This was a slow burn mystery aboard a cruise ship, and when I say slow burn, I mean a slow burn. It didn’t really work for me as far as any character development, and I didn’t connect with any of the characters. It was a decent storyline and the twist was pretty nice.

Once again I’m thinking YA thrillers are not for me anymore, this is yet another one I had to Dnf.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers for giving me this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was such an interesting read! Those We Drown was about two friends who apply to go on a semester on the sea together, but when one goes missing, the other must find out what happened to him. I found the main character, Liv, to be really compelling and interesting. Her panic was real, and it was just as frustrating for me that no one would listen to her as it was for her. I never knew who I could trust outside of Liv, which made the whole plot that much more engaging.

I did struggle with the ending, as there were a few plot points that were built up but never answered. I found the ambiguous ending to be intriguing, though, and I was definitely dying for more even though I knew I wouldn't get it. I really enjoyed this read overall and would definitely try more of Goldsmith's books!

When Liv secures a remarkable opportunity to study abroad on the luxury cruise ship, The Eos, for a semester with all expenses covered, she can hardly believe her good fortune. The prospect becomes even more enticing as it promises a chance to reconnect with Will, her former best friend, who has distanced himself since a pivotal night altered their friendship forever.

However, as Liv steps onto the ship, she quickly realizes the magnitude of the challenge ahead. Her interactions with Will and her fellow Semester students, including the enigmatic Constantine with potential ties to The Eos, prove more complex than anticipated. The presence of the Sirens, three glamorous and mysterious influencers with apparent control over the ship, adds another layer of intrigue.

While this young adult horror story offers a delightful and entertaining experience, its mature themes may resonate more with an older audience. The writing and storytelling exhibit excellence and Liv emerges as a dynamic character, occasionally inducing anxiety with her teenage impulsiveness—a trait that aligns with her limited life experience. The visual portrayal of the creatures is both terrifying and fitting for the eerie oceanic setting. Each character is intricately detailed, contributing to the story's richness.

The narrative deserved a five-star rating but encounters a hiccup in the final chapter. While not inherently unfavourable, the ending prompts questions about the author's approach to concluding the story, creating a slight ambiguity that left me thinking.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book was completely hooked from the first page and couldn't put it down definitely recommend

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!

The central question of Those We Drown becomes "what would happen if we get what we want?" In this locked room mystery thriller, Those We Drown has an immediate sense of disease. Is it just me or would going on a boat be terrifying? There's something primordial about the sea, the danger hiding just underneath the waves. And Those We Drown emphasizes these whispering siren calls, the eeriness of darkness on unsettled waves.

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. She won a scholarship to go on a prestigious cruise with her rich best friend. And what turns out to be a privileged group of other students. She immediately feels uncomfortable. Then her best friend and her get in a fight - he disappears, and she cannot find him. Then weird things start to happen. Who do you trust when you don’t really know anyone. This book has so many twists and turns it had me guessing until the end. Amazing writing. Would highly recommend. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I started this but the drama got a little out of hand for me. I stopped reading about 50% in.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

The book is a great YA title that reads like Agatha Christie for teens with some supernatural spooky sea shenanigans mixed in.

This young adult horror story offers an engaging and entertaining read that may resonate with a more mature audience. The narrative is skillfully crafted, drawing readers into the unsettling world of Liv, a quiet and insecure teenager who embarks on a semester-long cruise aboard the Eos, along with a group of scholarship recipients from diverse backgrounds.

Liv's self-consciousness heightens when she encounters her stunningly beautiful and ultra-wealthy travel companions. The cruise allows them to drink alcohol despite being underage, leading to a heated argument between Liv and her best friend, Will. The night takes a dark turn when Will becomes violently ill and is quarantined without explanation.

As Liv tries to connect with others in the group, she can't shake off her concern for Will. She also begins to notice something profoundly eerie about the ship's guests. They all appear to be elderly, which adds to the sense of wrongness that pervades the cruise. Liv's daydreams and nightmares take disturbing turns, as she believes she sees strange creatures disguised as humans, experiences nightmarish visions, and questions her sanity.

Liv's predicament becomes increasingly dire as she struggles to find answers about Will and the mysterious happenings on the ship. She feels threatened by unknown forces and is driven to uncover a sinister plot that may endanger the lives of her entire group. The story's suspense and eerie atmosphere keep readers on edge as they follow Liv's journey through the unknown.

Liv's character is well-crafted, and her teenage impulsivity and chaos-driven decisions are portrayed realistically. The author, Amy Goldsmith, excels in describing the terrifying visual aspects of the creatures, making them truly unsettling. The characters are fully developed and expressive, and Goldsmith's storytelling creativity shines through.

