Name: Words in Deep Blue
Rating: 3.956896551724138 (145 reviews)
ISBN: 9781101937648

Cath Crowley

Originally published in Sydney by Pan Macmillan Australia in 2016.

Words in Deep Blue

“One of the loveliest, most exquisitely beautiful books I’ve read in a very long time. . . . I didn’t just read the pages, I lived in them.” —Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places A beautiful love story for fans of Jandy Nelson and Nicola Yoon: two teens find their way back to each other in a bookstore full of secrets and crushes, grief and hope—and letters hidden between the pages. Years ago, Rachel had a crush on Henry Jones. The day before she moved away, she tucked a love letter into his favorite book in his family’s bookshop. She waited. But Henry never came. Now Rachel has returned to the city—and to the bookshop—to work alongside the boy she’d rather not see, if at all possible, for the rest of her life. But Rachel needs the distraction. Her brother drowned months ago, and she can’t feel anything anymore. As Henry and Rachel work side by side—surrounded by books, watching love stories unfold, exchanging letters between the pages—they find hope in each other. Because life may be uncontrollable, even unbearable sometimes. But it’s possible that words, and love, and second chances are enough.

Annika Arguemore

I haven't read anything that emotionally gripping in a really long time. Needless to say, I'm shook.

The things I loved the most about the book was how palpable the pain was. I could feel it leaking out of the pages, so much so that I was biting back the tears while I was just starting to read the book. As a long-time avid reader, I can smell the pain from miles away, and boy did this book reek of pain and so. Much. Emotion. 

Honestly, I was already gripped when I read the quote the author placed in the first page of the book, which was "A book must be the ax for the frozen sea inside us." by Franz Kafka. I immediately started reading after encountering that. I also loved that the inevitable wasn't surprising. It would've added emotional impact if it was, but in this context, it would not have been necessary and would not be characteristic to the story. 

The world-building was incredible, and the characters were well fleshed-out. It was an amazing read, but a read that I wouldn't really pick up again after a time. The emotional dent placed upon me will bruise for years to come. I'm not exaggerating. I'll read this book again in probably 10 years.

Second-hand bookshops are full of mysteriesThis is a love story. It's the story of Howling Books, where readers write letters to strangers, to lovers, to poets, to words. It's the story of Henry Jones and Rachel Sweetie. They were best friends once, before Rachel moved to the sea.Now, she's back, working at the bookstore, grieving for her brother Cal. She's looking for the future in the books people love, and the words that they leave behind. Sometimes you need the poetsThe new novel from the award-winning author of Graffiti Moon.PRAISE FOR WORDS IN DEEP BLUE"Words in Deep Blue is a beautiful examination of grief, love and the power of words. Told in a dual narrative and littered with excerpts from letters and notes left in books at the shop, Cath Crowley has created a sweeping story about self-discovery and growing up, filled with complicated and flawed characters ... this is a love letter to books and bookshops, to the ocean, to falling in love and finding your way." Bookseller+Publisher"Cath Crowley's Words in Deep Blue is what dreams are made of ... It's a story that will stay with me forever." Nick and Nereyda's Infinite Booklist"Would I recommend it? Without a doubt. Words in Deep Blue is a gorgeous novel that'll pull your heart strings, make you giggle and fill you to the brim with different kinds of love." Trust in Tales

★★★ // does a lot of things more than it can handle. central romance was cute, except they make the “other girl” such a trope-y bitch.

Melissa Palmer

Book #93 Read in 2017
Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

Rachel and Henry are best friends. She realizes she is in love with him but he wants to be with Amy. Rachel and her family move away near the end of high school so she and Henry drift apart. Rachel returns and gets a job in the bookstore Henry's family owns. Will Henry and Rachel become more than friends? This is a must read for romance fans. I recommend it to high school and adult readers. I borrowed it from the public library.

However, the main story was soo long 😫 main couple got FINALLY (during the last fifteen pages) together 

Kerstin 

Letter Library 💛

Loved all those letter conversations. 

However, the main story was soo long 😫 main couple got FINALLY (during the last fifteen pages) together 

Story itself quite fascinating. 

Charlotte 

A book that involves a book store or library
3.5 stars

Janet Genova 

** spoiler alert **
           'Sometimes science isn't enough,' he says. 'Sometimes
you need the poets.' ❤️

I really have mixed feelings about this book. At some point , I was bored because of the characters, especially Henry. I think their relationship with Rachel was rushed. But at the end I cried. Even if Cal wasn’t present in the book, he made me feel like he was there all the time. My favourite character was definitely Frederick. He deserved to have more appearances in the book.

Amanda Kordeliski

The way that Henry describes books and feels about literature and his beloved bookstore resonates deep within me and reflects how I feel about the same things. The sibling friendships between Henry and George and between Rachel and Cal are strong examples of family. Even after Henry's parents divorce the family structure stays strong and I appreciate a young adult book where the adults are strong positive characters. The loss of Rachel's brother and the grief she goes through is raw and real. 
The letters written and placed in the books in the letter library in the bookshop connect the stories, the ones told by Crowley in this book and the ones where the letters were placed, tie the pieces of this novel together brilliantly. The language itself weaves together and makes the story beautiful. A fantastic story of love, loss, friendship and finding your passion in life. Highly recommend.

