2.5 stars

This book is not for me. It is painfully slow. The writing (prose) is good but the plot, action, characters were all blah. It’s starts off intriguing but slows waaay down, and then slightly picks up toward the end. It did take me about 3x as long to read compared to my average.

Others seem to like it, so maybe it’s just not my cup of tea.

The storyline dragged on and on, it felt like a car creeping along in heavy traffic. You know there is an accident, you know something big has happened, but you are only inching painfully slow towards seeing what it is. That is how this book felt. It constantly felt like I needed to take a break just because it was so tedious. I only made it halfway before I was too annoyed with the pace to finish it. Unfortunately, I never did make it to the meat and potatoes, so I cannot speak on the whole book, but if the other half was as slow as the first half, I would hardly call this a mystery or a suspense novel.

This is the beach read that will make you want to drop everything, buy a boat, and sail off to party in port cities and adventure on forgotten beaches. Just, maybe be a bit more discerning about the company you keep than the couple in this novel. Bamford has created a compelling travel narrative with a kind of weak thriller. The characters in this book were a bit flat, but I wanted to keep reading because I wanted to know more about the journey. If you are looking for something simple to fall into and keep track of that will transport you to sand, sunshine, and sailing, this is a great pick.

Thank you very much to Gallery Books for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

This book is compared to The Ruins, which had me expecting a fast-paced tense read with elements of horror. Instead, this book was very slow-paced and I decided to DNF it after several chapters. I just didn't feel invested in finding out what happened to Jake and Virginie. Ultimately this was not a good fit for me as a reader because I wanted something that grabbed my attention from the jump. However, for readers who enjoy a slower-paced mystery in a remote jungle setting, this might be a great choice.

2/2.5 stars

This book started off on very strong footing. A Navy Vessel answers a Mayday from Virginie whose husband has been horribly injured. Virginie tells the Captain of the Navy vessel <i> “It’s all my fault. I killed them.” </i> I thought Yes! This is going to be a killer book. With a beginning like that, I knew I was going to love it. I was already intrigued by the synopsis of the book.

But then things petered out. Virginie and her husband Jake had purchased a yacht and looked forward to exotic and exciting travels with it. When they were told about a tiny, isolated island, Amarante, they set off for adventure but find when they arrive that they are not the only ones who had that in mind.

I thought I was going to love this book. That this book about survival was going to wow me. Why oh why do publishers use other books in their blurbs. I enjoyed The Ruins and was hoping with fingers crossed that this book would be more like that book. Well, I am her to tell you folks, it was not.

This was not for me. I was hoping for tension, suspense, and atmosphere and this was not it for me. Others are enjoying this book more than I did, so please seek out those reviews as well.

Thank you to Gallery/Scout Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed reading/listening to this title. It follows a couple who uses their life savings to purchase a boat and sail around the world. They sail to an extremely secluded island, where things go... wrong.

The storyline itself was fine, but the setting made me absolutely devour this book.

I thought this might be interesting. Giving up your old lives to sail the world. Adventures! I found it a little depressing. The boat wasn't appealing. The port they sailed from was depressing. I didn't think Vee was the type of woman any one would sail for hundreds of miles.
The island was supposed to be so beautiful, but the description wasn't very appealing. Jake and Vee were childish.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I like a vacation gone wrong book. This one kept me captivated throughout the whole book. It was a little confusing at first trying to understand what was going on but I loved the descriptions of the island and their little community!
The last couple of chapters were a roller coaster and I loved very minute of it!

While the concept of this book was great, it wasn't as engaging or gripping as I'd hoped. The introduction hooks the reader in and the writing is beautiful, but as a thriller it's missing a pace and twists that hold the readers attention. I would've liked it to keep me guessing a bit more. The author does do a great job creating a vibrant setting that the reader can imagine clearly.

What the hell did I just read?


This is like three books in one.

