Review: The Secrets of Lake Road by Karen Katchur

The Secrets of Lake Road by Karen Katchur

Published: August 4, 2015

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Format: via NetGalley

Challenges: 2015 NG/ED Challenge

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Jo has been hiding the truth about her role in her high school boyfriend’s drowning for sixteen years. Every summer, she drops her children off with her mother at the lakeside community where she spent summers growing up, but cannot bear to stay herself; everything about the lake reminds her of the guilt she feels. For her daughter Caroline, however, the lake is a precious world apart; its familiarity and sameness comforts her every year despite the changes in her life outside its bounds. At twelve years old and caught between childhood and adolescence, she longs to win her mother’s love and doesn’t understand why Jo keeps running away.

Then seven-year-old Sara Starr goes missing from the community beach. Rescue workers fail to uncover any sign of her—but instead dredge up the bones Jo hoped would never be discovered, shattering the quiet lakeside community’s tranquility. Caroline was one of the last people to see Sara alive on the beach, and feels responsible for her disappearance. She takes it upon herself to figure out what happened to the little girl. As Caroline searches for Sara, she uncovers the secrets her mother has been hiding, unraveling the very foundation of everything she knows about herself and her family. The Secrets of Lake Road by Karen Katchur is a riveting novel that is impossible to put down and hard to forget.

My Thoughts

I was really intrigued by the synopsis and this read didn’t disappoint. I loved how this story was stacked with secrets so it never made you lose interest. It centers on Jo and her family who spend summers by the lake and once a little girl drowns that sends old memories and tragedies back to the surface.

Jo’s daughter Caroline knows something isn’t right her mom has never be close to her and she knows there has to be a reason why. Her parents are consistently fighting and her father is always working but she loves her summers with her grandma by the lake but wants to know the reason why her mother never stays. One day Sara a little girl drowns and when that happens she realizes that it not only affects everyone but her mom as well which sets off Carolina’s curiosity and she is determined to find out the truth.

With a little investigation she sees that Sara’s drowning is connected in a way to her mother’s past. Jo’s boyfriend when she was young also drowned and she has never gotten over it. Who knew that the drowning of a little girl could set in motion the uncovering of the truth of a mystery over sixteen years ago. We find out what really happened all those years ago that has made Jo never want to return and not only that but some other secrets that will change her family forever.

If you love a book that’s a bit of a mystery and with a great family feel this is the book for you. This book will have you glued to the very end until every secret is revealed the only bad thing is it will have you wanting more.