What a mysterious and creepy ride this book was. If you are looking for a ya thriller that is set on a "haunted" tropical island this is the one for you.

This book was medium paced with a mix of character and plot focus. The descriptions were just right and didn't feel overdone. I found it very easy to picture myself on the island.

It was a tad creepier than I expected but was just what I needed right now. I love how the ghost was described. It was like a ghost/zombie hybrid. I loved how kind and concerned Addie was for the ghost.

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NOVEL! Wonderfully written, beautiful detail, as a reader I felt like I was there, on the island surrounded by beauty.
I loved the characters, I felt like Addie IS my BFF, relatable, and so genuine. We joined in her journey, and every step was summer into fall/spooky vibes worthy!
Perfect mystery thriller for the season to come!! Spooky season is here! 🎃👻💀

The Depths was wildly entertaining to read and I could not put it down!

I've read a couple of gothic horror stories in my life, with ghosts and haunted houses. But never before has the setting been a tropical island. It's this wildly unique setting that drew me to this book. And it did not disappoint. While reading, I could almost smell the haunting stench of rotting corpses and pungent flowers. I had chills slithering down my body while reading some grotesque scenes. I could not put down this book because I just had to know all the secrets of Island Eulalie! and there were many. I usually tell myself I would be able to handle all the haunting horror if I were to replace the main character, but I would not handle things as well as Addie did. She was brave throughout it all and thought smart when making her plans. And even though most of the book was nerve-wracking, grotesque, terrifying, and absolute insanity, it still managed to make me laugh sometimes with humorous lines.

This unique setting is what truly makes this book genius. I've never read anything like it and that's what I desire from books. The Depths is definitely one to add to your tbr for this spooky season. You will want to follow Addie as she dives beneath the island's layers and discovers all its secrets, however horrifying they may be.

What a perfect book for the startbof spooky season. I love ghost stories. Thank you netgalley for the copy.

Imagine a ghost story featuring creepy Victorian era ghost girls with tragic backstories and a barrage of supernatural goings-on to torment the main character, except instead of taking place in a spooky old mansion or a crumbling castle, it’s set on a tropical island with beautiful aquamarine beaches, palm trees, and colorful flowers. That’s The Depths, and the juxtaposition of the creepy ghost girls and scary happenings with the vibrant, lush island setting was a really captivating choice that I enjoyed. It was like taking two types of scary stories and blending them into one, and I really liked it.

For further context: The Depths follows Addie, a teenager who has been roped into accompanying her mother and new stepfather on their honeymoon to a remote tropical island. It’s so remote that the only people there are Addie and her parents and the family responsible for acting as caretakers for the island—oh, right, and all the ghosts.

Addie has recently suffered an accident while freediving, a sport she was a fierce competitor in prior to this, which actually left her dead for eight and a half minutes before being revived, resulting in one of the best opening lines I’ve read in a while:

“There’s a video of me dying on the Internet, and I can’t stop watching it.”

As a product of her brush with death and resulting injuries, her mom insists she come along with them to the island on their honeymoon so that they can keep an eye on her as she recovers and her lungs start to slowly heal. But once there, Addie finds herself often wandering alone and drawn to the water, which results in her having lots of individual experiences that were not exactly on the vacation itinerary—hide and seek with a mischievous, very corpse-like little ghost girl, sleepwalking through the tropical jungle, and encountering a mysterious but beautiful young man on the beach one night while she’s swimming alone in the ocean. The young man begins to take her on further explorations of the island into areas she would never otherwise have seen—deep caves, beautiful waters that seem to have healing properties, spooky altar-like stone structures. But the more time she spends on the island, the more strange things keep happening. The ghosts seem to become more and more attached to Addie, and at times it’s almost as if the island itself is reacting to her, and Addie has no idea what she’s really stumbled into and how complicated—and terrifying—this vacation is about to get.

Y’all already know, I love a good ghost story, so I had a lot of fun reading this one, and reading about the ghosts and Addie’s mission to unravel the story behind the ghost girls and how they came to be here. There’s plenty of spooky imagery throughout, like the little ghost girl being covered by spiders or the crumbling remains of the house they once lived in, tucked away deep within the island.

