The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

TITLE: The Wicked Deep

AUTHOR: Shea Ernshaw

RELEASED: March 6th 2018 by Simon Pulse

GENRE: YA Fantasy

“The Swan sisters had a charm that was born into their blood, like their mother: Men could not resist the softness of their skin or the gleam of their aquamarine eyes” 

MY THOUGHTS: I don’t know why I put off reading this for so long…because I LOVED it!! The cover is stunning, but it is completely complemented by the writing inside. The story was interesting, surprising, spooky, and entirely enthralling. It was original with themes of redemption, revenge, and love woven throughout. It definitely reminded me of Hocus Pocus, but with it’s own story. The writing is beautiful, lyrical in places, and transports you straight to Sparrow with Penny, Rose, Bo, and the Swan sisters. I felt as if I was there alongside Penny and really could not put it down!

“Like looking through a thin pane of glass, or beneath the surface of a lake all the way down to the sandy bottom.”

Penny, the narrator, has had a difficult life, but still manages to take care of herself, her family, and be a great friend to Rose. She does keep to herself a bit, not allowing people to become her friend, because she already feels too much responsibility to her family and the lighthouse on Lumiere Island. When she meets Bo the same night of the Swan party, things are set in motion that she never expected. Hell, I didn’t see them coming – and I’m usually pretty good at predicting what is going to happen! She’s a captivating character, and I found myself wanting to know more about her and her life the more I learned.

“I don’t allow myself to look away from him – I need him to speak, to wash over my words with his own.”

The novel brings up some questions for me: What would I do if I discovered someone I loved wasn’t who they’d pretended? Could I forgive an unforgivable act? Do I have the kind of compassion for people’s potential to change? Can someone ever really change entirely? And does the ultimate act of sacrifice level us with past transgressions? Also, (and yes, I realise this is fantasy) if you were possessed and unable to control your body, how would you feel then learning about the actions you committed while under possession? This was a heavy book if you allow yourself to get deeper into the themes and stuff, but it’s also just a really great spooky read!

“And it has tilted my universe off center, the frayed edges of my life starting to unravel. Loving someone is dangerous. It gives you something to lose.”

Now, I cannot wait to see Netflix’s adaptation of The Wicked Deep!! I truly hope it lives up to Shea Ernshaw’s writing…

AMAZON * GOODREADS * BOOKDEPOSITORY

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“But I know who the sisters really are”

BLURB: Hocus Pocus and Practical Magic meets the Salem Witch trials in this haunting story about three sisters on a quest for revenge – and how love may be the only thing powerful enough to stop them.

Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow…

Two centuries ago, in the small, isolated town, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town. Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return from the depths, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them down to their watery deaths.

Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into or the fact that his arrival will change everything…

Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets. And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters.

But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo, or save herself.

“We wait for death. We hold our breath.

We know it’s coming, and still we flinch when it claws at our throats and pulls us under.”