I love young adult mystery thrillers. This one had a lot of twists and turns I didn’t see coming, and I loved the mysterious aspect.

Welcome Back!

It’s been a busy start to the new year so far and with that, I have completed a lot of reading! I am still catching up on a few reviews from the very end of last year (I am thinking I might go back to my old system of cutting my reading year off at a certain point and then starting to count books for the next year, as sometimes the previous year’s reads pile up with the holidays and whatnot). But today, we are going to talk about Lying in the Deep. A book I pre-ordered and was incredibly excited about.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Jade is doing a semester at sea type of situation, she will be traveling on a large cruise ship to several different countries and it is coming at the perfect time because she just broke up with her boyfriend who cheated on her with her now ex-best friend. Now she is on the cruise but someone else is too, her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend. This cruise has turned from a break from reality to a nightmare quickly. But now on top of her own personal nightmare, someone has fallen overboard on the cruise. What if they can not be found? Did someone push them?

I really really wanted to have fun with this book. I was on such a murder mystery/thriller kick and this book was just not it for me. I felt like the main character was a bit whiny and did not really investigate things as far as she could/should have. Additionally, the story/mystery was not much of a mystery and the twists and turns went in weird directions. I do have two other books by this author on my shelf that I am very excited to try but in the meantime, I will be listing this book on my Pango!

Goodreads Rating: 1 Star

This was a fun YA thriller whodunnit set aboard a cruise ship. It was atmospherically well done, especially the excursions. This reminded me a bit of Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie but with teens.

A YA mystery with a cool setting! This book takes place on an ocean liner, which is a really good setting for an isolated mystery. However, the characters spent very little time on the ship in the first half of the book, which I found weird and pretty slow. The unfolding mystery was pretty cool (a little went over my head), and for the most part, I liked the budding romance. I'm definitely looking forward to this author's next book, however!

Thank you to Netgalley and Razorbill for sending me a copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

Where to start with this book?? I'm so conflicted about the entire thing. It was like a wreck that I couldn't look away from. Not sure if I was so pulled into it simply because of the mystery of it or the actual content. The MC Jade was highly unlikable to me, and almost everything she did seemed like something that a normal human wouldn't do? She was over the top about her ex and her ex-bestie, she was constantly making a mess of things, and she just generally only cared about herself?

But then the plot itself kept taking such wild twists that it kept me wanting to know what would happen next? I loved the idea of mystery on a ship and the way that new locations continually added things to it. It did keep me guessing who was actually behind everything, but the fact that I had guessed a large part of it early on really set me off.

I have no idea how I feel, but I definitely sped through it? Take that however you will?

while yes a little bit predictable the mystery part of the novel was fun, on the other hand the characters were just plain annoying

This honestly was a wild ride. I thought the plot was super fast pace and compeling and all the twists and turns were very hard to predict but i did not feel that connected to the characters!!

This was a creepy and amazing thriller. I loved the twists and turns throughout the book. This was a great read and if you're looking for a thriller, I highly recommend this one!

Jade was excited to embark on a new adventure in 11 countries in 4 days, especially with everything that has been going on in her life lately! However, her excitement is short-lived with her ex-best friend and ex-boyfriend going on the cruise as well. While she is angry and her anger festers within her because of the backstabbing duo and unexpected murder happens and then more people begin to die and she is under pressure with a new friend to find out who committed the murders to clear her name!
Wow! I loved the adventure and I loved the mystery aspect! The author did soo well! I bought a copy for my daughter for Christman and I know she will love it too! The mystery the chills and everything in between! Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group for the opportunity to read and review this one! It was a treat!

While a lot of this book feels so unbelievable, it is still so action packed with mystery and kept me reading without (mostly) stopping until the end.

Jade had been broken up through text by her former BF Silas and he's with her former BFF Lainey now. Lainey and Jade had signed up for a semester aboard a cruise ship and Jade still goes. Not expecting the two formers to be there too. Now she can't avoid them and they accuse Jade of stalking. Then it seems Lainey is killed.

When things unravel and get revealed, I felt myself thinking "really? How could this elaborate scene actually come to pass?" and the ending I just hated.

A thrilling book that kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat. An absolute delight to read!
It felt fast paced, with tridimensional characters that really shine.
I found the dialogue witty and delightful, and the end was nothing short of shocking.
I truly recommend this book.

I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. The downfall was that I requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before the book was archived. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it!

SYNOPSIS: After a fallout with her best friend... and ex boyfriend... Jade is ready for a semester at sea, to let the waves drown out her problems and quite literally escape from it all. Until both her ex-bestie, and ex-boy, turn up for the school's cruise, meaning she is forced to run into them day after day. As tensions rise, and hostility is at an all time pair between this trio... when a classmate turns up dead, everyone is ready to point fingers.

MY FEELS: I love a good ol' whodunnit, and this book has you guessing and pointing fingers as you read- with twists and turns that are truly unpredictable. It never got too creepy or intense, thanks to it being YA (phew), but stayed lighthearted and mysterious throughout the book. I'll keep this spoiler free, but let me just say... if you think you've figured it out by the end... you're probably wrong.

5/5 Stars - such a fun read! I wish I could go back and read it for the first time.

[Gifted by Razorbill / Penguin Teen & Netgalley - thank you! All opinions are my own.]

This book makes me not want to get on a boat anytime soon it freaked me out in the best way possible.

This was easily my favorite of Diana Urban’s books. It was twisty and sneaky and full of lies, betrayal, and it all took place on a cruise ship! Somewhere I now never want to go! I will say this one is 1000% better on audio, the narrator is great and she brings the book to life spectacularly!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book kept me on the edge of my seat! I love Urban's writing style because of how it engages me from page one. Books that are fast-paced are definite wins in my book, and I think the pacing was perfect for the story that was being told. A semester at sea is such a cool setting, and I am looking forward to see what Urban does in her future books!

Well, that was a fun read. First of all, I loved the idea of the campus on board, but that might just be me because I do have an obsession with boats. But it was the perfect setting for this book.
I really liked the cast of characters and I wished their stories would've been explored a little bit more as in the end I felt like some of the relationships were a bit rushed.
As for the mystery part, you'll probably think you can guess who it was but then there's a second twist which I really liked. Once again I felt like the conclusion of the story was a bit rushed, but on the other hand I really liked the fast pace of the book.
Would recommend if you're trying to get into mystery books or just for a fun time, especially around Halloween!

It took me a while to get to this book, but I ended up really liking it! It was a fun, palate-cleansing YA thriller. I had read the synopsis and thought the book was for me, and luckily I was right. I loved the setting of the book especially. I would happily read more by this author.

I've seen people compare this to Death on the Nile and while I do agree with that slightly, I don't think it was quite up to snuff with that. The premise was fun and I did enjoy the mystery but overall I was a little bored and thought it dragged at points.

Was so excited for this one but it just didn't do it. I love YA but I really had a hard time with these characters. Also felt very unrealistic and that there were some things just thrown in randomly that I had a hard time even understanding. Meth for example? Huh?