Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC of ‘Under the Surface’. This was my first book by Diana Urban. What initially grabbed my interest in this novel is the setting of the Paris Catacombs. I think the catacombs are so interesting. It’s amazing there’s this secret world under the surface of Paris. Even though this is a fictional story, it is based on events that have really taken place in the catacombs, like people getting lost and dying down there. For the first half of this book it absolutely reads like a YA romance. I ALMOST DNFed, but I’m glad I didn’t. Once half way through, things take a turn that I was not expecting given the structure of the first half. I think the events that transpire make this novel more of how I thought it would be. (Trying not to spoil anything here). Parts definitely seem unrealistic, although given the nature of the real life Catacombs, the impossible is possible. Gave this novel a 4/5 for the awesome concept and the turn it takes.

"Anyone I trust betrays me. Any mistake I make, they give up on me. Now the person who promised me adventure took us deep into a dark abyss and left us to rot."

Special thanks to @penguinteen @dianaurban and @netgalley for the #gifted eARC.

👉🏼 swipe for synopsis ➡️

MY REVIEW:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this YA romantic thriller. I'd say it's more thriller than romance, but it's definitely got love at its core. It even had some quick witted comedic lines from a few characters that I loved and had me chuckling throughout my read.
This is told in dual POVs and I kind of wish there were other characters POVs to round out the whole feel.
The twists will make you say WHAAAAAA. I even yelled NOOOOOO a few times because they were ..... soooo......close......

This book resonated with me because I've hit a few bumps lately with some friends and it shows that communication is key! Always! No matter how scarey the situation. Also, be honest! I know it sucks, especially when it makes you super vulnerable, but I loved how Ruby finally understood the quote, “Confrontation isn’t bad. It can stamp out the bad in someone before it’s too late.”. That really stuck with me, because I see alot of myself in Ruby.

Anyways. Even though this is YA, I thought it was super fun, very suspenseful, and I couldn't put it down! It gave me little happy butterflies inside at the end and I think I even said awww ... lol

Preorder this on ASAP!

PUB DAY:
Aug, 13, 2024


QOTD ❓️⁉️❓️ Did you ever get to go on a long distance class trip, in any grade of achool - and where/why?

AOTD - I went to few places for like 4 days every year with my private school on class trips , that we got to tour stuff and we're literally just for fun, no learning involved.

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#mysteryandthrills #yathriller #romanticthriller #penguinteen #underthesurface #dianaurban #netgalley #bookbuzz #upcomingthriller #thrillerlover #thrilleraddict
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I love this book so much! This was not my favourite Diana Urban book, but I still enjoyed a lot! I loved the tense scenes of the girls lost in the catacombs, and I loved the chapters in Sean's perspective and seeing his feelings for Ruby the more he realized she was missing and how he was desperate to find her!

“𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑰𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒏 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔. 𝑰𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆.”
5 stars ✩

𖤓 ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

under the surface is about a group of teenagers who are on a school trip to france. on a whim, they decide to go to a party deep in the catacombs of paris. however, when they arrive at the catacombs things are not at all what they expected, and in a frenzy they end up getting lost. struggling to escape the catacombs and find their way home, the plot twists and turns around these main characters as they fumble through the city of light in the darkness.

at no point at all did i know what was going to happen in this book. this was one of my most anticipated books of 2024 and it delivered. so let’s get into the review, shall we?

🥾🪨🌟🤿🗺️🚧⏳


characters:

ruby: our fmc, i loved her personality so much. i felt like i could really relate to her when she was struggling with confronting others when she felt upset. she was such a sweet character and the writing was so detailed it felt as if i knew her. i also loved how her character developed throughout the book.

sean: the main love interest, he was written well, but he didn’t get a lot of chapters in the book since he and ruby were separated for the most part.
⤑ a quote from him i liked: “I’d listen to anything she has to say, really.” <33

val: ruby’s best friend, i did not like her. she was so impulsive and made SO many bad decisions at the expense of ruby. but she was written well because i don’t think we were supposed to like her anyway.

julien: the tour guide, i love julien’s character so much but i wish we had gotten more about him in the epilogue.

criticisms:
my <u>only</u> criticism about this book is that i wish the epilogue was longer. i wanted to know what happened to more of the characters than what was covered, considering we followed them throughout so much of the book.

other notes:
- i LOVED the writing style so much. it felt so realistic and the way everything was written, even the resolution, was so realistic and creepy.

