I was super excited to receive an ARC of this book as it sounded so interesting! While I wasn't in love with this author's novel <I>The Butterfly Garden</i>, I recall finding it to be compulsively readable and was willing to give this novel a shot. This one fell flat for me with the "all men are evil" angle which came off as a gimmick. I also just hated all of the characters. I found myself constantly rolling my eyes at childish dialogue between Ellie and her friends and couldn't wait for it to be over.


Many thanks to the publisher for providing me a copy via NetGalley.

First of all I am a huge fan of dot’s work. The butterfly series was so twisted and creepy. This book is a little lighter but does delve into sexual violence and abuse. Please keep this in mind if you are sensitive to these things. Four roommates act as a vigilante group to stop any unwanted sexual advances in public, and sometimes get in trouble for it. When men who have a sordid past start dying, via alligator deaths, they become persons of interest. Can you figure out who the killer, or killers, are before the end? I couldn’t. I loved all characters and felt I could not put this book down!! I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

DNF at 45%

I was hoping I would love this book like I did "The Butterfly Garden," but I just could not get into it. Having almost every male character be either a rapist/predator or portrayed as capable of assault got old really fast. I understand the author's desire to bring attention to the reality of sexual assault, especially on college campuses, but it was just over the top. That, along with the flat characters and lack of suspense in the first half made me decide to give up.

3.5/5

At a university in Gainesville, a male student’s remains are found in alligator infested waters. At first this seems like an accident, but soon another body is found and both victims were known for assaulting women.

The premise is entertaining enough but the presentation could have been executed a bit better. At the beginning, I found myself confused with the introduction of so many characters and was frustrated trying to follow the dialogue (who was talking to who).

I received a reviewer copy of Deadly Waters by Dot Hutchison from the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I enjoyed reading this book. It was just as good as the author's past novels. I hope to be able to read more from this author in the future. Always keeps me guessing to what's coming around the corner.

There's a vigilante in Gainesville killing off rapists and horrible college boys! Did I mention they're being eaten alive by the gators? If that doesn't peak your interest in a good book, I don't know what will!

Deadly Waters follows Rebecca, Ellie, Hafsah , and their roommates/suitemates as they go through rapes, cat calls, and life at The University of Florida. While there, there is a vigilante killing college males via gator bait during their courting season. They navigate the #metoo movement along with passing their finals to be able to get through until the summer.

When I first started to read this, I had to reference back to who was who. At the beginning, we're thrown six or seven different girl names and relationships at once. It was very confusing since it all came at once. However, once you got to know most of the girls, I enjoyed their different types of personalities. I felt they all meshed well together. You don't necessarily get that lucky in college assignments to have such different personalities getting along so well together. Hafsah and Rebecca joke about how they "tolerate Ellie" and they adore her, and that's the true friendship most have in the dorms.

I feel like the consistency that these women were harassed/attacked was a little unrealistic. Yes, women are harassed constantly. Yes, they are touched without consent. Yes, people put things in their drinks. Yes, sometimes people come on too strong. But this many instances in a span of a few days? I understand that the intent was there to show the #metoo movement and how easy it is for men to get away with these horrible acts, but I feel it was over dramatized (because of the frequency) that it doesn't give it the lasting effect needed to spark a conversation about these situations.

The ending was the best part, by far. I enjoyed the fraternity accepting fault and trying to be better. I enjoyed the celebration that a simple symbol of "this is no longer tolerated" spoke volumes. I loved the birthday celebration, and the conversation afterwards.

I wished there was more time spent on the mystery/thriller portion of this book than anything else. It was not what I thought it would be, but I'm glad I was able to hang in there and finish the book!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I still haven't read any Dot Hutchison's book despite the rave reviews of her Butterfly Garden series.
But after reading this book I am going to make sure that I read her other books as well.

The concept of this book was really good and starting off the book I was completely hooked and immersed in the story. That's not an easy feat because mostly it always takes time for me to get into the story but with this one I was fully engaged.
This is not an easy subject to write about but the way the author treats it is fantastic. Her honest discussion and treatment of harassment, sexual assault and rape, and basically the overall treatment of women in this society is handled so well.

The author tells a compulsive story with great twists. The plotting and pace of the book was perfect. Despite this book being a tad difficult to read, only because of the subject matter it is still very compelling.

I was rooting for the protagonist. And though you might guess some things in the story it does not take away from the excellent writing and the gripping narrative.
An amazing and intense read. I really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed author Dot Hutchison's Collector Series. This being the reason I picked up Deadly Waters. This is a story of a college campus with bodies who have met their demise via alligators. I just did not love the story. Characters were somewhat evolved but just was hard to finish. "A copy of this book was provided by Thomas and Mercer via NetGalley with no requirements for a review. Comments here are my honest opinion."

