Lola absolutely does not want to go to Harrow Lake. The home place of the mother that abandoned her and the site where 'Nightjar' her fathers most famous film was shot. But after her father is brutally attacked in their New York apartment she has nowhere else to go and so she is shipped off to live with a Grandmother she has never met. Not one for superstitions she is sceptical at first after hearing of the towns infamous horror story Mr Jitters, is he real or just a story to explain the strange disappearances of young girls. But then things start happening, things that Lola can't explain. As she delves further into the history of Harrow Lake, desperate for information on her mother, she starts to wonder whether Mr Jitters really does exist, and if he does, who exactly is his next target.

Lola comes across as a bit spoilt at the beginning of the book, but we get a better understanding of her behaviour, and the reasons behind it, the more we read. She acts out because she feels its the only way her father will see her, a father who likes to keep her hidden, away from the spotlight that comes with his career. She is the epitome of an unreliable narrator, past trauma and present setting means that we as the reader find it hard to believe exactly what she is saying/seeing. This really adds to the mystery of the book and as the reader has you questioning everything. She is an easy character to bond with, and I couldn't help but hope she got a good outcome.

Harrow Lake is your stereo-typical small American town, set in days gone past, getting by by promoting the one thing that will bring visitors, Lola's dads film. With its small town feel comes its small town mystery and the horror stories that come with it. We see multiple perspectives on 'Mr Jitters' the town monsters, someone who Lola's mother apparently knew, the town monster that used to eat people and still takes girls from the town to this day. Is is slightly par for the course when reading a mystery/thriller? Yes. But that didn't stop it from creeping the hell out of me. Every time I heard the 'scratches' that announced My Jitters arrival I could feel my heart racing, and this was definitely a book that I stuck to reading in daytime hours.

The story is well paced and easily keeps you guessing. I enjoyed the authors writing and style and thought it gave an easy kind of flow to the story. Her ability to build the tension was impressive, especially considering most of the time nothing actually 'happened' and the few times things did I found it hard to tear myself away from the pages, not quite wanting to read on and yet needing to know the outcome.

My one issue would be I felt there were a whole host of unresolved questions. Did Mr Jitters actually exist? And if so who was he/she? We have an abundance of options throughout the book, people that come across as creepy and have the potential to kill. Yet we are left somewhat hanging.

This is not a genre I would usually pick up, but I enjoyed the story and liked reading from Lola's perspective.

The whole vibe of this novel took me by surprise.  Do you ever request a book/join a tour and you did read the blurb but then you kind of forget the blurb and dive right in without reminding yourself?  That's what happened with this novel and I got such a chilling and macabre surprise when I started to read.  What's difficult about reviewing this novel is that it's hard to go into the plot without giving much away - so I've tried not to.

I think this book is perfectly pitched as a young adult novel.  Without becoming too dark and disturbing, it also doesn't assume the readers need protecting and the tension needs to be played down.  There are plenty of intense moments and scares to go around and despite being a YA novel, it's not for the feint at heart.

From very early on there is a whole 80s film vibe that is sustained throughout the novel.  Kat Ellis creates an atmospheric setting and tone that runs through everything, beyond the setting and   It reminded me of classic horror films that have a cult setting and are based around urban legends.  It has that Black Mirror feel to it.  Like you're stepping into something that  immediately doesn't seem right but there's no way you can look away until you know what it is.  It's eerie, intense and incredibly difficult to put down.

The characters are interesting.  I didn't fall in love with any of them they way I usually do in novels but this made the whole experience more fascinating as it made her real.  On the surface she appears disaffected and uninterested in life but once you find out more about her life and her family you begin to realise why.  It's the way she presents to the outside world but inside she is as vulnerable as any other teen in her position - more so considering her father is a controlling man, her gran is downright strange and she barely knew her movie star mother (one movie wonder).

Overall, this novel reads like a classic horror film.  The use of atmosphere is brilliant and I found this book riveting and chilling but a pleasure to read.  Highly recommended if you fancy giving yourself the goosebumps.

Harrow Lake is a story that centers around horror films and the hold they can create. It focuses on Lola Nox, 17 year old daughter of horror film director Nolan Nox. Having grown up around her father’s films, Lola believes that nothing can frighten her. Those beliefs are put to the test when Lola is sent – rather unwillingly – to her maternal grandmother’s home in Harrow Lake.

