Book review – The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

3/5

CW: drowning, murder, and witch hunting

When I read the synopsis of this book (and to get to the Goodreads page, click the picture of the cover!) I immediately thought how badass it was going to be. The Swan sisters were sentenced to death by townspeople who thought they were witches two hundred years ago. Ever since then, they come back once a year, June 1st, inhabit the bodies of girls in the town, and drown boys. Then, at the summer solstice, they leave to come back the next year and seek more revenge.

I mean, it sounds pretty awesome. It sounds pretty BA. Skip to me getting this from my library and eagerly reading it.

I’ll start with the pros of the book:

• Interesting characters take up the pages.
• Ernshaw captures the mood perfectly. I finished this on a gloomy, rainy day and was never happier with that. I could taste the scene and it was so good.
• I loved the chapter art and that between chapters were vignettes of the sisters.
• Did not see one of the twists coming. (Predicted the other easily.)
• The writing was spectacular.

So, obviously, there were quite a few! I really thought this was a strong debut and I completely plan on reading the next book she comes out with to see what direction she takes since Ernshaw can write.

I have one con for this book, one that just took me away from the story completely.

• Romance.

Yep. I’m not a romance kind of guy. If it’s in a book but it’s not the main focus of the story, I love it! If a story has romance but it’s been previously established and the focus is on the realities of making a relationship work, I love it!

I can’t stand developing, teen romances. I hate that it’s always about The One. Brittany wrote a fantastic post about this issue in YA. And, as someone who has zero interest in romantic relationships, I don’t like reading much about their development and how they’re the best thing ever in your life and the only thing that will satisfy you.

And when the romance started up, I was hesitant. I was fine with it because there was a huge focus on things outside of it. Then the story kept going and it became clear that most of the plot was going to revolve around the relationship and their “love” for each other.

It was frustrating to read because as the romance increased, my interest in the story dropped off. I had to ignore the romance the best I could, especially at the end. I mainly skimmed the last bit of the book just because I was tired of reading about all that love.

Now, my issue with romance is mine alone. I’m sure that lots of people loved it. Still, I wish I had more warning/had known that most of the plot rotated around a romance. I might have come into the book with different expectations that way.

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What did you think of this book if you read it?
Do you have issues with romance being a plot outside of the romance genre?

August 30, 2018August 19, 2018 by bwreviews Categories: caidynTags: book blog, book blogger, book review, shea ernshaw, the wicked deep, ya fantasy, ya fiction 30 Comments