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emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Medical content
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
lighthearted
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
A welcome step outside my comfort zone, Deep End gave me a new appreciation for both diving and kink! Scarlet and Lukas are set up together when it’s discovered that they have complementary kinks. Both pre-med student athletes at Stanford, Scarlett is a diver who hasn’t been able to get over a mental block despite healing physically from a big injury, and Lukas is a swimmer from Sweden with a long history of winning. Although their initial agreement is purely sexual, Scarlett and Lukas help each other trust and let go of control in the deep end of both the bedroom and their lives. The kink is mild, the sex is hot, the story is lovely, and the narration? Exquisite.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rating for the narrators—Thérèse Plummer and Ben Holtzmuller—and the narrators alone.
While the description of Deep End sounded promising, I did NOT like Lukas.
He gave me the fucking ick 🤢
And that scene where Scarlett was avoiding him or something ??? and he showed up and they fucked—UGH, hated it.
That scene also terrified me.
Spoke about it with book club and I'm just going to leave it there.
Sorry y'all, I wouldn't recommend Deep End.
While the description of Deep End sounded promising, I did NOT like Lukas.
He gave me the fucking ick 🤢
And that scene where Scarlett was avoiding him or something ??? and he showed up and they fucked—UGH, hated it.
That scene also terrified me.
Spoke about it with book club and I'm just going to leave it there.
Sorry y'all, I wouldn't recommend Deep End.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship
Minor: Domestic abuse
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
The Ali-Verse is back in full swing with Olive and Adam as secondary characters. And married this time!
This was good, I just wish I loved it more. This does not rank among my favorite books in the Ali-Verse.
Scarlett’s experience is very relatable in the way that she thinks of her life as a “before” and “after” the injury. If you have ever had a traumatic or shocking experience in your life, this is a very realistic interpretation and hits close to home.
I could have done with much less Pen in the book. I’m still sus of Pen.
Scarlett and Luke were hot and sweet. Not my favorite couple, but they rank higher than Rue and Eli.
This was good, I just wish I loved it more. This does not rank among my favorite books in the Ali-Verse.
Scarlett’s experience is very relatable in the way that she thinks of her life as a “before” and “after” the injury. If you have ever had a traumatic or shocking experience in your life, this is a very realistic interpretation and hits close to home.
I could have done with much less Pen in the book. I’m still sus of Pen.
Scarlett and Luke were hot and sweet. Not my favorite couple, but they rank higher than Rue and Eli.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical content, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Child abuse
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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
Due to the mixed reviews I've seen of this book, I wasn't sure what to expect. But in the end, I really enjoyed this story.
I like the power dynamic between Lukas and Scarlett because it only exists within their agreed-upon relationship. I don't love the direction Ali Hazelwood often goes with her power dynamics because it makes me uncomfortable when a kink relationship takes place between people who are already in a power dynamic (i.e. most teacher/student relationships). Lukas is the swim team captain, but Scarlett isn't on the swim team so he is not in a position to influence her future depending on what happens between them. I like Ali Hazelwood's writing style more than I thought I would, particularly in her sex scenes. She doesn't rely on awkward metaphors, but rather describes the scene and the emotions directly.
I really enjoy the way Scarlett gets to engage with kink from a beginner's perspective. She's learning what to expect from Lukas and from herself, and I thought it was a lovely and genuine exploration. I've seen lots of complaints in reviews that it isn't kinky enough, but I think the level made perfect sense for where she was at—it was all about control and orgasm play, and I think that demanding the kink to be more dramatic defeats the point of what the book was trying to explore in this relationship.
Lukas felt a bit too good at being a dom to me given that as far as I could tell, Pen was his only previous relationship and she wasn't interested in the kind of sex he wanted. I'd have liked to see a bit more of a learning curve for him as well as Scarlett, as well as more growth from him generally. He’s a little too perfect from the start, and aside from a few mistakes along the way, he doesn’t have a lot of growth to do.
Early on, at least, I like Pen. She's chaotic and ridiculous, but she seems really genuine and kind. I do think she remains too involved in Lukas and Scarlett's relationship, like a third party who's always a little present. I liked that Lukas was still her best friend, but she should have been respectful of their relationship ending and stepped back physically out of respect for both him and Scarlett. Instead, Pen’s actions towards the end make me dislike her and countered all of the goodwill I built towards her over the whole story. Her apology was good, but it still really frustrated me.
