Off The Deep End by Lucinda Berry - Honest Book Review

I have enjoyed many books by the talented author Lucinda Berry, but
Off The Deep End was not one of my favorites. I was drawn in by the premise of the story, but soon had difficulty connecting with the characters.

Synopsis:
As a result of losing her son Gabe in a tragic accident, Jules falls into an uncontrollable mental state. Ten months after Jules rescued Gabe's friend Isaac Greer from their car crash, he vanished without a trace. She still struggles to cope with the fact that she rescued another woman's child and not Gabe.

Isaac is missing. Was he kidnapped? Police question Jules about her involvement...

Warning: The following contains spoilers....

Pros: I have empathy for the loss of Gabe and the trauma of the wreck. The ending was unique and unexpected.

Cons: Isaac, 15-years-old is missing and his parents are constantly fighting. Why are they not organizing search parties, putting up missing posters, or searching for their son? Is there a reason why the police didn't take his computer? Hard drive history can never be completely erased. Experts can retrieve the information.

I appreciate the author's diligence, work and dedication. We all have different tastes in books. Please do not let my opinion of it stop you from reading it.

Off the Deep End is available on January 10th.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for sharing this book with me. Your kindness is appreciated.

#OffTheDeepEnd

4.5 stars rounded up to 5!

If you've read any of Lucinda Berry's previous work it's no secret that she refuses to skirt around the darker issues in life and just nose dives straight into them, and Off The Deep End was no different. It was devastating, heart-wrenching and suspenseful in simultaneously the best and worst ways.

While I agree with some other early reviews that both of the main character POV's that we read from were both relatively insufferable, I fully believe that was part of the point. Not all characters in fiction are going to be likeable and even more so in fiction that explores such realistic life tragedies, especially when written by someone who has intense clinical experience helping others to navigate this trauma. I felt the dual POV's that were relatively opposing to each other really kept the intensity up throughout the story and you never fully knew who to trust. This book was very unique in it's plot and the way it dives head first into some extremely dark topics - so I recommend looking up trigger warnings before going into it if need be.

Lucinda Berry is by far the queen of extremely dark and twisty thrillers and I can not wait to get my hands on more of her work. Thank you so much to Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer and Lucinda for my early review copy!

I was really sucked in this book. A mother after an accident save an other boy and her son dies. It was not really like that but all around see it and feel it that way. We mainly listen to the mothers of the two boys after the other goes missing. And we get to know some of the conections and what the life after losing a child become. And it is tragic. The two survivals connect on some point and ofcourse the family of the boy is against. After he is missing they point at the other mom that is really lost but want to help from the home she is closed in. But there is also a serial killer around. And we get to know all the deep secrets of both families. All together leads to a great schoking conclusion.

I was wright on some point what happened but anyway I was really enjoying all dark things that happened. I like Lucinda's writing style so much. I usually hate all the themes mentioned but here all was perfect together. And you get to know all last secrets just at the end.

Thank you Thomas & Mercer, Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for this great arc

Off the Deep End is a deeply disturbing thriller that may be upsetting to some readers. Without spoilers, it is impossible to describe the plot but there are three main characters. None of them is likable. Juliet Hart, now confined to a residence facility, had a breakdown after a tragic accident. Her car went off a dark road at night and into a lake. She dragged a boy out of the submerged vehicle. He was Isaac, her neighbor’s son. Gabe, Juliet’s son, drowned. Juliet is now obsessed with Isaac and thinks that they have a relationship. But now Isaac has disappeared and is thought to be the victim of a serial killer. The third major character is his mother, Amber Greer. Her marriage is not a strong one. Her husband takes little interest in her or their two children. Curiously, he seems to accept the fact that Isaac has been taken by the “Dog Snatcher.” Amber has deluded herself into thinking that Isaac is an average teenage boy but she is wrong, very wrong.

I wanted very much to like this mystery. I’ve read Lucinda Berry’s earlier books and enjoy her style and plotting. However, Off the Deep End is a hard read. The subject matter is off-putting and the conclusion is weird and horrible. Two stars for the author alone.

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Lucinda Berry for this ARC.

Weird Book But Nothing Technically Wrong. Ever read a 5* review that is probably going to read like the reviewer actually rated it 1*? Well, if you haven't... you're about to. Because let me be clear up front: There was nothing from a technical/ objective-ish standpoint to hang a star reduction on here. There weren't any clear technical/ editing mistakes, the story is at least plausible within the context of the world/ situation set up, etc. Thus, with my subtractive system where every book starts at 5* and I have to have objective-ish describable reasons to deduct stars... there simply weren't any here.

