I read this on a whim because it was available on audiobook and it was marked as LGBT and Gothic literature, both things i very much like. Personally, I don’t think it really fits either category. Really enjoyed the start of this book, but oh boy it dragged. Somewhere around the 30% mark I started noticing really repetitive descriptions and dialogue. The main character is… a bit annoying to be honest. Refuses help, wants to protect everyone else, even if accepting help would make things easier for everyone. Lots of passing mentions of side characters sexualities being queer, buuuut our main romance is still the usual guy and girl. Very little world building is done, and what there is doesn’t always track chapter to chapter. I’m sure some people will really enjoy this book, and I’d say go for it. Do keep in mind there is a LOT of (TW: Self Harm)

cutting of the arms and wrists mentioned as means of handling an evil lake.

Threw me for a loop a bit.

 ❝𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭?❞

Pesadillas que traspasan la realidad, recuerdos de magia y familiaridad, asesinatos y mansiones, creencias y oscuridad. Violeta está rodeada de aquellos rituales. Convive con la única familia que le queda, aunque algo perverso los aceche. Una magia tan sólida como la mismísima sangre atrapa sus sueños más profundos, pero, ¿son realmente sueños o una trampa? Caer en terror es lo único que conocen, encerrados en un hogar agonizante, alguien logra intervenir todo el dolor que han sufrido. 

Lakesedge es un libro de culpa y perdón. De enfrentar verdades y recuerdos, miedos y criaturas horroríficas. Es una historia que reconoce la soledad, invertida en dos mundos tan catastróficamente parecidos. El sacrificio que los personajes deben enfrentar se torna aún más crudo, donde comienzan a hilarse la magia y el poder de algo mucho más temible que la verdad. Un ser que podría acabar con la luz del mundo, un ser que intercambia su oscuridad por lo que uno esté dispuesto a entregar. Pactos de sangre, podredumbre que acecha un hogar aniquilado de felicidad. Cada aspecto de esta historia es un rito de salvación. 

Este libro tiene una prosa bellísima, cálida y mundana. El estilo gótico se cierne en cada capítulo y va creciendo a medida que la historia avanza, crece como una raíz. Es difícil abarcar cada parte del libro, pero admito que hubo aspectos del mismo que no lograron convencerme como esperaba. El intercambio romántico de los personajes, a pesar de haberlo disfrutado, lo sentí hueco. Lo presencié como algo brusco, rápido y hasta un tanto vacío. Tienen sus momentos de unión inquebrantable, pero tengo mis dudas al respecto. Tendré que enfrentar su continuación para formar una opinión más sólida en cuanto a su romance. 

This book read like a 2012 self-insert watt pad fanfic, especially in the beginning. There’s a lot of build-up with no delivery and it seems like instead of letting the story speak for itself, the author instead just tells you how you should feel about the story. 

At the beginning, the main character refer to the (initial) antagonist as “the monster” constantly. After hearing a single rumor about him, being told that he’s called a monster and having like 2 interactions with him. It’s like it was just easier to have the main character keep calling him a monster instead of actually illustrating it and leading you to that conclusion yourself. The entire book just felt like it was trying to hard to be dark and scary, without actually delivering. 

My biggest complaint, though, is the descriptions throughout do not line up. When I read, I have a movie that plays in my head of what’s going on in the book. And the way actions were described, it completely took me out of the story almost constantly! For example, if it describes two characters in the same room, at first it will describe them as being on opposite side of the room, and then 2 seconds later it’ll be saying that character A grabbed Character B’s hand. When did they cross the room?? Did I miss something or do they just have super long arms?? 

My final note:

there’s supposed to be  a love triangle in this?? The third person in the supposed love triangle is only actually in a scene maybe 3 times. And the way it’s described it felt my creepy and weird than anything. Reading it, I kept thinking to myself “does the author mean for it to sound like the main character is kind of into him??”

Nothing about it seemed intentional.

So I got this book from Owlcrate and I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. The story is nice and simple, but is also dark. It's a mix of a couple of different fairy tales (

Beauty and the Beast

and

The Myth of Hades and Persephone

were the ones I picked up on), and twists it with it's own story. 
The main weaknesses in this book is the time jumping can be a bit confusing (not the worst I've read, but a lot of character feeling changes happen in those time jumps) and the enemies to lovers trope isn't great. After reading books like Queen Takes Rose and Survival Instincts, I'm worried that the straights aren't getting the same level of quality with this trope. It's mainly I hate him, but he's hot so might as well rather than anything being developed over time. 

I saw that this is planned to be a series, so I might just have to pick up the next book whenever it comes out. 