4 stars!

I enjoyed this read! This story centers around college girls, which created an enjoyable atmosphere that I sound entertaining.

This story was twisty enough to keep me interested, however, be warned of potential triggers.

I think this was a great mystery that would be awesome to pick up in the summer months especially.

I look forward to checking out much more of Dot Hutchison's work!

I have enjoyed this author's previous work, but this one fell a little short for me. The writing on this latest book is good and as always the plot moved well. I found the story to be a little far fetched though. I liked the characters and the relationships between them. The atmosphere was set up well. However, I didn't feel like this book had as much suspense as I was expecting and the "twist" at the end fell flat for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book. I will be publishing this review tomorrow to my Bookstagram and companion Facebook page, @thatreadingrealtor.

2.5 stars The Butterfly Garden is one of my favorite books of the past five years, so I was thrilled to see a new Dot Hutchinson title available on NetGalley.

But this book just did not do it for me.

Centered on a college campus, a group of girls--struggling with the horrific rape and brutalization of one of their best friends--reacts to a string of mysterious attacks. Someone is feeding rapists to alligators (yes, really) and the social order is in upheaval. Lady Gators Snap Back, the headline reads, and as the truth of the exorbitant number of attacks comes to light, the question shifts from who's feeding these bad men to the alligators to what's going to happen next?

Okay. So, right off the bat, I'm not dismissing the subject matter. Sexual assault and rape is a relevant and important topic to explore in literature, and when so often a woman's rape is used as a plot device to further a man's vengeance or downfall, having a female-centric cast explore the stigma and statistics is a good idea. However, the exaggeration here is borderline frustrating. Every woman is in danger. Nobody will believe them anyway so why report it? We can't go out to the bars or for a walk or basically exist without being hit on, pressured, or downright attacked. The writing wants you to believe that women as a whole are in a constant state of fear.

I get it. There is merit to this exaggeration, but every single page is filled with preachy rhetoric and stereotypes I found annoying more than relate-able. Angry girl.. Studious girl. Emotional girl. Levelheaded girl. Sensitive man. Predator. There was no in between. And while there are moments where I found the dialogue fun or interesting or really endorsed the point, it was just SO hard to get into this. Most of the conversations centered around: rape, the prevalence of rape, the victimization of women, how angry women were, how girls tell stories in the bathroom because they're afraid to say them out loud, helplessness, and societal normalization of rape.

The college environment, too, I found strange. Women were victims and men were abusers to the point of being caricatures--and the only one brave enough to take action or do anything about it is an anonymous vigilante using her sexuality as a weapon. I just...really struggled with this. One of the opening lines referenced them being "pretty girls" and implied that sexual assault was just an inherent struggle because of their good looks.

I'm not sure I would recommend this book to anyone. I recently read another title that dealt with the same subject much more successfully. What Deadly Waters failed to capture was the nuance, relying solely on preconceived notions, exaggerations, and stereotypes instead of layered characters. This might have been better focused just on Kacey's attack and the fallout as it pertained to her friends.

I’m going to start by saying Deadly Waters is not for everyone. Trigger warnings for sexual assault and rape.

“They’re overtrained, perhaps, by society and their own experiences; there’s a reflexive fear in being alone with a man they don’t know.”

Deadly Waters is a story about Vigilante Justice in the #MeToo era. Young men start disappearing from the University of Florida’s campus after being eaten by alligators. At first, law enforcement thinks this is just an unfortunate accident due to encroachment on the gator habitats. Then they start making connections between the men. Their own victims start speaking out about what these men have done to them and law enforcement begins to consider the men are being intentionally fed to the alligators for warped justice.

Deadly Waters is complicated. It wasn’t as much of a thriller as it was a story of #MeToo and complicated emotions involved with being assaulted, the aftermath, the guilt of not being able to protect the people you care about, and finding your voice to tell what happened to you.

As far as thrillers go- the method the killer uses is unique, but it’s pretty easy to figure out who the killer is early on. I wouldn’t say there’s a shocking twist, but the subject matter and how all the layers of emotion are presented is interesting and thought provoking.

Special thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Fair warning this is very different from Dot Hutchisons other novels. That being said it was very well written and delves right into a serious issue facing today’s women. There is murder and suspense and it’s all a mystery, of course. I found this an easy to read book with a focus on vigilante justice. It does keep you guessing till the end “whodunit” . I enjoyed the characters and the way the story was told. The ending was so well done. I love books that don’t just end with a classic happily ever after

Rebecca is an undergrad student who is still struggling to come to terms with a sexual assault on her friend.
When body parts of a male student are found in alligator inhabited waters, the students are warned to be careful.
But when more bodies turn up, and police become suspicious, none of the girls on the campus seem to be mourning any of the dead boys, who all had at some point sexually assaulted someone and had gotten away with it.
Is there a vigilante among the students trying to extract justice on their own?

