Scan barcode
A review by brianne_k
The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
4.0
Many Thanks to Net-Galley and the publisher for an advanced e-copy. This did not affect my rating.
*4/5*
Two centuries ago, in a small town named Sparrow, three sisters were accused of being witches and were sentenced to death. The townspeople tied rocks to their ankles and let the sister drown. Every summer since, the sisters inhabit the bodies of three unsuspecting young women, and unleash their anger upon the town. No one knows which girls are chosen or why.
“After the first night, the harmony of voices becomes undeniable. An enchanting hymn sailing over the water’s surface, cool and soft and alluring. The Swan sisters have awakened.”
This is a lovely and atmospheric novel. I loved the little asides you get before some chapters. You get to know Marguerite, Aurora, and Hazel Swan a little better.
Every summer, Sparrow teenagers have a ‘Swan Party’, which is the start of Swan Season, the time of year where the towns’ bad luck happens. This is when the sisters’ start to look for a body to inhabit. They then exact their revenge on the town by drowning the males of that are in Sparrow (not necessarily a townsperson, could be a tourist). No one sees the girls when they lure a boy out in to the ocean… so the boys deaths are ruled a suicide, or drowning.
Penny, our protagonist, lives on Lumiere Island (just a short boat ride off the mainland) with her mom who is drowning with grief. Penny’s father mysteriously disappeared a few years back and her mother has never recovered. Penny doesn’t want to go to the Swan Party, but her best friend Rose does and so Penny agrees to go along with her. Penny meets Bo, a tourist looking for work. Later that night at the party, Bo helps Penny with an unruly partygoer and they strike up a friendship. Penny gives Bo a job maintaining the lighthouse on Lumiere Island. As they grow closer, the mysterious drownings’ start, and even though the town has accepted their fate, Bo wants to figure out what to do. No one trusts anyone... and Penny has a secret she doesn’t tell anyone.
The premise of this book immediately drew me in. Legends and Curses, strange happenings… it was all well done. The writing is beautiful, Shea Ernshaw never took it too far, and she knew that there needed to be something to keep the readers intrigued, a hook. And boy, did she hook me in. I needed to know what was going to happen next, even if it was a little predictable in some points, I still needed to keep reading.
One small thing that bugged me was the insta-love.. I am never a huge fan of that.
I really enjoyed this book, and will recommend it to my friends. The writing was beautiful, the plot never dragged, the mystery was well done, as was the wrap up.
*4/5*
Two centuries ago, in a small town named Sparrow, three sisters were accused of being witches and were sentenced to death. The townspeople tied rocks to their ankles and let the sister drown. Every summer since, the sisters inhabit the bodies of three unsuspecting young women, and unleash their anger upon the town. No one knows which girls are chosen or why.
“After the first night, the harmony of voices becomes undeniable. An enchanting hymn sailing over the water’s surface, cool and soft and alluring. The Swan sisters have awakened.”
This is a lovely and atmospheric novel. I loved the little asides you get before some chapters. You get to know Marguerite, Aurora, and Hazel Swan a little better.
Every summer, Sparrow teenagers have a ‘Swan Party’, which is the start of Swan Season, the time of year where the towns’ bad luck happens. This is when the sisters’ start to look for a body to inhabit. They then exact their revenge on the town by drowning the males of that are in Sparrow (not necessarily a townsperson, could be a tourist). No one sees the girls when they lure a boy out in to the ocean… so the boys deaths are ruled a suicide, or drowning.
Penny, our protagonist, lives on Lumiere Island (just a short boat ride off the mainland) with her mom who is drowning with grief. Penny’s father mysteriously disappeared a few years back and her mother has never recovered. Penny doesn’t want to go to the Swan Party, but her best friend Rose does and so Penny agrees to go along with her. Penny meets Bo, a tourist looking for work. Later that night at the party, Bo helps Penny with an unruly partygoer and they strike up a friendship. Penny gives Bo a job maintaining the lighthouse on Lumiere Island. As they grow closer, the mysterious drownings’ start, and even though the town has accepted their fate, Bo wants to figure out what to do. No one trusts anyone... and Penny has a secret she doesn’t tell anyone.
The premise of this book immediately drew me in. Legends and Curses, strange happenings… it was all well done. The writing is beautiful, Shea Ernshaw never took it too far, and she knew that there needed to be something to keep the readers intrigued, a hook. And boy, did she hook me in. I needed to know what was going to happen next, even if it was a little predictable in some points, I still needed to keep reading.
One small thing that bugged me was the insta-love.. I am never a huge fan of that.
I really enjoyed this book, and will recommend it to my friends. The writing was beautiful, the plot never dragged, the mystery was well done, as was the wrap up.