“‘You don’t buy into it. You’re the same person from every angle. You’ve got… what’s the word. Unity? Integrity. I’d almost forgotten what that looked like, you know?’”

I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Sourcebooks Fire. I have a love for horror and an impulse-control problem when it comes to books, but you’re probably well familiar with that by now. Trigger warnings: horror, mental illness, drowning.

When her parents split up and her mother has a breakdown, Marianne goes to stay with her Aunt Jen for a few days. Then she starts losing time and strange things start happening around her, things Marianne couldn’t possibly be responsible for. Objects break when she enters a room, there’s a mysterious knocking in the walls, and the nearby river haunts her imagination. When she tries to confront it, it gets worse. Whatever is haunting her is angry. It wants something that Marianne took from it, and it will make her life unlivable unless she gives it back.

The Dark Beneath The Ice is an original and surprisingly frightening horror novel and one of the best in YA horror that I’ve read. It’s a better haunting story than Bad Girls Don’t Die, and it has the deliciously spooky atmosphere of a Nova Ren Suma novel (although not quite on that level, but let’s be real, nothing is). With its water imagery and all-girl cast, I was drawing comparisons to Imaginary Girls for the first half of the novel. All comparisons aside, The Dark Beneath The Ice is entirely its own thing, and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

Out of a lot of things to like about this book, I think my favorite is how creepy it is, and that’s a big deal for me. I have a maddeningly high tolerance for horror. (At a scary movie, an ex-boyfriend once asked me if I could at least pretend to be scared. …No? I’m not good at faking things.) Bérubé incorporates poltergeist mythology to excellent effect, and I enjoyed seeing some of the classics–water flooding the room from nowhere, knocking in the walls, writing on the mirrors–as well as her original twists on the subject matter. The writing is incredibly atmospheric, to the point where it’s even a little overwhelming at first. The water motif is constant throughout the book, and whatever is happening with Marianne, we know it begins and ends with the river.

I like the characters a lot. We’re not just told that Marianne is timid and compliant; we see it in almost every interaction. She’s handling a number of heavy issues, from her parents’ divorce and her mother’s mental illness to her own uncertainty about her mental health and her sexuality–and it all feels very realistic. She reacts like a teenager (or even, probably, an adult) would in these situations; she’s worried and frightened and, most of all, she doesn’t want anyone else to get hurt. Her love interest, Ron (short for Rhiannon) is a lovely complement. She has a take-no-shit attitude that doesn’t detract from her compassion. I very much enjoy a novel where the women are the most complex, flawed, and delightful characters on the page, and the male characters are relegated to the margins. I didn’t even mind the romantic subplot. Despite all the horror, it’s a very cute wlw relationship.

The other major pull of the novel is the direction Bérubé takes with her “haunting.” It’s not clear whether it’s a demon, a ghost, or something else entirely that’s tormenting Marianne, and without giving anything away, let’s just say that I love where she went with it. It’s fresh and original, and it’s eerily relevant in a world where women are encouraged not to use their voices. It also takes an interesting look at the relationship between mental illness and the paranormal, and how quick we are to assume a woman is “hysterical” rather than actually experiencing something out of the ordinary. I highly recommend it for fans of the genre, and I’m eagerly awaiting my own copy for re-reading.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

Right away, I like the atmosphere and the setting. Berube has managed to lace a feeling of dread and creepiness throughout the opening pages. I can tell by the mood that this was a horror story.
However, I just could not connect with this book. The descriptions were great, but I got so tired of ice and water. Also, Marianne had no personality or at least her personality was bland to me.

The cover was beautiful, but since I have seen neither Black Swan or Paranormal Activity i thought it was a disappointment.

** spoiler alert **
**I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own**
This book was kinda all over the place.
The one thing I think the author did very well on, where all the details. The descriptions of things were written very well (not too well I don't think, maybe on some of them), but when I read some of the descriptions, I liked that I could actually thoroughly see what the author wanted me to see.

