Reviews - In at the Deep End

958 reviews for:

In at the Deep End

Kate Davies

3.49 AVERAGE

readabilitea's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging emotional funny sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

eagerreader2022's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I honestly think I would read this again, even though I wanted to SCREAM at the MC for not realizing the truth of the relationship.

Written in the first person, I thought that I would end up so inside the mind of our protagonist, but I was still an observer able to see the

gaslighting and controlling personality

occuring with the main love interest.

I really enjoyed how frank Kate Davies is with the writing style. Leaving very little untold and being direct in what our MC noticed about their surroundings (which was little to none since they're established in their living space).

None of the secondary plots were left unfinished nor felt like they were ever forgotten about. They demonstrated real life and how we are balancing our own "plots" over time.

I'm interested to read this story, or others with similar themes from the

abuser's

POV to see if I still want to scream.

Content Warnings

izzzybee98's review against another edition

3.5

funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

bybyberry's review against another edition

4.0

This book is good, but not in the way that it's being advertised. I'm honestly kinda surprised at how the blurb, Goodreads, and the bookshop, all said something along the line of "this is raunchy and sexy and hilarious" when I ended up pretty much reading about an abusive relationship for 250 pages.

And that part is great and well-written! I love how it shows all the subtle parts of a dysfunctional relationship and a controlling partner, how easy it can be to cross your own boundaries and how confusing it is to love someone but also hate what's going on.

I love how messy and anxious the main protagonist is, how in love with her girlfriend she is despite it all, and how you even at times sympathise with said-girlfriend: it makes it all more realist and heartbreaking.

While I really enjoy the set of characters, I felt like lots of them were described through their romantic lives and I felt like they could be a bit more multi-dimensional. Also without spoiling, I'm not a big fan of what the story ends on!