- the atmosphere was horrifying and the descriptions were as well, like what. the words the author used were perfectly put together.

- it was good practice for my french speaking and reading!!

- the plot was perfect i loved it even though it was sad, but everything seemed very well thought out and placed together to make a cohesive plot.

- intrigue was AMAZING i think i finished this book in like 2 or 3 sittings and i was constantly thinking about it when i wasn’t reading.

- i loved this book SO SO SO much. it was exactly what i was hoping for.


quotes:
“We only have this one life, this one shot to go after our dreams.”

“The future doesn’t seem limitless- neither of us are invincible, and there are no guarantees- but it exists past this moment. And I’ll make the most of every moment we get.”

“ ‘I was wrong. It’s not all for nothing. We’re more than a pile of bones.’ We’re this moment. And the last. And every memory we’ve ever made. Every recording. Every note. Everything we’ve created and the lives we’ve touched. We’re our choices, our bravery, our sacrifices. We’re forgiveness and strength and the tears we’ve shed. We’re the friendships we’ve built and the love we’ve shared. Time might go on without us and our cells might wither to dust, but that doesn’t diminish our existence. We all leave a mark on this world.”

“I hope they know, somehow, that the entire planet is rooting for them to survive.”

“‘I want to see that infinite expanse with nothing in the way. To be one step closer to the absolute unknown.’”

“You never think lightning is going to strike twice until it does.”

“His towering athletic stature, broad shoulders, faded buzz cut, chiseled cheekbones, and perpetually furrowed brows sure make it easy to picture him in uniform. And picture it I do. Often.” REALLLLL

“The end of everything is inevitable, but I won’t let it stop me from living.”

thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. all opinions here are my own!
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𝙥𝙧𝙚-𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙·˚ ༘
got approved for the arc today!! can’t wait to read this one

I knew from the moment I saw this cover that this was gonna be a banger.

And holy cow was it.

Sean and Ruby were so cute together and I’m so glad things worked out for them. Sean seems like a golden retriever type with a bit of German shepherd (as seen near the end) and I was here for it. It sucks how some of the things ended up, but I really did enjoy this.

BOOK REVIEW

Under The Surface
By Diana Urban

Plot: When Ruby’s best friend sneaks out the first night of their senior trip to Paris to meet a  mysterious French boy, Ruby goes after her with two classmates, but caves to another temptation: attending mystery boy’s exclusive party in the Paris catacombs, the intricate web of tunnels beneath the city, home to six million long-dead Parisians. Only they never reach the party.

Underground, as something sinister chases them, they get lost in the endless maze of bones, uncovering dark secrets about the catacombs…..and each other. And if they can’t find a way out, they’ll die in the dark beneath the City of Light. 

Aboveground, her boyfriend Sean races to find the girl he loves as a media frenzy over the four missing teens begins.

Review: I loved this book! Diana Urban brings us a well-research, intensely claustrophobic, and equally terrorizing thriller set in the most bizarre location, the Paris Catacombs. It was not my normal thriller as it was tailor perhaps more towards a younger adult, given the age of our characters but overall this was a solid read. I found myself feeling “creeped out” at just the thought of spending an hour guided tour in the catacombs, let along lost in the vast labrynth for days. It was engaging and exciting from page one and held my attention. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun, fast-paced, engaging read! 

For those who read it, the water scene had me holding my breath and shedding some tears.

Under The Surface is out August 13th, 2024! Thank you to Diana Urban, Penguin Group, and NetGalley for an ARC copy of Under The Surface in exchange for my honest review!

Initially I had thought this was a horror novel about the Paris catacombs, possibly even paranormal horror, which had me excited. When I looked deeper after I got an arc, not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed when I found out it’s actually just a thriller. But a book doesn’t have to be supernatural to be gripping and scary and I do enjoy a good thriller, so I still had high hopes!

The synopsis is pretty to the point; a group of teens visiting Paris go into the catacombs for the promise of a secret party and end up getting lost. While trying to find their way out, they are being stalked by a group of people in masks, a possible underground cult. I was expecting something similar to The Descent or somewhere in that realm, and this actually was somewhat like that, but a YA version and much, much lighter. I think what kept this from being scarier was that the villains just weren’t convincing to me. The people in masks never feel very threatening because aside from the fact that there’s strangers wearing a mask that’s, they don’t say or do anything else. There was so much potential to make them scarier, even down to better describing scary features they have and what they wear. Aside from just, they’re wearing a skeleton mask and carry knives. There was so much potential to make these villains feel more scary and threatening but you aren’t told anything more about them. There was a chance to be more descriptive about them, what’s their expression like, their stance; there’s just ways to make them feel like more than a cartoon villain. Masked assailants on film may be enough to come off as scary but in book form, they have to have somewhat of more than a description of knife wielding mask assailant to be convincing. This just felt distant and cartoony. You learn more near the end but by then it’s too late to make it gripping if the villains feel cartoonish for all of it until the end.