The story itself...meh

It was pretty confusing most of the time. There were places where I'd get completely lost and would have to re-read sections just to figure out what was going on.
The little romance that sprung up was interesting and I wasn't really expecting it. At the same time, I feel like a book like this could do without it...but I love that they ended up together at the same time...my opinion on this is all over the place.
The ending though...I think that is what made me decide on 2 stars over 3. It just didn't make sense to me. This ghost or whatever was haunting her, turned out to be her????? I think that's what I got from that. Whatever was going on there just did not make sense to me.

I can't remember the last time I gave a book a 1 star review, but I feel so close to doing it for this book. And I actually got all the way through it, so I feel like that should count for something.

Let's start with the good first:
-> There are parts of this book that feel creepy, especially once we know there is something "possessing" Marianne. Ghost stories and possession just creep me out, but in a good way when I'm looking for them! So, there parts that really interested me.

-> We have some lesbian rep... kinda. It is there, but I have complicated feelings about it which I will bring up later.

-> It is a quick, easy read that I sped through in just a few hours.

-> Ron is AMAZING. She is the saving grace of this book. I disliked when Marianne referred to her as Emo Ron (just rubbed me wrong), but Ron totally puts people in their place when they deserve it. LOVE.

-> I will admit that I wanted to know what it was that was following Marianne around-- it is seriously the reason why I continued the book to the end. So, I think it is decently suspenseful/mysterious.

Now, for the parts that disappointed me:
-> First up, there was a point when I almost dropped the book. It 8% in there is a part where Marianne is talking about how since she is invisible, people talk around her without worry-- but there is a point where I can't tell anymore if she is repeating what people have said or sharing her own thoughts. It is about a gay classmate that this line comes up:
"And guys like that, what they were into? That was just gross. No offense or anything."
??????????????
Not okay and then we find out later Marianne is a lesbian, so wtf? So, not cool.
Then comes the part when we are introduced fully to Ron who dresses emo, which I'm cool with, but Marianne judges her for. There is sooooo much judgement in the first 10%.

-> This one feels like a slow start. In the beginning Marianne doesn't know what is going on, therefore we don't know, so the beginning when she isn't sure if she is possessed or haunted or whatever isn't thrilling, just felt like waiting. Then again, I might have just been too eager.

-> I'm so disappointed with the ending. It is better than what I thought it was going to be, but still just *shrug*. I really really want to talk about my thoughts so I've put then under a spoiler tag on my Goodreads review which you can check -> here <-
If I have misunderstood the ending please comment and let me know!!

->There is a slight romance angle to this book. I did say I liked the lesbian angle AND I STILL DO, but I really dislike how it got involved in the ending and helped push the ending. It felt like a cop out.

In the end, I think the book is worth 2 stars-- perhaps 2.5 or 3 if that whole gay-bashing part wasn't included. Will I recommend this to people? Perhaps to friends so I can find out what they think about it and we can talk about it. Depending on what they say, then maybe???

Equal parts creeping dread and beautiful prose, Bérubé's debut novel will frighten even the stoutest horror buff. The eerie descriptions, constant rain, and "roaring water" build such an intensely threatening atmosphere that when the ghost finally shows herself, it's almost overpowering. I had to read this one in small doses during the day. Highly effective horror. There is certainly more to the story, though. The complicated relationship between Marianne and her mother is fascinating, and the slow-build romance (hurray LGBT rep!) makes you root for both Ron and Marianne to overcome seemingly impossible odds. Highly recommended.

As a side note, it was heartening to see an accurate depiction of dissociation and mental illness in a horror story. So often madness is used as a plot trick, then discarded, but Bérubé handles the subject with care. I will definitely be reading her next book

Oh gosh, this review is not going to be pretty. I’m sorry! I think I am getting pickier when it comes to the horror genre. Throw in an unreliable narrator, and I’m probably going to knock one star off automatically. I’m really sad I did not love this book. It just wasn’t for me. But I really do think that it would be the perfect read for Halloween time.

The Dark Beneath the Ice follows Marianne, a high schooler whose parents are separating. Once her mother commits herself to a hospital, Marianne temporarily goes to live with her aunt. While with her aunt, Marianne begins to see and hear horrific things. Of course, no one believes her, and Marianne also questions her own sanity.

