This book will be enjoyed by those who love romance and mystery.
Avril has returned to the summer theatre camp where her mother had died years before from a supposed suicide. She is plagued by confusing memories and hopes to learn more about that last summer with her mother.
The theatre and romance elements of this read will be enjoyed by many.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great mystery and I loved this novel!

Oh. Oh I LOVED this. The vibes? Immaculate. The setting? Immaculate. The characters? Weird and fun. I don't know that the plot entirely held up or it completely stuck the landing; a lot of the twists were either inexplicable or predictable, and I'm still not sure how much I should have bought into the supernatural elements (were they real? what's the lore here? does it matter?). But I had such a good time and will be recommending this one to everyone I know.

Not a fav and I probably wouldn’t recommend. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and that’s always a downfall for me while reading.

I really am enjoying this author lately! Keeps me guessing and engaged through the whole book! The character development was great

Her first novel was so amazing so I was really excited for this one. Unfortunately, the romance aspect of this novel annoyed me. It was a constant occurrence in the story. The suspense didn’t happen organically and the poor choices of the main character was a lot to deal with.

I didn’t like this book as much as I did the author’s first book. I was expecting another supernatural thriller, but that’s not what I got. While this was a mystery/thriller at heart it just fell flat for me.

When the book first started there was a set up of a mysterious backstory for the location of the theater camp that the main character attends. A whispering that if you started hearing it, you’d be the next victim. However this storyline soon just disappeared. I honestly forgot about it until it was briefly brought up again near the end of the book.

I just felt like the author couldn’t decide which direction to take the story and it definitely suffered for it. I will definitely give this author another try and hope that this was just a sophomore slump.

Once again Ginny Myers Sain delivers an outstanding, suspenseful ya mystery that stands out amongst its genre. If I haven’t mentioned it enough- Dark and Shallow Lies was one of my favorite books last year- one of my all time favorite books ever so the expectations going into SSD were unreallll.

I’m happy to say that those expectations were met 100%, Ginny is an absolute legend for her lyrical writing and even more so for her brillaint storytelling. The theater kid aspect prominent here was also really amazing to read about. I am not a theater kid myself but the way the author writes the magic of the play and ability to immerse yourself in a role was breathtaking.

Only two cons I will mention:

1. I was able to guess the mystery pretty early on but honestly I was here for the vibes and haunting atmosphere and she defintiely delivered on that so it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment. Plus Ginny has such a masterful way of unraveling all the pieces and little details that you can’t help but be awed regardless.
2. The ending was super abrupt to me- there was sooooo much build up and then we’re left with a lot more questions about so many things and it really didn’t sit well with me. I don’t know if the authors point for the ending was to keep me up every night wondering about the what ifs and what could’ve beens because that was definitely accomplished.

Overall, another amazing thrilleresque YA from Ginny and one I highly recommend!

4.25 stars
Another atmospheric read, spooky, gothic and features an unreliable narrator and also unreliable setting. There are a lot of murky details that normally would take away from the book for me but only added to the vibes of the book. There are secrets to be uncovered, people with obvious secrets kept, it’s a thriller mystery with paranormal aspects to it with the setting that seems like it is also alive. An element that I love when it is done well.

Like many other reviewers have said, this book wasn’t nearly as good as Dark and Shallow Lies (which had a fantastic atmosphere, btw). But still, it was a decent read.

I liked the summer camp setting and the fact that it was on the ocean. The pacing was rather slow for most of the book, but the little snippets we got here and there were enough to keep me interested. The audiobook narrator was pretty good, which also helped with the pacing issues.

I wish I had been able to connect to the characters more. They were all pretty dull to me, so I didn’t care about any of them. I didn’t care about the romance either (unfortunate considering it’s the main focus of the book in the middle), which I felt moved too quickly and lacked chemistry. I outright hated the play scenes where Avril and Cole were acting out basically their exact romance in play form. Those scenes were awful to me and I just wanted to skip them. I found the play scenes to be completely dull and pointless, View Spoiler » However, I did really appreciate the platonic relationship between Avril and Lex. It’s not very often you see a M/F relationship that is strictly platonic, it was refreshing!

There is an interesting twist at the end! I was starting to suspect who the killer was, but it was a good reveal. I have a lot of negative things to say, but this book wasn’t bad by any means. It was good while I was reading it, it just won’t make a lasting impression on me and was overall kind of underwhelming. I also got pretty annoyed with the constant use of the word ‘fuck.’ I curse like a sailor sometimes, but it was overused to the point it felt unnecessary.

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️
TW: mental illness, mentions of suicide, drowning, fire, and hallucinations

“There are pieces of the past buried all over Whisper Cove. It’s easy to get tripped up.”

Twelve years ago, Avril’s mother drowned at Whisper Cove theater, just off the rocky Connecticut coastline. Local legend claims that the women in the waves—ghosts from old whaling stories—called her mother into the ocean with their whispering. Because, as they say at Whisper Cove, what the sea wants, the sea will have. She’s spent the past twelve years trying to make sense of the strange bits and pieces she does remember from the night she lost her mother. Now, at seventeen, she’s returning to Whisper Cove for the first time, and she might finally unravel the mystery of what really happened. As Avril becomes more involved with camp director Willa and her mysterious son Cole, Whisper Cove reveals itself to her. And Avril keeps meeting herself—and her dead mother—late at night, at the edge of the ocean.

Starting off pretty slow, I was pretty back and forth on this novel. A tad predictable with a little too much romance for my taste, it was also quite nostalgic as a former theater kid and ended up being a beautifully haunting story. Every character focused, I really enjoyed the complexity and realness they offered. I enjoyed the overall mystery but my absolute favorite part had to be the atmosphere!! Suspenseful, beautiful, and strange Whispering Cove was the perfect setting for this paranormal mystery!

