Astrid Scholte

Includes an excerpt from Four dead queens.

The Vanishing Deep

Danny Werhane

Sabrina

** spoiler alert **
           Okay. I would give this a 3.5 / 5.

I think the plot idea was amazing & I enjoyed the characters and their development throughout the novel. However, I feel like it could’ve gotten more descriptive with the world as a whole, especially Palindromena. I also wish we could’ve had a bigger plot twist when it came to Lor dying instead of Cal. I love this story line I just wish it was executed better. Still a good read, but not on the level that I would recommend.

Charmaine

So many meanings in this one! The value of time, sacrifices, and death. Above all, you must cherish every moment with your loved ones. Breathtakingly beautiful 💙💙💙

Maegan Kennedy

Arc provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.
	
 Let me start out by saying that I’m not a huge fan of dystopian books. I tend to avoid the genre all together, so when I first read the synopsis of this book, I was a little sceptical about it. That being said, I ended up really enjoying it, to my surprise. I thought it was written very well. I fell in love with Scholte’s writing style when I read Four Dead Queens, and I loved this book just as much. The character development was amazing, the plot was believable, and the world-building was extraordinary. I loved the use of “Palindrome” through the story and it was clever to build a space that reflects the definition of the word. While it did read as a dystopian, I still really enjoyed the concept. It was fresh and new and held my attention for the entire book. An element I think helped that was the countdown that was present in each chapter header. With only twenty-four hours to bring someone back from the dead, I too would be watching the clock, which is what I was doing along with the story. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and I felt like I was there with the characters. This element the author added puts the reader into the story alongside the characters and I loved it. Speaking of characters, let’s talk about the main two: Tempest and Lor. I loved Tempest’s ambition and boldness. She knew what she wanted, and she would do anything get it. Her bond with her sister was emotional and amazing. To be honest, it totally reminded me of Anna and Elsa from Frozen. I also really loved Lor’s character. His family’s past was really well integrated into the story and brought a few twists that I was not anticipating. I’m hoping with the drastic change of the ending between the Arc and the finished copy, the end will be what I was expecting. While I understand why it ended the way it did, I’m a hopeless romantic and was hoping it would have been different. Overall, this story was very captivating and was written beautifully, with believable characters and a gorgeous world. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a story about family, books set at sea, and impossible twists and turns.

Áróra Lind 

Leaki

Great worldbuilding, i loved the whole idea behind the story! But the plot was often pretty predictable and the characters a little bit flat. I still enjoyed this book and read it quite fast, because of the nice way of writing that kept me reading chapter after chapter.

laura

* I did get this book for review from the publisher for my honest thoughts*

I really wound up loving this read. I thought this book had much more solid and clear world building then her first book. I felt so much more connected to this world and found it to be even more compelling to read. I thought this book was solid mystery that captured me. I also really liked both POV characters that we go to know. I also really liked this book focused so much on sisters and that relationship. This book also tackled the many aspects of grief and really liked that. I also liked the setting of this book as well. I def liked this more than her debut.

Samantha Bass

** spoiler alert **
           The hardest part about this book was the beginning. I recently had three deaths in my family this year and the death of a friend. To read Tempe's struggle of her parents and sister dying hit me really hard and reminded me of the feelings I had experienced and am still going through. As she talks about the revival and getting to see her sister one more time alive, it almost broke me. I wanted to continue but also had to stop for my own sanity.

I'm glad I kept going though. While the beginning is heavy, the action picks up and pushes towards a different message thankfully. As the plot progresses, we get more details about the characters and find out that everything is not as it seems.

I thought the main characters were well set up and had clear motivations and intentions. The only person who I thought was under developed was the director at Palindromena. We get a character shift from her, or at least a bad perspective of her from other characters. She starts off as a nice characters we meet, but then we find out she's a horrible person, and then we interact with her again and she's okay to be around? It was confusing for me. I wish there was more development with that or at least a better explanation for why they somewhat ignored warnings about her.

Overall, I had fun with this story, even though it was heart breaking at first. I give this story a 4//5 stars for the unique plot, sisterly love, and fun adventure. This was a fun read and it showed a realistic look at loss and what people will do to see their loved ones one last time.

Sarah Jackson

*2.5

I struggled a bit with this book because I absolutely love the marine dystopia world that Scholte developed but I just hated the characters. They all felt so one-dimensional and were all so predictable in my opinion. 

I also thought a lot of the plot points were just way too convenient.

So yeah, obsessed with the world, not so obsessed with the actual story...

The Vanishing Deep

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