Name: Devin Donnelly's review of Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
Item: Deep End
Rating: 4.5
Author: Devin Donnelly

Ali Hazelwood

A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.

Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.

Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.

So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water...

Deep End

Sophia

LlUKAS: Just come over to spend the night. I sleep better when you’re around.

Lukas is there, smiling at me. A real smile.

He comes closer, palms above both my shoulders. Kisses the tears off my cheeks. “It’s okay,” he murmurs. “I’ll put you back together.”

“Shut the fuck up, you brilliant, beautiful genius.”

“It’s like I made you up in my head, Scarlett.”

I have a thing for women who are smarter than me.

It takes him a while to answer. When he does, he’s not looking at me. “Because sometimes I can’t breathe when you’re around.”

“From the very start, you had all the power. From the very start, I was in the palm of your hand.”

why did it not click that they are Olive and Adam💀 I didn't even think of them omg

I point at the spot in the stands when Dr. Smith leans her head on Dr. Carlsen’s shoulder. His hand is wrapped around her waist, and he seems less than enthused to be here. Then again, it might be an improvement from the quiet wrath that’s his default state.

“Oh, yeah. I wasn’t sure how to spell your last name. There are some backasswards q’s and v’s in there.” He gives me an unimpressed look and holds out his hand, demanding, so I give him my phone.

In the back seat, I shoot Lukas a quick text, and that’s when the floor flips out from underneath me.

His fingers close around my wrist. “I asked for you.”

For a few moments, his jaw works. “Every single person Pen and I had sex with was her choice, and I was okay with it. But when you joined the team, I asked her if she could approach you.”

He didn't want to share this time👏🏻👏🏻

“So . . . ?” Callum asks. His eyes travel from me to Lukas, asking a question I cannot interpret. Lukas immediately shakes his head.

His smile is crooked. “For a while, I thought I needed to have some over-the-top goal, something comparable to the Olympics, but . . .” He stops. Runs his thumb over my lower lip. “I want to spend four years in med school, fully knowing that it’ll be hell. Do a fellowship and a residency. Corpse stuff, sure. I want to travel to places that don’t have a fucking pool. See my family more than once a year. Sleep in. Go on hiking trips. Stay home for long weekends and have morally bankrupt amounts of sex with someone I’m in love with. Kinky, vanilla, I want it all. I want to adopt rescue animals with her. I want to take care of her, and watch her be cold in Sweden, and marvel every day at how much smarter than me she is, and . . . Scarlett.” His thumb swipes under my eye. “Why are you crying?”

“You know,” he says against my lips, “I wanted to be righteously angry at you. I told myself I wouldn’t be with you until you were ready to be honest.” I don’t ask about what. It would be supremely dishonest. “But I’m just so fucking happy to see you, Scarlett. I can’t be mad at you, when every time I think about you I am reminded that you exist.”

He says it. Just, not in English. Slow, musical sentences. Words, repeated over and over. I’m awash with them as he comes inside me, his broad shoulders shaking under my arms. And yet, I have the luxury of pretending that I cannot understand him. I cry anyway. After, he kisses my tears dry, and he’s not angry, or impatient, or anything but reveling.

“I want to do this with you every day and night for the rest of my life.”

“Let me say it,” he demands. “I want to say it. Just once.”

I know what he means. I cannot take it. I bury my head in his throat and shake it, because I cannot.

“Scarlett,” he pleads. “Let me tell you, please.”

His mouth twitches. “Can’t hide from the truth, Scarlett.”

“Of course you do.” A kiss, warm against my forehead.

“I hate you,” I splutter afterward, arms circling his neck. The water remains stomach-turningly cold, but Lukas’s body is a block of heat. 

“Of course you do.” He wraps my legs around his waist.

“Scarlett,” he says, in that tone that’s final, that makes me feel like he’s hearing me and he’s got me and he’s there. That tone that makes me go silent. “I learned what an inward dive is after the first time you mentioned them to me. And I know one when I see it.”

“How do you even know that I was at Avery? Did you GPS me, or something?”

“Oh, sweetheart.” My belly swoops at the endearment. His tone lives somewhere between sympathy and amusement. “If you don’t think that I’m very aware of your presence, always, you have no idea what’s going on.”

