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A review by parklandmom
The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright
4.0
Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars)
Read: April 2024
Format: own the paperback but I mainly listened to the audiobook on the Everand app
Narrator: Kathryn Markey (not a narrator I am enthusiastic about)
Challenge Prompt: CNL’s #5 of 50 - “By an author whose name starts with J.”
Book #39 of 2024: I own paperbacks of every novel this author has written, excepting the brand new release. I’ll be getting that one as well. She has a unique talent for making the creepy, spooky, scary stuff make sense in the end when there are logical explanations for everything. The split-time has both a historical and a modern day story that tie together in some fashion.
Everyone has experienced the hair-raising campfire stories that give us all pause despite knowing better. This particular “ghost” story of “murderess” Ava lasted a long time amongst the residents of Lost Lake. It became a scape goat of sorts for other crimes. Though it was ridiculous to blame a young girl of using a logger’s axe to murder her entire family, the blame and assumptions continued.
In present day, Wren feels as though she doesn’t quite belong anywhere. She doesn’t feel chosen. A little girl goes missing and she feels drawn to the mystery. She feels a connection to the legend of Ava and the missing girl in the community. Strange sightings of someone appearing to look like Ava of years gone by have her questioning her own situation that much more.
I had a bit of a hard time getting into the novel for part of the book, but honestly, I think I made a mistake in listening to the audio. While the narrator has a nice regular voice, I didn’t care for many of the character voices or the overdone dramatics. I like dynamics and appropriate vocals but I found some things very over-the-top distracting. I found my mind wandering and having to repeat sections. I think I would’ve been more immersed had I read my paperback. The audiobook was just handy for my activities, etc at the time of reading. However, the latter half grew my interest, probably because I got used to the narrator. The last half-dozen chapters were page turners especially! Intense!!!
The author always manages to bring something out of left field that you don’t anticipate yet it makes total sense. I always enjoy this author’s books and consider myself very fortunate to be one of the first ARC readers for her first novel and then the next two after that. I knew she’d be a success from her first novel. She always has the foundations of faith and growth within her books. They are all different and unique despite the basis of split-time with the spooky and strange. I highly recommend her novels.
Read: April 2024
Format: own the paperback but I mainly listened to the audiobook on the Everand app
Narrator: Kathryn Markey (not a narrator I am enthusiastic about)
Challenge Prompt: CNL’s #5 of 50 - “By an author whose name starts with J.”
Book #39 of 2024: I own paperbacks of every novel this author has written, excepting the brand new release. I’ll be getting that one as well. She has a unique talent for making the creepy, spooky, scary stuff make sense in the end when there are logical explanations for everything. The split-time has both a historical and a modern day story that tie together in some fashion.
Everyone has experienced the hair-raising campfire stories that give us all pause despite knowing better. This particular “ghost” story of “murderess” Ava lasted a long time amongst the residents of Lost Lake. It became a scape goat of sorts for other crimes. Though it was ridiculous to blame a young girl of using a logger’s axe to murder her entire family, the blame and assumptions continued.
In present day, Wren feels as though she doesn’t quite belong anywhere. She doesn’t feel chosen. A little girl goes missing and she feels drawn to the mystery. She feels a connection to the legend of Ava and the missing girl in the community. Strange sightings of someone appearing to look like Ava of years gone by have her questioning her own situation that much more.
I had a bit of a hard time getting into the novel for part of the book, but honestly, I think I made a mistake in listening to the audio. While the narrator has a nice regular voice, I didn’t care for many of the character voices or the overdone dramatics. I like dynamics and appropriate vocals but I found some things very over-the-top distracting. I found my mind wandering and having to repeat sections. I think I would’ve been more immersed had I read my paperback. The audiobook was just handy for my activities, etc at the time of reading. However, the latter half grew my interest, probably because I got used to the narrator. The last half-dozen chapters were page turners especially! Intense!!!
The author always manages to bring something out of left field that you don’t anticipate yet it makes total sense. I always enjoy this author’s books and consider myself very fortunate to be one of the first ARC readers for her first novel and then the next two after that. I knew she’d be a success from her first novel. She always has the foundations of faith and growth within her books. They are all different and unique despite the basis of split-time with the spooky and strange. I highly recommend her novels.