A love story for everyone who loves books. 'One of the loveliest, most exquisitely beautiful books I've read in a very long time ... I didn't just read the pages, I lived in them' Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places Two teens find their way back to each other in a bookstore full of secrets and crushes, grief and hope - and letters hidden between the pages. Years ago, Rachel had a crush on Henry Jones. The day before she moved away, she tucked a love letter into his favourite book in his family's bookshop. She waited. But Henry never came. Now Rachel has returned to the city - and to the bookshop - to work alongside the boy she'd rather not see, if at all possible, for the rest of her life. But Rachel needs the distraction. Her brother drowned months ago, and she can't feel anything anymore. As Henry and Rachel work side by side - surrounded by books, watching love stories unfold, exchanging letters between the pages - they find hope in each other. Because life may be uncontrollable, even unbearable sometimes. But it's possible that words, and love, and second chances are enough.

Ella Zegarra

Tegan Anderson

I got this as an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, but it turns out the book came out years ago, so this isn’t really that ‘advanced’.

Years ago, Rachel had a crush on Henry, and she tucked a love letter into his favourite book in his family’s bookshop the day before she moved away. She waited for him, but he never came. Now, she’s returned to the city – and to the bookshop – to work alongside him, although she’d rather not see him for the rest of her life. But she needs the distraction: her brother drowned months ago, and she can’t feel anything anymore.

As Henry and Rachel work side by side - surrounded by books, watching love stories unfold, exchanging letters between the pages - they find hope in each other. Because life may be uncontrollable, even unbearable sometimes. But it's possible that words, and love, and second chances are enough.

 + It’s a book about books 
It’s stuffed full of references, discussions, and mentions of other books, mostly classics, but there’s a few modern ones in there. The family sits around the table and talks about what they’re reading with each other. Henry reads Rachel poetry. Henry’s family owns a (failing) second-hand bookshop where he and Rachel have sleep over sometimes. There’s shelves where customers of the shop can write notes and leave letters in books and people meet each other through the pages (I think having a library where you can leave letters for others to find is amazing by the way) (but the letters are included in the book and I did find myself skipping over them).
I want a physical copy of this book so I can tuck myself into the pages and live there forever.

 + Banter 
The main characters (and secondary ones) combined with the dialogue is what makes this one of my favourite books of the year so far. Henry and Rachel are ex-best friends who are slowly becoming friends again, and Henry is a book nerd in love with a girl who doesn’t love him back, and Rachel is severely depressed and often rude, but their banter is still everything, and it’s what makes me invested in their relationship.

 + The secondary characters are amazing 
I can’t express how much I love all the secondary characters – they’re all so developed and easy to love, and have complex and interesting and heart-breaking storylines. I just want to protect all of them. George (Henry’s little sister) broke my entire heart.

 + The plot (or lack of plot) 
My brain is a reverse sponge where it gets rid of things instead of absorbing them, so I had completely forgot what this book was supposed to be about by the time I got to reading it. But, even as I got halfway through reading it, then three quarters of the way through, I still wasn’t entirely sure what the book was supposed to be about, even though all the words were there on the page (screen) in front of me. But I guess it’s a plot about people, rather than a plot about events. The characters are what propelled the story onwards.

So, I still have no idea what this book is about, but the prose is what drew me in. The book is written in a way where I could clearly see the scenes I was reading as if they were on the big screen, and I hope someone makes this into a film. Hopefully, it’s a good film. The passion that the characters have for books is captivating, and the entire story felt like a love letter: hopeful and heartbreaking.
Basically, I love this book a lot.

Rating: ★★★★★ (4.5 stars)

 Some quotes: 
 “It was a strange night. I look back and the thing I remember about it is the sky. I hadn’t seen one like it before. Flat and starless, as though the world had become a box with a lid on it.”  
 “No offense, Dad,” Henry says, “but unrequited love is just as shit in the morning as it is at night. Possibly more shit because you have a whole day ahead of you.”  
 “In my perfect world I wouldn’t worry about money. In my perfect world books would be with us forever and everyone would love secondhand books as much as Dad and George and I do.”  
 “Do I dare disturb he universe? he read, and I don’t know what the poem was actually about, but lying there next to him, with his voice so close to my ear, I wanted to disturb something – I wanted to disturb us, shake us out of him seeing me as Rachel, his best friend.”

Becky

This book is spectacular. I knew what everyone had said. I'd wanted to read it ever since I first heard of this book and I am so glad it made it all the way from Australia to finally get published in the UK. It is a book which has so many layers and things to love that I think I could read it all over again and appreciate another layer of the book.

It's a book about grieving, friendship, love, life, and books. It's about so many things and it was so heartbreakingly wonderful. It made me laugh and smile and made me want to read books all the more. It was utterly fantastic.

Ella Bouic

I knew this would be an easy book to read and when I first started I knew it would be good but not amazing. It wasnt until over half way that this book hit me and made me truly think about things and the meaning behind what was happening in the book and I loved it

Euodias

It was okay. I felt like the story was really good but it wasn't executed well. It was kind of all over the place with very little character development between the main two characters. I loved George's character though. There were some really touching moments at the end but overall the book was just alright.

Words in Deep Blue

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