I take deep breaths, squinting at the glare of the late-afternoon sun, until a pair of sunglasses is pushed up the bridge of my nose. Lukas looks formidable against the suddenly dark sky, but his eyes are very much bare.

Mary Carmona

“I have been in love with you for so long. And I won’t stop. I know it.”

“This is it, for me.” He presses a kiss against my cheek. “Remember back in the fall? When I was being a total asshole, trying to prove to myself that I could exist without you? I can’t, Scarlett. I can’t be without you. And for the first time in my life, I don’t care. I think of you all the time, and I want to make plans with you, I want to talk about the future, and I’m fucking happy about it—”

“This is not about Pen.” His hand is still around my arm. “It’s about you having a concussion and not telling me.”

“It wasn’t a big deal. I was cleared the following day. And you were splashing around the East Coast. Winning shit. Übermensching.”

“Everything. You need to . . .” He inhales. Looks away, then back to me. “I want to know this stuff.”

“I’m serious. If we get to Avery and you decide you don’t want me around, I’m not leaving.”

“It’s fine. You can stay, because you don’t count.”

“I don’t count,” he repeats. Stony faced.

“I don’t care.” He sounds like the word displeased was invented for him and only him

Free? It’s Lukas. My pulse trips, but quickly steadies. I tilt my head and type:

SCARLETT: In Sweden, when you text, do they charge you by the word?

LUKAS: There’s an emoji surcharge, but I’ll make an exception for you:

Devin Donnelly

Overall good- love a slow burn but wanted more tension 

Neeha Mian

Kyra

Ali Hazelwood just DOES NOT MISS

Amazing 

Beautiful 

Show stopping 

Spicy

Romantic

Cute 

Swoon worthy

The reappearing characters

Simply fantastic 

This was a nice book to get me out of my reading slump. It had a touch of spice but I found the book unecessarily long. Though I did find the short switch up with Pen towards the end left me muttering "Bitch!" at my kindle.

Fun read though! Will explore more of Ali's books soon.

Maui S.

This was a nice book to get me out of my reading slump. It had a touch of spice but I found the book unecessarily long. Though I did find the short switch up with Pen towards the end left me muttering "Bitch!" at my kindle.

Fun read though! Will explore more of Ali's books soon.

I don’t even know where to start on this book but holy fucking shit I loved it. I am not the same person I was before I read this book, goddammit. It was a little slow to start and definitely has some faults, but honestly, I was most upset about that fact that it ended. I’m a little shocked because Bride was meh, but this was exactly what I wanted. The only thing that could have made it better was dual POV but at least we got some of that in the epilogue. I will reread this for years. 

Katie Allard

Almost something but giving nothing. Also, i had to skip some chapter bc it was boringgggg. 

korfai 

i will accept NO pen slander in this house tyvm.

ash (smokedshelves)

ms. ali, i was not familiar with your game but now i know! i am a simple girl. give me good smut and a love interest OBSESSED with our MC and i’m sold! it wasn’t really very kinky despite the BDSM plot hook but still steamy. i don’t feel like there was much to the MMC outside of being in love with the fmc, being horny, and being good at sports and science but again i am simple. I didn’t come here for that lol i know what i came here for and it delivered on that JUST FINE!

K.K. Jane

Aside from one of her books that I'm not gonna mention I loved every single one of hers and they just get better and better. But this is my absolute favorite yet.

Their whole dynamic was so different and unique (then again check&mate, not in love and love, theoretically had great unique chemistry, as well) it was such an amazing read. It was so good I don't think the sex scenes were even necessary to show their story (even tho they started with it so that says a lot) but it was still a nice way to break things up inbetween and show that side of them.

Aside from one of her books that I'm not gonna mention I loved every single one of hers and they just get better and better. But this is my absolute favorite yet.

Their whole dynamic was so different and unique (then again check&mate, not in love and love, theoretically had great unique chemistry, as well) it was such an amazing read. It was so good I don't think the sex scenes were even necessary to show their story (even tho they started with it so that says a lot) but it was still a nice way to break things up inbetween and show that side of them.