AND YET... this book kinda sucked, y'all. I hate to say it, but it did. I'm down with a slow burn, I've defended a LOT of slow burn books over the years and even as recently as this week. What I can't defend is a book that is just so *boring* and completely disjointed. Someone once said (paraphrasing) that if you show a red phone on Page 23, it better be used somewhere in the finale - and this... doesn't happen. There *is* a massive twist at the end of the book, but it comes completely out of left field with absolutely zero foreshadowing *at all*. Instead we get all kinds of irrelevant details such as kid sister sleeping in the bed with her parents over fears of the "rampaging kidnapper/ serial killer", among other completely irrelevant details that are never really explored or shown why they are crucial to the story being told. As at least one other reviewer pointed out, this story could likely have been told much better from different perspectives - maybe the two boys (even the one who dies in the opener - maybe in an "if i stay" type manner?), particularly given the twist at the end.

Overall though, this *is* a five star review, so I'm going to recommend you read this book - if for no other reason than maybe I'm wrong and there was genuinely a great tale in here that I just didn't pick up on? Let me know in the comments wherever you may find this review, or on social media somewhere if that isn't possible. Recommended.

I usually LOVE this author's books. She has been one of my favorite authors for awhile now. This book was good, don't get me wrong, but it just lacked the OOMPH that a lot of her other books have. I hated the mother of the son's friend with a passion, and honestly, the main character really annoyed me too. Other rhan that. There was nothing wrong with the story. It just didn't quite hit where i needed it to hit. I will ALWAYS continue to buy Lucinda's books though, because she is a fantastic story teller.

I’ve been struggling to review this one!

First of all, considering the author’s background, I can see the direction she took with this one. She explored how the terrible accident and the unspeakable loss affected both mothers. IF she had stopped there, this would have been a novel with impact. For me, though, I got disinterested when the narrative suddenly took a loop through a bunch of sidestreets and a quick grab and insert of news headline incidents before getting back on track. Too many layers.

Secondly, I couldn’t connect to either mom, Jules or Amber. I had empathy for them, but their reactions/behaviour to the traumatic experience didn’t ring authentic to me. At times it was more of a reaction that one would expect from my students, teenagers.

Finally, the repetitive suspension of disbelief did me in! Too many unrealistic plot twists.

The premise was solid and enticing. The pace was perfect. The plot gripped me instantly and I was on the edge of my seat with an emotional investment in the horror of what had happened.

Please, don’t let my opinion dissuade you from reading this. There are plenty of glowing reviews. Be advised: there are many trigger warnings

I was gifted this book by Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Lucinda Berry is definitely one of my favorites and an auto-buy author for me for sure. But … This one was heavy. I can honestly say I’m a little stumped on how to rate this one because of that.

Don’t get me wrong: I really enjoyed it. I definitely did not see the ending playing out the way that it did. And I was glad that it wasn’t going towards a typical cliche path. But I also think that’s why I’m stumped. This book had A LOT of my worst fears in it as a mom, some that had my stomach in knots. With that being said, Lucinda always knows how to twist a story and her writing is just *chef’s kiss*. The burn was slow, but it didn’t take away from my want and need to know where the story was going. Each character was unlikeable, but I enjoyed it, as well as the dual POV. Overall, very intense read, but I enjoyed it. 3.5 ⭐️

A huge thank you to Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Lucinda Berry for this e-arc. Check out Off The Deep End on its pub date 1/10/23!

Off The Deep End by Lucinda Berry
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub Date Jan 10 2023
This might be triggering for some readers. There’s a lot of tragic moments and situations. Of course Berry’s writing is enthralling and captivating you must get to the end to see how it plays out, but it did kind of fall flat for me and I also needed a question answered.

Thank you for the advanced copy! As I’ve really been enjoying this author, I was so excited to dive into this one!
This book has a lot going on. More and more secrets are revealed about our main characters as we follow the investigation of missing teen Isaac.

We mostly follow two mothers, one who lost her son in an accident, and the other who’s son has now gone missing after previously surviving the mentioned accident. There were quite a few twists throughout, but at times I struggled with the believability of the events or actions taking place in certain moments. Overall, it still kept me hooked and was an enjoyable, fast read!

