lake is a good book for that. The lead character, Lola, has broken parts of her psyche. She has suffered her mother abandoning her, a father who smothers her, and deep mental wounds that sound much like PTSD. This leads to a realistic characterization of mental illness and a developing and strong protagonist.

Lola Nox is the daughter of the famous Horror movie directer Nolan Nox. Nolan made his fame with the movie Nightjar, and he also met Lola’s mother on the set of Nightjar because it was filmed in her hometown, and she ended up being her star. Nightjar has an almost cult-like following to it. After an accident with Lola’s father, Lola ends up staying with her estranged grandmother in Harrow Lake while Nolan recuperates. Harrow Lake is dark, and something is off with it. Something is not right. The reader can not tell if the town is off or Lola’s perceptions of things are off. As Lola navigates the village of Harrow Lake and her traumatic memories, things escalate in the story to a fevered pitch.
What is real? What is imagined? The reader won’t know till the very end, and I can’t tell you more because of SPOILERS!

Harrow Lake ended up being one of those books that I appreciate as a reader but has aspects of it that didn’t sit well with me. In a lot of ways, Harrow Lake is perfectly crafted. The narrative moves page to page. The horror is almost palpable. The lead character is one that the reader can empathize with. However, I had a difficult time with the supporting characters in the story. I did not find them wholly believable. That was hard for me because the supporting characters are a huge part of the narrative. In the scheme of things, it is a small thing set against the excellent writing and Lola as a character, but it was a bit hard for me to get over it.

All in all, this is a solid and exciting story. It is terrifying and so much more than you thought it was going to be. The visuals that the author Kat Ellis creates are gripping, and the pacing is frenetic.

This story is a must for YA Horror fans.

It’s been quite some time since I read a book which falls into the YA genre, and as I’m now hurtling through my thirties much quicker than I’d like, I did wonder if I would find as much to like in the genre as I did back in the day.

Harrow Lake tells the story of Lola Nox, daughter of celebrated horror movie director Nolan Nox. Following a brutal attack on her father in their New York apartment , Lola is sent to the small town of Harrow Lake to stay with a grandmother she never knew existed. Set to the backdrop of her absent mother’s hometown, and the location for one of her father’s most famous films ‘NightJar’, Lola begins to uncover long buried secrets from her own past. But the town isn’t just any small town. With a population obsessed with the film that made it famous, and the chilling stories of mysterious disappearances, Lola is soon desperate to return home.

Read within a couple of days, I found Harrow Lake to be an enjoyable read, incredibly easy to dip in and out of during the day. The writing is engaging and the story compelling enough to keep me reading and wanting to know what happens next.

I didn’t personally love Lola, and I felt that the way in which she was conditioned to think of the ‘optimal’ thing to say/do etc was, whilst on one hand an effective technique, it did begin to grate on my nerves quite quickly. That being said, I found myself very quickly invested in the story and I really enjoyed following it through the its conclusion. The fast pacing blended with the mysterious happenings in the town of Harrow Lake made for, very often, addictive reading and kept me turning the pages late into the night.

I’ll not lie, I was concerned about the horror aspect. I’m a notorious scaredy-cat with an often wild imagination, and whilst I found this to be seriously creepy (a tapping noise from the wooded area at the rear of our house whilst alone in the garden at dusk had me running inside double-quick), it wasn’t overdone or gory and I thankfully, didn’t lose any sleep over it! It was perfectly pitched and never fell out of balance with the narrative.

Harrow Lake will have wide appeal for fans of the YA genre, and also for those, who like me, fancy a bit of a change. Strong storytelling and a captivating story are the backbone of this book, and I would certainly seek out the author again in the future.

This was an interesting book for me. The plot is a great one and it was certainly the thing that drew me into wanting to read this. I think that it’s a perfectly fine book, with a lot of super creepy and even scary moments, but it wasn’t exactly what I thought that it was. That is not to say that that is a bad thing, sometimes those twists and unexpected turns are great in a book. Here it felt like the story was a highly original idea and then it turned into something that has been told before.

Lola is an appealing character, she’s more mature than you’d expect for someone her age. Which some could dislike about her but frankly I felt like the author did a good job of explaining why she was the way she was. Her overbearing father that seemed to want to keep a tight grip on her was told very well to me. You don’t get much characterization about Nolan, her father but you get an idea of him through the thoughts and words spoken of him throughout the story.

