Lemon Ziegler wants to escape rural Devil’s Elbow, Pennsylvania to attend college—but that’s impossible now that she’s expected to impersonate the town’s lake monster for the rest of her life. Her family has been secretly keeping the tradition of Old Lucy, the famed (and very fake) monster of Lake Lokakoma, alive for generations, all to keep the tourists coming. Without Lemon, the town dies, and she can’t disappoint her grandparents . . . or tell her best friends about any of it. That includes Troy Ramirez, who has been covertly in love with Lemon for years, afraid to ruin their friendship by confessing his feelings. When a very real, and very hungry monster is discovered in the lake, secrets must fall by the wayside. Determined to stop the monster, Lemon and her best friends are the only thing standing between Devil’s Elbow and the monster out for blood.
Dark bleatings, my gorgeous tribe! And Happy Book Release Week to Nicole! A Misfortune of Lake Monsters is a brand new, YA, cryptid, coming-of-age (sort of) horror story, and let me tell you, I loved it. I don’t think I’ve ever said this about a horror novel before, but as well as all the great stuff that comes with the genre, it is wholesome. It made me feel all warm and cosy, but also cold and slimy, like I’d been dunked in a lake. But a lake full of my friends. Mildly confusing state to be reading horror in, that is, but not unpleasant!
Lemon is a lovely protagonist who I couldn’t help but feel sorry for because, though the specifics of her problems are rather unique, the range of her emotional states is extremely relatable. Her grandparents have been her guardians for a long time, and her extended family aren’t that close by. She has dreams of college but she can’t go – she can’t even ask – because it has always been expected that she’ll take over the family business from her granddad. She’s a sweet girl and a people pleaser who feels indebted to her grandparents and just silently suffers the burden of taking on a life that she simply does not want, in order to not upset the people who have raised her for much of her life.
She has two close friends, Troy (who she secretly has quite a thing for) and Darrin. They are so cute, the three of them. They have such strong, distinctive, and believable personalities – in fact, everyone in this book does. I think character is an area in which this author really excels, now that I think about it.
I hated – and I mean HATED – Pappap (Lemon’s granddad). And I don’t mean he got on my nerves no no no, I’m talking a deep loathing, a searing white hot hatred. He merely irked me at first but then I grew to want to smash his features in with everything he said and did.
Oh shit, I’ve barely talked about the story, have I?
So Lemon is set to become ‘Old Lucy’, a long-running local lake monster myth. Lemon’s family have been dressing up and swimming routes to get “sighted” for decades. It’s the local family business (they have tour boats), and it’s just about the only thing keeping the town’s economy going because of the amount of tourism it brings in. Lemon is completely and utterly alone in this regard because she’s sworn to secrecy and has had it drilled into her that no one outside of family can ever know. One day, when Lemon is out walking the dogs, she is attacked by a real-life, genuine lake monster. The problem is, thanks to everyone already believing in Old Lucy, no one is alarmed by this, and her grandparents just flat out don’t believe her. Lemon, increasingly frustrated, decides to bring in reinforcements regardless of the rules.
Oh, and as an aside (well, a major part of the plot, actually), there’s a new girl who has just moved into the area with her dad, whose job is.. let’s say.. interesting.
This novel contains so many great story elements. We’ve got monsters (fake and real), friendship, female empowerment, a small town with a big problem, a possible romance, mystery, and in an absolutely bizarre twist I did not see coming, science fiction. It’s a really good read and I’d recommend it to general horror fans (YA or adult, who cares).
If you’d like to check out the book or the author, I have popped some links below for you:
Bleeeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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