Harrow Lake reminds me very much of the older tv series The Twilight Zone. Any one who remembers the original show will recall that the stories they told were built on the premise of suspense and barely hinted at ideas. Where the shadows lurking in a dark corner could be a hideous monster or could simply be a pile of clothes. Where not everything is as it seems and looks are definitely deceiving.

Like some horror movies, the action in Harrow Lake is a bit choppy. Scenes jump from one to the next with almost no indication. It can be a little disconcerting at times. Also, the main character of Lola can be irritating. This can be explained by not only her age but also by her unique upbringing. Any one raised immersed in the horror genre from a young age is likely to be more than a bit jaded as well.

This is the first novel by Kat Ellis that I’ve had the opportunity to read and review. I enjoyed her style of storytelling and have already looked in to what others books she has written.

Readers who enjoy a good suspenseful story will likely enjoy Harrow Lake. It is the perfect creepy read for a dark night. I recommend it and hope others enjoy it as I did.

The World
I include this section in reviews because nine times out of ten, I can chat about some amazing fantastical or futuristic world. Harrow Lake isn’t that. Hawwow Lake is small town America, where everyone knows everyone. It’s not just that though, it’s a town with a dark, superstitious history and a lot of issues hiding amongst the townsfolk. Again, not my usual scene, but I actually enjoyed it.

Harrow Lake – Setting or Character?
The location is such an integral part of the story that Harrow Lake almost felt like a character itself. Certain areas are key to the plot and characters, so much so that it almost becomes it’s own entity. As an example, I distinctly remember The Bone Tree, an area in Harrow Lake, and more than one of the scenes that occur there due to the brilliant and chilling description. As a whole, the world of Harrow Lake is fantastic.

The Characters
Lola
Lola is out main character throughout; a teenager who is sent away to live with her grandmother in Harrow Lake. As a character, I wasn’t a fan of her for the first half of the book. She was… nothing, really. She had little personality to call her own, she was totally dominated by those around her, with only one outlet that demonstrated she was a living, breathing person. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad thing. At first, I thought it was, I thought she was going to be like this throughout, but as the story progresses, so does Lola as a character. You get to follow her character arc as she rediscovers her past, and a lot of herself at the same time.

Miscellaneous Characters
There were other characters, of course. And usually, I’d dedicate a seperate section to some of the other characters. There were Nola, Moira, Carter and Cora. Those are the few that come to mind. Oh, and Mister Jitters, of course. One of the antagonists in Harrow Lake. However, the story is so centred on Lola and focused on her that I feel like the other characters were abandoned, most a side-thought than truly fleshed out.

The Plot
I went into this with certain thoughts in my head on what it was about. I was wrong. Without spoiling the book, it’s hard to say more. The main problem I had is that everything wasn’t tied up at the end, which links back to what I said about Lola being so central that everything else is forgotten. Come the end, more than one character didn’t have a resolution. They had a query left unresolved. There are a few situations like this. In my opinion, things should be tied up in a neat little bow, unless it’s a book in a series, where there’s another book to answer the questions.

The only character with a satisfactory resolution is Lola Nox, and frankly, I’m a little bit sick of her come the end. I want to hear about the others and yet, I don’t

I was all over the place with my thoughts on Harrow Lake. The tension built rapidly in the opening pages. Next, came a slow, steady build of the mystery surrounding Lorelei, Lola, and the residents of Harrow Lake. Lastly, as I expected the crescendo of a finale, it let me down a bit.

I'm not even sure how to explain my disappointment. The build-up was great, as was the epilogue. I couldn't have asked for a better ending. However, the few chapters wrapping up the mystery were off-kilter for me. The pacing changed, and the scenes felt slightly chopped up. It's like the finale was written from scrambled note cards. Perhaps, it was simply all the twists and turns that left my nerves jangled.

As for the overall story, it was good. At no time did I consider not finishing this book. The mystery compelled me to keep turning page after page because I needed to know how the story ended and how the author tied all the subplots together. 

I was leaning toward a solid 4.5-star rating in this review but settled on a four due to the ending. I absolutely recommend Harrow Lake to lovers of psychological thrillers and mysteries.  It's certainly worth your time and money to read it, and the author definitely put great effort into keeping the reader enthralled.

Let me know if you read this book. I would love to discuss it with you. As always, no two people read the same book. What do you think of the conclusions?

