Um...WOW! Seriously wow. This book was so brilliant, I could not put it down. I have been a fan of Sarah Addison Allen's for a while now, I love her magical worlds and how very real they feel. This was an astoundingly brilliant addition to her previous books (my fave being Garden Spells - but really, how can you pick just one...?) and I fell entirely in love with Lost Lake. Please, please tell me I can visit it one day!
Now onto the characters - I loved Kate, Devin and Eby so much I didn't want this book to ever end. Their world was so precious, so real, so vital I could feel it vibrating through the pages. The lake glistening in the distance, the scent of baking on the air, the atmosphere heavy with secrets, love and magic. I loved Eby best, something just gleamed out at me from the pages, from her honesty, love, fear and joy - she completed the book for me in a way I didn't expect. Kate too was absolutely wonderful, I wished I was her. Feeling lost and finding a place to be happy again, she is the centrepiece to this evocative and spellbinding story. Finding a home when your own heart is broken is the most magical theme and Sarah drew all of this together so beautifully. A magical spell woven as if just for me...and I loved it!
Lost Lake is brilliantly compelling, heart wrenchingly honest and above all peopled with characters you want to link arms and dance in the moonlight with. This is a book to read outside in nature listening to birds or wind rustling the trees, or curled up safe and warm inside while the rain lashes against the window panes. Lost Lake will stay with you long after you turn the last page and you may find yourself wishing you were jumping in your car and heading to Georgia and this wonderful place where dreams and wishes really do come true.
I cannot wait for Sarah's next book. I just hope it comes soon!
