James and Amelia, both seventeen-year-old heterosexuals living in what I have deduced is probably Michigan, go on their first date: a canoe trip to a secluded lake. When they arrive, they find that the lake is home to a fully submerged mansion, impossibly huge and intact and free from the damage that comes with being sunk to the bottom of a lake. The house becomes the subject of their their obsession. A blurb on the cover from one John F. D. Taft reads "Achingly deep, yet instantly accessible": I couldn't have said it better. Josh Malerman is an exceptionally good writer--quickly becoming one of my favorites. Although this is billed as a horror story (and indeed it is a spin on the haunted house subgenre of horror) Malerman expertly describes the feelings of being young and in love for the first time, in the summertime, from the perspective of both protagonists respectively. Running themes I've come to notice in Malerman's writing is that he is not interested in exploring multiple points of view. "Bird Box" was all about the protagonist Malerie and the story was set up in such a way to not really have to accommodate the thoughts and feelings of anyone else (she was trapped alone in a house with her two infant children, and the story is primarily told through the lense of her memories). Although "A House at the Bottom of a Lake" features two protagonists and treats them as individuals, Malerman spends little time exploring their relationships with anyone else besides each other: the story itself is about the two of them and this bizarre house they have found and chosen to keep as their secret. This isn't really a critique just something I noticed. All in all, great story, not especially scary, but definitely with some unnerving elements to it. Also it's only 116 pages and the pace is quick, so you could easily read it in a day. #ahouseatthebottomofalake #joshmalerman #bookreview
