Eerie and crawls under your skin slowly. Similar reading experience to Kate Alice Marshall’s books. A solid read!

3.5 stars
This was way creepier than I thought.
It was a perfect creepy summer read. The body horror was excellent.
My whole reading experience can be found in my reading vlog on my YT channel Just_Bea_Weird.

Beautiful, immersive, and haunting. I've always been a fan of Lesperance's writing, and this one took my breath away. I didn't want to leave the island even though it would legit murderize me.

Archived prior to being able to read the book. Lost interest in trying to pick it up. I was originally interested but as it sat in my library, I did not feel the summary grabbed my attention anymore.

“My mom says I'm missing all the usual human fear instincts, but it's not technically true. I have them; I've just gotten really good at doing stuff in spite of them.”

⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

Thank you Netgalley and Razorbill for a copy of this book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I requested this book probably after seeing a spoiler that it was picked for the OwlCrate September 2022 box. I started reading it finally because it was my oldest ARC! I switched back and forth between reading my e-ARC of this and an audiobook from the library.

The Depths follows Addie Spencer, a girl who is dragged along on an island vacation with her mother and her mother's new husband for their honeymoon. Addie has no desire to be there, but she is a free-diver who recently suffered an severe diving accident that left her dead for seven minutes until she was revived, a traumatizing event that also was captured on video and went viral. Instead of the boring summer she expected, things keep getting stranger. From sleepwalking to color-changing flowers to a little girl who wants to play tag but is definitely dead to a handsome boy who says the island loves her, will Addie's exploration of the island lead to disastrous consequences?

I will preface this by saying that I am a 'fraidy cat' who can't even handle finishing The Walking Dead or really any horror movie, so I am *not* the target audience for this book. That's why it's even more surprising that I'm rating it so highly?? Don't get me wrong, living alone and listening to an audiobook of this as I got ready for bed was not a good idea. I trying with all my might not to look over my shoulder and find a Violet there. The atmosphere and writing was certainly worth commendation if I could so easily imagine everything, though.

I really enjoyed this story, especially with the narrator! I definitely did predict one of the plot twists almost immediately, but that didn't make any less deliciously frightening to watch it unravel at a snail's pace for Addie. There were also twists that I wasn't expecting, and I found it felt unique to how I expect stereotypical YA storylines to go. I expected love triangles and romantic sacrifices, and instead I got spotlights on platonic love and women helping women. I found that unique and touching.

I don't really have any complaints about this book. I think the only thing that stopped this from being 5 stars is that I am not a horror girly or a standalone girly usually, so I can't truly say it was a 10/10 for enjoyment on an individual basis. I also primarily listened to this on audiobook, so there were a couple details that confused me about the island, but I do think it's possible I missed something while multitasking.

I'm not particularly interested in this author's backlog, but I am interested in her upcoming YA thriller A SPELL TO WAKE THE DEAD that apparently comes out next year! I would recommend this to people who enjoy mystical atmospheric islands, little dead girls, and creepy crawlies!

I’m kinda kicking myself for taking so long to read this because it was so freaking good!! It was spooky, creepy, ghostly, mysterious and started off with a hell of a first line that had me thoroughly hooked from the beginning. I haven’t stopped thinking about this since I read it months ago!

Book review: The Depths
By: Nicole Lesperance
Rating: 🦄🦄🦄
Published: September 2022

I'm thankful for this advanced digital copy even though I'm reviewing it now a year and a half after publication. I apologize for that. I'm going into my back stash and trying to catch up.

