Review of Still Waters by Emma Carson Berne

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.

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My overall thoughts of this story were that the characters where stereotypical and annoying, the plot was weak as a chocolate teapot and the house should be dustier. But, I loved this book. I've always had a weak spot for horror movies, the cheesier the better – so it's no wonder I loved this so much! The setting was wonderfully creepy and easy to imagine which really helped with my enjoyment of the story.

The characters don't have the most developed personalities, particularly Hannah, but I didn't mind that so much. There was always a sinister edge to Colin, even at the beginning of the book and I enjoyed reading on to see what he'd do and see if there was an explanation for why he was acting so weirdly. Hannah herself is not used to lying to her parents and worries about her little brother, who is staying at a friends house while she's gone. She also doesn't think to pack clean bedding, a blow up mattress or a bag of food, despite the house being empty for ten years.

The plot is quite weak, basically Hannah has difficulty telling her boyfriend Colin those three little words and he's going away to college in a few days. She decides to do something out of character – she packs her bags, lies to her Mother about where she's going and takes Colin away for a dirty weekend (only without the sex) at Connors parent's old vacation spot, Pine House. Almost as soon as they set off for Pine House, Colin starts acting weird, acting odder and odder the longer they're there. Of course, Hannah being as naive as she is, questions this, but doesn't do anything about it.

The descriptions of Pine House, however were very descriptive and I could picture it clearly. I never understood why everything didn't have a thousand layers of dust over it but that's low budget horror movies for you! Wait...

The ending was as daft and cheesy I expected but it was all good fun! Had a few good chase scenes and a Goonies moment (you'll know the one if your a fan). Plus a lake, a storm, pitch black darkness, running around deserted woods, a creepy almost-deserted village and a graveyard! Not to mention the family secrets...

4/5