Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea by Ashley Herring Blake completely destroyed me. This book made me cry start to finish. I will forever love all of Ashley Herring Blake’s books, but this is absolutely my favorite.

Hazel Bly is a 12-year-old girl who has been living in various rental homes all around the country with her Mama and little sister Peach. Before the last 2 years they had a wonderful life in a home in California. Then a tragic kayak trip happens,and Hazel is left without a Mum and with a face full of scars and a constantly moving life. They move to a small coastal Maine town, and Hazel’s Mama runs into a childhood friend, Claire, and rekindles their friendship and maybe more. This town is also full of mermaid myths and mysteries. Hazel begrudgingly befriends Lemon, Claire’s daughter, who is secretly hiding her own grief. 

This book was so beautiful. If you believe that MG books are all fluffy and lighthearted and not that deep, I highly recommend you give this book a try and re-frame your ideas about books for young people. This book handles so many tough topics with such grace and composure. It’s messy and ugly and incredible, I finished days ago and still can’t get my thoughts in order. Mermaids, anxiety, queerness, this book just had so many things going on and they were all handled so well.

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.