Scan barcode
thenextgenlibrarian's review
4.0
Great mix between The Goonies and Stranger Things! Spooky, mysterious—had me turning those pages pretty fast!
allygrove's review
4.0
4.5 I'm a light weight when it comes to spooky and this would have scared me in Middle School, lol.
kelamity_reads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Each chapter of the story switches the point of view between two of the main characters - Nico and Opal. Sometimes, POV switching can be immersion breaking, but I actually enjoyed it in this case and didn't feel like it was hard to follow or that it affected immersion in any way.
I like the overarching themes within the book and look forward to reading the sequel.
I like the overarching themes within the book and look forward to reading the sequel.
deviki's review against another edition
4.0
Books I've read and provided detailed reviews over the years but all data is lost after accidental deletion and GD refuse to restore it back.
Adding books back to my library for my own reference and tracking purposes
Adding books back to my library for my own reference and tracking purposes
cluelesswonder's review against another edition
It was ok. Could not get in to it.
thenextgenlib's review
4.0
Great mix between The Goonies and Stranger Things! Spooky, mysterious—had me turning those pages pretty fast!
ambernh1984's review
3.0
Read this for my school district, as it'll be a book that's given to our middle school students. I loved the character development throughout the story, but felt like we weren't given enough information to explain the "Darkdeep." It felt like the ending was a bit rushed, while the drama of the story was drawn out. 3 1/2 stars.
bloopers's review
4.0
First thoughts: Good book on the surface but becomes mushy when you think. If I could, this would be 3.7 stars.
Something that brought me to this book was that it was written by Brendan Reichs. I haven't personally read any of his books yet, but I have heard good things about his Nemesis series. When I read it, I was partially disappointed with the horror. Let me explain.
Something I was expecting was those secrets in their own hearts that are mentioned in the very last line of the synopsis. Thing is, the characters only start asking those questions in the fourth part of this book(this book is split into parts).
Now for horror. The actual horror is pretty good for an elementary grade book. There are some small scenes of scariness throughout the book, like a figment trying to kill Nico, but the really good stuff comes in the last five chapters. Final Thoughts: The horror aspect of this book was amazing but it was pretty slow for me.
Next topic, world-building.
The world-building was okay. In the first few chapters, you get to learn about the things in Still Cove and how dangerous it can be, but then it just kind of stops when they start testing out the Darkdeep. It does start again soon after when the Radish Festival happens. Even then, you don't really get to know much about the world the characters are living in or the people in Timbers. Also, for the Still Cove, you don't really learn much about how things are happening there. Yes, there are carvings and some like secret society thing that guards the Darkdeep, but I would say those are the most interesting things in the book. Final thoughts: You don't get to know much about the world the characters live in as it is filled in with more scenes with the Darkdeep.
Second to last topic: Character development.
I really wanted to know more about the characters here. In the book, there is little to no information on Tyler. Just dialogue of him being scared. Emma is a big risk taker but there really isn't that much to her. I didn't really see any change in Opal. Shes really just a person. That's all I can say about her. Nico is the one who makes the biggest development, him being able to recognize that some people can help you. Finally, Logan. He learns that people can be cool. I will also say that the characters(not Logan) did counter their fears, but that happens at the end of the book so you don't get to see if there was any change in the characters after that. Final thoughts: Main character development only happens for select characters. For this reason, I would say that I would like to have more backstory on each character.
Last topic: The alternating character chapters.
I would say that this book doesn't need double character chapters. This book would be completely fine without them. In the book, the two people who gets their chapters are Nico and Opal. The book is in 3rd person, so either way, you get to read the other character's train of thought. Final thoughts: This book doesn't need alternating character chapters.
The book itself is a good book, but the main aspect going for it is the horror aspect. I feel like everything else is not included. I have so much hope for the second and third novels, and I hope that more background will be included in those books.
Something that brought me to this book was that it was written by Brendan Reichs. I haven't personally read any of his books yet, but I have heard good things about his Nemesis series. When I read it, I was partially disappointed with the horror. Let me explain.
Something I was expecting was those secrets in their own hearts that are mentioned in the very last line of the synopsis. Thing is, the characters only start asking those questions in the fourth part of this book(this book is split into parts).
Now for horror. The actual horror is pretty good for an elementary grade book. There are some small scenes of scariness throughout the book, like a figment trying to kill Nico, but the really good stuff comes in the last five chapters. Final Thoughts: The horror aspect of this book was amazing but it was pretty slow for me.
Next topic, world-building.
The world-building was okay. In the first few chapters, you get to learn about the things in Still Cove and how dangerous it can be, but then it just kind of stops when they start testing out the Darkdeep. It does start again soon after when the Radish Festival happens. Even then, you don't really get to know much about the world the characters are living in or the people in Timbers. Also, for the Still Cove, you don't really learn much about how things are happening there. Yes, there are carvings and some like secret society thing that guards the Darkdeep, but I would say those are the most interesting things in the book. Final thoughts: You don't get to know much about the world the characters live in as it is filled in with more scenes with the Darkdeep.
Second to last topic: Character development.
I really wanted to know more about the characters here. In the book, there is little to no information on Tyler. Just dialogue of him being scared. Emma is a big risk taker but there really isn't that much to her. I didn't really see any change in Opal. Shes really just a person. That's all I can say about her. Nico is the one who makes the biggest development, him being able to recognize that some people can help you. Finally, Logan. He learns that people can be cool. I will also say that the characters(not Logan) did counter their fears, but that happens at the end of the book so you don't get to see if there was any change in the characters after that. Final thoughts: Main character development only happens for select characters. For this reason, I would say that I would like to have more backstory on each character.
Last topic: The alternating character chapters.
I would say that this book doesn't need double character chapters. This book would be completely fine without them. In the book, the two people who gets their chapters are Nico and Opal. The book is in 3rd person, so either way, you get to read the other character's train of thought. Final thoughts: This book doesn't need alternating character chapters.
The book itself is a good book, but the main aspect going for it is the horror aspect. I feel like everything else is not included. I have so much hope for the second and third novels, and I hope that more background will be included in those books.