Deep Water drops us into the deep end with this nail-biting story. We follow Vesper, who has just been dropped off for a ten-day cruise vacation- or so she thinks. Really she's been sent to No Exit, a bully reeducation program that takes drastic measures to reform bullies. Throughout these ten days, Vesper faces unspeakable challenges and learns just how far this organization will really go to stop bullying.
This was a very quick and engaging story that asks the reader to think critically about how far is too far when confronting a bully. The writing is clear, the plot moves along at a break-neck speed, and the story really pulls in some deeper topics, which is impressive.for such a short book. Readers should definitely take care and consider some trigger warnings for abuse, bullying, violence, self-harm, and transphobia. With those things in mind, this is a book I would definitely recommend to a teen looking for a very engaging and suspenseful story, especially good for reluctant readers.

This book was good.

I love books that are very limited when it comes to premises and this one had that....what is better than having issues on a cruise?

The imagination the author showed in this story, included the 'no exit' program - I would never have thought of this.

I found myself rooting for Vesper, she was a flawed personality, but because she was well fleshed out, she was a joy to see.

When selecting the moods for this e-arc, I included suspenseful, dark, and romantic. There are odd scenes of romance toward the end of the book that do not entirely fit with the first 90% of the book (just light kissing, nothing big). For the most part, the book features the serious and dark topic of bullying. This includes bullying based on gender and sexuality, and indefinite things like "being too dramatic" or no stated reasoning. There is on-page death and off-page death, with triggering topics such as self-exit/suicide and revenge. The adults in this book are portrayed in a very negative light, to the point that they are, at best, neglectful and, at worst, murderous and violent. I'm not sure who this book is for, but I appreciated the note at the end about reaching out to a trusted adult if one is experiencing bullying.