I kind of enjoyed this book but not a lot. It had all the things that I felt would have otherwise made up for an absolutely perfect read for me but somehow that did not happen. I feel that I sort of not connected with the MC for quite a long time and that kept me from rooting for him. I also feel the execution is not done well. But having said that, I feel that this book delivers mostly what it said it would do. So, brownie points there! I liked the romance and enjoyed the story overall.

Dead Sea (Mia Kerick Story Ballads Book 2) is an interesting read that tackles some hard subjects sensitively. The plot moves a long nicely and the characters develop as the story progresses, even if sometimes their choices are not overly believable. Overall it's a nice read that holds your attention.

This is a coming of age story about two boys from very different backgrounds struggling with their identity, and how they cope with trying to fit in while in High School. Kyle is a bully, he strikes first in order to distract others from his own insecurities. Lenny goes inward and doesn't speak, earning him the name "Zip-Lip" Lenny.

While volunteering for beach clean-up Kyle sees something bobbing in the water, at first he thinks it may be a coconut then he realizes its a person caught in the rip tide, ignoring all his training and the warning bells going off in his head he dives in to save the person knowing he may be sealing his own fate.

Lenny was humiliated and was tired of the stress of life so he decides to end it all, only once he gets out in the water he changes his mind. Unfortunately its too late and a rip tide has him and he is struggling to survive, until one of his biggest tormentors swims to the rescue.

The bond forged during this fight for survival changes both Lenny and Kyle. Now both of them have to decide who they truly are and who they want to be in the future.

This is a good story, although I had to suspend my disbelief a bit that Kyle does such a quick 180 in personality. However I would like to think that the experience they shared in the water did make an impact on him. Definitely worth the read.

Whilst I enjoyed the story I did have a lot of issues with this book. It wasn’t difficult to read though which was good and I did find the main characters likeable even though they didn’t feel very real. What Lenny is doing is basically cosplay, but never called this, and made to seem very weird when cosplay is very popular and Lenny would have easily found millions of people doing basically the same thing. The sex scene at the end isn’t realistic, especially for a first time for both parties. Makes it feel like this book isn’t for queer readers, it’s more for a straight audience. It was also rammed in at the end which also makes me feel like this. There was a lot of repetition of certain plot points and secrets, being explained and reexplained which was tiring. It would have been shorter without all the explaining.

I wish I could say to society, “If you don’t like it, don’t look.”



Kyle believes he’s bad to the bone, and Lenny thinks he’s wired wrong. Not only because he’s gay. Kyle is one of the biggest bullies in high school, and Lenny just wants to be invisible. Two boys who can’t be who they want to be and react in different ways. Until Kyle saves Lenny from trying to attempt suicide by drowning in the sea.



I love main characters who are not average. I love YA LGBTQ+. I love books with the message: accept yourself, be who you want to be. And I love sweet and cute stories. This is a sweet story, and Kyle and Lenny are so likable. The book is easily readable. The two voices were clearly distinguishable from one another. I loved Lenny’s passion for fashion and creating things. I loved how he became another person wearing his creations when he could (like he said himself) dress to express. I loved the conversations Kyle had with his deceased grampa.



When I received the ARC, I wanted to dive right in because I was reading another book that I wasn’t sure I liked. And I just knew I’d love Dead sea because it ticked a lot of my boxes, and the reviews were wonderful. In the end, the other one turned out to be one of my best reads this year, and I found Dead sea just okay. Like I said above, I loved many things in this book, but there were also things I liked less. Kyle’s change was a little too rushed for me; most of the story only covers a few weeks. Furthermore, I had some problems with the writing. Kyle talks about ‘his little tongue’ (Lenny’s tongue). Was he kissing a child? Ew! It fits another problem I had. In my opinion, the boys weren’t equal to each other as Kyle was continually taking care of (saving) Lenny (He’s like a little kid who’s lost in the woods...All I want is to calm him down). I’m not a fan of these kinds of relationships. So although I thought beforehand I’d love the story, it turned out as just an okay read for me afterward.