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A review by solly
In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
There's nothing inherently terrible about this book, but I was mostly bored reading it.
The character arcs are a little weak and all over the place, the pacing is a little weird. The characters are cute but not very complex. The plot is very, very predictable, I was surprised by exactly zero reveals, and guessing wasn't very rewarding either, it just all felt too obvious. The stakes and dangers never quite feel real.
I think if you go in expecting a cute fairytale type story, it's a fine read, and I'm pretty sure the fairytale vibe is what the author intended. There's not a lot of complexity though, and I struggled with some of the consequences of this fairytale story choice. Like, the perfect royal family, where everyone is good and cares about their people and is beloved throughout the kingdom. I'm wayyy too bitter to buy Perfect Royals stories. All the court machinations also felt too easy. It just really wasn't a representation of royalty that worked for me, because of the aforementioned lack of complexity.
The main characters were cute together, and the last chapter did make me smile. The banter is cute, the siblings love is nice. It just didn't quite feel earned. The conclusion of the love story felt a little easy. There's those big stakes and the way it's resolved is just... way too easy and kind of boring. I think I would have been more on board with the out of nowhere fairytale HEA if the story leaned a little more into the gruesomeness of fairytales in places.
Anyway it's not a bad book by any means. There's nothing glaringly bad that bothered me except some off pacing and character development. But I think you have to have very specific expectations of what this story is before going into it to appreciate it, and it just didn't match with my taste in fantasy stories/romances.
The character arcs are a little weak and all over the place, the pacing is a little weird. The characters are cute but not very complex. The plot is very, very predictable, I was surprised by exactly zero reveals, and guessing wasn't very rewarding either, it just all felt too obvious. The stakes and dangers never quite feel real.
I think if you go in expecting a cute fairytale type story, it's a fine read, and I'm pretty sure the fairytale vibe is what the author intended. There's not a lot of complexity though, and I struggled with some of the consequences of this fairytale story choice. Like, the perfect royal family, where everyone is good and cares about their people and is beloved throughout the kingdom. I'm wayyy too bitter to buy Perfect Royals stories. All the court machinations also felt too easy. It just really wasn't a representation of royalty that worked for me, because of the aforementioned lack of complexity.
The main characters were cute together, and the last chapter did make me smile. The banter is cute, the siblings love is nice. It just didn't quite feel earned. The conclusion of the love story felt a little easy. There's those big stakes and the way it's resolved is just... way too easy and kind of boring. I think I would have been more on board with the out of nowhere fairytale HEA if the story leaned a little more into the gruesomeness of fairytales in places.
Anyway it's not a bad book by any means. There's nothing glaringly bad that bothered me except some off pacing and character development. But I think you have to have very specific expectations of what this story is before going into it to appreciate it, and it just didn't match with my taste in fantasy stories/romances.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Violence
Minor: Misogyny