You know that feeling when you finish a book and you’re so mad you want to hurl it across the room? That’s basically the universal experience of reading The Lake by Natasha Preston. Honestly, if you’ve spent any time in the YA thriller corner of TikTok or Goodreads, you’ve seen the rants. People are obsessed, or they’re totally livid. There is almost no middle ground.
Most people go into this thinking it’s a standard "I Know What You Did Last Summer" rip-off set at a summer camp. On the surface, sure. You have Esme and Kayla, two best friends returning to Camp Pine Lake as Counselors-in-Training (CITs). They’re seventeen, looking for cute boys, and trying to outrun a massive secret from when they were eight years old.
But the "secret" isn't just a plot device. It’s the thing that defines why this book is so polarizing.
The Incident That Started It All
Ten years ago, Esme and Kayla were just little kids at this same camp. They did something bad. Not "stole a candy bar" bad, but "accidentally set a person on fire and ran away" bad.
They met a runaway girl named Lillian in the woods. Lillian was… intense. She showed them a severed deer head (red flag number one), a fight broke out, a fire started, and Lillian ended up pushed into the flames. The girls bolted. They never told a soul.
Fast forward to the present. They’re back at camp, and suddenly, notes start appearing. THE LAKE NEVER FORGETS. It’s creepy. It’s classic slasher movie vibes. But what most readers get wrong is assuming this is a mystery about who is doing it. In a Natasha Preston book, the "who" is often less important than the "how much trauma can one person inflict before the credits roll."
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Why the Ending Makes Everyone So Angry
Let’s talk about that ending. If you haven’t read it and don't want spoilers, skip this paragraph. Seriously.
The "villain" is, unsurprisingly, Lillian. She survived the fire but she’s scarred—physically and mentally. She’s been watching. She’s been waiting. And in true Preston fashion, the climax doesn’t end with a neat police arrest. It ends in a bloodbath. Lillian kills Jake. She kills Olly (the love interest!). She kills Rebekah. She even kills Kayla, Esme’s best friend.
Then she just… hands Esme the gun and disappears into the woods.
The police show up and find Esme standing there holding the murder weapon surrounded by bodies. Cut to black. No trial. No explanation of how Lillian lived in the woods for a decade. Just pure, unadulterated chaos.
The Natasha Preston "Formula"
You’ve probably noticed a pattern if you’ve read The Twin or The Fear. Preston doesn't do "happily ever after." She does "how can I leave the reader the most stressed out?"
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- The Hook: A secret that is teased for 100 pages.
- The Setting: Usually isolated—a camp, a small town, a basement.
- The Ending: A cliffhanger that feels like a slap in the face.
A lot of critics call this "lazy writing." They say it’s a cheap way to get a reaction. But honestly? It works. It’s why we’re still talking about The Lake years after it hit the New York Times bestseller list. It mimics the messy, unresolved nature of real-life tragedy. Sometimes the bad guy just wins. Sometimes there isn't a "why" that makes sense of the gore.
Dealing With the "Plot Holes"
If you look at the reviews on Amazon or Target, people complain about the "stupid" decisions the characters make. Why would you go back to the scene of a crime? Why would you walk into the woods alone at night when a stalker is literally sending you letters?
The thing is, 17-year-olds are kinda dumb. Add a decade of suppressed trauma and a desperate need to feel "normal," and you get Esme. She’s personified anxiety. Her choices aren't logical because fear isn't logical.
The book isn't trying to be a police procedural. It’s a slasher film in paper form. You don't watch Friday the 13th for the airtight logic; you watch it for the tension.
Is There a Movie or a Sequel?
This is the question that pops up every single month in Preston’s Goodreads Q&A.
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As of early 2026, there is no sequel planned for The Lake. Preston has been pretty vocal about the fact that her endings are meant to be final, even if they feel unfinished. She likes leaving the "what happens next" to the reader's imagination.
As for a movie? There’s been "talk" in the way there’s always talk about bestselling YA thrillers, but nothing is in production. Given how much the ending relies on that internal psychological break, it would be a tough one to film without it looking like a B-list horror flick.
What to Read if You Actually Liked the Chaos
If you finished The Lake and, despite the anger, you want more of that specific brand of "what just happened?", you should check out:
- The Fear by Natasha Preston: It deals with a viral "meme" that turns into a real-life killing spree.
- A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson: If you want actual closure and a smart protagonist (the literal opposite of Esme).
- The Island by Natasha Preston: More isolated teen terror, this time on a private island with "influencers."
Actionable Takeaway: How to Survive a Natasha Preston Novel
If you’re going to dive into her catalog, you need to change your expectations. Don't look for a mystery where you can find the clues and solve it by page 200. You won't.
Instead, treat it like a rollercoaster. You’re there for the drop. You’re there for the "WTF" moment at the end. If you want a story where the detective explains everything in the library at the end, go read Agatha Christie. If you want to feel like you’ve been hit by a psychological freight train, stay with the lake.
Next Steps for Readers:
Check your local library’s "Young Adult" section—this book is a staple. If you’ve already read it and need to vent, head to the Reddit threads specifically for "Natasha Preston Endings." You’ll find thousands of people who are just as mad as you are. Just don't expect the author to give you the "true" ending; the one in the book is all you're getting.