The things I liked were short lived: The creep-factor really slowed down for me once I got to the last 20% of the book, and by that point I was forcing myself to finish. I really liked Rhiannon (Ron), but her character started to annoy me by the end as well. I also didn’t understand the purpose of Ron’s psychic mother at all. She was so pointless. And while mental health is a huge theme, I felt like it was only touched in the beginning (doctor visits). There wasn’t a clear explanation about what was triggering Marianne’s visions/hauntings.

Then there’s the ending, which just felt so rushed, lackluster, and confusing. I don’t really understand the point of anything that happened.

The Dark Beneath the Ice is being marketed as Black Swan meets The Exorcist meets Paranormal Activity. The overall concept sounds like my jam, but in truth, I cannot get past a dull, whiny, unreliable narrator. I’ve read enough of those and wish it was a trope that would die.

I’m sorry, I know this review is harsh and I really don’t like writing negative reviews because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. But I was left feeling very let down after finishing this book. I think I’m partly to blame. I shouldn’t have requested this ARC because I’m starting to lose interest in YA horror. But I so appreciate Sourcebooks Fire for approving this copy for me, and I always look forward to writing reviews for them!

Overall I think that if you’re a fan of YA psychological/paranormal horror with an unreliable narrator, then you may like this one! And it would be perfect to read in October!

I really enjoyed this one! I'm much on a YA horror kick and this satisfied that craving quite well with a relatable lead in harrowing circumstances, a cute f/f ship and interesting family dynamics.

The best thing about Marianne for me was that she behaved very reasonably and I understood the decisions she made; everything flowed from her characterization and even when she was behaving destructively or self-destructively, I sympathized because I could see where she was coming from. Her toxic relationship with an absent former best friend was very sadly realistic and rang true to my experience of being a teenage girl. I admired her steadfast dedication to her mother, trying to be strong for her while she was in the throes of a mental breakdown, and again I thought her emotional reaction to her father was very realistic in the resentment of him for leaving her mom and building barriers even as he tried to maintain a relationship with her. 

I LOVED her growing friendship and eventual romance with Rhiannon aka Ron, seeing the school misfit and the wallflower make tentative strides towards a relationship was absolutely freaking adorable and I squealed internally with each step forward! Thank goodness for no insta-love as they weren't ride-or-die for each other the first moment they laid eyes on each other, instead they developed a mutual crush after getting to know one another and it was so sweet. I'm still not over my awe whenever an author casually includes diversity, and especially when it's well-done, which I thought was the case with Marianne and Ron's relationship. 

Was this scary? I definitely thought so, but I had the advantage of some spooky atmosphere - I read this late at night after having adopted a cat, and as she was hiding on her first night with me, it was easy to forget I even HAD a cat. So there I was, fully engrossed in this story with all the strange happenings and terrifying moments where Marianne is in jeopardy...and suddenly there's a scratching sound in my dark room! I was so tense and then heard a little sneeze and realized my kitty had wriggled under my bed! Later on, she grew braver and ventured out to claw at my clothing hanging outside my wardrobe, which again made me quite paranoid and jumping at shadows since I kept seeing sudden movements in my peripheral vision! 

But even without the advantage of a cat determined to scare the life out of you, I think most readers will find this creepily atmospheric. I lost myself in the writing very easily and could feel myself growing more tense and nervous whenever the author was escalating towards another supernatural confrontation. I really liked how a lot of the horror was character-based, so it wasn't about the body count or gore, but the simple fear of your loved ones being in danger and fretting over how to protect them and trying to summon the nerve to risk yourself for their well-being. 

I will admit that Marianne seems a little dense for not working out what the dark spirit is after and why it's enraged with her; it became fairly obvious halfway through and their exchanges pretty much spell it out, yet it remains a mystery to her for basically the entire story, which is a little frustrating. I also don't quite understand the mechanics behind the existence of this entity and how it came into being under what seems to be a fairly common set of circumstances, but I was able to suspend disbelief on that front because I was invested in Marianne's character and rooting for her to be safe and victorious.

This beautifully written, very atmospheric story was very hard to put down. Luckily it was a quick read as well. The imagery was gripping especially when the paranormal activities were taking place and I loved how everything related to water, ice and drowning because that was how it felt to be Marianne.

