As the saying goes, it is a good starting point for authors to write what they know, and judging by how much Emma Bamford has to know about boats, I feel like she did just that with Deep Water. The story starts out with a bit of high tension on the naval vessel before heading back to the beginning of how we got to that point. For the most part, this was a slower burn, but the pace was steady enough for me that I stayed interested and it didn't take me all that long to finish. There is a lot of drama and since the island Jake and Virginie drop anchor near is basically in the middle of nowhere, a very desolate feel to the book as well. I got lost in Bamford's gorgeous descriptions of the water and Amarante (the island), but there was also a feeling of foreboding and slight creepiness that I got throughout the story too. There were a lot of ways Deep Water reminded me of Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins and if I hadn’t read them so far apart, I may have gotten the two mixed up.

I really loved the audiobook for Deep Water and having Sophie Roberts & Daniel York Loh as the narrators was complete perfection. Roberts voices the majority of the book since this is Virginie’s story, and I can’t think of anything I didn’t like about her or the audio itself. I am a sucker for anything set on the water or in isolated locations, and once you throw in the mix of characters Bamford had surrounding Virginie and Jake, it just made things even more interesting. Secrets abound which is what creates a lot of the drama, and I was totally shocked by the big reveal. The atmosphere is on point and there are a lot of details regarding sailing and the nautical side of things, but I thought the way that Bamford wrote them never made it seem boring or tedious. All in all, I was a big fan of this novel, and I will definitely read whatever this author writes next!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Just Keep Swimming


The story starts out suspenseful. A naval vessel gets a distress call from Virginie. Once they reach the boat they see that Jake is injured badly and Virginie confesses, ”It’s all my fault. I killed them.” From there, Bamford goes back and fills in all of the details up to the point. The entire story flowed well and was a solid 4 stars for me I look forward to reading future works from this author.

I know it’s odd to start with all the good things of books but I want to make it apparent that this book is really good. I think Bamford did a brilliant job of painting what it would be like to sail across the ocean. She was able to use her personal experience of sailing several years and bring that knowledge to life in this book which was a nice touch. I found her writing to be beautiful and loved the vivid depictions of the island Amarante. This gave me such Gilligan Island with a twist vibe it was fantastic. All the characters are creepy yet enjoyable and I will be reading more from this author.

The story is mostly set on a remote island where people have traveled to in order to get away from it all. No phones, no medical, nothing besides the boats next to you. This was a quick read for me because I really enjoyed it. I lost myself in the setting and pictured the scenes as if I was there. Vee is the main narrator but a few chapters were told by others. I would have liked the other chapters to be labeled with who was narrating to make them easier to read. Overall it is a highly enjoyable story.

A decent entry in the "Trouble in Paradise" vein.

Fans of The Finalist, Shadows of Kalalau, and Reckless Girls will enjoy it.

A lesson that an island contains only what you bring with you, both physically and emotionally. And that a person's true character is honed and revealed under intense stress.

Off to a great start...and then it just kind of sputtered out. I loved the mysterious intrigue of what the story could have unfolded to be, but I feel that it just didn't deliver on it's intentions, but I don't feel that it was a bad story. While the expectation didn't pan out, the story itself was well organized and flowed very well and had me following to see just how it all ended. All in all, I like the style of writing and will be looking out for any other pieces by Emma.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*

I had high hopes for this book. The beginning had me all in and then for most of the middle of the book it was nothing but a bunch of sailing Kingo and uninteresting happenings.

This was okay- I feel like a lot of promise and a lot of false starts- kind of like the top off her Ollie coaster and anticipating the downhill but you’re kind of just hanging there. It was okay. Not really scary. Lots of sailing and boating stuff which was zzzzz….

Gosh, what a let down. 😕 the synopsis made this book sound so promising. It gave me the Lost vibe. Also a tad similar to the recent release The Swell which I loved. So I was super ecstatic about this! But alas, the synopsis was all wrong. There is no dark island secrets or dark spells. There’s just characters with no growth or personality. There’s a plot that drags and is dull. Each character mopey and frumpy with little to none excitement to themselves.

I love sailing albeit on large cruise ships. But I'm always interested in books about sailing. This was an enjoyable enough read but fairly predictable.

