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A review by mandy_smithburrows
The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
3.0
After much deep thought (I mean A LOT, I read this book about 4 months ago), I've decided to rate this book 2.5 stars. The first 100 pages were exactly what I wanted as it was dark, suspenseful and full of witchy legends. (: I found Penny interesting and I was really looking forward to watching the mystery reveal itself; however, all I got was a love story that I wasn't interested in and not enough of what drew me to the book in the first place (WITCHES). I also felt like there were too many predictable YA cliches and while the main idea behind the story was extremely original, the author sticking to basic YA plots caused the book to not reach its full potential. The characters were also very forgettable for me and seemed to have little personality (or if any).
However, I am aware that Wicked Deep is Ernshaw's debut novel and while I didn't enjoy this book much; the atmospheric nature of her writing was beautiful and I am definitely intrigued to read future novels of hers. Additionally, I believe this book may be received better by younger audiences or those just being introduced to YA (though there are sensitive topics mentioned such as drowning and suicide); when you've read as much YA, as I have not much gets by you...
However, I am aware that Wicked Deep is Ernshaw's debut novel and while I didn't enjoy this book much; the atmospheric nature of her writing was beautiful and I am definitely intrigued to read future novels of hers. Additionally, I believe this book may be received better by younger audiences or those just being introduced to YA (though there are sensitive topics mentioned such as drowning and suicide); when you've read as much YA, as I have not much gets by you...