I was given an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

You had me at "lush gothic fantasy" and lost me at annoying main character. 
I DNF'd this book because the main character is the WORST, most annoying, whiny little girl. She acts like a 12 year old throwing a fit. She tries to be "protective" of her little brother but instead she smothers him. All she does is get in his way and mess things up for him and then tries to play the victim when things don't go her way. Her brother meets someone who not only accepts his magic but understands it and him and all Leta does is whine about being left out and then try to run away or interfere in any way possible. I have not a read a book where I hated the main chatacter ao much in a very long time, if ever. Since Leta is the narrator, her patheticness made the book INSUFFERABLE. 

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Emotional abuse, physical abuse, body horror, gore, blood (description of wounds and injuries), discussions of grief and death, descriptions of drowning and deep water, drowning imagery, self harming (for a curse that requires regular physical sacrifices) and suicide ideation

I have been waiting to read Lakesedge for a very long time. Ever since I heard the words: YA gothic romance, Crimson Peak like and main character falls in love with the monster I wanted–no– needed this book in my hands. When I received a review copy I was more than ecstatic especially since it was one of my most anticipated reads of September and of 2021.

And I was so upset when it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

My topsy-turvy relationship with this book started at the beginning with the writing style. I can't quite articulate my reading experience but it looked something like this: low, peak and then low again. For me, it was hard to navigate the world having been thrown into a very intense scene at the very start. Eventually, I did find my feet again and suddenly I was enjoying the book with its lush descriptions, world building and the general ambience that Lyndall has created. I loved reading about the haunting allure of Lakesedge and I wanted nothing more than to uncover the secrets of the corruption and discover the identity of the Lord Under.

But it was as those answers were being answered that my feelings towards this book took a sour turn.

When reading a book, I, and I'm sure a lot of readers would agree with me here, like when a plot progresses and a plot is ultimately resolved. Yes, our plot was resolved however, it seemed to take quite a while to get there. The plot felt very repetitive with many scenes depicting the same tithe giving ritual that Rowan and sometimes Leta and Arien had to endure. I simply wanted the book to progress however, for a majority of the time, it felt like it circled over and over, stalling for the eventual ending. It was when that started occurring that I felt myself slowly and slowly becoming less invested in the novel.

I could have overlooked the circular nature of the plot if I liked the world building and the characters. Yes, the world-building was there and I thought it was the strongest element of the book. In fact, the world building and ambience was done to such a high calibre that I felt as though I was living in the Lakesedge world. The experience of reading this book felt wholly immersive. However, world-building comes second to characters for me.

Characters are the biggest element I focus on as a reader and as a reviewer. It doesn't matter to me if a character is likeable but I must have a feel for them. I need to understand their emotions, I need to understand why they do the things they do, I need to see their character development and how they overcome obstacles to become a better person and to learn from their mistakes. I have read many books that have done this well and many books that have not. What makes great characterisation for me is when we can truly get a sense of who the character is and we can see their flaws, vulnerabilities, their strengths and their weaknesses as well as their personalities and the things they like to do aside from saving the world.

It was because I couldn't see those elements that I started to really dislike Leta's character in Lakesedge. At the start of the novel and towards the middle I didn't mind her, I thought she was protective, stubborn and just trying to do the best she could to provide for herself and for Arien. Towards the end however, and during the time when I started to find events repeating themselves, I found Leta to be questionable in her decision making. She seemed to made careless mistake after careless mistake without ever truly growing from it. I wanted to see her make mistakes, yes, however, I wanted to see her learn from them and she seemingly didn't. I wanted her to question the Lord Under especially after her first dealings with him and how it didn't exactly go to plan. A reasonable solution would have been to question him again and again, making sure no clause was to be left untouched and ensuring that there was nothing in the agreement that could've been twisted to the detriment of the person agreeing to do the deal. Leta made many assumptions. Assumptions however, are not facts. I wanted her to question every single thing she was agreeing to and really think about things before making abrupt and on the spot decisions without considering the consequences of her actions.

I honestly believe if we cut out Leta altogether from Lakesedge, I would have enjoyed the book 100% more. I'm thanking Rowan Sylvanan for that. I like to think of him as Kylo Ren/Ben Solo but with a curse and a mansion. I loved reading about him and his friends, Florence and Clover and how they all interacted with Leta and Arien. The side characters made the book for me and they all had personalities and great characterisation that I enjoyed reading about more than Leta's.

All in all, I didn't mind the book. Maybe it wasn't for me but I did recommend it to some other people who I think would enjoy this book a whole lot more than I did. I definitely think there's room for improvement though and I can't wait to see what would happen in Forestfall

ACTUAL RATING: 2.7 STARS