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zorawitchin's review
4.5
Had mixed feelings on all of the characters but the mystery was so juicy the vibes were so good and I seriously couldn’t put it down
louhya's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
daniobsessivelyreads's review
3.0
I enjoyed this book, but the second half was a little bit slow for me. I loved the ending! I would classify this as a YA Soft Urban Fantasy. Because it's a YA novel with teenagers as the main characters, it's set in modern times in a small town on the coast of Louisiana. There are 10 sixteen year olds that were born within 6 months of each other and each of them has a different ability. However, the origins or "rules" for their abilities were never fully explained or established. I will recommend this to young adult fantasy readers.
jaxness's review
2.0
I wanted to like this book so badly, but it just wasn't it..
I didn't care about the characters or what's gonna happen.
A lot of things did not make sense, even some of the characters's choices..
Meh.
I didn't care about the characters or what's gonna happen.
A lot of things did not make sense, even some of the characters's choices..
Meh.
shadowkat0's review
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I love the swampy atmosphere. I grew up in Florida so I love reading stories that take place in southern swampy areas. I've always been interested in stories with psychic characters as well.
soullessbkwrm's review
3.0
It was a good story, nice little twist at the end. Had a hard time enjoying some of the characters though.
brjohnson's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Suicide
asreadbykat's review
3.0
True Rating: 3/5 Stars
Content/Trigger Warnings: Child murder, mentions of domestic and child abuse, brief depictions of mob mentality, gaslighting, underage drinking, mentions of incest, mentions of suicide, mentions of self-harm
True Thoughts
I'm not going to say too much about this book, because there's only so much I can say without giving too many hints.
This novel is about a girl, Grey, about to turn 17 and who returns to her small hometown hidden in the bayou of Louisiana. Nearly everyone in town is a psychic of some kind, which should make it hard to keep secrets. Yet somehow no one has found out who kidnapped (or killed) Elora, Grey's best friend, nearly six months before. Grey can't bring herself to admit her best friend is dead, especially when she begins to start having flashes of what happened that horrible night. She's determined to figure out what happened. Because the thing about secrets is that they never stay buried.
For the most part, this book works as a mid-tier YA thriller. I give the author credit that a few of the reveals definitely got me, and that's something that's hard to do. I liked Grey as a character, an inside who's technically an outsider, who's treated as an outsider even though her family has lived in La Cachette for generations. We have plenty of suspects, plenty of surprises and secrets.
Where the plot fell flat was in two places: the pacing, and the ending. There are so many time jumps. So much time is just skimmed over in sentences vaguely describing what happened. Where we get told what happened, but not shown. We rarely see Grey truly interacting with anyone outside of Hart and Zale, which I won't get on my tangent of love interests ruining a plot. This meant any insinuations, any reveals, fell flat for me because I didn't care about the other characters enough.
The biggest problem, however, was the ending. In a world where PSYCHICS exist, psychics who can talk to the dead, see the future, CONTROL ELEMENTS, the final reveal is just...disappointing. I expected so much more, and would have been happier with the obvious conclusion than the one we got.
Overall, this is just a "meh" book for me. It's not terrible and I don't regret reading it, but I won't ever re-read it and I can't say I'd recommend it to any of my thriller-loving friends.
Content/Trigger Warnings: Child murder, mentions of domestic and child abuse, brief depictions of mob mentality, gaslighting, underage drinking, mentions of incest, mentions of suicide, mentions of self-harm
True Thoughts
I'm not going to say too much about this book, because there's only so much I can say without giving too many hints.
This novel is about a girl, Grey, about to turn 17 and who returns to her small hometown hidden in the bayou of Louisiana. Nearly everyone in town is a psychic of some kind, which should make it hard to keep secrets. Yet somehow no one has found out who kidnapped (or killed) Elora, Grey's best friend, nearly six months before. Grey can't bring herself to admit her best friend is dead, especially when she begins to start having flashes of what happened that horrible night. She's determined to figure out what happened. Because the thing about secrets is that they never stay buried.
For the most part, this book works as a mid-tier YA thriller. I give the author credit that a few of the reveals definitely got me, and that's something that's hard to do. I liked Grey as a character, an inside who's technically an outsider, who's treated as an outsider even though her family has lived in La Cachette for generations. We have plenty of suspects, plenty of surprises and secrets.
Where the plot fell flat was in two places: the pacing, and the ending. There are so many time jumps. So much time is just skimmed over in sentences vaguely describing what happened. Where we get told what happened, but not shown. We rarely see Grey truly interacting with anyone outside of Hart and Zale, which I won't get on my tangent of love interests ruining a plot. This meant any insinuations, any reveals, fell flat for me because I didn't care about the other characters enough.
The biggest problem, however, was the ending. In a world where PSYCHICS exist, psychics who can talk to the dead, see the future, CONTROL ELEMENTS, the final reveal is just...disappointing. I expected so much more, and would have been happier with the obvious conclusion than the one we got.
Overall, this is just a "meh" book for me. It's not terrible and I don't regret reading it, but I won't ever re-read it and I can't say I'd recommend it to any of my thriller-loving friends.
whimsyfaerie's review
3.0
3.5✮ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
this book was so weird, but in a way, i kinda enjoyed it?? i read it in about three chunks which ended up only taking me like one day to finish it! the setting was so atmospheric and the description the author wrote just made it feel like you were actually in la cachette. it’s definitely the strongest point in this book, imo!
the plot was good, but i was able to predict the plot twist from the beginning. i didn’t really connect to any of the characters as much as i would’ve liked, but i was still interested to see what would end up happening to them. the romance didn’t really peak my interest (there’s kind of a love triangle—bleh), but i definitely prefer the option where hart isn’t the picture. he was so so toxic. also the stepsister/stepbrother romance…umm, gross. that definitely did not need to be added. anyways, dark and shallow lies wasn’t a horrible book and i’d say it’s worth reading, specifically if you like books that embody the “no plot, just vibes” phrase!
˗ˏˋ⤷ age rating: 14+
˗ˏˋ⤷ spice rating: 1/5 (pgs. 254-256)
this book was so weird, but in a way, i kinda enjoyed it?? i read it in about three chunks which ended up only taking me like one day to finish it! the setting was so atmospheric and the description the author wrote just made it feel like you were actually in la cachette. it’s definitely the strongest point in this book, imo!
the plot was good, but i was able to predict the plot twist from the beginning. i didn’t really connect to any of the characters as much as i would’ve liked, but i was still interested to see what would end up happening to them. the romance didn’t really peak my interest (there’s kind of a love triangle—bleh), but i definitely prefer the option where hart isn’t the picture. he was so so toxic. also the stepsister/stepbrother romance…umm, gross. that definitely did not need to be added. anyways, dark and shallow lies wasn’t a horrible book and i’d say it’s worth reading, specifically if you like books that embody the “no plot, just vibes” phrase!
˗ˏˋ⤷ age rating: 14+
˗ˏˋ⤷ spice rating: 1/5 (pgs. 254-256)
angelreadinglove's review
5.0
I love books with drama, mystery, magic, and secrets. Well this story was packed full with all three. My only disappointment is that I received this book at Christmas but didn’t read until May. Best YA book I’ve read in a while!