A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman Review

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

Both seventeen. Both afraid. But both saying yes.

It sounded like the perfect first date: canoeing across a chain of lakes, sandwiches and beer in the cooler. But teenagers Amelia and James discover something below the water’s surface that changes their lives forever.

It’s got two stories.

It’s got a garden.

And the front door is open.

It’s a house at the bottom of a lake.

For the teens, there is only one rule: no questions. And yet, how could a place so spectacular come with no price tag? While the duo plays house beneath the waves, one reality remains:

Just because a house is empty, doesn’t mean nobody’s home.

I picked this novella up kind of on a whim, mostly because I was so sick of reading What the Dead Know that I needed something else. I ended up being extremely pleasantly surprised by this YA horror/suspense thriller. It's funny that a book that wasn't even on my radar until about two weeks ago ended up impressing me more than many of the books I get excited about. This isn't even the first time this year, too, Marina was also an impulse pick up and I ended up adoring that novel. I suppose there's a lesson to be learned in that, but I can't think of one at the moment.

Another thing this book has in common with Marina is that both have plots I love. I adore the water, and the idea of a house being beneath a lake is a really cool, almost surrealist concept. In fact, my junior year of high school I took a painting class in which I had to create a surrealist piece and I chose a house in the middle of the ocean. A little different, but same general concept. 

However, as much as I liked the idea behind it, the length made me a bit nervous. While I have stated in the past that I believe that most YA mysteries can and should be shortened a good 100 pages, and I am a champion of short books in general, I was a tiny bit skeptical that the plot could be concisely told in only about 110-120 pages. I shouldn't have been worried. In my opinion, this book was the best length for its story. In fact, if you added or took away even as little as 10 pages, my rating probably wouldn't have been as high as it was. The story Malerman wanted to tell couldn't have fit a novel unless he wanted to do major revisions and expand on it greatly, but at the same time it couldn't have fit a 50 page long short story in a collection of short stories. 

While the beginning was kind of slow, and the constant repetition of "both seventeen, both ..., but both ..." got old quickly, by the middle I was hooked. I ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting. And despite this, I remember the plot and the characters vividly, unlike with Dare to Disappoint. Any book I can read in under a half hour with no breaks and still stays with me holds an easy ticket into my affections. Sure, the characters are lacking, and normally I love character based fiction, but the story Malerman wanted to tell was a plot based one and not a character based one, and half the time I didn't even notice how little developed they actually were. That being said, I found Malerman's portrayal of the teenage mind, more specifically the awkwardness of new encounters and first dates, far more relatable than any "relatable teen" YA novel I've ever read.

Also, the ending is a bit anticlimactic, but the build-up to the reveal is exquisitely done, and the lead up to the conclusion had me unable to tear my eyes away. Malerman ended the book quite elegantly, allowing the story to close but still leaving us with the perfect horror movie cliffhanger, making me not entirely opposed to a companion novella or a full on sequel, but hoping one isn't in the cards despite that. Some cliffhangers just aren't meant to be resolved. 

I will say this, though, there is a niche market for this book. Not everyone's going to like it, which I suppose is true for all books but especially for this one. Those who like more traditional horror or thrillers should pass on this book, as well as those who dislike novellas. But those who love surrealist mild horror/suspense? Should absolutely pick up A House at the Bottom of a Lake. You won't regret it.

9 out of 10