I could have devoured this book but instead for a couple of days I only allowed myself a few chapters. I was savoring the book. Then today I read probably 80% of the book. I cried at one point, cussed at the book a few times and even got so excited that I dropped the book and lost my place. I found myself re-reading passages because I'd get to reading so fast I was afraid I'd miss something. When I finished I really did turn to the first chapter and read it again. I will definitely be re-reading the entire book. With this setting it may become an annual read. Readers of the book will know exactly when I'll be reading it again.

So, this was an enjoyable book! (Also, quick second for some cover appreciation, yes? Look at it. I may need a finished copy, just saying.) Anyway, this book has quite a bit going for it, so we shall break it down by the pros and cons!

The Stuff I Liked: 

The atmosphere is so on point. I mean, you think you're going to be in a creepy small town set on the water, and wow are you ever. I absolutely felt the eeriness of this place, as well as the small town vibe. 

I loved the focus on the history of the legend of the sisters. I'd totally read a book wholly about their backstory, honestly. They seemed badass, especially for their time. But the parts of their story we got were fabulous, so I am happy! 

While the relationship was a *bit* quick for my liking, there was no denying that Penny and Bo had chemistry. And I liked some spoilery parts of their relationship, and I'll leave it at that. 

The plot was quite twisty, and even though I did figure some of them out ahead of time, it didn't really bother me much. The story definitely kept me entertained and engaged. It was a good length, too- long enough to tell the whole story, but not overly long where I would get bored. It flowed nicely, also. 

The Stuff I Didn't:  

Some of the end felt a little... easy. Obviously I cannot speak more to this, but I was left feeling a little... unsure? 

I would have liked a bit more familial interaction.  I know there were some reasons for this. One that I can talk about is how Penny's mom is still grieving the disappearance of her dad. But I still think that a parent would be more worried about their kid gallivanting around an island where dudes are being murdered on the reg, but hey, maybe that's just me. There's also a spoilery reason, but I felt that it wasn't necessary, and mom could have been more in the picture. Minor gripe. 

Bottom Line: So incredibly atmospheric with a past and present-day story, this was a haunting tale with themes of life, loss, and love.

I cannot believe how good this was! I feel like the wind was just knocked out of me. I'm speechless! Please let this become a movie! Please let this become a movie! Please let this become a movie! *clicks my ruby slippers together as many times as it takes*

I'm going to try to settle down here for a second so that I can try to form a somewhat coherent review. Bear with me. lol

The writing in this book was STUNNING! There were so many times when I would have to slow down and read the book out loud so that I could feel the shape of the lovely prose on my own lips. It was so gorgeous at times, it was almost poetry. 

I could not put this book down once I really got into it. At about the midway point of the book, I guessed the plot twists and I was SHOOK! This was so much better than I could ever have imagined and I'm so glad. Normally when I hype a book up in my mind, it backfires on me. Not this time, Satan!

The magic in this book was not the kind that I was expecting. There are no spells or sorcery, but what there is is so much better! (is is. seriously, kristen? that's weak. i know.) The magic of loooooove! lol Also just the general idea behind this book was thebomb.com. 

Okay, I think this review has officially derailed. I'm tired. I'm going to bed. READ THIS BOOK! Good night.

I love stories about Witches and this Practical Magic meets Hocus Pocus tale grabbed my attention and held it so that I could not put it down until I was finished! The pacing was slow at times but the twists near the end more than made up for it.
I did like the relationship between Penny and Bo. It was an insta-love relationship, which always annoy me, but some how the author made it work so that Penny and Bo may have fell for each other fast but the rest of their relationship progressed at a normal, steadier pace.
The Swan Sisters and their story was sad yet wicked. I started to sympathize with them because I understood their pain and rage but at the same time their terrible deeds were wrong.
The Wicked Deep is very atmospheric, you can almost feel the spray from the sea on your face or see yourself walking through the gray, misty port side town of Sparrow. This witchy tale of revenge, love, betrayal and loss will captivate you and ensnare you until the very end.