Humor is cleverly interwoven into the story to provide relief from the most intense and frightening situations. "Eos" is a well-executed horror novel with a strong infusion of science fiction elements. While it may not be for everyone due to its intense and shocking nature, it comes highly recommended for readers interested in horror, particularly with teenagers as central characters in an intricate and suspenseful narrative. Amy Goldsmith's talent for storytelling ensures a memorable reading experience, and readers may find themselves eagerly anticipating her future works.

Sad to report that I wasn't a big fan of this one. I have seen that reviews have been pretty middle of the road so I went into this knowing not to get my hopes up too high. I'm a huge fan of water-based stories, especially water-based horror.

I had so many complaints with this one. The characters weren't really well rounded in my opinion. Most of them were pretty one-dimensional and I didn't feel like we really got to know any of them, including the main character. All we know is that she's anxious and that she loves her friend Will.

I also thought the book was irritating with how obvious some of the situations were and how the characters talked and came across. The main character just listened to anything they said and ran with it for the most part.

Also, a BIG logical factor that killed it for me was the entire point of the cruise was to be some kind of educational trip. There was not a SINGLE educational part of this book. At all. Once the setup for why they were on the ship was discussed, there were no longer any educational mentionings except the occasional topic of the main character's scholarship and future opportunities. But yet not a single educational program or class or anything happened.

& to top it all off... I wasn't a fan of the ending either. It was left pretty open to imagination and theory as to what happened with everyone left in the book. After waiting so long for the final reveal to happen I was kind of just looking for something to wrap up but...never did.

I enjoyed reading this book. The story was suspenseful and you want to keep reading until finished. Ya fans will definitely enjoy this book.

This fast-paced limited space mystery/thriller had me sucked in immediately. Mysterious disappearances while stuck on a cruise ship, yes please.

3.75 ⭐️

Things I Liked
The Pacing
This read felt more on the fast paced side to me. I liked how quickly it picked up and how it throws you into the first missing character mystery almost immediately. I felt they the plot moved along pretty quickly, which is what I generally like to read in a mystery/thriller.

The Characters
Were these characters relatable to me personally? Absolutely not. But I found my self enjoying reading about them and getting just the right amount of frustrated with their character flaws and how these flaws made them act in unhelpful ways.

Things I Didn’t Love
The Modern Influencer Character Background
I realize that the trendy influencer background is a main character point of this book, and that these characters are intended to be annoyingly unrelatable, but sometimes I was just too annoyed with them. I would have perhaps liked the influencer aspect toned down a bit, but overall it didn’t dissuade me too much from the rest of the book.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this book for a spooky October read.

Thanks NetGalley and Random House, Delacorte Press for the ARC of this book.

It's rare that a book can make you feel claustrophobic with anticipation but Those We Drown definitely achieves this! I thought the setting and suspense elements were excellent, but this book stalled for me in the plot and character development somewhat. I wanted to find out what was going on, but at the same time, I didn't find Liv to be all that exciting. Still a fun read for those with middle-of-the-ocean anxieties as it will definitely play on that!

I generally really seem to like books that are set on cruise ships, especially when it's a book that is meant to have creepy vibes so I thought this was going to be a perfect read. Only I really didn't end up enjoying it at all.

The characters in this book were all pretty much horrible and they were also incredibly stupid, which made it hard for me to have any sympathy for them. The creepy vibes were more cheesy than actually creepy. And I just generally did not enjoy the experience of reading this book, to the point that I am writing this review about six weeks after reading it because I forgot to review and, at this point, I've also forgotten most of the book.

Overall I would not recommend Those We Drown unless someone very specifically just wanted a book set at sea and this was one of the options I had available.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

THOSE WE DROWN by Amy Goldsmith is a solid debut YA fantasy horror novel. It pulled me in from the synopsis because I will do anything for horror at sea! And the cover is STUNNING! There were parts of this, however, that put out more MG vibes than YA vibes. The horror and eerie factors never fully went all the way for me. And there was quite a bit of angsty chitter chatter on repeat. Those are not necessarily faults in any story, but they just put off a little more immature YA vibe than I had hoped for.

BUT, back to the plot and our main character. The plot was a cool premise as it followed two teens on a SeaMester (a semester at sea program). It had a lot of "classism" battles going on as there were clearly some rich kids on the program with them. And our MC starts off pretty cool to me, but the first night at a party and a fight with her best friend she slowly unravels into a little mess. And I kept getting the impression I am supposed to think she's smart, but she makes dumb decision after the other and she believes just about any excuse thrown her way. I don't buy it.

But I still coasted through this story and found it to be a pretty charming YA debut. I will be on the lookout for more from the author and I hope all my sea-loving reader friends enjoy this one!

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- a solid debut of a horror novel, about deep sea horrors and what hides in the broad daylight. it wasn't the most engaging at times, and the characters felt inconsistent, but i still enjoyed the novel.

Those we drown is a terrifying and haunting debut by Amy Goldsmith, I found it to be creepy and eerie from the start. The plot was gripping and the characters will keep you coming back for more.