1. A whirlwind adventure of a young newlywed couple who gave up everything to sail the southern peacocks sea.

2. Some sort of attempt at calling out colonizers (which is good!) but then it also turns into cop bribery?

3. Also, a thriller?


This is a … page turning summer read. I hoped they all would die 🤷🏻‍♀️

The isolation of being stuck in the middle of the ocean was definitely compelling, but unfortunately, the rest was not. I would agree with other reviewers when they noted a lack of suspense, and I had a hard time staying engaged with a character dynamic that I feel like I've read many times before. But the ending still had some surprises, it just took a while to get there.

It's survival on the high seas in thrill seeker Emma Bamford's debut novel Deep Water. When a recently married couple cast off the landlubber life in search of adventure on the Indian Ocean in their newly purchased yacht, they get more than they bargained for after landing on a tiny, isolated island named Amarante, which turns out to be inhabited by a group of sailors harboring their own secrets.

Deep Water opens with a mystery - the ocean trek of a young couple gone horribly wrong - and then flashes back in time to the start of our seafarers' story, showing us how their sailing adventure went south. Full of boating jargon and survivalism, Deep Water invites readers onto Jake and Virginie's yacht, testing their wits as they imagine what they would do if they found themselves in dire straits like the novel's protagonists. Would YOU make it off the island of Amarante?

What Deep Water has going for it is the allure of Amarante and the ominous build of tension that engulfs this story. You can easily imagine a million different ways that paradise can turn hellish in such circumstances, and I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see where Bamford would take the plot. However, I found myself let down by the end. For such an apprehensive, sinister novel, the climax of the book just wasn't where it needed to be to leave me feeling satisfied. I was expecting a more clever, intricately plotted ending to really tie this story together, and without it, the rest of the novel lost some of its appeal.

Still, Deep Water is a worthy read if you love books involving island adventure!

It was fine. These are my least favorite and hardest reviews to write. It was an action packed story that read quickly and was a fine way to spend an afternoon. But I think within a week I won’t be able to remember any details. It all felt like scenes I’ve seen/read before. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Deep Water is a thriller with two people selling all their possessions in order to live aboard a small yacht. The book starts with them in Malaysia, stocking up for their trip. They meet a couple who tell them about a tiny, beautiful, and isolated island. They decide to sail there, but find an interesting situation on the island. The novel could have moved along faster and been clearer. I did have to go back to check different sections of the book, which detracts from the story. Definitely an adventurous thriller.

I love a good survival story, and I enjoyed this one. Slow paced at times, and slightly annoying characters, but still a pretty good quick read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery/Scout Press for the opportunity to read this one!

This one had so much promise but was boring boring boring. I love the sailing island adventure set up, but it just fell completely flat.

I really wanted to like this book, but I tried to read it and could not get into the story what so ever. The writing was boring and bland.

4 stars for the suspense!

I really enjoyed this thriller - plenty of suspense, a non-linear [but manageable] timeline, and a scenic location all in one. Some of the plot may be easily anticipated, however, as Murphy's Law usually wins out in paradise. I liked the characters and how vivid they all came to be in my mind; I felt that I had images in my head of exactly what they would be like and look like - the book read like a movie for me.

***Kind of spoilers***

The book gave vibes of survival of the fittest on a dessert island in a way. People who travelled to the island end up having to contribute to their own version of society, where everything is a currency up for trading. Nothing could go wrong with THAT idea, right? [especially if someone runs out of a critical resource, let's say?]

The ending caught me off guard in a way I had no hint of suspecting, so that was a favorite aspect for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC!

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was okay but moved a little too slowly for me. The writing was good and very descriptive and the characters were really well developed, but I would have preferred more action. I think this would have been better as a movie than a book.

I thought this book was just OK. I didn’t really find the characters that likeable and thought Vee and Jake were a bit naive to undertake the trip on a relatively small boat. Having grown up sailing I did not mind the boat jargon as much as others seemed to. Vee and Jake seemed to break one Island rule after another and I felt like Jake acted like an obstinate child about accepting help with the engine. While it did remind me of Reckless Girls, it felt a bit flat.