I also enjoyed the setting and like I said, the juxtaposition of a spooky Victorian ghost story taking place in such a setting. It’s a bit of a departure from what we usually see, which I always like. Moreso than that though, this book is the perfect example of a novel where the setting is as much a character as the people, and Lesperance did a great job of bringing the island to life. At times it had a toned down reminiscence of works like Annihilation—the way the island makes the humans a part of it—and The Ruins, with the way the vines and plants seem to not only be alive and acting of their own accord, but also with the plants and flower mimicking human voices and laughter.

Something unexpected that I really liked about the book were actually the freediving scenes. I hadn’t given too much thought to freediving in general before reading this, but it was really interesting to read about, and not just as a sport and how it contributes to Addie’s backstory and persosnality. The depictions of the various diving scenes throughout the book were actually kind of dreamy and beautiful, and I thought they were very well written. I was surprised by how much I liked that part of the story.

Overall, the only thing I don’t like about this book is that it wasn’t a summer release, because this would have been a perfect summer vibe read. But as it is, it releases September 13th, so it will be just in time for spooky season and if you’re looking for a ghost girl book to add to your TBR, this is it.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the e-ARC!

"There's a video of me dying on the internet, and I can't stop watching it."
I mean... who doesn't love a first line that just immediately captures your attention? It only took me a couple days to read this book, and with 3 kids running around the house, that's not an easy feat for me anymore. I could easily see myself being able to sit down and read this in one sitting. I loved the spooky mystery of Eulalie Island and the constant thrill of needing to know what's next.

The island sounds absolutely gorgeous, and terrifying. I swear I could see and smell all the flowers and trees. I fell in love with the characters, and hurt with them as their stories were told. I loved the mystery of the island and trying to piece together the whole story. This is definitely a book I can see myself reading again.

“There’s a video of me dying on the internet, and I can’t stop watching it.”

Nicole Lesperance wowed me with The Wide Starlight and she wowed me with The Depths. I love a good haunting story; this, combined with Nicole’s gift of prose makes for an eerie and atmospheric reading experience.
Addie is tagging along with her mother and her mother’s new husband on their honeymoon to the remote island of Eulalie. Not by choice, she had a near death experience that has left her lungs weak and now her mom won’t leave her alone.

Once on the island, Addie can’t shake the feeling that things are off. Forming a friendship with Billy, the caretakers son, they delve into the mystery of the island and the current weirdness that’s going on. Ghostly visitors and other shenanigans take place but the real beauty lies in the telling of the story.

Gothic, eerie and with a hint of magic, The Depths is everything I look for in a ghost story.

My thanks to Penguin Teen for this gifted DRC.

that was… interesting. it’s a bit more creepy for me than i’d like and maybe that’s why i wasn’t a big fan of it but regardless of that it was still interesting to read.

This was creepier than I expected, like I hoped for this level but I've been burned in the past with this genre for YA so I lowered my expectations...and instead I was blown away. I thought this was such a great and slightly twisted read. I give huge props to Lesperance for not backing down on the scare/creepy factor and for giving us just enough twists and turns to keep me reading from start to finish. I flew through this in about three hours that's how much I loved it and could not put it down. We have a good MC and great side characters but even more so omg the antagonist is just *chef's kiss.* I would highly recommend putting this book on your spooky TBRs/TBRs. Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. 4.5/5 Cups of coffee from me!

This was perfectly spooky and I absolutely loved it!

If you are looking for a creepy and incredibly atmospheric read, in which there are ghosts, unexplainable occurrences and beautiful imagery, this is 100% a book for you!

Addie Spencer is spending an excruciating two weeks on a remote island for her mother’s honeymoon, when she should be doing what she loves… freediving. But Addie’s death, revival, and subsequent healing after a dive gone wrong has her trapped with her mom and new step father on Eulalie Island…

Immediately, we are thrown into this gorgeous descriptive terrain, a place where Addie is simultaneously enamored and repulsed by the vegetation. She finds solace in two brothers who live on the island… and is haunted by two sisters who haunt the island.

This book was simply incredible and I loved every creepy minute of it!!