I was expecting this to be a gripping and claustrophobic read, but I just found most of it felt anticlimactic. But, I really did enjoy the ending though, enough to consider giving this 4 stars! Mehhh first 80% percent but solid last 20%.

Thank you to Netgalley and GP Putnam for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year! A YA thriller set in the catacombs of Paris, this one is The Descent but make it French. I loved the claustrophobic, sinister vibes of the off-limits catacombs and our main character Ruby's introspection about death and what we leave behind. I wasn't a fan of all the boy drama and pitting the girls against each other (give me more creepy tunnels and less bad communication please) but it did feel realistic for the age range. Sean didn't have very much to do in this book, but it was interesting seeing what was going on aboveground while Ruby and co. were running amok underground. Some of the dialogue is a bit cringey (and the French has some mistakes, but I did read an ARC so this might be changed in the final copy) but all in all I couldn't put it down and I would probably reread it. A really fun and surprisingly emotional thriller that I would have loved as a teenager.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Awesome book for YA that explores the underground of Paris - the catacombs that you may have heard of but know little about.

In Under the Surface, Ruby is on her first international trip, to France! She isn't sure if it's a good idea to break some of the rules with her friends and before she knows it, she is underground. At Night. And lost

I didn't necessarily believe everything that lead up to the underground portion but I enjoyed reading that portion very much. If you are a YA fan, A France Fan, or an urban legend fan, this is a book for you! #penguin #underthesurface #dianaurban

If you’re craving another horror/thriller like As Above So Below, where the characters make actually competent decisions, boy oh boy do I have a book for you.

See: Under the Surface, in which a group of teenage girls on their school’s Paris trip get lost in the catacombs and can’t find their way out.

The premise honestly sells this book short in how fleshed out and well written it is. Not only does it keep you on your toes, but UNDER THE SURFACE does a spectacular job at examining friendships, complex female characters, and first loves.

There wasn’t one moment reading this where I felt bored or wanted to scream at the characters for making poor decisions. My biggest crux when it comes to the horror/thriller genre is when the police aren’t doing their jobs and/or when the characters lack critical thinking; both of which thankfully did NOT happen in the entirety of this book.

As an almost cherry on top, there were moments that reminded me of Bodies Bodies Bodies, but also an air of creepiness and mystery similar to the one found in Midsommar.

In short, this was basically a mish mash of all my favorite things ever.

My deepest thanks to NetGalley, Diana Urban, and Penguin/G. P. Putnam for providing a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thrilling. Exciting. Terrifying. I liked this book!
Ever since I saw one of the authors excellent teaser videos on insta a few months ago I have been thinking about this book. Every time she posts I get excited all over it again. Imagine my delight when I got approved for a netgalley of it a few months before I thought I would get to read it!!
It took me a few more chapters than it usually takes me to understand exactly who all the characters were (I kept confusing all the things Selena, Olivia, And Lav and were doing/ saying) but that might have been thanks to reading this after work, and with no coffee in hand!
Once I was fully acclimated to the story I was INVESTED. I was reading faster. I needed the next page. I needed my eyeballs to move faster. I love a good thriller like this where I go from anxious, to terrified, to laughing because the tension broke for just a second. But then I go right back to on the edge of my seat-about-to-hurl-my-kindle-at-the-wall because THAT DID NOT JUST HAPPEN (um. Spiders. Ew. amongst other things, like impeding doom in the form of a skeleton… and darkness.)
It wasn’t just a thriller though, there was processing past events, trauma, grief, rather annoying adults. Life felt represented in this book. Sprinkle in a cute little romance and call me a happy reader.

Thank you NetGalley and GP Putnam's for the eARC of Under the Surface by Diana Urban.

