A review by trinityb2021
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

4.5

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK. Except there was one smut scene towards the end that was so foul and disturbing and flabbergasting and slightly triggering that it completely ruined the book for me. I’ve decided to pretend this scene doesn’t exist, and rate it off of that. It’s written so vaguely that it’s easy to miss what’s happening. I didn’t miss it Ali. I’m looking at you.

4.5⭐️

The characters 🤌🏻 muah. Some of Ali’s best character work and definitely her best side character work. The relationships all felt real, deep, and earned. Vandy has just enough personality that you could argue that she isn’t a self insert like a lot of Ali’s other books. All the characters with any amount of screen time had really good arcs that were satisfying to see. You won’t believe me when I say the sex tells the story of their relationship. No joke the ungodly amounts of straight up kinky porn in this book DOES serve a purpose (even the scene we shall not name).

The book was objectively too long but I actually liked that. I loved the characters so much that I didn’t mind “wasting” time on some fluffier scenes.

This is what Not in Love should’ve been and was trying to be. It is characters using sex to explore themselves and their relationships. I don’t think Ali fully achieved that in her last book but this one absolutely does.

I am so here for Ali breaking outside of her comfort zone with all these new romances. Give me a cowboy romance NOW!