Oh, how I loved this book! Sarah Addison Allen's writing has deepened and developed in the most beautiful, rich ways since her debut, and I am delighted. This was very fun, and had lots more to it. ( )

Not my favourite Sarah Addison Allen but a good one all the same. ( )

This book was predictable from beginning to end. There were no surprising plot twists or unique character developments. Yet without a doubt I'd read another of Sarah Addison Allen's books. This wasn't my favorite of hers that I read. It really was the most predicable of them all but like I've said before they are just comfortable reads that I don't feel bad about reading. I like the magical elements she always throws in. It lets each book float somewhere past the ordinary and walk the edge of fairytale. It was a simple, sweet, predicable, but good read. ( )

Appreciated how atmospheric this one felt without going overboard on description, the swampy environment, the dinners outdoors and the warm small town vibes, made this an ideal match for reading outside during the muggy days of late August.

While I wasn’t a fan of the husband stealing character (aside from very brief moments of a friendship that reminded me of one of my favorite Steel Magnolias friendships), I did enjoy the other sprinklings of magic realism throughout, especially the alligator and its emotional connection to another character.

I loved that this included a wide variety of ages, and respect for each stage of life, the kid wasn’t cloying and the senior citizens weren’t doddering. Even though the size of the cast made it somewhat impossible to delve as deep on some of the characters as I may have wanted without turning this into a doorstopper of a novel, this still managed to do each of them justice and give me a strong sense of who they are. I was particularly fond of the section on Buhladeen’s backstory and I really liked how the little girl, Devin, is depicted, not only her whimsical fashion sense, but also how intuitive she is, I really liked that the author didn’t dumb her down because she’s a child.

The ending wasn’t quite as satisfying as maybe it could have been, I was pleased with the directions the characters went in, I just would have liked a bit more of a glimpse of each of them living out those new futures. Maybe in a sort of roundabout way that says something good about the novel though, that it left me wanting more rather than less. ( )

I had heard of Sarah Addison Allen when her novel The Peach Keeper came out, but I never managed to pick up anything by her. A while back, I read a review of Lost Lake on a blog (can’t remember which one!) and was immediately intrigued. There is something so magical about summertime and spending it at a “lost” dilapidated lake sounded like something else. I think the cover is absolutely gorgeous – the colours are so mysterious, somehow, and the lights are beautiful – and if I had walked by it in a bookstore or library, I probably would’ve picked it up. It looks like my kind of book.

Looking back on this book the best way I can describe it is like a summer memory. You know those memories of summer that seem tinged by the hot, hazy weather, of days that melt together and nothing much is happening, but at the same time it feels like a magical time of year somehow? That’s what this book reminds me of. This book is a contemporary and it feels true to life but at the same time like a dream, and it’s in this way that the tiny magical elements feel so at home in it.

Continue reading my review on my blog, Bookish Comforts. ( )