Beautiful, descriptive prose, a collision of the living and the dead, revenge, and true love--everything a YA novel should be!

So this book surprised me in the fact that there was a huge plot twist I didn't see coming. And overall I felt the story was very original and it was a nice change of pace from the typical, trope filled YA that I normally read. The first part of the book with the world building/character building and overall set up was a little slow, but once the plot got going it never really let up, and I flew through the last 
part of the book because I wanted to know what happened so badly. Really enjoyed this read.

I received this e-arc via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This has got to be one of the most beautiful covers I've seen in a while. I'm sure it's even more so when you're holding the hardback cover in your hands.

So, real talk: when the publisher comps this book to stories like Hocus Pocus, I just have to get my hands on it because that's one of my favorite stories ever. It's not quite up to par with that story because this is so not the story of the Sanderson sisters we know and love and we watch every year on FreeForm (formerly ABC Family).

What this story does involve are three sisters who are accused of being witches based on their power they have over the men in the town. And according to the legend and actual events, these sisters come back to the town and inhabit the souls of actual girls on the island, claiming the lives of young men.

Morbid much? Absolutely. And what I got from reading The Wicked Deep was this weird and quirky little story I did not expect in the least. It's hard to review this one without giving much away but let's just say that I figured out the big twist or reveal pretty early on, given some of the facts that were presented. But that still didn't matter because there are so many mysteries I needed resolving, that I was intrigued to keep reading.

Also, there's something to be said about this being Ernshaw's debut because she is so adept and talented in her world building. Seriously, she's a great writer. But I think everything surrounding the mystery of this island needed to remain so much a secret, I didn't really get invested when it came to the romance, but I did, however, feel the pain and the suffering that came from this town and the big issue it had with a curse for the last 200 years.

Either way, I think everyone should read this one because unlike many books, this one provided so many topics of interest - things like what makes us good, what truly motivates us, or even, why love prompts us to act in uncanny ways - that I'm still thinking about it long after I closed it.

Thank you so much to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Wicked Deep
by Shea Ernshaw

Publication Date: March 6th, 2018

A sleepy town which wake every summer to their own curse. The Swan sisters were persecuted as witches nearly 200 years ago and every summer they come back to exact their revenge on the boys of the down. Marguerite, Aurora, and Hazel Swan inhabit the bodies of three girls every summer and lure unsuspecting boys into the harbor to drown. Penny has always known about the sisters and dreads the Swan season. We follow her struggle as she navigates her mourning mother, a new outsider, and the island that has a huge place in her heart. 

Shea Ernshaw weaves a beautiful story of love and loss that keeps the reader enthralled until the end. The twist and turns of this story draw you in and tug at the readers emotions. I loved the mythology put into the novel and the development of the plot. The only thing that I would have like more would be a little more character development and relationship development with the main character's romance and her best friend's romance. I do agree that it worked well with the plot, but I think I just wanted more of the story. 

If you're looking for a fun paranormal romance stand alone novel, then I highly recommend this! 

Thanks so much to NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this fabulous novel.

#Netgalley #WickedDeep

Another one that I can’t get on my kindle.  We will purchase anyway - sounds Amazing!

I really liked this.

The Wicked Deep takes place in a small town in Oregon named Sparrow. Every year on June 1 three sisters come back from the dead and inhabit the bodies of three teenage girls. In 1883 the Swan sisters were accused of being witches and thrown into the ocean to drown. Every year because of this they seduce the boys in the town and then drown them as revenge for being murdered by the town over 200 years ago.

Our main character Penny Talbot lives in Sparrow and is resigned to the fact that every year just as school ends, the sisters come back, and the murders begin again. But this year something is different. Because this is a widely known local legend, every year there is an influx of tourists coming in to see if they can get a glimpse of the sisters, but one boy named Bo stumbles into town looking for work and has no idea what happens every year or who the Swan sisters are.

