by Lauren Oliver
Release Date: June 1st, 2026
2026 Thomas & Mercer
Ebook ARC; 321 Pages
ISBN: 978-1662533709
ASIN: B0FBMLZTS1
Audiobook: B0FHBWLMYC
Genre: Fiction / Mystery / Paranormal
Source: Review copy from publisher
3.5 / 5 Stars
Summary
Kate Willis, consultant for the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia, is tasked with interviewing six-year-old Henley Haskell about the girl’s alleged past-life recollections. The evaluation also marks a return for Kate to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and to troubling recollections of her own.
Here, twenty-four years ago, Kate’s friend Becca McGuire vanished from her bunk at a now-shuttered summer camp and was never seen again―presumably drowned in Lake Sauquamet. But the mystery of her disappearance is only deepening. Because Henley’s memories of her “other life” are ones that could only belong to Becca.
For Kate, Henley’s recurring, suffocating nightmares, and her disturbing illustrations of places she has never been, seem to spell out the unbelievable. Somewhere, somehow, the truth about what really happened to Becca is locked inside this little girl.
Here, twenty-four years ago, Kate’s friend Becca McGuire vanished from her bunk at a now-shuttered summer camp and was never seen again―presumably drowned in Lake Sauquamet. But the mystery of her disappearance is only deepening. Because Henley’s memories of her “other life” are ones that could only belong to Becca.
For Kate, Henley’s recurring, suffocating nightmares, and her disturbing illustrations of places she has never been, seem to spell out the unbelievable. Somewhere, somehow, the truth about what really happened to Becca is locked inside this little girl.
My Thoughts
The Girl in the Lake is one of those stories that combines the concept of reincarnation with the moral ethics of analyzing a young child’s stories and trying to discern when something is factual or fiction. I liked the discussions around legality, the questions of boundaries when dealing with children, but also the skepticism that is needed when dealing with such delicate topics. So, while the actual story was somewhat predictable in the sense that there wasn’t anything new, the way it was presented was interesting because of how it was developed through a young child which makes for an unreliable narrator.
Kate is a consultant for UVA’s Division of Perceptual Studies and has struggled with her demons throughout her life having lost her best friend as a young teenager. Because this case became personal to her, she struggled with her personal and professional boundaries, wanting to believe Henley and her visions because she needed to, but professionally, needed to keep her distance so she could evaluate things without the ghosts of her past haunting her. Personally, once the connection was made between Kate and Becca, Kate should have been removed from the case as she was too emotionally involved to see clearly and this posed some legal problems as well. I did find Kate a bit condescending and she definitely did not protect Henley the way she should have, which made me question her professional abilities; I don’t care how person this case was, her primary goal was to protect Henley. I also had a problem with Kate when I discovered what happened on the ‘island’; I get she was young, but the author spent the rest of the book trying to absolve this character from her actions and I hate it when a person doesn’t acknowledge their own role in what happened. Yes, she was fourteen, but since when is that an excuse for thinking actions don’t have consequences? While I understand why Kate would need to find out the truth, she could have taken a leave of absence and did some investigating on her own. I did find that Kate’s character development was not as deep as it could have been and her emotional struggles were shallow, at best. I also thought there needed to be more focus on the secondary characters as there was little to no character development and most of them were one-dimensional and easily forgotten.
The strength of the book definitely lies in the setting and the atmosphere as the author describes that New England foggy eeriness quite well. The eerie descriptions of Kate’s recollections of life with Becca at camp were atmospheric and set the tone for what would happen and I wish that eeriness had continued into the present day. The plot however, was a bit uneven and I wish the author had continued the discussion around the ambiguity of Kate’s actions around Henley and the legal implications when working with a young child. The chapters were shorter which helped with the tension, but the ending was a bit too pat, kind of forgoing some of the earlier issues that were brought up and I wanted a deeper look into what had happened, but didn’t quite get.
Verdict
The Girl in the Lake was a nice blend of psychology, mystery, and the paranormal, and I definitely enjoyed the atmosphere of the book. I did find the pacing a bit uneven which affected the level of tension, and I did question the reasons why Kate was permitted to continue working on the case (which I didn’t buy), but overall, this had a lot of interesting themes that are worthy of discussion. I will more than likely pick up the second book when it is released.
Kate is a consultant for UVA’s Division of Perceptual Studies and has struggled with her demons throughout her life having lost her best friend as a young teenager. Because this case became personal to her, she struggled with her personal and professional boundaries, wanting to believe Henley and her visions because she needed to, but professionally, needed to keep her distance so she could evaluate things without the ghosts of her past haunting her. Personally, once the connection was made between Kate and Becca, Kate should have been removed from the case as she was too emotionally involved to see clearly and this posed some legal problems as well. I did find Kate a bit condescending and she definitely did not protect Henley the way she should have, which made me question her professional abilities; I don’t care how person this case was, her primary goal was to protect Henley. I also had a problem with Kate when I discovered what happened on the ‘island’; I get she was young, but the author spent the rest of the book trying to absolve this character from her actions and I hate it when a person doesn’t acknowledge their own role in what happened. Yes, she was fourteen, but since when is that an excuse for thinking actions don’t have consequences? While I understand why Kate would need to find out the truth, she could have taken a leave of absence and did some investigating on her own. I did find that Kate’s character development was not as deep as it could have been and her emotional struggles were shallow, at best. I also thought there needed to be more focus on the secondary characters as there was little to no character development and most of them were one-dimensional and easily forgotten.
The strength of the book definitely lies in the setting and the atmosphere as the author describes that New England foggy eeriness quite well. The eerie descriptions of Kate’s recollections of life with Becca at camp were atmospheric and set the tone for what would happen and I wish that eeriness had continued into the present day. The plot however, was a bit uneven and I wish the author had continued the discussion around the ambiguity of Kate’s actions around Henley and the legal implications when working with a young child. The chapters were shorter which helped with the tension, but the ending was a bit too pat, kind of forgoing some of the earlier issues that were brought up and I wanted a deeper look into what had happened, but didn’t quite get.
Verdict
The Girl in the Lake was a nice blend of psychology, mystery, and the paranormal, and I definitely enjoyed the atmosphere of the book. I did find the pacing a bit uneven which affected the level of tension, and I did question the reasons why Kate was permitted to continue working on the case (which I didn’t buy), but overall, this had a lot of interesting themes that are worthy of discussion. I will more than likely pick up the second book when it is released.
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