I really don't understand why Lukas and Pen wanted everyone to think they were still together. Sure, everyone expected them to be together, but everyone would have gotten over it pretty fast. And it seemed unfair and unkind to Scarlett to make her sneak around—and potentially make her look like Lukas was cheating with her if anyone found out. Even if Pen wasn’t fully ready to move on, Lukas should have been more considerate of how it would all affect Scarlett.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I liked that most of it was about Scarlett working through her insecurities and trauma, but despite how sweet he was, Lukas’s arc felt a little weak to me. And I really enjoyed the lack of artificial drama between Lukas and Scarlett at the end—no miscommunication, no dramatic breakup, just a slight mismatch in terms of what they were each ready for in the moment.
I like the power dynamic between Lukas and Scarlett because it only exists within their agreed-upon relationship. I don't love the direction Ali Hazelwood often goes with her power dynamics because it makes me uncomfortable when a kink relationship takes place between people who are already in a power dynamic (i.e. most teacher/student relationships). Lukas is the swim team captain, but Scarlett isn't on the swim team so he is not in a position to influence her future depending on what happens between them. I like Ali Hazelwood's writing style more than I thought I would, particularly in her sex scenes. She doesn't rely on awkward metaphors, but rather describes the scene and the emotions directly.
I really enjoy the way Scarlett gets to engage with kink from a beginner's perspective. She's learning what to expect from Lukas and from herself, and I thought it was a lovely and genuine exploration. I've seen lots of complaints in reviews that it isn't kinky enough, but I think the level made perfect sense for where she was at—it was all about control and orgasm play, and I think that demanding the kink to be more dramatic defeats the point of what the book was trying to explore in this relationship.
Lukas felt a bit too good at being a dom to me given that as far as I could tell, Pen was his only previous relationship and she wasn't interested in the kind of sex he wanted. I'd have liked to see a bit more of a learning curve for him as well as Scarlett, as well as more growth from him generally. He’s a little too perfect from the start, and aside from a few mistakes along the way, he doesn’t have a lot of growth to do.
Early on, at least, I like Pen. She's chaotic and ridiculous, but she seems really genuine and kind. I do think she remains too involved in Lukas and Scarlett's relationship, like a third party who's always a little present. I liked that Lukas was still her best friend, but she should have been respectful of their relationship ending and stepped back physically out of respect for both him and Scarlett. Instead, Pen’s actions towards the end make me dislike her and countered all of the goodwill I built towards her over the whole story. Her apology was good, but it still really frustrated me.
I really don't understand why Lukas and Pen wanted everyone to think they were still together. Sure, everyone expected them to be together, but everyone would have gotten over it pretty fast. And it seemed unfair and unkind to Scarlett to make her sneak around—and potentially make her look like Lukas was cheating with her if anyone found out. Even if Pen wasn’t fully ready to move on, Lukas should have been more considerate of how it would all affect Scarlett.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I liked that most of it was about Scarlett working through her insecurities and trauma, but despite how sweet he was, Lukas’s arc felt a little weak to me. And I really enjoyed the lack of artificial drama between Lukas and Scarlett at the end—no miscommunication, no dramatic breakup, just a slight mismatch in terms of what they were each ready for in the moment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
MISS ALI HAZELWOOD! I loved this book so much! Lukas had me melting from the very beginning. I adored how straight forward he was and did not take Scarlett's bs. Their banter had me blushing and kicking my feet. Scarlett was a lovable FMC and I enjoyed the cameos from Adam and Olive. I say this every time I read an Ali Hazelwood book but this one is my favorite!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship
Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Death of parent
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Great up until the last 25%. The end fell really flat for me and I wasn't into the jealous girlfriend trope. Still love Ali Hazelwood and will continue reading her books.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Toxic friendship
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
1. I appreciate the letter at the beginning for the reader. Color me surprised by how tame this felt after reading said letter.
2. I did not find the main couple all that appealing. I kept trying to give them a chance to surprise me, to make me cheer for their relationship. Considering the kink warning, their relationship journey as a whole was super vanilla.
3.Sex is an emotional journey. Crying EVERY single time though?? IS this sexy??
2. I did not find the main couple all that appealing. I kept trying to give them a chance to surprise me, to make me cheer for their relationship. Considering the kink warning, their relationship journey as a whole was super vanilla.
3.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic friendship
Minor: Child abuse
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail