Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is one of the least enjoyable books I have ever read. Truly. The idea behind it is good. Spooky houses, ghosts, cute dogs, lakes, ancient spirits, all very cool stuff, but it's the small things that make a book, and this one has none of those. I hate it when people just say, I hated this book/movie, no reason given. So I am going to lay it out for you. 1. Throughout that whole book, it is never said what Great Lake we are on. I can tell, being a huge fan of Gordon Lightfoot myself, that the grain of sand around which the pearl of the story was formed is The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, specifically the part about the lake never giving up its dead. That lead me to guess, correctly as it turned out, that we mean Lake Superior. I should not have had to guess, though. I got it that the town is made up, no shame in that, but it doesn't mean you need to try to hide the setting. 2. Real people do not act that way. Actual human beings do not stay two nights in a bed and breakfast, and then suddenly notice that the owner's partner is not there and that there are no guests, either. I am pretty dad-gum unobservant as a person, and even I would notice the lack of my cousin/best friend's significant other. I would also like to note, there is no way that even now, let alone in the 19th century, any parents would let a 17 year old boy and a 12 year old girl sneak off into the woods together. It would not happen. 3. Real people do not talk this way. I felt the need to skip over the getting to know you conversations between Kate and Nick, because they were as stiff and uncomfortable as a collar with too much starch. 4. What does anyone look like? Because I do not know. I know that Nick looks like Idris Elba, but only because I was told in that many words (good taste, there) but what do Kate's parents look like? What does Simon look like? Why was I told in such careful and loving detail how a microfiche machine works, but not what color Simon's hair is or how tall he was? 5. I think it should have ended with the resolution of the mystery (for the record I did like the mystery, and I thought the twists were very cool) and the fact that it did not end there was very strange. I got that there were still loose ends, but I think they would have been better tied up before the final reveal. It was a little like watching a movie, getting done with the action and all the credits, and just as you are rising from your seat, the house lights go back down and we find we have about a quarter of the story left to go. In conclusion, I am really puzzled by all of the overwhelmingly positive reviews here. Normally when that many people all like a thing, I like it too. It's also all of those glowing reviews that made me post my own. I don't get it, friends.