Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Deep End

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

239 reviews

stardustandrockets's review against another edition

5.0

medium-paced

I think this is my favorite Ali Hazelwood book yet. (Sorry Jack and Elsie. 🫣)

I really loved the exploration of how trauma (physical and emotional/mental) plays a big part in performing (in anything, not just sports). Scarlett is coming off a major injury that led to needing surgery and physical therapy. She's got a mental block. Talk therapy is mildly helping. We learn later on in the book the exact reason she has a block and it's thanks to Lukas talking Scarlett through it. We learn he lost his mom at a young age and went through something similar to Scarlett. Even if it wasn't a physical injury, grief is a powerful thing and it takes time to heal. I enjoyed seeing the parallels between Lukas and Scarlett.

That said, I don't think this was Ali's spiciest book. It was very on par with everything else she's written. Though, other than Lukas being yet another "big dick" love interest, it felt a bit less cookie-cutter than the rest of her books. But the sex scenes were very typical of Ali's writing regardless of kink exploration and power dynamics. Because aside from the exchange of checklists at the beginning of their relationship, all we really got was the power dynamics. Other stuff was lightly touched on/discussed, but not shown on the page. (Which is fine by me.)

The story was fleshed out and I felt it had more meat that some of the other STEMinist books. Don't get me started on Pen. I knew she was going to be a problem from the beginning. I'm glad things worked out and she came around, but damn. What she did wasn't right.

Overall this gets a 5 star rating from me. I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to books and I think doing this on audio was absolutely the move. Lukas' voice actor was *chef's kiss* 🥰

Content Warnings

wellwrittenautisticrep's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I loved Scarlett’s journey with her sport and how she’s come back from her injury, it felt well-written especially as someone who swam competitively for seven years! Her emotional growth was so beautiful to read, even as things were getting messier relationships-wise at the end. The way that this story explores her being almost an unreliable narrator in her depictions of her trauma and therapy felt so genuine to me as well, of course she didn’t see how harmful her father and ex were leading up to her injury, and of course she didn’t see how she needed to work through that to heal. She’s young and growing and healing, after having gone through a lot of emotional and physical trauma. Additionally, I think this book had a new rhythm to it amongst Ali Hazelwood’s books which I loved. Her and Lukas’ relationship felt like it grew through trust and genuine comparability which I loved, and their personalities were well-developed and different than I usually read for romance novels. They were both very introverted and goals-focused in a way that I enjoyed reading. The sex was also fantastic, very well-navigated kink and I feel like it developed as they did! Ultimately I think the best part of this book was seeing how their relationship supported her healing and growing as a person and in her sport and career. I will absolutely read it again, and my copy is soooo pretty with the water surface sprayed edges!

Content Warnings

delightfulmayhem's review against another edition

5.0

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

ladylindsalot's review against another edition

3.75

emotional funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

hailey_seipel's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

starlightbree's review against another edition

4.0

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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

Lukas is the most patient man on earth. He deserves all of the spicy submission from Scarlet that he gets. Literally an Angel.

Content Warnings

velsbooknook's review against another edition

4.75

This was so sweet! I was looking for something light hearted and fun and Deep End checked all the boxes.

I loved Scarlett and Lukas from page one. They had such a beautiful, caring and supportive relationship. This book is very spicy but the good kind of spice if you ask me. It was so well done. I enjoyed the swimming and diving aspect of the story and was rooting for Scarlett SO much. Side-characters like Pen and Barb were also pure bliss and so beautifully written.

I listened to the audiobook and it was just as good as the story itself. Lukas is Swedish and I loved his accent. I also loved the Duolingo references. (I'm currently learning Norwegian with Duolingo)

Just keeping this review short and sweet. It was wonderful, exactly what I needed right now. I love Scarlett and Lukas to bits and I can't recommend this book enough.

Content Warnings