I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

In the Shallows is the story of an Indian girl Mara who meets a girl, Nico, at a cafe and they start spending time together becoming best friends and then more. There is a push and pull in their relationship which finally results in Nico dumping Mara on New Year's Eve. Months later they have another shot at rekindling their romance but this time there is a catch. Nico is suffering from Amnesia and Mara after talking to Nico's mom isn't sure if telling Nice about their past is the right thing to do.

For me the favorite part of the story was the friendships. Mara's friends were her ride or die and it was so beautifully written. I especially loved how it wasn't always about doing everything together or forcing yourself to join the group for an activity just because you guys are on a campsite together. Each of them were there own person and never held it against each other. I need more books with cool friendship groups.

I absolutely loved the writing style.

Now for the thing that didn't work for me, I wasn't the biggest fan of how the mental health issues were dealt with. It wasn't bad but there were little somethings that sort of irked me. Like most of their discussion around the issues were through internet searches and a novel Mara has read. The term psycho was used once to address someone with a serious mental health issue.

The chemistry between the characters, I don't see them working out in the long run. Although I loved Nico for the way she apologized for her behaviour without trying to justify it.

I was so excited to read this, it promised an intriguing love story and was one of my most expected sapphic reads of the year and ended up being one of the big disappointments of this year so far.
First of all... the Goodreads' synopsis doesn't match the book at all, is a completely different plot and that was disappointing to say the least because I went in expecting to read a completely different story.
Sadly that wasn't the only disappointing thing about the book, the plot was just not it for me. The characters are 15 years and while I understand how reckless and big are feelings at that age, this book romanticizes a very toxic relationship and villainized a very complex mental illness.
The writing was beautiful but it felt like it was trying too hard to be quotable that it completely neglected the plot and the character development.
Tbh, I'm not sure if I would recommend this book, unless you're a fan of Gyps* R*se, and After, which I don't judge, it isn't for me.

- Tanya Byrne has the incredible ability to write books that feel both real and ethereal, and IN THE SHALLOWS is no exception.
- I loved Mara and her group of girlfriends. They were a wonderful mix of loving and sniping, always there for each other but also willing to tell hard truths.
- I also liked the perspective of the book. It’s told as if an older Mara is looking back at this time in her life. There’s a lot of “I understand now that...” and “if only I had known” and I think made the intense subject matter a bit of a lesson for younger readers without literally spelling out morals.
- As soon as I understood what was happening with the central mystery, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Truly: I read this whole book in one day because I had to know what was going to happen.

DNFing, this really wasn't for me. I dnfed pretty early on mostly because of the constant red flags of the love interest and I didn't have any want to continue reading on. I have another book by Byrne that I have better hopes for

Review 7.2/10 Mystery? Romance? Thriller? Magical realism? I wasn't sure what this book would be but that was part of the appeal.

Was it an engaging read? Very much so. I personally really liked the writing. It pulled me in by spinning a story that felt enchanting and mysterious. The characters were not always likable but they were always interesting.

Now what I didn't love was the ending. I didn't hate it, but as another reviewer said I thought Nico's secret was going to be that they were a mermaid. Which I would've loved! But the magical element was more just in the writing tone/vibes of the hopeless romance main character, the story never actually introduced anything out of the ordinary. So for me the reveal was a let down and the last 20% of the book I was like ☹️

Overall I enjoyed the read (especially the best friend and family dynamics), but don't recommend going into it expecting anything magical or you will be disappointed!

Thanks to @netgalley and Godwin Books for a copy of this book!

In the Shallows is a gripping exploration of first love, complicated by an abusive parent. Watching Mara and Nico fall out and into love was fascinating as they both dealt with bigger problems that neither shared with the other. The story is told with a stream of consciousness influence, so the reader is treated to exactly how a 15 year old’s thoughts were when falling in love for the first time. Occasionally, the narrator would get an eye roll, but only because I could relate to the awkwardness.

I did not expect this book to go in the way that it did, but I was pleasantly impressed with how the author handled such an intense subject in a delicate enough way for a YA audience.

Her parents are so sweet and supportive, and honestly, it made me want to try some of her dad’s cooking, haha. It was refreshing to read a queer story with supportive friends and supportive family, and I appreciated that positive representation.

I honestly don't know what I think about that book. It was... a lot. I really don't know how I feel about the "twist" either.
Also, the main character was not always likable. Maybe not in a cool way?
I mostly just wanted it to end? It just didn't really work for me. I saw a lot of the twists coming and I wasn't really into it. But that might be a me thing. Honestly, I just don't know what I feel... I'll definitely read more books by Tanya Byrne though.

I absolutely loved this book. It was my first book by Tanya byrne but i connected to the story so fast. I was hooked. I loved seeing mara's friendship with Michelle. They share such a beautiful bond. And how Michelle was always there for her and supported and guided her. At Start I was totally with Michelle because I didn't like Nico behaviour but as we get to know why Nico behaved like that, i understood. I loved mara's character. How resilient she was. I related to her at times. At such young age she was so mature. I loved seeing her relationship grow with Nico after her accident. All those cute moments made my heart so happy.

Tanya Byrne's IN THE SHALLOWS is such an excellent example of voice in YA. The plot, even with the mystery, fell somewhat flat. It also took a bit too long for the story to feel like it engaged. However, the voice carried through and kept me reading--even when I thought I'd put the book down and be finished with it. The narrator's voice was so original, so strong that it kept me pulled in.

What a strange trip of a book. Thoroughly enjoyed Bryrne's latest foray into the mind of a teen at he center of an immensely engrossing first person narrative with delicate mystery elements.

