A review by thebalancedbookshelf
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

3.5

I’m a little conflicted about this one. I liked how this focused on sports but still had the science aspects that Ali Hazlewood is known for. I liked the sports competitions set up and how Scarlett is recovering from an injury. I really enjoyed Lukas’ character and the understanding that the two had between them. I even enjoyed the Olive and Adam cameo. 

What I’m conflicted with is how the relationship was set up. The friend being their connection but still pretending they were together was annoying to me. There was a lot of back and forth because of it and I think someone needed to declare that relationship over a long time ago. It felt like a weak reason to drag it on because of gossip while Pen was already dating someone else. I also didn’t  feel like the situation was fully resolved in regards to how Pen treated Scarlett. After Scarlett defended her against Clarissa’s accusations to go and then publicly shame her and lie to everyone really bothered me. I know she apologized but it left a bad taste in my mouth. It felt like she was proving exactly who that girl said she was. 

Overall, I think this one wasn’t bad but made because of the hype I just had higher expectations. It could also just be my personal preference that the friendship/relationship aspect bothered me so much. 

Side note: I wish we could have had more insight into when they first met but she forgot because I feel like they made that something that went nowhere.