krunkjess's review
3.0
*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: May 31, 2022
A navy ship comes across a small sailing yacht in distress in the middle of nowhere—an unconscious man and the wife who signaled for help are brought aboard and when the Captain questions what happened, Virginie can only manage to say that it was all her fault and she killed them all. We then travel back in time to Virginie’s narrative of the months leading up to this point. This tale is gripping at first and will have you tearing through the pages to figure out what happened—unfortunately the middle 50% dragged on as we got into daily life on Amarante—with Virginie’s naïveté increasingly frustrating. I loved coming back to present day to get back to the Captains perspective and the final twists are a page turner.
A navy ship comes across a small sailing yacht in distress in the middle of nowhere—an unconscious man and the wife who signaled for help are brought aboard and when the Captain questions what happened, Virginie can only manage to say that it was all her fault and she killed them all. We then travel back in time to Virginie’s narrative of the months leading up to this point. This tale is gripping at first and will have you tearing through the pages to figure out what happened—unfortunately the middle 50% dragged on as we got into daily life on Amarante—with Virginie’s naïveté increasingly frustrating. I loved coming back to present day to get back to the Captains perspective and the final twists are a page turner.
keribchilders's review
3.0
3.5-4. I liked the writing style but some parts were a little slow for me
heybridgetmae's review
DNF’d at the halfway mark. I felt like I was almost dreading picking this up and that’s not what you want from a book. So promising but just wasn’t for me.
books_with_kayleigh's review
4.0
So this was definitely a slow burn thriller, set on a crazy remote island. I loved how vividly I could imagine the island and islanders, really well set!
The characters were fairly likeable overall, other than Vitor, who you could tell was a wrongun from the start!
I really liked how the back to front way this one started and how Virginie then told the story of everything that happened. I can't say that I would be rushing to live on a crazy remote island like that!
The characters were fairly likeable overall, other than Vitor, who you could tell was a wrongun from the start!
I really liked how the back to front way this one started and how Virginie then told the story of everything that happened. I can't say that I would be rushing to live on a crazy remote island like that!
francosteen's review
fast-paced
4.0
Fun, exciting beach read thriller. Also, I have no desire to ever go sailing and live on an island/the sea.
maz403's review
2.0
Disappointing one for me. Luckily shows like Survivor make it easy to picture the landscape of a desert island. However I didn’t feel there was much depth to the characters and ,coupled with what felt like a very slow storyline, it didn’t hold my attention. I did read to the end but without the excitement I had been hoping for.
thebooktrail88's review
3.0
Discover the locations in the novel
Deep Water- the premise reminded me of the film Dead Calm. Virginie and Jake are the couple who are rescued by a boat and then recount a story of horror....but what is the truth?
I enjoyed this atmospheric story about a couple who set out for paradise on their boat but end up getting more than they bargained for...
Danial Tengku is the man who comes cross Virginie and an unconscious Jake, so you know things have gone very wrong indeed and it is quite the journey to get to the truth. This is a slow burn of a novel despite the premise but it's fun and compelling to see what on earth is going on with this couple. I was very aware that I was in the middle of the ocean on a very small and remote island ( the novel's setting not me in real life sadly) but that just makes it all the more ' moreish'.
This is a slow but tense read and there is a definate sense of foreboding throughout. It's that rather than a packed plot that makes this book. It's not that it's a very gripping read but more ' ooh what on earth is going on here' kind of read.
This might well make me not want to go on a real boat for some time however.
laurenkd89's review
2.0
I was so, so excited for this book. A thriller set on a remote, unhospitable island in the middle of the ocean, with a comparison to one of my favorite environmentally-focused thrillers, [b:Into the Jungle|43662322|Into the Jungle|Erica Ferencik|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581260221l/43662322._SY75_.jpg|62681363]?! Sign me up! It starts off with a bang: a Malaysian navy ship gets a distress call from a catamaran, a woman saying her husband is injured and in dire need of medical attention. The ship sails to them in choppy waters and executes a dramatic rescue of the couple. They find some passports on the catamaran, but none of the passports belong to the couple. When they bring the two on board the navy ship, the woman is in shock and can't communicate what happened to them. Eventually, she calms down and tells the story from the beginning...
And zzzzz. This had the potential to be so high-octane, with tensions between the other individuals at the island mounting slowly, the fear of being stranded, the danger and history of this tiny, uninhabited island all serving to contribute to the thrill. But it wasn't that at all. The tension really came from the couple we meet at the beginning arguing and not trusting each other - the rest of the characters and the island were so tame and minor. I slogged through this hoping for a more entertaining ending, but it wasn't that at all. Super disappointed.
For a book that's shockingly similar to this concept with much, much better execution, I would recommend [b:Reckless Girls|57693168|Reckless Girls|Rachel Hawkins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1633483350l/57693168._SY75_.jpg|90371431]. That book had all of the action and dramatic elements I mentioned above, with a great ending and lots of twists.
Thank you to Gallery Books for the ARC via Netgalley.
And zzzzz. This had the potential to be so high-octane, with tensions between the other individuals at the island mounting slowly, the fear of being stranded, the danger and history of this tiny, uninhabited island all serving to contribute to the thrill. But it wasn't that at all. The tension really came from the couple we meet at the beginning arguing and not trusting each other - the rest of the characters and the island were so tame and minor. I slogged through this hoping for a more entertaining ending, but it wasn't that at all. Super disappointed.
For a book that's shockingly similar to this concept with much, much better execution, I would recommend [b:Reckless Girls|57693168|Reckless Girls|Rachel Hawkins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1633483350l/57693168._SY75_.jpg|90371431]. That book had all of the action and dramatic elements I mentioned above, with a great ending and lots of twists.
Thank you to Gallery Books for the ARC via Netgalley.
meganwhitis's review
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up 4*
So because of my recent obsession with Below Deck, I couldn't resist a book where the characters buy a yacht and take it to a remote island. I have learned so many sailing & boating terms because of that show that helped me understand things happening in DEEP WATER.
My thoughts:
-a slower burn
-not a book for everyone
-remote island setting is so fascinating to me because like, how do you survive
So because of my recent obsession with Below Deck, I couldn't resist a book where the characters buy a yacht and take it to a remote island. I have learned so many sailing & boating terms because of that show that helped me understand things happening in DEEP WATER.
My thoughts:
-a slower burn
-not a book for everyone
-remote island setting is so fascinating to me because like, how do you survive