💻From GR: "A tropical island full of secrets. Two Victorian ghosts, trapped for eternity. And a seventeen-year-old girl determined not to be next.
Eulalie Island should be a paradise, but to Addie Spencer, it's more like a prison.
Forced to tag along to the remote island on her mother's honeymoon, Addie isn't thrilled about being trapped there for two weeks. The island is stunning, with its secluded beaches and forests full of white flowers. But there's something eerie and unsettling about the place.
After Addie meets an enigmatic boy on the beach, all the flowers start turning pink. The island loves you, he tells her. But she can't stop sleepwalking at night, the birds keep calling her name, and there's a strange little girl in the woods who wants to play hide-and-seek. When Addie learns about two sisters who died on the island centuries ago, she wonders if there's more to this place, things only she can see.
Beneath its gorgeous surface, Eulalie Island is hiding dark, tangled secrets. And if Addie doesn't unravel them soon, the island might never let her go."

💬My thoughts: Let me start with the good. This book was an easy read. I read it in 2 days. And I enjoyed the friendship between Addie and Billy. It was an enjoyable YA ghost story/living island story/mystery.
Now, with that being said, I felt like it lacked depth (ironically, considering the name). The characters were pretty static. And it was a bit too predictable for my taste (as I figured out a big part early on). The Ghosts were pretty interesting, but also exactly what you'd expect. I wanted more...like maybe it was a first draft, not a final edit....I don't know. It was decent, I just don't think it was for me.

#thedepths #netgalley #bookreview #ya #yabooks #ghoststory #mystery #bookstagram

I really enjoyed this book! The island was delightfully creepy and the backstory was given in chunks that kept me turning the pages. The ghosts were a combination of heartbreaking and terrifying. I would love to read another horror book by this author. I also enjoyed learning about a sport I knew nothing about!

This was just okay, to be honest. A better adult comp to this book is Bloom by Delilah S Dawson, which also plays into the horror elements with flowers

I loved this book. Set after a diving accident the main character has to tag along with her mom and new step dad on their honeymoon to a remote island that is just very strange. She’s seeing ghosts and being talked to by strange plants in the foresty jungle. Twists and turns and honestly just a good time

This is quite a fascinating, complex, story. A wounded girl meets an equally wounded boy, both of them able to see and interact with ghosts on an island that's alive in its own way. The longer Addie is there, the more enmeshed with the island and its ghosts she becomes. The twists and turns in the story make it come alive and keeps the reader guessing until the end. An epilogue helps put things in perspective. A pretty good book!

I’m not sure how I feel about this one yet. I might come back and change my rating later.

Part of me liked it but I was also bored at times.

A fun, gothic type read. Great story line and easily likable characters read it fairly quickly and was engrossed in it.

This was an addicting book. I could not put it down. Everything was well plotted and thought out, and the twists and turns made sense. I was captivated by Lesperance's writing.

This was such a great read. Super haunting and immersive, I really liked the beautiful writing. I felt completely mesmerized. This is perfect for lovers of House of Hollows and Mexican Gothic. The story and the characters were enticing, the creepy vibes just kept me hooked!

i really liked this one! lesperance surely crafts a haunting island full of secrets with this one. her descriptive imagery was unmatched and i could vividly picture everything in my mind. i did guess one of the main twists but it didnt take away from the atmosphere or story.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. The setting was spectacular. Creepy as hell and so atmospheric! I loooooved every aspect of the horror. And the whole gothic island thing? SO GOOD. On a personal note, I also really enjoyed the diving element, since I've done a lot of research on divers. It was all written so well. Nicole Lesperance is brilliant. LOVE!!!!

Did the cover of this book completely draw me in before I even read what it was about? Yes. Then to read the description that her mother forces her to tag along on a honeymoon that she doesn't want to go on, plus its a thriller? It was definitely giving, I know what you did last summer vibes. Although it is nothing like the movie it kept my attention all the same. I loved that she met with a boy who was able to connect with her and learning about the island and ghosts.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Took me awhile to get into this story. I normally don't have problems with slow paced books but this one just wasn't it. I expected fast paced gothic story line, one out of two is good. The atmosphere was written very well and it helped this book out a lot.

2.5

Very atmospheric ghost story but a little abstract and confusing for my pea brain

I know it was a super engaging quick read but honestly I read it months ago in one sitting and I remember zero details