3.5

Book source ~ Tour

Meet Lola Nox. She is the daughter of famous filmmaker Nolan Nox. Her mother, Lorelei, played the lead character in Nolan’s most celebrated horror film, Nightjar. Set in Harrow Lake, Indiana, the birthplace of Lorelei, but she took off when Lola was five so she doesn’t really remember her. Nearly as long as she can remember it’s just been her and Nolan. And Larry, Nolan’s right-hand man. When Nolan is near fatally attacked in their New York City apartment, Larry ships Lola off to her grandmother in Harrow Lake. A grandmother she has no knowledge of. The moment Lola gets there strange things begin happening and Lola needs to figure things out before she goes crazy. Or ends up dead.

Okay. This is one weird and disturbing tale of a 17-yr-old girl with a strange family set up. Told entirely from Lola’s POV it’s not always clear what the hell is going on in this creepy town. She’s never been to her mother’s birthplace so she doesn’t know anyone, not even her grandmother. Odd things keep happening, the town is disturbingly obsessed with the slasher movie that put it on the map, and women disappear from it with no explanation. On top of all that, there are signs that the town will once again slide into a sinkhole like it did before but was rebuilt. And the cherry on top? There’s a scary story about a guy named Mr. Jitters who turned cannibal when he was caught in the first sinkhole and he’s still around after nearly 100 years. Creepy much? The story is twisty and turny and has a great ending, but I feel the execution is lacking. At times, the story just stops then jumps ahead without any transition. Maybe that’s just the style of this author, but it feels incomplete to me. However, don’t let that stop you from reading this tale straight out of your nightmares.

Kat Ellis has managed to right a truly scary and unsettling book with just words - no visuals to help and only soundtrack if you're foolish enough to chose the wrong album!

HARROW LAKE is part horror, part psychological thriller that works so well because it's hard to work out what's real and what's happening in Lola's mind. The merge of missing girls and folklore/returning imaginary friends creates a sense of panic, that maybe all the pressure is making Lola lose her grip on reality. The book straddles the boundary between the two genres, but the ending pushes it more one way - I won't say which as that might ruin it! I really liked the ending, and how it explained the mix of horror and thriller.

The eerie atmosphere is conjured up by a village stuck in time, snatches of a song drifting through the air, and so many secrets choking the air. Lola's dad makes horror films, and the author must love old-time-y horror films because it feels like (accidentally, in my case) watching a black-and-white horror. The 1920s aesthetic is strong throughout, mixed with the sort of stories you'd tell when the lights have gone out.

If you like unsettling reads that make you check the lights are still on, you should definitely check this book out!

This review will go live at the link below on 30 April:

Hi and welcome to my review of Harrow Lake! Huge thanks to Dave @ The Write Reads for the invite and to Penguin and NetGalley for the eARC!

Harrow Lake begins with an interview with Nolan Nox. His name makes him seem like a bit of a DC Comics villain but he’s actually a famous filmmaker. From that interview we learn that Nightjar was Nox’s biggest success, an iconic horror movie shot in Harrow Lake, and we also glean that Nolan’s teenage daughter Lola went to Harrow Lake the previous year… and vanished.

No sooner have we digested this information or we’re taken back in time to one year earlier. Lola is out on the town in New York City and when she returns to their apartment, she finds her father stabbed and bleeding to death. While he is taken to hospital, she is packed off to Harrow Lake, to live with a grandmother she hadn’t even realised she had.

Harrow Lake is the perfect setting. Kat Ellis absolutely NAILS the small and creepy town, its weird and secretive inhabitants, its folklore and local legends like Mister Jitters, and infuses it with a vibe that is straight from the horror classics I loved when I was about Lola’s age. Knowing like we do that something is bound to happen to Lola, every little thing seems even more sinister, and although there are no hard horror scenes, there is a definite scary movie feel to Harrow Lake. In fact, I’m hoping so hard that this one will be picked up by the movie industry, done well Harrow Lake could be an excellent scary movie!

Harrow Lake made me think of C.J. Tudor’s books: despite the supernatural angle, there is also human vileness at the heart of things, so if you’re a C.J. Tudor fan I would highly recommend you give this one a whirl.

Harrow Lake is an addictive horroresque thriller that is guaranteed to give you some chills this summer. Recommended!

This book knows how to hit hard. Within one page of my eARC, I knew I was hooked, and Kat Ellis wasn’t afraid to raise the stakes before we’d even met the main character – I loved that I already knew I was pulled in for the long haul. The last chapter was equally potent – though of course I won’t talk about it because spoilers, and I loved the way it came back around to close the circle.