Are you claustrophobic? Yes? No? This book will yank up your anxiety you'll feel you're lost beneath a city with no way out. Under the Surface follows Ruby Hale and two of her friends who are so excited to visit Paris for the first time. For Ruby, it's a chance to step out from underneath her overprotective father and find some hidden gems of Paris for travel YouTube channel, and her two friends are along for the ride. That is, until one of them, Val, meets a cute Frenchman who offers to take her to the party of a lifetime... in the catacombs. Not knowing where Val went, and fearing the worst, Ruby follows and brings two other classmates along who are trying to avoid getting caught sneaking out by their teacher. When they catch up with Val and enter the catacombs, what should have been a party of their lifetime turns into a harrowing misadventure when one of the girls winds up injured resulting in the whole group getting lost. Will they make it out? Will anyone know they're missing? Great questions, but more importantly, what's going on with their mysterious French guide?

I loved absolutely everything about this book. The drama between the characters, the plot - I mean, come on, getting lost in the catacombs???, the themes of grief and growing up, finding family in those closest to you. This book has a bit of everything too, it explores the history of the catacombs, French culture, American culture, social media's impact on missing person's cases, cults, and so much more. I honestly can't recommend this enough. I couldn't put it down. If you're looking for a book that will make your heart race, make you cry, and constantly worry about the next outcome - this is for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC of Under the Surface!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
🔦 want to be a cataphile
💔 have ever lost a friendship
🌍 want to travel the world
🇫🇷 know or speak French

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

Ruby is terrified to cave to her feelings for Sean and risk him crushing her heart.

Sean is pumped to spend a week with Ruby in Paris on their senior class trip, and he’ll wait however long until she’s ready to take things further.

But when Ruby’s best friend sneaks out the first night to meet a mysterious French boy, Ruby goes after her with two classmates, but caves to another temptation: attending mystery boy’s exclusive party in the Paris catacombs, the intricate web of tunnels beneath the city, home to six million long-dead Parisians. Only they never reach the party.

Underground, as something sinister chases them, they get lost in the endless maze of bones, uncovering dark secrets about the catacombs…..and each other. And if they can’t find a way out, they’ll die in the dark beneath the City of Light.

Aboveground, Sean races to find the girl he loves as a media frenzy over the four missing teens begins.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

As someone who loves anything and everything about the Paris catacombs, I knew I had to read this book! Wow, was it something else. Diana does an incredible job of sucking us into the story and describing the dark and mysterious underworld of the catacombs that are off limits to people. It reminded me a lot of the movie As Above, So Below in a lot of ways. I felt Ruby’s fear, hunger, thirst, and terror like my own. And some of the situations they found themselves in would have had me bawling my eyes out and unable to do. All in all, this is a great read if you’re into the catacombs!

A great ya thriller! I was engaged the whole time eager to see what would happen. I liked how each character’s backstory was given. It made for great development. Overall, a read that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc.

A really engaging and strong YA thriller. Ruby's plot as the group figures out how to escape while also dealing with their relationships developed so well. Sean's plot couldn't quite compete with Ruby's but that's expected, his POV succeeded in keeping the other characters involved in the plot while maintaining momentum between the next Ruby chapter.
It's a strong standalone thriller that is also suitable for teenagers.

From beginning to end, I found Under The Surface to be absolutely one of the best books that I have read this year! It was everything from eerie & chilling to incredibly suspenseful & mind blowing.

I was on the edge of my seat non-stop & I loved every minute of it!

This young adult thriller focuses on 4 high school seniors and their adventure in Paris. I've been interested in the Paris catacombs but most media is horror based which is not my thing. Under the Surface was the right level of creepy without being gory.

This book was such an enjoyable read. It is targeted toward young adults, but as an adult (age 62), I thoroughly enjoyed the read.

I enjoyed the thrilling twists and turns and read the book in one sitting.

The setting is perfect, the characters fantastic, and the book is a truly thrilling ride. You will scream and be on the edge of your seat!

Highly recommend!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, for this wonderful book.

Expected publication August 13, 2024.

This was really good, although I felt there could’ve been a little more character development. There was some, just not enough to feel invested in them. I didn’t care too much one way or the other what happened to any of them. But the plot was really good, unique and interesting and ended nicely. I was kind of hoping for more of a twist or struggle. It is an arc so maybe the author will add a little more development to it. I felt it was a quick, easy read. Definitely recommend!

Thank you very much for this eARC that was generously provided by the publisher and author via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Ruby finds out about a party in the catacombs, she can't say no to the opportunity, and now she's going to regret it.

Under the Surface is a tense, twisty, YA thriller set in the Paris catacombs and featuring two POVs, a creepy bone cult, and plenty of claustrophobic moments that will set the hair on the back of your neck standing on end.