I loved them.

kind and emotionally intelligent swedish man… save me… save me kind and emotionally intelligent swedish man

Essence

Keila Rico 

Amé a Lukas, necesito full su point of view. Odié a Pen so much 

Valeria 

very well written love story but the spice was… not my thing personally LOL ! 

I loved this way more than I thought I would. The duel narration worked perfectly and the guy who was voicing Lucas... Literal perfection. 

As far as the actual story goes: as someone who doesn't enjoy sports and knows next to nothing about competitive swimming or diving, it was explained just enough to understand without being bogged down. The pacing was good and there were plenty of characters that I enjoyed. It was funny, sweet, and really hot at the same time. I enjoyed seeing Scarlett's healing process and it was all just very satisfying.

Alex Landau

I loved this way more than I thought I would. The duel narration worked perfectly and the guy who was voicing Lucas... Literal perfection. 

As far as the actual story goes: as someone who doesn't enjoy sports and knows next to nothing about competitive swimming or diving, it was explained just enough to understand without being bogged down. The pacing was good and there were plenty of characters that I enjoyed. It was funny, sweet, and really hot at the same time. I enjoyed seeing Scarlett's healing process and it was all just very satisfying.

The banter and angst fulfilled something within me.

I loved Scarlet and Lucas. Pen irked my entire soul. She tried to have a redemption in the end, but she was really the worst.

I don't often get drawn into books, but this had my full attention. I wanted to read it, but didn't want it to end.

Sarah Campbell

The banter and angst fulfilled something within me.
Definitely a favorite of the year.
I actually was obsessed with this.
I loved Scarlet and Lucas. Pen irked my entire soul. She tried to have a redemption in the end, but she was really the worst.
I don't often get drawn into books, but this had my full attention. I wanted to read it, but didn't want it to end.

First, Ms Hazelwood really writes the same book over and over again because how is this not 80% "Check & Mate" with then some relatively kinky sex? Which is actually fine because that is my favourite of hers that I have read. It helped that the erotic scenes did nothing to me, I maybe found them a little goofy, because I could just breeze through them. (Also, I swear to God, this was marketed as borderline tabboo breaking when... it is not? I think I have read more hardcore things on random Wednesdays because SOMEONE did not tag their fanfic properly).

Also, OK, I maybe biased since Scarlett is an August Virgo but I do not think we need to be breaking out our literally critic skills for this novel, you know?

Also, there are typos in the book. Do better.

First, Ms Hazelwood really writes the same book over and over again because how is this not 80% "Check & Mate" with then some relatively kinky sex? Which is actually fine because that is my favourite of hers that I have read. It helped that the erotic scenes did nothing to me, I maybe found them a little goofy, because I could just breeze through them. (Also, I swear to God, this was marketed as borderline tabboo breaking when... it is not? I think I have read more hardcore things on random Wednesdays because SOMEONE did not tag their fanfic properly).

Also, OK, I maybe biased since Scarlett is an August Virgo but I do not think we need to be breaking out our literally critic skills for this novel, you know?

Also, there are typos in the book. Do better.

It’s Ali. No notes. Perfection perusal. The narrator was 

Is it hot in here or???

It’s Ali. No notes. Perfection perusal. The narrator was chefs kiss. 

DNF at Chapter 4. I picked this up hoping she'd be the dom but I guess that's too much to expect of a mainstream commercial author. 

I had so much trouble following the plot in the first three chapters that I had to reread twice (total three times).

I hate that it's bdsm is always compared to fifty shades.

The convo that happened in chapter 4 is okay, not bad at all. Emphasising on constant checking up on each other and the establishment of boundaries in advance.

I will probably be writing my own version of this.

DNF at Chapter 4. I picked this up hoping she'd be the dom but I guess that's too much to expect of a mainstream commercial author. 

Thoughts:

I had so much trouble following the plot in the first three chapters that I had to reread twice (total three times).

I hate that it's bdsm is always compared to fifty shades.
The convo that happened in chapter 4 is okay, not bad at all. Emphasising on constant checking up on each other and the establishment of boundaries in advance.
I really like the narrator's voice.

