Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Deep in Providence

What price are you willing to pay to have what you long for?

Deep in Providence is a story about loss, family relationships and friendships. Each of the main characters is well written, with complex personalities and distinct voices, allowing us to know their thoughts and feelings. There is pain and love in each of them, deeply feeling their emotions.

The themes developed here [such as sexuality, religion, immigration, family relationships, drug use and unexpected pregnancy] are written in an engaging and compelling way.

This book is gripping and emotional, showing the impact of grief and what we are capable of for those we love. If you are looking for a book full of magic, multicultural representation, a diverse set of characters, grief, and powerful friendships, Deep in Providence is for you.

Rep: Black-Filipina sapphic MC, Latina MC, Black MC and Black, Latine and Filipine SCs.

CWs: Death, grief,anxiety, abortion, blood, sexual content, addiction, child neglect, abandonment, drug use/abuse, forced institutionalization, sexual assault, religious bigotry, medical content, sexism, misogyny, outing, car accident (off-page).

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booktribe's review

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Deep in Providence is beautiful, it’s emotional, it’s creepy, it has lovable characters making potentially bad decisions, lots of magic, a witchy aunty, spirits roaming around creepily, BIPOC cast, lgbtq rep, and did I mention lots of magic?

What else could you possibly want?

Why aren’t more people talking about this???

The writing is absolutely gorgeous. I will read literally anything Riss M. Neilson writes from now on. The characters were so well developed and I wanted the best for all of them. It was way more emotional than I expected it to be, but in a great way. And it was shockingly creepy at times, which was a wonderful surprise. I only had one very small complaint and that was that the passage of time wasn’t clear in the novel. The novel felt like it happened over several months, but I think it really only happened within a few weeks. But that didn’t dampen my enjoyment at all.

Please everyone go read this! Pls🥺

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stacyroth's review

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Trigger warnings: addiction, overdose, miscarriage, mention of abortion, sexual assault, anxiety

Miliani, Inez, Natalie and Jasmine are best friends growing up in Providence, Rhode Island and dabbling in magic. When Jasmine is killed by a drunk driver, her friends are devastated and determined to bring her back. Miliani’s aunt helps them learn the black magic they will need to bring Jasmine back, but the consequences are more than they bargained for.

This book jumps between the perspectives of Miliani, Inez, and Natalie, but the girls did not have their own individual voices, making it hard to tell them apart. This was especially true of the audiobook version. This is the author’s debut novel, and hopefully she can improve that in her subsequent books. I did like the way she handled the serious topics covered in the book. It was an intriguing story concept but unfortunately dragged at times.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

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melaniereadsbooks's review

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dark emotional slow-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

4.0

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an ALC of this one.

After their friend Jasmine dies, Miliani, Inez, and Natalie make it their goal to try and bring her back in whatever form they can, and begin practicing spells to try and bind her spirit to her twin sister. But opening the realms has a lot of effects that they weren't expecting.

I really enjoyed the plot of this book! The characters really go through a lot trying to get their friend back and it was interesting to listen to. Unfortunately, I think this book was hurt by having 3 different POVs but only one audiobook narrator. The different povs weren't unique enough for me to easily distinguish between them. I feel that the characters needed more distinguishing qualities.

The prose in this book was really pretty. I loved listening to the narrator read it!

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utopiastateofmind's review

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Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

TW: anxiety

Deep in Providence revolves around friendship. The ride or die, blood pact to keep us knitted together, variety. And what I enjoyed about this debut is that Neilson balances this connection between them with the space for their individual stories to shine. Each of these teens, Miliani, Inez and Natalie, have to reconcile with the past. Their own navigation of loss, grief, anger, and resentment. Of both living and departed ghosts. Natalie who is trying to be there for her brother and manage the inconsistences of her mother struggling with her own addiction. Inez whose religious family doesn't seem to leave any room for her own interpretations or feelings. And Miliani who wants to bring back Jas to reconcile her own guilt. Their stories are moving. How they ask us whether we can save ourselves if we're too busy saving others. When it's time to finally release control and know that we can't force someone to change.

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take_me_awayyy's review

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