Hello hello! I hope everyone had a great weekend so far. Thanks again so much to TBR & Beyond Tours for having me on this tour and for hosting. This was a great gothic story to read, and I’m glad to be able to share my thoughts with you. Click on the banner above for the rest of the tour schedule and let’s get started, shall we?

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to TBR & Beyond Tours, Netgalley, Henry Holt and Co., and Lyndall Clipstone for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

So I hear the term “gothic” a lot when it comes to stories and I thought I knew what that meant, but maybe I actually didn’t. Thank you to Goodreads for this definition:

Gothic fiction is a genre of literature that combines elements of both the uncanny and romance.

Gothic Genre on Goodreads

There’s more to the definition but this is the first sentence. When you think about “gothic”, is this what comes to your mind? I think knowing this makes me understand why I get gothic feelings from Lakesdge more than I thought before, and it makes me able to appreciate the story now that I have that understanding.

Aspects like how Arien reacts to the darkness seeping out of him when he has those night terrors, and the Lord Under with his secrets and mystery surrounding him give me that gothic vibe. From the very beginning of the story I felt like things were going to get creepy, especially with how we first meet Arien and Violeta. I couldn’t imagine the nights they had to endure like this, and how much physical and mental pain they felt.

It was a great story to ring in October with its spookiness and paranormal feelings. I liked Leta as a main character, and truly felt her love for her brother Arien. I wanted her to figure out how to save him from his fate, and I wanted her to figure out how to escape the Lord Under. I wanted to learn more about the Lord Under and why he would do something like drown his entire family. Was there truth to that story, or was it the whispers of a scared town? The mystery was great and I’m curious to see how Clipstone continues this story in its sequel.

Content Warnings: Emotional and physical abuse by a parent, Body horror, Gore and blood (including description of wounds), Emesis, Discussions of death and grief (no on-page deaths), Descriptions of drowning and deep water, Drowning-related imagery Self-injury (in the context of a curse that requires regular physical sacrifices), suicidal ideation

A lush gothic fantasy about monsters and magic, set on the banks of a cursed lake. Perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Brigid Kemmerer.

There are monsters in the world.

When Violeta Graceling arrives at haunted Lakesedge estate, she expects to find a monster. She knows the terrifying rumors about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem.

There are monsters in the woods.

As Leta falls for Rowan, she discovers he is bound to the Lord Under, the sinister death god lurking in the black waters of the lake. A creature to whom Leta is inexplicably drawn…

There’s a monster in the shadows, and now it knows my name.

Now, to save Rowan—and herself—Leta must confront the darkness in her past, including unraveling the mystery of her connection to the Lord Under.

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