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. Addie really didn't want to third wheel her mom's honeymoon. And to make matters worst she keeps seeing ghost! One of them saying that the island likes her? Will she be able to make it off the island before it claims her too? I absolutely loved this fast paced book, filled with twists, turns, and secrets you never expected

Wow a great read! I’m actually getting the physical copy in one of my book boxes and can’t wait to seal the collection. The cover does freak my out a little I’m not gonna lie

Wow! this was such an interesting read, I've never read anything quite like this the mystery surrounding the island was so intriguing I never wanted to put this down because I just kept guessing what would happen and following that this mystery/horror wasn't predictable at all which was super refreshing. I loved the storytelling throughout this and the descriptions of the island slowly coming to life and Addie trying to work out what truly was going on.

I absolutely loved the main character, Addie was super relatable and just so REAL and I appreciate that after her accident she wasn't just bubble gum happy and cheery that she actually had real grief and feelings about it. I also loved Billy as a side character he was just so refreshing and such a good friend for Addie to have on the island.

This is definitely great for fans of Moana (I am a Disney fan of course) but want something more spooky.

I will be giving this book another try. At the time it wasn't engaging me but it does sound interesting so I want to give it another fair shot and see if I will fully get into it.

After a near-death experience, Addie goes with her mother and stepfather to Eulalie Island to celebrate their honeymoon. Soon after arriving she hears birds calling her name, the flowers are changing colors, and other unexplainable things are happening all around her. Is it the ghosts of two sisters who died over a century ago, or something even more sinister?

I wish I could give this three and a half stars. It was good, but predictable. I enjoyed the lush descriptions of the island, and the spooky summer vibe was just what I needed to break up all the high fantasy I've been reading, but I could see the ending a mile away. It showed good promise, it was just a little lacking for me.

This was amazing! The writing, the descriptions, the creepy af island all drew me in like I haven’t been in quite some time. I loved everything about the lore and the colors that were described and the mockingjay-type birds that surrounded Addie. She was a strong character and I really enjoyed her fight instincts and her take no prisoners attitude. And that last little epilogue? My jaw was on the floor. This was summer horror and island getaways gone wrong and this absolutely needs to be on your list!

Check out the aesthetic video I made for this book on TikTok and Instagram. @katherinebichler. Here are the links:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRfK1s1k/

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Chzdiz...

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/4.5 STARS

This is YA paranormal mystery/thriller set on an island.
Addie is on vacation with his parents on a beautiful tropical island. She finds the island to be haunted and alive. She tries to figure out why it is haunted all while trying to survive.

This was a very refreshing paranormal thriller. I loved the island setting, instead of the usual haunted house. The way the author describes the island makes you feel as if you are there. It isn’t really scary so much as it is creepy. There were a few twists and unexpected things which kept me reading. You can devour this in a day.

The book reminded me of The Lotus Hotel meets Moana if they were both dark and scary. I would definitely read more from this author. 🌺🏝🌸👻

Thank you Penguin Teen for the advance reader copy! 💚

3.5
Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for sending me me an e-ARC of this book to read and review. There were several things I liked about this book, however it was a bit creepy for me and not my usual type of genre. I liked the island setting and the mystery of it all. I thought the ghosts were a bit creepy, but I did enjoy the friendships made between Addie and Billy while they were on the island. There was also a type of quest feel and I liked that. It was definitely gorier than I would have liked, but I also understood that it was a gothic horror vibe. I thought the concept was unique, but overall this took a bit for me to get through.

After a near death experience, Addie is forced to accompany her mom and step dad on their honeymoon in order to give her body time to recover and try to get her body back in shape so she can continue her love of freediving. They travel to a remote island where only the island’s caretakers live. Once on the island, it’s uniqueness and beauty starts to reveal eerie and sinister undertones along with the presence of ghosts. Addie, along with one of the caretaker’s sons Billy, are the only ones who can see the ghosts and are determined to discover the island’s mysteries. Addie begins getting pulled in by the island and it’s dangerous games. I really enjoyed the gothic/Victorian ghost story/mystery of this book and could not put it down!!

I thought this was a really interesting book. I didn't really love it and I didn't really hate it either. Overall I found the story good and I wanted to keep reading it to the end. But I also felt like I was a little to old for this book. I know this is a YA book so that might be why. But I do think I would suggest this one. Also the cover of this book is so pretty.