I adored Lola from the start. I have talked, at length, about how much I love unlikeable female characters. Because I do, I love them, and Lola is an excellent example of that. She’s got lots of unappealing, unfeminine traits, and each of them made me adore her more. I also think that it becomes clear the further into the book that a reader gets, that a lot of Lola’s perceived flaws are intentional. Initially, she seems a little bland and flavourless, and it’s only when you get to see Lola interact with Nolan, her famous father, and Moira, the grandmother she never knew, that you see the truth of it. Lola is a blank canvas on purpose, to survive social situations. She alters herself perfectly to fit the expectations of the person she’s speaking to – ensuring she behaves Optimally – and she resents the whole damn world for making her do it. With her father she’s obedient, and shakes off the resemblance of her mother, whereas with her grandmother she crafts herself perfectly in Lorelai’s image. Lola is our view point into Harrow Lake, an outsider as much as the reader is, and the fact that she’s an unreliable narrator only intensifies the atmosphere that the book creates.

The atmosphere throughout the entire book is intense. Amazingly, viscerally intense. I very rarely find a book that genuinely scares me, but about halfway through this book I dragged myself out to sit in the garden in the sunlight where I felt safer. That’s how powerful the effect this book had on me was. Everything in the book pulled together to create this effect. Lola, as the unreliable narrator, was telling us everything from her perspective, and as the reader gets further into the book it’s clear that her perspective is tainted in many ways to assume the worst.

The book is set in Harrow Lake, the town where Lola’s father filmed his greatest horror movie, Nightjar, and the town is frozen in time in the 1920s when the movie was set. Lola is walking in the footsteps of her father and her mother, and of Little Bird, Nightjar’s protagonist. The descriptions were so vivid that honestly? I’d love to watch Nightjar myself. Alongside the echoes of the horror movie, Harrow Lake is haunted by a town legend. Mister Jitters. I laughed the first time I read his name. I did not laugh any of the times after that. Mister Jitters was terrifying. He’s the town’s bogeyman, and the residents of Harrow Lake have developed strange routines and rituals to appease his hunger. These rituals like the bone tree, no burials, and other things I won’t talk about because spoilers, made him feel so powerful because everyone believed in him so fiercely, even when they didn’t say his name. I had to finish this in one sitting, because otherwise I knew I was going to have nightmares about him tap-tap-tapping.

On a completely opposite note, I really liked the little bit of romance in this book. I’m usually the first to criticise mis-placed romance, but this was perfect because it acknowledged that Lola was in no position to be feeling more than a crush. She was learning how to be herself, alone for the first time in her life, and how to discover a personality that wasn’t created by her father or grandmother. I loved that that was respected, and that Lola could have her crush without it being a part of the character arc we needed to see.

The ending of this book is basically completely impossible to talk about in a spoiler free way, which is a shame because I have THOUGHTS. But it tied together threads that were woven throughout the rest of the book, some of which I’d barely even noticed until suddenly they came together, telling a story about what makes a real monster. This book crawled under my skin and made itself a home there, and I can’t wait for people to start reading it so that I can scream about the ending with everyone I know.

"Look, these stories - small-town legends about monters or demons or evil spirits - they're all just an excuse for people to avoid seeing the real monsters all around them. It's a way to shatter the proverbial mirror." - Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis.

In the aftermath of finishing Harrow Lake, all I could do was stare off into space for a few minutes.

What did I just read?

I have to admit that the ending absolutely blew me away. The way in which everything tied back together was masterfully done and meant that the conclusion of the book ended on a very strong and somewhat emotional note.

The premise of the story is not wholly original, but that does not mean it was not extremely creepy and suspenseful. When she finds her father, Nolan, stabbed in his study (I think it was his study, if I remember correctly, if not – I apologise) and in hospital in a critical condition, teenage Lola is whisked away to her grandmother Moira’s house in Harrow Lake. The hometown of her mother, Lorelai as well as the town which catapulted Lola’s father’s directorial fame, Nightjar – a modern horror classic. Lola’s first taste of Harrow Lake is terrifying, bone chillingly horrifying. Every tap, every whisper; a local town horrow legend, Mister Jitters, eventually feels very real to Lola.

I wouldn’t say I was terrified when I was reading this, but I was creeped out. Especially in the way the grandmother was written, she could have very easily been a serial killer and I would not have been surprised. But what I think the emphasis of this book is, and why I included the quote which opens up this blog post, is that monsters are very much human. The behaviour of the grandmother, the behaviour of the father, the past behaviour Lola’s grandfather – they are each monsters in their own way. The creepy factor of this book lies in the fact that supernatural-type monsters of local myth are legitimately nothing to the very human actions of Lola’s family.