I will probably be writing my own version of this.

listen!! this is by far ali’s best book yet! i adored the love hypothesis, and have enjoyed some of her other books but this is definitely my fave and will likely end up in my 2025 faves - i said what i said!

i buddy read this with one of my irl besties (it was her third read hehe) and i loved getting to experience reading it with her 🫶🏼 i sent her live updates as i was reading and we’re both on the hunt for our own luk’s 😈

i loved scar’s character growth and watching her overcome her own personal challenges. the tension between her and luk was palpable, and i am a fool for a ‘he falls first trope’ so i was a goner from the start 😂 

their individual histories were created so well by ali, and i enjoyed that there were periods in the story where they were separated in different countries doing their own thing. i also loved the diving element in this, ali did an incredible job of exploring this and i’m definitely here for more swimming/diving romances! 

my least fave element was pen - she was a horrible friend when she had her blow up at scar (iykyk) and i wouldn’t push that aside to keep a friendship. 

Larissa Kirchberger

𝓭𝓮𝓮𝓹 𝓮𝓷𝓭

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

listen!! this is by far ali’s best book yet! i adored the love hypothesis, and have enjoyed some of her other books but this is definitely my fave and will likely end up in my 2025 faves - i said what i said!

i buddy read this with one of my irl besties (it was her third read hehe) and i loved getting to experience reading it with her 🫶🏼 i sent her live updates as i was reading and we’re both on the hunt for our own luk’s 😈

i loved scar’s character growth and watching her overcome her own personal challenges. the tension between her and luk was palpable, and i am a fool for a ‘he falls first trope’ so i was a goner from the start 😂 

their individual histories were created so well by ali, and i enjoyed that there were periods in the story where they were separated in different countries doing their own thing. i also loved the diving element in this, ali did an incredible job of exploring this and i’m definitely here for more swimming/diving romances! 

my least fave element was pen - she was a horrible friend when she had her blow up at scar (iykyk) and i wouldn’t push that aside to keep a friendship. 

Now this isn’t my favorite book by Ali but it’s also not my least favorite either. It’s kind of in the middle. There were parts of this book I liked but there were others I didn’t. I was prepared of the OWD that was in here and while I was expecting way worse than what I got. It definitely could have been a shitshow of epic proportions but it stayed pretty tame. I think this whole book was pretty tame especially when we say this is incredibly “spicy” too. Now for a traditionally published book, yeah maybe. But everyone’s spice level is different and it is one of Ali’s spiciest but it wasn’t kink-filled like I kept seeing it advertised as. So yeah I have mixed feelings about this one. 

Priscilla Stanfield

3.75/5⭐️ • 2.5/5🌶️

Now this isn’t my favorite book by Ali but it’s also not my least favorite either. It’s kind of in the middle. There were parts of this book I liked but there were others I didn’t. I was prepared of the OWD that was in here and while I was expecting way worse than what I got. It definitely could have been a shitshow of epic proportions but it stayed pretty tame. I think this whole book was pretty tame especially when we say this is incredibly “spicy” too. Now for a traditionally published book, yeah maybe. But everyone’s spice level is different and it is one of Ali’s spiciest but it wasn’t kink-filled like I kept seeing it advertised as. So yeah I have mixed feelings about this one. 

I was looking forward to this new release, and it didn't disappoint me. I couldn't put this book down. I enjoyed Scarlett and Lukas's relationship; it felt like they really understood each other. Even though they had an agreement from the start, their time together always felt more than that. I was kind of disappointed with the "kinky" side of this book. It seemed really hyped up, but they honestly didn't do anything that crazy. I also felt like Penelope took up a whole lot of this book. I know she was both of their friend, but it seemed like she was one of the main characters. And the way she reacted at the end was crazy, especially since she set them up in the first place. The ending seemed very abrupt to me, like the story was pretty drawn out but I wished we had gotten a little more of them together at the end. Overall, I really enjoyed it! 

Maggie Hotmer

Stella Schuster

i just don’t believe people who meet in college can stay together. sue me!

abi a

Interesting premise. not my favorite plot but cute overall the ending wrapped up nicely. lukas blomqvist is a top tier book boyfriend tho 

Raigan Correll

This book was so good. I love Scarlett and Lukas. But my favorite character by far was Jan. I loved these flawed characters they were too good and they kinda remind me of my fav person and how well he knows me ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

Devin Donnelly &
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Devin Donnelly &Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Devin Donnelly &
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood