whiterabbitslibrary's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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anniereads221's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? No

2.0


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readintheclouds's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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sofiatea32's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A beautiful cover and a very tense and sad, but well written mysterious story. 

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adancewithbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

 Thank you to Razorbill and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.

Dark and Shallow Lies is an interesting dark mystery about a small community hidden away in the bayou. That can only mean one thing: twisted people. 

We follow 17 year old Grey as she returns to her place of birth, La Chachette for that Summer. A place hidden away in the bayou where she grew up with 10 other children all born in the same year. They are a tight knit group. Unlike the others however Grey is the only one that seems to want to stay. 

This book is one you can dive into deep. I only came up for air at the end of it. Once you are in you are swept along the dark vibe and feel of the bayou and the mystery of the dissapearance of a young girl. I think that is what I liked best about this whole book. The setting of the bayou and this small community. The bayou being the best place to hide away. The author manages to weave the feel of the bayou and the south throughout the entire book.

Having said that I think that the plot in itself wasn't that surprising. I called the plot twists pretty early on in the book. While I was in the book I was swept in by the writing itself and the bayou feel, but as soon as I was finished that was it. I had no reall attachment to it or the characters. The middle also dragged in places. It is almost 500 pages and looking back, it certainly could have been cut back here and there. 

Regardless I do think this is a fun book to read on a stormy night to get swept up in. Just for that one evening and moment. That can be good enough too. 

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melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for an arc of this book. 

When Grey goes home to La Cachette Louisiana the summer after her best friend vanishes, she is determined to reconnect with her friends and find out what happened to Elora.  But she ends up finding that the town is hiding more than just their psychic abilities.

I really enjoyed the writing in this book! It was super dark and atmospheric and I got really into it. I thought it was very mysterious and I was definitely trying to figure out who I could trust, who was at fault, and what bloody secrets the town held.

I didn't love the characters that much. I wasn't a big fan of Grey's obsession with her friend/crush Hart, and I didn't like the way he was acting. Obviously these things were written this way for a reason, and it did make sense later, but I didn't love it. I also felt like Grey just jumped from one boy to another with no really self-reflection there.

Overall, I enjoyed this!

Pub Date: Sept 7, 2021

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