Marianne’s character was very interesting. She really tried hard to understand what was going on as everything fell apart. In some ways she was a very strong character, but she also had her weaknesses. Being inside her mind was just as scary for the reader as it was for her, especially during the attacks. I really liked her emerging feelings toward Rhiannon, who goes by the name of Ron. Ron ends up being the friend that Marianne so desperately needs at this time in her life. Although many of the things that happen would be enough to scare most people away, Ron sticks it out with her to the end.

I liked her Aunt Jen for the most part. She really had a hard time with everything going on around Marianne, but she tried really hard to understand it. She was a bit of a beacon in the storm for Marianne as well. I liked the way that she tried to explain away some of the paranormal activity with what was happening with the weather. Some if it probably could be, but not all. Still, Aunt Jen had her faults, like treating Marianne like she was about 5 years old most of the time and not being honest with her about her own life.

The plot is very fast moving, and the arc of the story is only a few days time. But there are some flash backs, especially to her dance days. Her relationships with her parents are also explored through these flashbacks. You really get a sense of how hard it was dealing with her mother, and how stand offish her father was. Although you do get the sense of how much they love their daughter as well.

Although this is being labeled as a paranormal, and it is, it is also about the demons inside that haunt us. Marianne has plenty of demons, and mental illness in her family. This is more of a journey of how she learns to deal with those demons and her own anxieties and depression. The ending of the book really shows this as well as the scenes with her therapist.

This book is beautifully written with exceptional imagery. The constant rain and threats of flooding as well as the imagery of drowning and being trapped in ice really added to the story. This story wasn’t scary so much as it was disturbing. How someone’s inner conflicts can manifest into a living nightmare. An excellent and haunting read.

My initial thoughts when seeing this blurb was "Black Swan meets Paranormal Activity? Don't mind if I do!" Despite being a paranormal skeptic, I cannot get enough of ghost stories; however, The Dark Beneath the Ice missed the mark for me. Drawn in by the premise of missing time and paranormal activity, these elements are very much there but to me that wasn't the main focus of the story. It is as much of a family drama about the breakdown of a family and the struggles of divorce on a family as it is a supernatural story.
The silence still clings to me. If I close my eyes it's there waiting for me, filling my mouth, heavy as water. Ready to swallow me again.
The opening lines captivated me straight away, and it is clear that Bérubé is a talented writer who has a poetic way with words. Unfortunately the initial hook of the book loosened its grip on me and I found the prose almost distracting at times. I found the narrative stilted in a way and slow to get started, full of a lot of back history that I honestly didn't care about.

There is something about the writing style that didn't work for me that I am not able to put my finger on. Typically I love a first-person narrative in thrillers/paranormal books, but it just didn't work for me here. Perhaps because of the family drama? Or the fact that the spooky bits I was looking forward to didn't really get started until much later in the book? I think the blurb had me expecting more of a psychological thriller than a family drama with spooky elements. The ending left me a bit unfulfilled, but I did appreciate the LGBT+ rep present in this book.

This book just wasn't for me but I think that those who enjoy family centered drama with supernatural elements could enjoy this book.

Electronic ARC provided by Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The is definitely a creepy book. I could not read it a night, it was that creepy.

However, the characters felt flat, the paranormal activity never seemed to make sense and the ending left me with so many questions.

I can see why others would give it a high rating. It is exciting and creepy from beginning to end, but to me it just felt like it was missing something.

*slow clap* wow. This book is amazing. At first, I had no idea what was going on. But as the book progressed, I was taken along on a roller-coaster of fear and terror with the main character. Was she being haunted, was she crazy? I just wasn't sure! I definitely did not see that ending coming at all!! That was 100% a surprise twist I did not see coming! 5 stars and 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up!

The ending is a touch too neat for me to give this a perfect review, particularly where horror is concerned. (I'm a tough grader in that regard.) However, if you pick up this book for some remarkably strong chills, atmosphere so thick it can dampen even a beautiful sunny reading day, a sweet romantic subplot that doesn't detract from the rest of the story, and a protagonist who is far stronger—and angrier—than she knows, I can't imagine you'll be disappointed. Marianne's a character whose inner life is every bit as interesting as the ghost story that her outer life turns into, and Amelinda Bérubé is a frighteningly good new voice in YA. One of the best YA horror novels I've read in... well, ever.

