If you’ve seen the movies Dead Calm, The Beach, etc, then you can skip this one. Just like the annoying main characters’ boat engine, the novel never gets going. I kept turning the pages wondering when the story would get started and by the time I was 2/3rds through still nothing was happening. Once the expected thrills start they’re totally standard and you feel like a fisherman who’s spent all day on the dock without a catch.

I enjoyed the changing perspectives, and there's a twist that I didn't see coming, that really got me. It's always a pleasure when a story can get me like that. It was dynamic, and the development was well done.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
All opinions are my own.

I was super interested in this book when I received it, and the first few chapters were promising, but then it just... stopped being interesting, I guess. The description of the islands and the other boats reminded me a little bit of Reckless Girls, but definitely not as well done. I didn't like any of the characters, and in particular thought Virginie was kind of an idiot. I guess this fits into the "slow burn" category, but for me nothing really happened and I didn't like that. I wish more attention had been given to the mysterious ruins on the island, as they seemed just kind of glanced-over. I also thought the last chapter was real annoying and I rolled my eyes a lot.
I would not recommend this book to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC!

I’d like to thank @netgalley and Scout Press for the ARC of Deep Water in exchange for an honest review. The writing and storytelling was good. However, I felt it was lacking in the creepy and suspense area. It took over half the book to tell the back story of the trip and the characters. The last part of the book was suspenseful and action packed. I expected more survival and fear happening throughout the book. I will try more books by this author because the writing was good.

Gripping, graphic, wild, and raw. A story of lies and trust and deception, until the end.

Four couples vacation on a little slice of anarchy that goes well, until it doesn't.

You do not need the prologue to feel the disaster approaching here, the only question is which one of the number of things that can go wrong will go wrong. The characters move between cheesy and deep, which makes it grounded as a work: just enough seriousness to let the tawdriness work. Everything is much more domestic and mundane than I was worried about when I read the blurb, which I think works to add to the quality of the tension.

The complaint here is that it is surprisingly slight. After all this build up, the final climax is quick. Post-climax, I looked at how many pages that were left and thought "okay, I'm ready for the flop," but instead it takes a graceful denouement. I think that the idea is to recenter the text in affirmation of post-colonialist ideals. Still, it is effective, but just that. But I think that after reading so many books that fail at basic plot structure, I am glad to encounter one that keeps it simple and sticks the landing.

This is good...this is really good! It may start off kind of slow for most readers but it builds into that slow burn that gets your heart pumping. To think that there are really people out there that find the most remote places to explore...after reading this...not me!