It was an interesting, unusual read.
The story, interspersed with the vigilante's perspective, follows Rebecca and her friends and their reaction to the unfolding events.
Dark and chilling, it raises an important topic of sexual assault.
It definitely is a book that stands out among the mystery genre, but I'm on the fence about the rating.
It was a gripping, albeit not exactly suspenseful read but I found it a little far fetched that most of the campus' male population were portrayed as predators and the girls had to take so many precautions especially given that we think of student life as carefree and laid back, but I guess the exaggeration served a purpose.
I guessed correctly who the killer was, so the conclusion wasn't shocking, but overall I find this book deserves to be read, and I will definitely reach for the sequel. I give it 3 stars.

I love Dot Hutchison's books. Her Butterfly Garden series is excellent. So when I saw that she had a new book I was very excited and extremely thrilled when I was approved to get an ARC from Netgalley and the publishers.

I thought the concept was fantastic and just for that I will give this book all the stars. This is not an easy subject to write about but the way the author treats it is very good. Her honest discussion and treatment of harassment, sexual assault and rape, and basically the overall treatment of women in this society.

The author tells a compulsive story with twists and pace, the plotting and though this book is difficult to read it is very compelling. It clearly illustrates what the victims of sexual violence must face if they report it.

I completely was rooting for the protagonist. And though you might guess some things in the story it does not take away from the excellent writing.
A gripping and intense read. I hope others enjoy it as much as I did,

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book so much! I've had several customers tell me about this author so thought I would try a book!

For me this book was almost like reading teen fiction. It takes place on a college campus in Florida and involves murder by Alligators. The first part of the book seems to take forever setting up and we follow a group of girls to bars and are subjected to their drinking and anger issues. At this point we assume one of them is the murderer but as any good suspense novel will tell you we don't really know for sure.

I didn't connect with any of the characters and disliked most of them. I feel terrible that I couldn't give a good rating but I just can't!

I first want to make clear that I am already a huge fan of Dot Hutchinson and the Butterfly Garden was among my favorite reads. Secondly, this novel allowed me to wear my two "hats" simultaneously -- which I rarely ever get to do. As a lover of an edge-of-your-seat-thriller and as a professor of women's and gender studies, I found a novel that could indulge both of myselves. This was a powerful mystery that was constructed through a feminist framework that explored how sexual assault victims can move from victim to survivor. It was provocative, empowering, thoughtful, and reflexive. The easily narrative structure was able to make the arguments accessible to a wider audience than that of an academic essay. I cannot wait to recommend this novel to by friends and students alike.

Deadly Waters was an interesting and satisfactory read, although it did not measure up to The Butterfly Garden especially, and that series in general.

3.5/5

This book centers on a group of college students in Gainesville, Florida. The group navigate through drunken nights, their coursework, sexual predators, and a string of grisly murders. Men accused of rape have been found torn apart in alligator infested waters. Rebecca Sorley keeps constant watch over he volition roommate Ellie. Ellie gets in bar fights and will let everyone know she hates predators. As more and more bodies wash up, Rebecca can’t help bust suspect maybe her friend knows too much about the victims.


Whew. This one was a heavy read. First and foremost, I am so thankful this book was written by a woman. Dot Hutchison has such a fantastic writing style. I found the characters in this book well written. I loved the interactions between the friend group. The basic premise of this book drew me in immediately.

I went to a large “party” college. A lot of what happens in this book occurs. However, it did feel like every male (save one) was a predator. This to me is not believable. I found myself getting lost in all the horrible details of the rapes and assaults in this book. At times, it was just too much. On the other hand, almost everyone I know has a rape or assault story.

I will say I did guess the final twist.

I would recommend this book to a person who is not triggered by rape or assault, however I don’t know that I would read the sequel. I’m not sure how a sequel could be done without being repetitive , but maybe I’ll be surprised!

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for a free copy of this book on exchange for my honest opinion.

I just could not get into this book. The premise of the novel was thin and just did not sustain my interest. The characters were stereotypes, painted with broad strokes. The setting seemed fake to me, almost like a version of college imagined by someone who has never been to college. When compared to other thrillers I’ve loved where you dig deep into human nature and get introduced to characters with psychological depth, this book just fell flat. I’m not sure who I would recommend this book to. Perhaps it would be a good beach read, but it just was not for me.