Still Waters by Emma Carlson Berne {Review}

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publish Date: December 20, 2011

Source: Library

Goodreads

Hannah can't wait to sneak off for a romantic weekend with her boyfriend, Colin. He's leaving for college soon, and Hannah wants their trip to the lake house to be one they'll never forget.
But once Hannah and Colin get there, things start to seem a bit...off. They can't find the town on any map. The house they are staying in looks as if someone's been living there, even though it's been deserted for years. And Colin doesn't seem quite himself. As he grows more unstable, Hannah worries about Colin's dark side, and her own safety.
Nothing is as perfect as it seems, and what lies beneath may haunt her forever.

Still Waters is quite the ride, let me tell you.

Gripes:

1. Hannah: When I first started reading I was annoyed with basically everyone. Hannah was acting completely absurd about a few things. For one, she kept acting as if “breaking into” her boyfriend’s house was going to damn her to hell and the police were going to jump out and arrest her. It was a little too dramatic for me. Second, I don’t think the story delves enough into the relationship between Hannah and her younger brother for her to feel so guilty about leaving him. For two days. But the thing that was annoying me the most was probably that her boyfriend kept acting like a creepy weirdo and she just shrugged it off for a long time. I do understand that to a degree, but at some point it started to become absurd.

2. Colin: I never really like Colin through the course of the book. Except for maybe the ending, but I’m still not his biggest fan.

3. Plot-holes: There were some small little plot-holes at the end that just made it seem like they got kind of lazy at the end of the book. Not to mention the town not being on the map and the house looking lived in are never really explained.

4. Dialogue: This is something I rarely notice, but I found it to be a little odd at times in Still Waters.

Anyway, that’s enough griping because I did actually enjoy this book.

Before this book I read a zombie book and I can honestly say that Still Waters creeped me out way more. I think part of that has to do with the fact that this story was much more realistic. It’s easier to place yourself in a situation such as Hannah was in.

It also seriously got my pulse pounding. Sometimes I felt like I was watching a horror/thriller in my head and I kept wanting to yell “No! Don’t do that! Can’t you see you’re going to get killed or something?!?” Still Waters had me absolutely pinned to the edge of my seat in anticipation. So much so that I accidentally stayed up until 4am finishing it.

The Nutshell: Though there were quite a few things in Still Waters keeping it from being completely fantastic, it was still rater enjoyable. It was a quick read, especially after hitting all the scary parts. If you love a good thriller (sort of) mystery then this one is definitely worth your time.

Pages: 212
Series: No

Rating: 3.5 stars