The Pools by E. Lockhart - Book Review

I didn’t know what to expect from this book. I’ve read most of E. Lockhart’s other books and always loved them – We Were Liars is one of my all time favourites. Her books always have excellent vibes, and this one was no different.

Buy The Pools by E. Lockhart

Lexie has recently moved to a small town where residents hang out at the pools. Legend has it that once upon a time, these pools once turned a group of people to birds. Then one day, it happens again. Lexie’s sister and new boyfriend, Chester, are among the five. She’s determined to save them, but are they already too wild?

This was a quick but impactful read – it packs a lot into what feels like a short story. I read it on Kindle as an ARC so the formatting in the final copy will likely play a bigger part into the read (and I’d love to pick up a copy when I can to see this), but I think the punchy sentences and structures already work wonders to build that quiet, hypnotic tension.

Here are more of my blog posts about E. Lockhart’s books:

I would have loved this book as a teenager – it’s totally up that street for me. It had similar vibes to the YA books I was reading in the 2000s – whimsical, grounded in teenage reality but a little bit magical, small town, first love, coming of age, all of that. The story isn’t anything that will blow you away. It tells quietly of love and grief and friendship; no big mysteries are solved, but also no one seems overly shocked to suddenly have people who are swans in their midst. It feels realistic in a surreal kind of way.

Then finally we need to talk about the poetry. This book isn’t written as an entire poem, but has sections of different poetry styles in it. It’s somewhat experimental in form which makes it all the more interesting to me. To be able to tell a story but still intersperse it with writing that makes you sit up and pay attention to the structure is great.

Read more of my book reviews like The Pools:

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for an ARC of this book.