I really can’t say anything else about the plot because it’d be considered a spoiler. I think it’s just best to go into this just knowing the blurb of the book and nothing more. This is a paranormal mystery and it kept me on my toes the entire time. Honestly, I was kind of confused almost the entire time but never in a frustrating way. I was just dying to what the fuck was going on. I wanted to know who the Swan sisters were possessing and how exactly everything would end.

The weakest part of the book was probably the romance, but it wasn’t even because of the characters, it was just a bit underdeveloped compared to everything else. Since Penny is the MC and we’re in her POV throughout the story, we didn’t learn that much about Bo (but what we did I liked.) There is also a case of insta-love, I’ve definitely read worse but it’s still there a little bit.

I loved that we got glimpses from 200 years ago. We got to see a little bit of how the Swan sisters were while they were alive. Overall, this had a creepy and atmospheric vibe and I recommend it to readers who like YA paranormal and fantasy. Also the cover is absolutely drool-worthy and it fits the story perfectly!

I wanted to love this book because I'm really into witch trials and all that good stuff. But I don't feel that I can give it a positive review, so I'm not going to review it.

Rating: 3.5 The concept of this book really interested me. I love anything witch related and it sounded like Practical Magic, Hocus Pocus and Siren tales--sign me up. While I did enjoy it, it was rather predictable. All of the twists seemed obvious and I am not a huge fan of the romance. It felt way too insta-love for me. (I chose to think of it as being a longer period of time because if it was I think I would have really enjoyed the relationship. However, I really liked the island and small town setting and liked Hazel's story. But the ending felt a little rushed. Overall, I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting.  

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this arc for an honest review thanks to Netgalley.
I was first intrigued by the description and once I started I was immediately hooked. The overall idea and character development, as well as the back story was fantastic, it really was similar to hocus pocus or practical magic. I highly recommend to anyone who love books with magic and strong female characters. I can't wait to get a hard copy.

Rating: 3.5 stars

The Wicked Deep was such a wonderfully atmospheric novel. The premise was absolutely stellar. I loved how the author kept me in suspense the entire time, even though I guessed most of the twists. As the story was slowly unspooled, I kept changing my opinion about certain characters. While there were some parts I didn't like, The Wicked Deep was overall an engaging and intriguing book. 

Two hundred years ago, three sisters were drowned as witches. Since then, they've been taking their revenge on the town of Sparrow every summer by drowning local boys. On the eve before the sisters again steal the bodies of three unsuspecting girls, a young man named Bo Carter arrives and meets local girl Penny Talbot. As the murders pile up, the atmosphere in town soon turns suspicious. Mistrustful of each other, even as they fall in love, Penny and Bo must decide what is real and what they're willing to give up to stop the curse. 

Ernshaw did an excellent job of bringing to life the small town of Sparrow. Despite the yearly murders, the townspeople stay. For some of them, it's the only life they've ever known. For others, they tried leaving and ending up returning. And others are unable to leave, trapped in a place they dream of escaping. Being able to picture the town so vividly definitely helped me find the magic in this book. The fear and mistrust that slowly spread throughout this small town felt so authentic and real. Nonetheless, I would have liked to see a bit more of how the events affected the non-teenage inhabitants of the town.

The Wicked Deep was a slower paced novel, which allowed me to fully enjoy the atmosphere. I was able to anticipate most of the twists in the plot. Oddly, I actually enjoyed the experience more because of that. I loved seeing how everything was connected and everything changed when viewed from a different perspective. The author did a brilliant job exploring the idea of identity. The Wicked Deep was definitely more of a psychological mystery than I was expecting and I loved it. And yet there wasn't an explanation for one of the most important parts of the book. I would have liked that question answered but I can see why the author choose to have the story be more mysterious. 

The flashbacks to the sister's story were some of my favorite parts. I always love seeing how villains are formed. Their story was nicely interwoven with the rest of the book. However, I found it hard to connect to the two main characters. Since the second half of the book focused heavily on the romance, I didn't like it quite as much as the beginning. There was also insta-love, a trope that I'm not a huge fan of. I actually preferred when the book focused on the relationships between the sisters and the townspeople and the three sisters themselves. 