I recommend this one to all my present/former theater kids, fans of “The Depths” and “Dead of Sunmer,” and anyone looking for a not too creepy paranormal mystery for this spooky season!!

I’m kind of annoyed with myself that I took the time to SLOWLY read this instead of DNF’ing it. I started Secrets so Deep early October for a “spooky season” read and it’s now November and I just finally finished it! To be fair, I read my eARCs slower but this book just had so much filler, it was a lot to get through. Also the epilogue?? Can someone message me to explain what happened by the end of the book because I just feel very confused by it lol.

Secrets so Deep wasn’t so bad, I was definitely curious which is why I continued it and finished it but I did guess extremely early on who the killer was, I just wasn’t sure why and wasn’t sure about the finer details. I also did love Cole, Lex, Val and Jude but the main character fell flat for me. Also, the hallucinations and the fog and all were just a bit much for me? I think the author was going for spooky and atmospheric but it was all honestly just so.. strange.

Overall, not a terrible book, but also not my favorite.

Avril is a theater buff with two goals for her summer: to attend a theatre camp under the famous Willa Culver and to get answers about why her mother drowned at this camp years ago.

**Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review**

The author does a fantastic job of painting a picture and showing the character’s emotions. The writing was very emotive and eerie.

I was drawn in by the idea behind this paranormal thriller but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. It’s hard to put my finger on what was amiss. The pacing was pretty slow and because of that it took me a lot longer to finish.

The characters could have been a bit more developed, I didn’t feel a huge attachment to them. And while there was misdirection and plot twists they just didn’t hit very hard because I wasn’t as invested.

While this story wasn’t quite for me but it did have a haunting feel to it and is a nice intro into YA thrillers.

Avril hasn't been back to Whisper Cove since the night her mother drowned there. Avril was only a toddler that summer, but she knows something isn't quite right about the story she's been told. Now at 17, she's back in the seaside town for the summer, ready to unravel the truth about what happened to her mother, whether it was an accident, or something much more sinister. After all, the town's local legend is an entire village of women being called into the sea by whispering voices in the middle of the night.

I found this book a bit slow at the start, as we mostly focus on Avril's summer at theater camp, and her budding romance with the director's son, Cole. We get to watch scenes of the play the camp is working on that summer, and I found those to be a bit lackluster and contrived. Some spooky things happen here and there, but they are mostly brushed aside and unexplored until the back half of the book. It was definitely not as immersive of a setting or story as Dark and Shallow Lies, which I loved. However, once the mystery/thriller aspects picked up, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what happened, and if Avril would uncover the truth about Whisper Cove, and what role it played in her mother's death. Avril's relationships with several of the other characters became very intriguing and complicated, and the latter half of the book was a wild ride.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read, but I'd categorize it as being just alright.

Thank you to PenguinTeen for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Secrets So Deep a haunted mystery with good pacing. The right book to read in October. Enjoyed all the characters and the friendships.

Secrets So Deep is underwhelming attempt at crafting a YA thriller. The reveals and the mystery were incredibly disappointing given the length of this novel. Secrets So Deep is truly a missed opportunity.

Well-plotted, maybe a bit too slow at times, but it was the characters that really made this book for me. I felt truly immersed in the main character and that's always an indicator of a good book. Perfect for Halloween season as well.

<b>Quick Stats</b>
Age Rating: 14+
Over All: 3.75 stars
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Setting: 4
Writing: 3.5

<i>Special thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.</i>

Ginny Meyer’s Sain’s debut Dark and Shallow Lies was one of the best paranormal thrillers I’ve read, so I had impossibly high expectations for this one. Even though I didn’t love it as much as DASL, it was a solid read.
The angst between Avril and Cole was *chef’s kiss* amazing. I really loved Avril discover her past and connect with the memory of her mother.
All of the “big reveals” were pretty obvious to me, and the mystery aspect of the plot really seemed to drag on and on. The paranormal aspect of the story was very unique and interesting at first, but after a while it started to get repetitive.
I think the real selling point of this book were the characters and the interpersonal relationships and interactions between the campers.
Over all, despite the fact that it was slow at points, I did enjoy this book and would recommend it.

Thank you Penguin Teen Canada for an eARC via NetGalley.

CWs: drowning, death of a parent, mentions of suicide

This was a really interesting read. I liked it, but I also feel like I need to reread it to fully understand exactly what happened. Some parts were pretty confusing, however it was deliberate because our narrator, Avril, isn’t sure what’s actually happened either. So we experience her confusion and it’s done really well. Avril also has a hint of unreliable narrator because of the confusion and the gaps in her memory. This made it more interesting for me as I searched for the truth in the story.
I really liked Avril and Cole’s relationship. It was fast, passionate, and I totally believed it. Two teenagers who feel so deeply clinging to each other amidst the confusion of Whisper Cove was realistic and well written. I liked how parts of it seemed to mirror the relationship of Eden and Orion in the play that the characters are putting on in the book.
I thought the pacing was good, and things moved along well. The ending happened quickly and it was really intense. That last sentence before the epilogue drives me nuts because I want the full clarity of knowing exactly what was said, but I also feel like it fit the tone of the story. That said, I felt that the epilogue was trying a bit too hard. It seemed unnecessary to me even though it was trying to bring the story full circle back to the very beginning.
If you’re looking for a book with spooky elements, big feelings, and uncertainty and confusion about memories and a creepy fog, then I’d highly recommend this book.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this book!! This book was so fun! I love this time of year for a good thriller and this was just that! Love the title and how the story unfolded!,