I don’t know if it was just the formatting of the ARC copy or what but there were a lot of times where I had difficulty knowing who was speaking. The story was choppy in that there wasn’t any clear definition of when one scene changed into another so it felt like things just got cut off in the middle of a scene. It was hard to follow the story like this sometimes but again that could just be the way that the copy was laid now and not a true reflection of the book however I note it because it could have been done on purpose as well.

The townsfolk that we get to meet in Harrow Lake are a mix of nice and creepy. The town itself is creepy and the things that happen there are written well. There were things that didn’t make much sense in that it isn’t quite how those things work in real life. I did enjoy watching Lola’s descent into figuring out what was going on, either with her mother or her grandmother or even her father.

It was interesting to see how a story told to scare children could be transformed into something more sinister and terrifying. The author did a good job of Lola questioning what was real and what was imagined in her own head. I, however, didn’t like the twist at all. It felt cliche and overused. It was disappointing to have it end like that. Overall the book was decent, it was creative and it had a good plot. I wish it had ended differently but I think that some of the best stories are the ones that leave you feeling frustrated by how things end.

Give this one a try, it just might surprise you.

I give 3.5 stars but they won't let me do half stars on here.

Wow. Upon delving into Harrow Lake I’m not ashamed to admit I didn’t fully appreciate what I was getting into. I thought it was going to be a plain sailing horror novel, a similar story but a story that was inevitable none the less. WRONG. I should have dug deeper just by one singular word used in the title – Harrow. This story has the capability to encase your heart in ice, its harrowing and captivating and pushes ice cold water through your veins. Be prepared for the author to give you a remarkably unique journey through your worst fears and leave you rocking in the corner by the closing of the final page.

A daughter of a film director, Nolan Nox. He came to fame with the release of his classic film, Nightjar. It catapulted Nolan, Lola’s mother and the creepy little town it was filmed in into crazy levels of fame. Reading the scenes based in this little town started to set off those blaringly loud red alerts sounding off in my head. Reading it was akin to looking through steamed up glasses – I can see shadows, but they quickly disappear from my peripheral vision. What was I experiencing?

Lola finds herself temporarily staying in this town after her father is injured. It certainly isn’t her first choice but as it is contained within her fathers will (he isn’t dead) and there isn’t anyone else to care for her, she has no choice. She is with her grandmother that she doesn’t know – no friendly faces, nothing familiar around her and things very quickly go awry. In this situation how can a young girl swim through the murky waters of a bone deep terror that will be unleashed on Lola in an unrelenting fashion. I loved this take on a child navigating fear as I usually indulge in adult horror. Harrow Lake consumed me, and I allowed it to swallow me whole. I wasn’t disappointed.

Harrow Lake indulges all your nightmares, thrown into a formula of every other horrific thing you can imagine and mixed together in order to stop your heart immediately. The town had my brain trying to fight against the scrambled feeling. It’s the kind of place you constantly have to look over your shoulder at. It is immersed in gothic legends and none as terrifying as Mr Jitters. I’m not spoiling that one for any potential readers!

Initially I had a bit of a hard time connecting with Lola. After a period of reflection, I came to the conclusion that it was due to how the author wrote her. She wasn’t really allowed to have a multi-faceted personality. Her father had a very domineering presence in her life and for whatever reason he had, it impacted how she presented herself to the world. No make-up, no phone and no laptop, and you can certainly expect her not to have social media. When she escaped that is when she more or less became a butterfly. She shed the chrysalis and became more.

Harrow Lake is a spectacular read. Kat Ellis has done a sublime job of creating an fully immersive imagery and invoking real emotion from her readers.

Harrow Lake throws the reader straight into the action with the brutal attack of Lola's father and her subsequent trip to stay with her estranged maternal grandmother.

I really enjoyed the backstory to the Nox family. As a lover of horror movies it was fascinating to read from the point of view of Lola, the daughter of a famous horror movie mogul.

Harrow Lake is both Lola's estranged mother's hometown and the scene of her fathers first big hit movie The NightJar- one that gained cult status and kept the poverty stricken town on the map.
In Harrow Lake they still live like its the 1920s which gave the novel even creepier vibes. I could envision it as both a regular town and a horror movie set all at once.