The Wicked Deep was a unique book that was full of creepy happenings, mysterious murders, and intriguing characters. I would recommend if you're looking for a wonderfully atmospheric YA read that's a bit darker. 

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I think this was pitched as Hocus Pocus at sea...and it's like that, but oh so much more (And I love Hocus Pocus).

Two hundred years ago, the Swan sisters were accused of witchcraft and drowned in the harbor by the townspeople of the fictional Sparrow, Oregon. Each summer, from June 1 to the summer solstice, they return, inhabiting the bodies of three unsuspecting girls and luring boys to their deaths in watery revenge. But this year it's different. Penny Talbot has always avoided the Swan festival—the pageantry and spectacle of tourists and accusations that fly in the summer—until she meets Bo. But outsider Bo, who has a mystery of his own, has been marked by the sisters and she must do everything she can to prevent his death...

There are twists, turns, and wicked magic aplenty. And lighthouses. And Oregon. Just to tell you how sucked into the story I was: I was able to ignore the lighthouse on an island (that is not Tillamook Rock and definitely a fictional Oregon lighthouse) and the fact that I'm 90% certain there are no inhabited islands along the Oregon coast (this had me frantically trying to figure out just where along the coast Sparrow is supposed to be...someplace south of Newport and probably north of Winchester Bay because of the whole cliffs thing, but it could be south of there? Possibly near Yachats because it has a private lighthouse? ...I dunno), and no lighthouses built on the coast in the early 1800s. 

With all that being said, the story was completely captivating and enchanting. The Oregon Coast has an incredibly rich history of shipwrecks and ghost stories, and I'm very happy to see it featured so beautifully!

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

An amospheric and slightly creepy/romantic tale filled with legends and vengeful ghosts.

This is an engrossing story about a small town built around a legend of three vengeful sisters. Life isn’t always what it seems an love and a conscious are the key to dispelling hate. A rather bittersweet and melancholy fable without the raging anger that so many authors may have taken. It’s refreshing to have this lighter touch.

The twist and some other plot points are somewhat telegraphed, but they are revealed in good time to keep things rolling. 

Overall, I enjoyed this moody fable which includes enough epilogues to satisfy this one-off tale.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing a copy of the book for review.

Every year on the anniversary of their death, the Swan sisters return to wreak havoc on the town of Sparrow. Tourists travel in every year to witness the spectacle first-hand. Swan season kicks off with a party and the town has resigned itself to its fate and seems to profit from the season despite how deadly it is for the young men of the town. Penny is an adamant believer in the sisters' despite her friend Rose's skepticism. Bo, an outsider shows up in Sparrow and doesn't believe Penny but what he discovers will change his life.  

The town of Sparrow is very paranoid and when bodies start popping up, they begin to point fingers at all the young girls because the sisters could have possessed any of them. They are as irrational as their ancestors, who originated the curse in the first place. I didn't understand why just the men get targeted because women were as responsible in the decision to drown the sisters as well but then I guess that's where the possessions come in. 

The writing is beautiful, I got the sense that the author was trying to make me feel something from that alone but I just didn't connect to any of the characters. The romance was too quick for me and the chemistry seemed unbalanced, sometimes unsettling. There is a plot twist that I suspected but wasn't sure about until it's revealed. Overall, this book is dark in tone that some people who like stories about ghosts and witches will enjoy.

This arc was provided to me for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

4 Beautiful Stars.

Based on the blurb alone, I thought I was getting some form of a Hocus Pocus retelling. But while it may have some similarities it is entirely its own story. The Wicked Deep follows the legend of the Swan sisters, who two centuries ago arrived in Sparrow, Oregon. Soon after their arrival, they were tried as witches and drowned. Now each summer the Swan sisters arrive, taking the bodies of young girls to lure boys to the sea. The girls taken remember nothing and the boys are dead.  Swan season is approaching again and this time we follow Penny, a young local girl who believes in the legends of the Swan sisters and Bo, a mysterious stranger from out of town. 

