rissaandherbooks's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.25
Lying in the Deep
Diana Urban
Mystery
Physical Book
(via: NetGalley & Razorbill)
May 2, 2023
371
Thank you to Razorbill & Diana Urban for this advanced copy of Lying in the Deep!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I won't lie, I almost DNF'd this book. For the first (almost) half, it was a lot of relationship drama, traveling, exposition, etc, etc. It wasn't bad, but I came here for murder. I figured I'd give it until halfway. I'm so glad I did. This books takes a while to pick up, but once it does, it does it tremendously. My biggest note to anyone who is looking to pick up this book is 1: give it some time, and 2: don't go into this expecting it to be solidly murder mystery. Sure, that's the genre, but the relationships (good and bad) at the heart of this book really make it what it is. It makes the motives more interesting, and the setting is super intriguing. (Plus, because the characters are college-aged, alcohol comes into play, which makes details a little fuzzy.) I was guessing the whole way through because everyone had such a convincing motive.
I took a star off of the rating for the long, slow start, but the actual mystery plot is one of my favorites I've read.
Diana Urban
Mystery
Physical Book
(via: NetGalley & Razorbill)
May 2, 2023
371
Thank you to Razorbill & Diana Urban for this advanced copy of Lying in the Deep!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I won't lie, I almost DNF'd this book. For the first (almost) half, it was a lot of relationship drama, traveling, exposition, etc, etc. It wasn't bad, but I came here for murder. I figured I'd give it until halfway. I'm so glad I did. This books takes a while to pick up, but once it does, it does it tremendously. My biggest note to anyone who is looking to pick up this book is 1: give it some time, and 2: don't go into this expecting it to be solidly murder mystery. Sure, that's the genre, but the relationships (good and bad) at the heart of this book really make it what it is. It makes the motives more interesting, and the setting is super intriguing. (Plus, because the characters are college-aged, alcohol comes into play, which makes details a little fuzzy.) I was guessing the whole way through because everyone had such a convincing motive.
I took a star off of the rating for the long, slow start, but the actual mystery plot is one of my favorites I've read.
jaime_of_gryffindor's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Lying In The Deep was a great young adult mystery/thriller that I didn’t want to put down! This murder mystery takes place on a cruise ship as the characters are on a Semester at Sea cruise, which I really liked as the setting. Lying In The Deep has a lot of plot twists and turns that kept me guessing throughout the book and I suspected pretty much everyone at one point or another. This book has a diverse cast of characters that all had motives for murder, everyone was a suspect! I didn’t particularly love any of the characters in this book, but that was okay because that only made me more suspicious of each character. There were moments in this book that reminded me of Agatha Christie’s mysteries, which I really liked as well. Overall, I really enjoyed this one! If you love locked room mysteries and thrillers you should definitely give this one a try.
emmreadsbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A YA version of The Lion's Den meets The Woman in Cabin 10 - really just an enjoyable thriller set at Semester at Sea. Jade's always wanted to travel, but she didn't expect she'd be trapped on a cruiseliner with her ex and her ex best friend. DRAMAAAAAA! There's so much gaslighting in this book, you really can't know what's real until the end. While certain plot points of this book were inevitable, I did enjoy the foreshadowing throughout. Plus it left me craving answers as to what happened NEXT with that bonkers ending.
*Thank you to Razorbill and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*
*Thank you to Razorbill and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*
taebereading's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Oh my, this was great! It had the perfect blend of everything that makes a YA Thriller amazing. A locked-room mystery...on a boat! Twists and turns around every corner and oh so many suspects. There's even some little romances on the side. Gahh what's not to love?
There was such a nice build up to all the chaos. Super well-paced. I loved getting to know the characters, watching them get used to each other, as well as, attending campus on board and their excursions off the boat were fun. But once everything started to go down it did not stop. Literally everyone is a suspect and you'll be flip-flopping like crazy! I sure was haha. Woo this was awesome!
There was such a nice build up to all the chaos. Super well-paced. I loved getting to know the characters, watching them get used to each other, as well as, attending campus on board and their excursions off the boat were fun. But once everything started to go down it did not stop. Literally everyone is a suspect and you'll be flip-flopping like crazy! I sure was haha. Woo this was awesome!
kate_theavidreader's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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