Mister Jitters the monster of town folklore didn't entirely make sense to me. I found the setting scarier than the myth itself.
Dark caves, landslides and unnavigable forests in the night made my spine tingle, but Mister Jitters himself left me unfazed. Perhaps it was in the name?
There were some great atmospheric additions such as the Bone Tree and the noises but the folklore felt ungrounded.

I had guessed the origin of Mister Jitters quite early on and it made even less sense to me that an entire town would somehow come to live in that shadow.
But, Harrow Lake is a fun read never the less. The unending reference to bugs made me twitchy and many of the town residents including Lola's grandmother had a strange malevolence about them that I appreciated.

I most enjoyed the intertwining of Lola's story versus her parents movie but felt the addition of Mary Ann unnecessary.
At times Harrow Lake feels like sub plots are hitched together, as if Ellis couldn't choose from several great ideas and settled on pieces of each. In fact one of them is left completely unresolved.

I was also a little disappointed to find the constant use of Lola's nightmares as an avenue to inject fear into the reader. There's nothing more frustrating than building all that tension to snatch it all away when the character wakes up.

Lola herself was an excellent MC, I know a lot of readers found the overuse of the word 'optimal' irritating, but personally I found it added a sort of mania and anxiety to her character and believe the capitalisation of Optimal whenever it was used is designed to enforce that.
I found her sarcasm and quick wit to be laugh out loud funny at times.

Overall it was a great way to pass an afternoon there are some wonderfully unique ideas in Harrow Lake and I would definitely recommend to fans of YA and thriller.
Those who like their horror as I do may be more inclined to find flaws, just don't take this one too seriously.

Firstly, the characters. Well, the main character. I found Lola Nox to be interesting and engaging right from the start. A girl with a rich, famous father trying to keep her out of the spotlight, who seems to crave some sort of attention. She writes out her secrets, and hides them, something she was told to do by her mother.

Lola is clearly still suffering from her mother’s disappearance. Years before, her mother left her and her father, and since then, Nolan Nox has been very controlling over Lola’s life, which she puts down to his fear of losing her, too. I cannot imagine how difficult it is for a character like Lola, who has to deal with her mother abandoning her as a child, then being sent to live with her grandmother – if temporarily – while her father is in hospital.

Lola’s conflicted feelings – about both her parents – come through really well. She wants to be with her dad, wants to be there to see he’s okay, but can’t even get through to him, and she’s dimly aware he’s done a lot to hold her back. She views her visit to Harrow Lake as an opportunity to get to know both her parents better, but she resists wearing her mother’s old clothes, instead picking out the costumes of the character she played in Nolan’s most popular film, filmed at Harrow Lake.

But as Lola explores the town, she starts to uncover something else, something dark and dangerous. From a new friend she learns the story of ‘Mr Jitters’, an entity believed to be haunting the town. She explores the old fairground, where she discovers a mural from the film, her mother’s image destroyed. Lola is determined to find out exactly what is going on, driving her to some places she perhaps shouldn’t go.

Harrow Lake is YA Horror at its finest. There are trappings of YA – growing friendships, a possible love interest, a young woman trying to really find her place in the world – executed really well, alongside some wonderfully creepy horror moments. Mr Jitters is a terrifying entity. Lola’s discoveries deepen the town’s mysteries, and everything about Harrow Lake, including the people, is designed to put – and keep – the reader on edge.

As the mystery deepens, the number of unanswered questions increases, and Ellis really keeps the reader engaged without giving too much away, or making it feel like there is too much going on. It’s easy to see the town through Lola’s eyes, easy to follow her around and really picture the locations Ellis delves into. And it’s easy to connect with Lola, to really identify with her and want to see her emerge from this.

Throughout, Lola is confused and uncertain, trying to make sense of what different people want from her. and what she wants from life. Does her father want her home, or in Harrow Lake? Does her grandmother want her to replace her own missing daughter, and does the cute boy actually want to help Lola, or does he have other motivations?

Basically, I really enjoyed this book. It had some great, creepy horror moments, a fantastic cast of characters, and a thrilling, engaging plot that’ll definitely keep readers on their toes. It’s fast-paced without getting confusing, and I can easily imagine this being a really good gateway book to get teenager readers into horror.