But I do want to know, is Mister Jitters real?! I do think that the ‘supernatural’ like occurences which are peppered throughout the novel are the result of trauma. Lola is a very interesting character, in that she is an unreliable narrator and who copes with her trauma in the various ways she knows how (such as her imaginary friend, Mary Ann who appears and reappears as a result of traumatic experiences). It took me at least 150 pages to fully get into the story and to become engaged with the character of Lola. She felt bland and dull with no personality in the beginning – but then I realised, it’s on purpose as a result of trauma. Lola has never been able to actually do anything for herself – her every action, her very voice, is controlled by her father. By the end of the novel, I was hoping with everything in me that she survives and finds her own way.

The reason as to why it didn’t hit the five star mark for me is because of the fact that it took me a while to get into the story as well as the varying plot holes. There are a more than aspects to the plot that are introduced, given next to nothing in terms of attention, and then we don’t read anything else about it. I think that would have to be one of the biggest weaknesses of this book, personally – but others may very well enjoy that about this book!

Overall, I rate it 4 out of 5 stars and I highly recommend it for any readers who enjoy thrillers. It will take you for a ride as well as confuse the hell out of you.

Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis is a novel that truly terrified me. The writing is brilliantly atmospheric and created a sense of foreboding that seeped through every page.

There are some twists and turns within this novel that really leave you on edge. As the story unfolds you are given enough of the picture in the scene, but you add your own terrifying thoughts. For me this is what makes a horror story stand out, where the author terrifies you with their words but makes you frighten yourself as well. Kat Ellis, I applaud you for making me sleep with the light on.

A fuller review will be posted on my blog as part of a blog tour I’m taking part in on 5th May.

Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis

Harrow Lake is a dark, twisty, and overall creepy mystery that had me in its grasp from page 1. The story is like a nightmare, and I wondered if it was real or if the character would eventually wake up and find out it was just her subconscious talking. Full of symbolism, motifs, and metaphors, it is appealing on many different levels.

Life is tough for Lola, who has not had her mother in her life since the tender age of five and whose father, a horror movie director, is overprotective and very controlling. Lola is not allowed modern conveniences such as laptops or cell phones and even does not have her key to the suite in which they are living.

As a result, Lola thinks in terms of what reactions and responses are Optimal with a capital O. Optimal are things that her father, Nolan Nox, will be pleased by, and sticking to what is Optimal is very important to Lola. She fears negative responses from Nolan for many reasons, one of which is she is afraid to lose him like she did her mother, Lorelei. He is all she has, or so she thinks until tragedy brings her grandmother into her life, and that is where the nightmare begins.

Lola is also concerned about seeing people for who they are – seeing the real person behind the metaphorical masks—seeing the bad along with the good, especially the tells from when they are lying. She also wants people to see that in her. She desperately wants people to see the real her, even in a town that her mother grew up in and in the clothes that her mother once wore.

Music and sound are an eerie motif that plays its way throughout the novel. They indicate when Lola is afraid, like in a horror movie. Sound is instrumental in a film to suggest fear and stimulate that same reaction in the audience. The use of sound in Lola’s story is masterfully used the same way.

The last few pages are crucial for understanding the story, and I have worked very hard not to give anything away. The ending blew my mind and made me realize just how creative and how compelling the story is.

A fantastically creepy thriller, Harrow Lake is fast-paced and tense. It's definitely a page-turner. It's intended for a YA audience but is sophisticated enough for adults to enjoy too.

The story is narrated by Lola, the troubled teenage daughter of a horror film director, Nolan Nox. When her father is attacked in his New York apartment, Lola is sent to stay with her grandmother in a town called Harrow Lake. It's a sinister place and was the location for her father's famous film, Nightjar. Secrets from the family's past are revealed, while Lola tries to ignore tales of the local boogeyman, Mister Jitters, and learns that the worst kind of horror is in real life.

Lola is a fascinating character. I liked her courage and cynicism. There are only a few other characters but they're all well-drawn. The book is cinematic; I could picture the settings, scenes and people very clearly. There were some good twists, although I did guess one of the big reveals. I hadn't heard of this author before but having read this book, I want to read more from her.

If you like thrillers and horror fiction, I recommend Harrow Lake. Thank you to The Write Reads, Penguin and NetGalley for my advance copy. The book will be published on July 9th.

Part of The Write Reads blog tour.

[NB. I don't know yet what date this review will be posted on my blog]