Reviews

Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea by Ashley Herring Blake

elizanneschwa's review

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

5.0

cassys's review

adventurous emotional relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

danascully7's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

satashan's review

4.0

4.5, really good exploration of loss and grief for teens but still made me cry.

kalynwebb's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

msrcreation's review against another edition

5.0

Summerween readathon being this month meant I put this down a few times to focus on that. I’m kind of glad I did though. I was able to read this slowly and truly enjoy the emotion of it. I adored every page. This is such a love book about grief and I cried multiple times. A new favorite.

mackie_24's review

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

stacyrenee's review

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

MG
Contemporary 
LGBTQIA+

This is a contemporary 🏳️‍🌈LGBTQIA+🏳️‍🌈 middle-grade novel about a young girl named Hazel who moves from California to Maine with her Mum and little sister, Peach, leaving behind her life and memories of her second mother who died during a kayak accident that left Hazel with physical and emotional scars.

Hazel must contend with new life obstacles in Maine, especially once her mum starts spending more time with an old school friend and her daughter, Lemon, who loves to talk, talk, talk about a 150yo mermaid legend. Can Hazel find new friendships while dealing with so much grief?

lapetite's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Changing is survival. Changing is how you keep the Sadness from claiming you completely. Or, like Jules said, maybe the changing is the claiming.

Wow. Just wow. This book tore my heart and then mended it anew.

librarylandlisa's review

4.0

This book had a lot of great things in it. I think this book would be good to read if you are dealing with loss/grief/ or an emotionally unresponsive parent, or to read to better understand a friend or loved one going through the same. lots of positive LGBTQ+ representation!