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Godwin Books and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

I had no idea what to anticipate when I started In the Shallows by Tanya Byrne. And after having read it, I can confidently say there is no possible way I could have predicted what I was in store for. In the Shallows is marketed as a sapphic romance, which it is. But it is also so much more than that.

While this book was a little slow to get started, the writing style immediately had me hooked and wanting to know more. And after the plot picked up, it felt like I couldn’t read the pages fast enough. Finding out what happened to Nico on New Year’s Eve was what kept me rooted to the spot, unable to put the book down until I could solve the mystery once and for all.

In the end, I was very pleased to have guessed the twist correctly thanks to cleverly laid breadcrumbs throughout the narrative. The ending reveal was thrilling and satisfying. I was happy with where the story left Mara and Nico and their relationship.

Ok, this book was crazy, and I’m not giving it 3 stars because it’s average, I’m giving it 3 stars because the things that worked really worked, and the things that didn’t really didn’t.
What I think this book could have improved was how much random detail and how many random characters were just…there. There are several characters who are just there to be part of the main character’s friend group who have absolutely no depth to them, they’re just generic…people we know nothing about, and they’re in the entire book so it seemed weird to me to have so many placeholder people. And there are descriptions and dialogues that go way too long and have nothing to do with the story.
However, I thought the premise was good, and when we find out what’s really going on, it’s something that we kind of figure but didn’t realize how many clues we were actually getting about it at the beginning of the book.
So overall I give this book points for the idea and the plot, and having a lot of queer characters both main and background, but not so much the storytelling.

Let me tell you, this book... I really liked it. I loved how the characters interacted and how our main girl is talking in past tense but also telling the story in real time? I'm not sure if that makes sense. If you read the book it will.

I also loved that middle twist. It had me on the edge of the seat and needing to know more. The characters became more in depth and the story got deeper as it went on, which was wonderful in keeping my attention.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a FF YA love story. It was so well written and I could feel myself getting lost in the story.

Content warnings: trauma, mental illness, child abuse

This book was not what I expected at all. It was more limerence than an actual first love story.

Our teenage protagonist Mara is in love with a mysterious girl named Nico, who pops in and out of her life as she pleases. Nico has an accident on New Year’s Eve after she breaks up with Mara over text. The accident causes Nico to lose all her memories. The story that follows is about unraveling the mystery of Nico’s accident and what happened in Mara and Nico’s relationship prior to the accident. Without too many spoilers, they do unravel it and the story does have a happy-ish ending.


Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Children’s Group for the ARC to review.

this was so far from what I expected it to be it gave me whiplash, it was hard to root for the characters cause they were difficult to say the least. Overall i liked it but think it had the potential to be so much better

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange of my honest opinion

Thanks to Colored Pages Book Tours, netgalley and the publisher for sending me the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loooved the author's previous book, Afterlove, so I was really excited to dive into her new YA novel. While the first few chapters felt quite rambly, trying to get the reader up to speed on a pre-existing toxic relationship and several close friendships, I got hooked around chapter 9... and finished the book in 1 day! Tanya Byrne's writing is beautiful and she made her main character so vibrant, and her feelings so tangible.

In The Shallows starts off with Mara and Nico is quite a toxic relationship, with Mara running after Nico like a puppy and Nico ghosting her regularly. Her close friends try to talk Mara out of the relationship, but she won't hear of it and keeps going back whenever Nico comes calling. I hated Nico for that whole portion of the book, because gosh was she awful to the MC! This is obviously explained more later and I felt very differently then, but for a good half of the book I was totally on the friends' side, wanting her gone. Then Nico has a tragic accident and she loses her memory. She returns as a completely different person and it all feels like some sort of fresh start when the two bump into each other again... but something is definitely wrong there and Mara needs to figure it out 👀

... I guessed the reveal a few chapters before the characters did, but still enjoyed reading how they figured it out. A highlight for me was the presence of such strong bonds in Mara's life and the way these are described - her parents are amazing and her relationship with her best friend so heartwarming to read about.

What to expect?
🏳️‍🌈 sapphic relationship
🙅‍♀️ toxic relationship (for a while)
💭 memory loss
👭 strong friendships
✍️ 1st person POV

The last 70ish pages of this book is where anything actually starts to happen. And even then is super unfortunate how everything plays out.

The beginning of this story was super slow and frustrating to get through. Which surprised me because the writing is really good. I wanted to stop reading at so many points while reading because I couldn’t understand why all this filler was needed. It honestly felt like 200+ pages of straight filler. None of it was conducive to the lack of a plot line at all.

How can a book that starts off so good fumble the bag so badly. This book is extremely well written, but it wasn't enough to distract me from what the absolutely shit plot. Especially the reveal in the end is horrible. It reminded me a lot of Everything, Everything and I mean that as the opposite of a compliment. I'm struggling to understand why authors still think villainizing mental illness is a good move. Here, it was used as a shocking plot twist rather than handled with care and sensitivity, and I absolutely hated it.

Thank you Macmillan Children’s and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m so torn on this book. I disliked the first half so much that I almost gave up on it. But I really quite enjoyed the second half.

The first half, the writing felt clunky and rambly and not very engaging. The characters all felt one dimensional to me and I didn’t really like any of them. I think on some level this may have been intentional so they could become fuller as the story progressed and certain things became clearer, but really, it just didn’t work for me. Curiosity was the only thing that kept me reading and I definitely skimmed parts of the first half just to try and get somewhere with it.

The way everything came together in the second half was really engaging though! None of it particularly surprised me because stories like this have been done before, but I was invested nonetheless. My heart really went out to Nico in the end.

Some highlights for me were Mara’s parents. They were absolutely wonderful. I just wanted to give them both big hugs. I loved them so much. I also really liked May and her and Mara’s friendship. I liked her far more than Michelle, the best friend.