“Ava Coons was out there. In the woods. She wandered there. She wanders there still. Ava Coons and the souls she has buried there, and the souls she still takes from time to time. The souls of Lost Lake.”
“Dead, dead, they’re all dead. Came today and chopped off their heads. Put them in pieces, in bits and in blood. Laid them in death in a pile in the mud.”
“We’re all lost in our own ways. Some of us just hide when we shouldn’t. We hide in our grief, in our minds, in our pain . . . in the woods.”
4.5 Stars Out Of 5
Another fantastic dual timeslip novel by the always amazing Jaime Jo Wright. I just love how her books build and build and ultimately the two timelines mesh together to satisfying conclusions. She gives sprinkles of clues along the way while never revealing too much. And it just makes you want to keep reading.
Each book of hers is so different and yet so distinctly Jaime Jo’s voice. The Souls of Lost Lake has the great gothic elements of all her books with the perfect amount of creepiness. This time she uses a current timeline of a Christian camp (as a former Christian camp goer, counselor, and dean, I enjoyed this aspect) and a timeline of 1930 about a 20-something woman named Ava Coons suspected of chopping up her family with an axe when she was 13. In the current timeline, campfire ghost stories about Ava Coons still exist. I love, how as a Christian author, Jaime Jo Wright is never afraid to go there.
I enjoyed the character of Arwen Blythe in the current timeline. Both she and Ava in the 1930’s have different circumstances but at the same time, there are similarities in how they each feel lost. And being lost and found and who you truly are, are some of the resounding themes in this book. And I liked the Christian elements as well.
I will say that I figured out and guessed some of the reveals. But honestly there are so many reveals that I could not guess them all so there were some nice twists and surprises. If it were not for those things I did not see coming, I might have gone with 4 stars. But there were enough terrific and entertaining moments to round this up to 5 stars.
I received this book free from Netgalley and publisher Bethany House in exchange for an honest review.
