Walking Under Water had a wonderful premise of a young girl by the name of Mia who is sent to a boarding school and then has to battle her depression and other issues she faces with the students at school. In my opinion, the plot wasn't executed well. I thought that the mental health representation would be great without the typical mean-girl trope. Mia was not always the most entertaining character; therefore, some parts of the novel were difficult to make it through. I kept wanting more and the book did not deliver. I can see why it would be appealing for some readers, but it did not work for me. I do, however, commend the author for the character that Mia grew into and how much she learned through her experiences.

Vinspire Publishing and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Waking Under Water. This is my honest opinion of the book.

High School Sophomore Mia Hughes has issues, so her mother decided to send her to Galt Academy, a boarding school, as a last resort. As her medication for depression causes her to lose time and forget eating, Mia ends up isolating herself from mostly everyone, including her roommates Emmy and Drea. Friendly with Natalie, who seems to get into trouble but gets away with it, and Lucas, potential boyfriend, Mia thinks that things are going well. When an incident upsets the delicate balance of her new life, will Mia be able to rectify the situation and put her life back on track?

The part about Mia's mysterious symptoms and the reveal was not integrated well into the book. Mia's issues from her past were not really explained, so the eventual cause did not have the type of impact that it should. The mean girls aspect of Waking Under Water was expected, as this is a YA novel, but I was disappointed that the author chose to go down that route. I liked how Mia was able to change and grow from her experiences, as it helped to sell the book as a coming of age story. Overall, Waking Under Water was a quick read with a good main character, but the author just did not take either the character development or the plot far enough.