[ 374 ]

[katara]

Title: Lakesedge

Series: World at the Lake's Edge #1

Author: Lyndall Clipstone

Genre: Gothic, Romance, Paranormal, Horror, Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, Fiction, Dark

Warning: Abuse (Emotional and Physical abuse by a parent), Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Suicide Concepts, Self-Injury, Descriptions of Drowning

Date Started: January 9th, 2023

Date Finished: January 10, 2023

Status: Finished

Rating: 4.5/5

Sypnosis: A gothic fantasy about monsters and magic, set on the banks of a cursed lake.

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.

Review:This is a gothic fantasy set in a lush world where a monster resides in a darkly beautiful mansion. Where rumors swirl around the young lord and whispers speak of him killing his family. Tithes are taken from the local townies and a Corruption lake that wants nothing more than consume the world.
Welcome to Lakesedge.

Violeta Graceling and her brother, Arien, are found in the woods and taken in by a woman who abuses and tortures them in order to clean the boy of his shadows and darkness. Violeta does everything she can to protect her brother and even that is not enough.

One day when delivering tithes, the 'monster' lord appears and comes across Violeta trying to contain her brother's shadows. Upon seeing this, Lord Rowan Sylvanan decides that he is going to take her brother back with him. There is no way Violeta is going to allow the monster lord to take her brother away from her and use his darkness and shadows. There is no way Violeta is going to allow this and definitely, and she won't let her brother go alone.

When Violeta loses the fight, she reluctantly follows Rowan and her brother to the mansion. There she is met with an eccentric alchemist, Clover, and a tough and loving housekeeper named Florence. As Violeta inserts herself into the daily life of the mansion, she finds that Rowan is not the monster she thought he is and the Lord Under is calling to her.

Violetta must unravel not only the secrets of Lakesedge but of her own past. Can Violeta save Lakesedge - and its master - from the Corruption?

This gothic fantasy romance reminds me deeply of the books I used to read as a teenager. I loved this book and I loved the characters. However, Violeta can grate upon one's nerves very quickly. Although I understand her reasoning for wanting to protect her brother she also needs to understand that her actions serve consequences. She is annoying and a bit of a crybaby in certain parts of the book, but she does grow up a little bit. Just a little bit.

As for the others, I loved them. I loved each and every one of them. They are well-rounded characters filled with emotions and personalities that will draw you into the world and keep you turning the page until the very end.

By the way, I call dibs on the Lord Under!

[ 375 ]

[katara]

Title: Forestfall

Series: World at the Lake's Edge #2

Author: Lyndall Clipstone

Genre: Gothic, Dark, Fantasy, Romance, Horror, Young Adult, Paranormal, Magic, Fiction, LGBTQ+, Queer

Warning: Drowning Imagery, Self-Injury, Discussions of Death and Grief, Body Horror, Blood and Gore

Date Started: January 10th, 2023

Date Finished: January 10th, 2023

Status: Finished

Rating: 2.9/5

Sypnosis: Some oaths can never be broken...

The curse that haunted Lakesedge Estate has been broken, but at great cost. Violeta Graceling has sacrificed herself to end the Corruption. To escape death, Leta makes a desperate bargain with the Lord Under, one that sees her living at his side in the land of the dead.

But this world of souls and mist hides many secrets. And when Leta realizes she is still connected to Rowan by a tethering spell, she will risk everything— even her soul— to try and reach him.

Torn between power and love, life and death, Leta struggles to keep hold of her humanity as she falls further and further under the spell of the world Below… and the Lord Under.

Review: I struggled with this sequel mainly due to the fact that I honestly thought Leta would have grown and learned from her experience in the first book. Unfortunately, it did not seem to be any changes to her character. In fact, her character was still the whiney "Woah is me" character from the first book.

I get that she made the most significant sacrifice and I took that into consideration, but her character really grated on my nerves. I had to put the book down several times and either do something or seek out another book before I could come back to this one.

I loved the first book. Everything from the lush world-building to the very end of the cliffhanger kept me turning the page. That just did not happen. All the other characters were great and their character development really took off in this book but not Leta. Because of her, I nearly made this book my first DNF for the new year.

I would love to get a story of the Lord Under and his world. It seemed far more interesting than anything Leta was.