Reviews

The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish by Katya Apekina

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jennasucato's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I knew this book would be weird when I picked it out (thanks Booktok), but I wasn’t quite prepared for the type of weird it was. This is probably one of the darkest books I’ve ever read, but I do think the darkness served a larger purpose. I’m not sure I would recommend this to many people, but this was definitely a worthwhile read for me.

P.S. The strategy of intentionally withholding a character’s age for so long was SO effective.

Also, who knew I would read two books with incest in a row?

Content Warnings

graviereads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

melonfizz's review against another edition

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3.0

“The lake is beautiful. It’s something from a fairytale nightmare. It’s the embodiment of everything mean and awful and wrong, contained and glittering.”

when men break girls and women for the purpose of art, they’re mysterious and misunderstood creatives. when women create art, they have to break themselves.

jumpyreader's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.0

This book was very well written, but I did not appreciate the story or content. Read the trigger warnings, they were very off-putting for me

Content Warnings

emloueez's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective

4.0

jilliant's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

This was a very solid read from a prose standpoint alone. I loved the jumping perspectives and how smoothly the POVs built this picture of this completely unstable family unit. Not for those who want cheery or lighthearted books, but incredibly well done and poignant

Content Warnings