ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I sort of struggled to find my feet with this book.

The first one hundred pages or so were really interesting and I enjoyed the pacing of it but if I'm being honest, In Deeper Waters didn't grab me as much as the other books I've read earlier this year.

In Deeper Waters is the second book I've read by F.T Lukens. I've read Spell Bound last year and it ended up being one of my favourite books of 2023. I was very excited to read In Deeper Waters as I find F.T writes very light-hearted books that honestly feel like a comfort read. Besides, I've had In Deeper Waters on my TBR for a very long time.

I enjoyed the start of the book as I already mentioned however, it was mainly after Tal's kidnapping (not a spoiler this is in the blurb) that I found myself starting to lose interest. At the start, I wasn't very sold on Tal's and Athlen's relationship but as the book progressed and I started to find my feet in the story, I started shipping them together more.

I think the main issue I had with the book was with its plot. It felt like it tied things up too smoothly and without too much hassle considering all the trouble Tal's been through. I wish the ending was a little more high stakes than it was but overall, this was a nice lighthearted read.

ACTUAL RATING: 3.2 STARS

I absolutely love the rep in this, but in general didn't love the story as much as I was expecting to. Maybe I'd had too many high expectations which is why this disappointed me a little. Overall, a decent read.

What if The Little Mermaid met a twist on Frozen? What if that Disney romance was a merman and a Prince with secret fire?

Wonder no longer.

I read the author's other book "So This Is Ever After" first which I loved. So when I saw this one available on NetGalley I was so excited to be able to read this one too. I loved it just as much and might need to get myself a hard copy to add to my collection. I loved Tal and Athlen's relationship and how it was portrayed. I appreciated that there was insta-attraction but not insta-love which I really dislike seeing in YA books. There were a lot of topics that weren't always fully explored like you might see in other books but they also weren't glossed over either. It definitely felt like anything which was included was there for a purpose and done in a way to support authentic representation of these topics without preaching or pandering to the stereotypical. Overall, a great read!

This was a NetGalley read.

I really enjoy F.T. Luken's books, and this one is absolutely amazing. We follow Tal, fourth child of the Queen, as he gets ready to embark on his royal tour now he's 16, after spending his life sequestered in the castle due to his secret magic. The tour usually involves a lot of debauchery and shenanigans, but not 24 hours in and things are already going pear shaped!

I loved the relationships Tal had with the main people in his life - the love and affection his family has for each other was so sweet. I also loved the relationship he developed with Athlen, who had secrets of his own, and I especially liked how organic it felt. The action was fast paced, the mystery was intriguing, and I loved the book so much that when I picked it up to read the first chapter, I didn't put it back down again until I was 30% through! The ending was also very satisfying, and I thought the whole thing flowed really well - you could tell it was inspired by The Little Mermaid, but it had it's own unique points that made it special.

I thought it was a brilliant queer fantasy retelling of The Little Mermaid, and would recommend it to anyone who loves retellings. F.T. Lukens is definitely an auto buy author for me now.

In Deeper Waters 🌊🧜☠️🔥 by @ftlukens. I really loved this book! I know I have been told that I say I love all the books I post but this one I did enjoy a lot. ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨.
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Thank you to @netgalley
and @simonandschuster
for providing me with a copy for review. This is a truly beautiful cover and I found myself looking at it a lot during this read.
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Tal is lovely and Athlen is fun. Together they are so cute. They could do some truly magical things together. I basically want this to be the start of a five (or more, let's not cap ourselves) book series. I would love some more time to see Tal and Athlen be able to be in love.
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What I appreciated so much about this book was I was never confused about the world and what was occurring. It was essentially a middle-ages fantasy with its own set of magic and kingdoms but I was never lost.