This book didn't capture my attention right away, but the moment it did, I was hooked. It was intriguing to watch the story fold out. I should have seen certain aspects coming but I didn't. The twists and turns keep coming and soon enough it was over, and I was crying. I didn't expect an ending like that, but I absolutely loved it. Shea Ernshaw created a beautiful book and I cannot wait to read more from her.

In the town of Sparrow, there is a season, the summer season, where the spirits of 3 dead sisters come and possess the bodies of 3 girls and then go on a drowning of boys spree. This is the story of the events that took place during one of those seasons, a story about a local girl and an out of town boy and their plan to stop the drownings. 

I learned of this book a little late in the game it seems. Just before its release, however, I was approved for the galley and I was so excited. I started reading it pretty quickly. Witches, evil curses, and all that stuff... yup it sounded like the book for me.  Let me say this book did not disappoint in any way. I loved it! 

I really liked everything about this book, including the title and the cover. It screamed eerie, dark, and twisted from cover to cover. It was all that and more. The story itself was so good. I loved the idea of the curse, the drownings, and the possessions. It was unique for me. Sometimes unique can get a little weird and unbelievable if not done right. This book was done so perfect.

I was drawn in from the very beginning and just couldn't put the book down. The tone, the setting, the beautiful writing, the character development. It all went together flawlessly to create such a tragically beautiful story.

One of the things I really enjoyed was the tidbits of the sister's past. I was able to know what happened and why the town is cursed. The sister's chapters were done in an entirely different tone and I love that the chapters of present and chapters of past felt like two different stories but still connected.

What I also found so interesting was the sense of excitement and dread felt from the townspeople when the season was coming around. I felt that same sense of excitement and dread. IT was a horrible thing in a way to get excited over body possessions and boy drownings... but it was in a way still exciting. I didn't know what to expect and was very curious but also felt the dread that someone was going to die. It was just a little twisted... which in this book was a great thing.

The characters were all great. Very developed and I connected with so many of them. I adored the main character. She was a bit strange, loner, but she had a lot going on in her life and I could feel her pain. She definitely had a unique air about her. She wasn't just one of the townspeople. I could feel she was differnet and she had secrets but I wasn't sure what and how it would take part in the series of events. I really enjoyed watching all those secrets play out.

I also really liked Bo. He was a little naive and had some questionable motives but all in all he was very sweet and loveable. I can't agree with some of the actions he was willing to take but I could understand the reasoning. In the end, even with this flaws. I loved him.

The sisters were also very fun to get to know. There were each very different and their personality shown through in their chpaters and in the bodies they stole. They were developed to perfetion in my book.

There is romance but just a hint. I mean it is central to the story. A very important part  of the story and yes a little bit on the insta-love side however, it didn't suck in all the good stuff of the story and feel like it was way out of place. Even though it was intsta-love it was sweet and fit with the entirety of it all. In the end it made a whole lot of sense. So beware it's there but with reason.

The pacing was just perfect in this book.I have a hard time with pacing in most books. I feel they either drag or they rush. It's just hard to get it right for my ADD but wanting detail kind of mind. It's a constant battle. This book's pacing was just beautiful. I felt alive in the story, the amount of time that passed while reading felt invisible.

The ending was just so fitting too. I felt good with how it ended. The book as a whole just amazed me and I wait to see more from this author in the future. 

In the end.... Great read, one of my favorite this year.

NO SPOILERS

PROS:
atmospheric setting that works as a character - dark and gloomy, rainy, and cursed, small town vibes
everything's just a little.....off
characters you can root for!
characters you don't trust!
~is~ there a wrong and right in this world?
none of the townies question the magic of the place, to the point that they throw parties and dare each other to do dangerous things


CONS:
insta-love
most of the book takes place in the same area of the town