The Deepest Lake was such a good book!! I actually wished for it and forgot all about it, I never get any wishes granted!! to say that this was a very pleasant surprise is an understatement!! I loved the dual timeline, discovering what had happened whilst learning about the current timeline. Totally recommend this book!!!

Thank you NetGalley and Soho Press for the copy of The Deepest Lake by Andromeda Romano-Lax. I loved the description of this book but I had no idea what to expect because this is a new author for me. I really like the dual POVs. Sometimes it feels like an author just uses dual POVs because it’s so ubiquitous these days, but in this book it really added tension to the story. I liked how Jules and Rose’s stories worked together to paint a picture of life at the retreat/memoir writing seminar. It wasn’t clear how the coaching method fit in or advanced the story, but it *was* interesting. The ‘coaching’ felt like driving by an accident; you don't want to look but you can’t help yourself. The book was set up to be a great story, but the big reveal of why Eve was so interested in and hired Jules didn’t really make sense or ring true. The book never regained its momentum after the reveal and I started to lose interest, and the conclusion was even more of an anticlimax. Even so, I enjoyed most of the book, so if you like a mesmerizing read, you should give this one a try, especially if you love a surprise ending.

The description of this book drew me right in. A disappearance. A high end writers retreat. A successful writer that almost has a cult following. The charm and mystery of Guatemala. All the potential was there but it just didn’t fulfill its promise.

Eva Marshall is a well known memoirist who runs writing workshops in a town near Guatemala’s deepest lake, Lake Atitlan. Jules is a young woman at loose ends. She wants to be a writer but has decided not to submit her applications to graduate school for an MFA quite yet. She has issues with her family, loving as they may be, and feels travel will help her figure out who she is and what comes next. Maybe it will give her something to write about. She wangles a job working as Eva’s assistant in running these famous, pricey workshops with the added promise of getting some writing critique on her own work. This is a big win for her since she has idolized Eva’s work since she was a teenager.

Eva is, of course, not who everyone thinks she is and the depth of her lies, deception, and fraud become apparent to Jules almost right away. We know from the beginning that something terrible has happened to her and the book, at a creeping pace, reveals the mystery.

The book opens with a taste of a drowning.. Jules disappears and after a 3-month police ‘investigation,’ the only conclusion they reach is she probably drowned. Her parents don’t know what happened, no body is found, and her mother, Rose, is troubled by the fact that Jules is afraid of the water. Why would she go out in a boat at night?

Out of grief and desperation, Rose, decides to take the writing workshop and probe the mystery of her missing daughter. This is a big leap for her, and the best part of this book is how she finds her way through whatever insecurities have plagued her through her life and does what she has to do to find answers. Nothing will stop her from finding the truth.

Eva is a nut job. The way she conducted her workshops and how she treated her participants were unbelievable. She could have been the villain without the repeated humiliations foisted upon her vulnerable participants. It seemed that everyone in the story was either so emotionally damaged they would be willing to put up with any kind of abuse or would as blind followers commit crimes, both large and small, on her behalf.

The ending was unsatisfying. While we have the answers we need, the very last of it seemed unreasonable. All the moving parts were there for a great story but it just didn’t happen. Too repetitive. Too many characters thrown in. In its favor, the atmosphere and descriptions of the town and its culture were a plus.


Many thanks to Netgalley and Soho Press for the opportunity to read this book and allow me to give an honest review.

The Deepest Lake was a thriller with an interesting twist, dual timelines and much detail. The story follows a mother determined to find answers about her daughter that’s gone missing in a foreign country. The book gave off major Mean Girls vibes - but with grown women on a fancy writing retreat, keeping it interesting and also very much relatable in the real world. It showcased mean women while also showing supportive women at the same time, The beginning was full of detail, and while setting up the story is quite important, I felt as though it could’ve been done much more succinctly. The second half of the book was significantly more fast paced and kept my attention. I’m glad I stuck through the beginning of the book to make it to the ending, because it wasn’t at all what I expected to happen in the end.

I felt intrigued from the start and needed to devour this book immediately. My interest seemed to dwindle at the end and I found myself looking at the page count wondering how the book could wrap up. If you love suspense and mystery, you are in for a treat. If you enjoy relationship driven reading, this is definitely worth your time. I could even read spinoff books about the other characters; that's how much I thought about some of their back stories.

THE DEEPEST LAKE is a well-crafted suspense novel that kept me turning the pages. The premise is immediately engaging as a mother goes undercover to find out what happened to her daughter. The writing retreat aspect is fun; of course, I had to wonder if the author based it on Joyce Maynard's retreats or similar ones. As a writer myself, I thought the retreat came across as realistic. The pacing of the story is good -- the beginning contains set-up and then things move more quickly. I thoroughly enjoyed the way the story wrapped up as well. Highly recommended for fans of suspense novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary e-galley. All opinions in this review are my own.

The Deepest Lake was a thriller with an interesting twist, dual timelines and much detail. The story follows a mother determined to find answers about her daughter that’s gone missing in a foreign country. The book gave off major Mean Girls vibes - but with grown women on a fancy writing retreat, keeping it interesting and also very much relatable in the real world. It showcased mean women while also showing supportive women at the same time, The beginning was full of detail, and while setting up the story is quite important, I felt as though it could’ve been done much more succinctly. The second half of the book was significantly more fast paced and kept my attention. I’m glad I stuck through the beginning of the book to make it to the ending, because it wasn’t at all what I expected to happen in the end.

The Deepest Lake is set in a lovely location at a retreat for writers.
When Rose's daughter drowns while at the retreat, she goes undercover to find the reason her daughter died. That she died in the water was bizarre given that she was afraid of the water.

Rose goes to the retreat only to find a world of secrets and the possibility that the place pushes writers to a dark place.

Not what I was expecting but it was still good. And I liked that. 3 stars all around. Good but not amazing.

Thanos to NetGalley and SoHoPress forbthe opportunity to rrad The Deeprst Lake by Andromedta Romano-Lax. This was a very suspenseful, compelling novel. I enjoyed the writing and found the characters to be believable. This is an author I'll be interested in keeping up with.