3 1/2 stars. I read this so quickly what the fuck. I was literally at dinner with my eyes popping out of my skull and my parents, presumably, were feeling completely disappointed in everything about my being.

The Dark Beneath the Ice is blurbed as Black Swan meets Paranormal Activity, and honestly, I think that’s about accurate. This a completely-impossible-to-put-down YA thriller about the day being saved by a combination of self care and lesbian love.

Okay, main promo for this book: it’s really scary. Writing truly horrifying scenes takes a a lot of talent, and this book did a wonderful job at scaring me shitless. The paranormal aspects are brilliantly frightening and written with just enough restraint that it’s hard not to feel deeply, deeply scared. Tension builds up slowly and perfectly.

One of my favorite horror movie conflicts is the man vs. self conflict - when we see a character struggling with their inner demons above all else. Here, I adored the main character, Marianne. her arc around self-hatred is very compelling and intriguing. Though the divorced parents storyline at first came off a bit cliche, her complex and somewhat-codependent relationship with her mother soon adds a super intriguing angle to The Dark Beneath the Ice’s paranormal elements.

And I really loved the way the romance was written! It’s sapphic, and though it’s not a huge element of the book, it has a good slow burn - it’s hard not to get invested in the relatively slow build. Marianne and Rhiannon [who both have weirdly long names] make for a really sweet couple in a book that is otherwise pretty damn dark.

DNF @ 43%
Sadly, I gave up on this book. The premise has a really cool idea with the losing of time and paranormal plotline. But the main plot line in all of the blurbs doesn't even start until like 35% into the book which is way too late. I can tell that the writing style was jarring on purpose to show how the main character blacked out and got confused a lot. But while I can see the reason why this book was written that way, I didn't like it. The random imagery was very confusing and never scary. I never felt any suspense except a tiny bit during two quick scenes and then I was bored again. I also thought the main girl was one of the most blandest characters I've read from. Her mother was way more interesting than her with all the stuff she was going through. Everything just felt too flat and simple for this character's POV to even get me to care. I also hoped to get more of the dancing stuff but with reading almost half of it, it was barely mentioned so the blurb of it being "Black Swan meets Paranomal Activity" doesn't feel true. I wanted to like this, but after a huge chunk of nothing happening, I didn't care to find out what happened.
A link to my blog post will be provided when the post is up on Thursday July 19th.

This book was a pretty good paranormal YA thriller, but I didn't love it. It was fast paced, but I didn't connect with the characters very much.

Not for me. I'm a hit or miss with YA books and although the premise (Black Swan meets Paranormal Activity) thoroughly intrigued me, I felt the writing was a bit stilted, the story line convoluted, and the ending just "meh." I really felt like the writing was almost trying too hard to be literary. It just was not my cup of tea and unfortunately I did not enjoy it.

I think that upon learning this book was supposed to be a mixture of Paranormal Activity and Black Swan, I set my expectations much too high. As those are two of my favorite films I expected this book to be a novel approach to the psychological genre and while it certainly had its fair share of twists, none were fleshed out enough or original enough that I didn't readily anticipate them. The writing was also choppy and unfocused, too many clipped sentences. I did not find the characters appealing either as most were very one-dimensional and slotted into rigid dimensions of certain archetypes.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an E-ARC of this book to review via Netgalley.  

Marianne's life hasn't quite been going to plan.  She quit dancing after succumbing to the pressure of not being good enough, her parents are getting a divorce and her mother has been hospitalised.  Sent to live with her aunt until things calm down, strange things start to happen around her.  She has tried to stay invisible at school, but when one too many odd occurrences happen, she seeks out the outcast of a girl who's mother is a psychic.  Ron turns out to be just the type of friend Marianne needs, but when they decide to try and confront the entity head on, things go from bad to worse.  This mysterious entity wants something Marianne stole from it, but Marianne's sure she doesn't know what it is.  As the paranormal activity gets more and more violent, Ron and Marianne need to find out what is going on before it takes over Marianne's life.