Loved it! What did I just read? The story definitely turned into something I wasn't expecting. Did I love the characters? Not in the least bit. They were all a bit crazy, some more than others. I kept asking myself- hat is going on? Did Jules kill Isaac? Did Mark kill his son? Was Isaac unlucky enough to survive a car accident and then get kidnapped by the Dog Snatcher? Who pays $75 for laundry detergent? Do the police really believe Jules has something to do with Isaacs disappearance? I mean she lives in a group home for people with mental illness and she's not allowed to leave on her own. Wouldn't people realize if she was missing or hiding a teenager? Why didn't Amber and Mark realize their son wasn't coping well after the accident? They seemed to just make excuses for him and blamed everything on Jules. I would have never guessed the ending. There were so many twists and turns. I was also surprised about what Jules wanted out of her relationship with Isaac. It's safe to say she is still on the crazy train. I couldn't wait to finish the book because I had to know what happened to Isaac and who was involved with his disappearance.

Definitely recommend the book. It's a great mystery/thriller. The story will have you guessing until the very end. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas & Mercer, through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Do you ever finish a book and think holy cow, what did I just read? That was my reaction to this book. This book is creepy, twisted and dark. Nobody delves into the psyche better than Lucinda Berry. I couldn't put this book down, that's how intense it is. Jules is one of those characters that you just can never figure out and I spent the entire book never really figuring out who was to blame for what. I can't recommend this book enough.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I have to say, for two MC who drove me crazy almost the entire time, they sure knew how to keep my attention and keep my guessing as to what is going to happen. I absolutely love reading psychological thrillers by psychologists because I feel like they just know how to get inside the characters minds and their behaviors. I also feel like they just give you more layers to the characters and help you understand their POV because psychologists are so good at seeing things from different perspectives. I thought Berry did such an amazing job with the plot and keeping the reader guessing the entire time and definitely portrayed realistic sessions with the psychologist in the novel. I also feel like as a parent this definitely pulls at your heartstrings the entire time because for most of the novel I was just sitting there thinking about what I would do if I were in either of the MC’s shoes. Overall, I really liked Berry’s writing and cannot wait to pick up more books by her!
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This review will be posted to my Instagram blog (read_betweenthecovers) in the near future!

This book started promising but I felt like it was dragging on for too long without getting anywhere...then quickly everything untangles and it was not what I expected.

Thanks Netgalley, Lucinda Berry, and Thomas & Merced for this ARC.

An engrossing, quick read that kept me hooked until the end. Some disturbing elements of the story may not appeal to all readers, but fans of psychological thrillers should be entertained. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow!! Off the deep end is an explosive thriller!

I have no words to describe what I have just read (especially without any spoilers)….all I can say is that I was hooked from the beginning and when the twists started coming it was unputdownable!

The characters are brilliant, flawed and twisted and you are never sure who is a reliable narrator. This book is addictive!

A fast paced psychological thriller that delves into the minds of traumatised people and asks the questions most people never want to think about.

Stunning! Absolutely 5 stars!

Tragic, Dark, Distressing….
A fatal accident is the catalyst that spurns ever more disaster in this tragic, dark and distressing drama. With only two survivors following a car veering off road into the icy depths of a lake, Jules’ unravelling begins in earnest. A well drawn cast of characters populate a tense plotline, keenly observed emotions abound as the storyline becomes further complex, shocking and disturbing.

This was my second Lucinda Berry book, the first being In Her Care. While I enjoyed this book and will read more by this author, I didn’t love it. Lucinda managed to make you feel invested in a bunch of characters who are very unlikable. As someone who also works in the mental health field and has experience with working with trauma and PTSD, I thought that the authors portrayal of this was very realistic and the characters complex, layered and deep. My biggest dislike was the final third of the book and ultimately the big twist felt like it came out of left field and like I had picked up a different book. I really liked this direction the book went in but I wished that it had been hinted at a little earlier in the story. For the most part, I enjoyed reading about the character of Jules whose sections are told through interview style. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

This book was surprisingly good. A therapist, grieving and breaking down after her son dies in an car accident where she was driving. She almost dies, she ends up mistakenly saving another boy. This is told in alternating perspective, of the therapist and her therapy sessions as the boy has now disappeared. And told in the perspective of the mother of the other boy as her grieving teenage son gets "too close" to the therapist and then disappears, feared kidnapped by a serial killer. Lots of family dynamics and insights as this book builds to a tense conclusion. 4.5 thought provoking

I loved it! It’s unexpected and so incredibly addicting! I always love the psychological aspect of her books. Kinda a slow burn, but in the best way because it builds and builds and we learn more as it goes. And then it’s “don’t talk to me, I have to read this book until it’s done!” My favorite chs are when Jules is talking to Dr. Stephens. They switch back and forth from Amber to Jules. Amber is the mom of teen boy that’s gone missing.