This book was scary.  I don't usually read scary books, especially paranormal type scary (axe murders and human killer books are fine though, go figure) but this one just sounded too interesting to pass up!  I was hooked right from the beginning.  It was so disconcerting that both Marianne and her mother didn't know if they could trust themselves, and everyone keeping their own secrets caused people to jump to the wrong conclusions all the time.  I find psychological horror to be the most frightening subject to read in books.  Having nowhere to turn for help, due to the thought that no-one will believe you and admitting anything that's going on could just earn you a one way trip to hospital is just terrifying.  I really enjoyed this book, but I kind of wanted the ending to be different somehow.  I wanted the explanation to be, well it's impossible to say without spoilers, but just something more I guess.  

Overall though, I was thoroughly frightened and it took me longer than normal to read because I gave up reading it at night (so I could sleep with the lights off). :D

The Dark Beneath the Ice is a wonderfully scary novel about a girl who is being followed by some entity that wants to take over her life. The majority of the story definitely had Paranormal Activity vibes and I was honestly so scared reading this book, and I loved that about it. It was genuinely scary and I felt like it was incredibly interesting to read from the perspective of someone who was possessed and dealing with her moments of memory loss and confusion. All of this was really well handled in my opinion and left me wondering right along with the main character what was really going on. I will say that the ending fell a little flat for me. There wasn't enough of an explanation and what we did get, wasn't as satisfying as I wanted it to be. That being said, still really enjoyable to read and perfect if you are in the mood for something creepy and scary.

4 stars

I was really surprised by this one!

I don’t know what I was really expecting, but mystery thrillers still aren’t my favorite genre because they just feel a little drab sometimes.

But this was very much Not Drab™.

The first big plus was how atmospheric it was. I just loved reading the chilly spookiness of the “ghost’s” doings–the blanks in Marianne’s memory where she unexpectedly does something out of character, the spooky voice, and the paranormal occurrences.

It all felt very chilly and haunting, but not enough to scare me away, just enough to put me on edge (which I very much appreciated). I was intrigued by the paranormal activity and wanted to find out why and how and the omg askdjfl.

The cover really does a good job of demonstrating the atmosphere, and if that looks like something you’d like, totally check this one out!

Plus, the “ghost” went from spooky to straight-out creepy, and I loved its progression and how it played tricks on Marianne. This book really makes you question the narrator and wonder if Marianne is accurate about what she’s telling you, or not.

It was definitely cool to see this, because we don’t get very many unreliable narrators in YA.

But, the next thing that was just wonderful was THERE’S A GIRLxGIRL ROMANCE IN THIS BUT NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT IT??? Hello? Marianne literally falls for another girl, and I have no idea why nobody is talking about this and lauding it as the Next Sapphic Big Thing™? So yeah, now you know.

The romance is honestly super low key (probably why it’s not the Next Sapphic Big Thing™) and very much not the focus of the story, but I found it to be a lovely side plot. I totally ship it.

Plus, the subtext of Marianne’s own personal struggles and how it mimicked the “ghost’s” actions was so on point. Like, the red slipper metaphor that showed up throughout the book was really nice to read about, and I enjoyed the meaning behind it. And just the intensity throughout really grew in a way that I enjoyed. The way the pacing moved did a great job of keeping me entertained.

So, if I loved so many things about it, why is it a 4 star?

I honestly don’t know. As much as I was entertained reading it–I totally devoured it in a couple hours–it just didn’t completely click with me. Maybe it’s still the genre that’s holding me back, but I wasn’t 100% obsessed with it. Sometimes I feel like it could have been tweaked a bit to be better.

Also, I wish that Marianne’s past was a bit clearer. Some of the background of what happened that led her to her aunt’s house was a bit unclear for me, and I wanted more solid of a basis for the background.

Overall, I still really loved reading and it was such a good get-out-of-your-skin sort of experience that was deliciously ghostly and spooky! I definitely recommend it if you feel like this spooky, Black Swan x Paranormal Activity pitch sounds like something you’d like! And if you’re scared it’s too horror for you, don’t be! Chilly, but not intended to make you run away screaming.