This premise would make a fine TV movie. Virginie works in a museum. Her husband, Jake, has been repairing boats and ships much of his life. He gets it in his head that it would be a great idea to buy a fixer-upper small yacht and set sail in the Indian Ocean to a relatively undisturbed island. The perfect, relaxing getaway or so they think. And he does NOT swim. Virginie, is a good swimmer, but quite the trusting airhead. A potential monsoon is looming. The mystery island has already been "discovered" by others who have made rules of behavior and duties for all who stay. So much for getting away from it all. The good guys are good, and the bad guys are bad. It is pretty predictable, but there is suspense and a mystery. My thanks to NetGalley and the author for a complimentary copy.

The beginning of this book dragged a little bit for me. I am not a fan of slow burns in the thriller genre. Once it got going, it was a great read though.

I was intrigued by the cover/synopsis for this story, but unfortunately, the pacing was just a bit too slow for me! I prefer for my Thrillers to be fast-paced, but I did enjoy the writing.

Many of us dream of getting away from it all, selling everything, and sailing around the world, so the premise of this book was captivating.

Deep Water fell flat given the promising synopsis of the book. When a Royal Malaysian Navy vessel receives a mayday message, the captain orders they rush to a yacht adrift in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Captain Danial Tengku orders his ship to rush to its aid. On board the yacht is a British couple: a horribly injured man, Jake, and his traumatized wife, Virginie, who breathlessly confesses, “It’s all my fault. I killed them.”

Through flashbacks, Virginie tells a harrowing tale about when happened after she and her new husband invested their life savings to buy a beat-up yacht and live off the grid on a remote, exotic island far from the reaches of civilization. When they arrive, they are stunned by the unspoiled beaches and tropical waters, but disappointed that several other boaters have moored in the bay. What they’d hoped would be the adventure of a lifetime turns into a nightmare.

The naval captain must decide how much of Virginie’s story is true.

Deep Water reminded me of Lord of the Flies, you know, that torturous book too many of us had to read in school. I supplemented the eBook with audio, and although I didn’t notice the flaws while listening, they lept off the pages as soon as I started reading. The intricate plot was certainly intriguing, and the author did a fine job developing her characters and building drama, but I found the writing to be sophomoric. She left too many massive holes in the story that I’d hoped she'd fill by the conclusion, but she left them gaping. The reviews on this novel are all over the place… me, I’ll give it 3 stars.

Thank you to #netgalley for this #arc
This book is supposed to be a thriller/mystery, but I found some of the parts to be drawn out.
A young couple (Virginie and Jake) is on a remote island that is supposed to be their dream vacation visiting some undiscovered tiny islands, but along with that comes a lot of twists and turns that are still tied to secrets on the island. They think they are confessing to other visitors what happened to them, but don't know who to trust.
Captain Daniel's boat comes along that is supposed to be to their rescue, which uncovers more secrets. Captain Daniel has to try and figure out whether or not Virginie is telling the truth, and his crew is worried whether ot not he will act fast enough to save them all. The book was a little long for my taste, but overall, I enjoyed the book.

I really wanted to like this book, because I thought the premise was so interesting, however it was so slow. I think I only made it about 20% of the way through before I DNFed it. I also didn't like another book with a similar premise (Reckless Girls), so maybe I don't need to read "thrillers" set on the ocean.

I really enjoyed this book! It hooks your right from the start and stays fairly fast paced throughout! It was the perfect summer read!

This book was not for me, and that's okay. It seemed too slowly paced and did not capture my attention as hoped. I may reread it again in the future in hopes that I will enjoy it as much as originally hoped.

Review published on Goodreads, 30 May 2022:

I enjoy mysteries, survival stories, and books about maritime disasters, so DEEP WATER sounded like the perfect summer thriller for me. The first section of the book—in which a Malaysian naval officer answers a distress call from a raving British woman aboard a blood-spattered luxury catamaran she doesn't own cradling an injured man—is definitely promising, offering up plenty of intriguing plot possibilities. As we slip into backstory, though, the story flounders. I'm all for slow-building tension, but in this case, the tale is a little too slow. Not a lot happens until the last third of the book when the action ramps up again. Although the characters aren't anything super original or special, I liked Virginie and Jake enough to care what was going to happen to them. I kept reading the book because I did want to know how their story finished up. In the end, though, I found DEEP WATER a little unsatisfying. Not only did it get a little boring in the saggy middle, but it also left one of my burning questions unanswered. Overall, it just wasn't as engrossing a read as I wanted it to be, although I liked it well enough.

Jake and Virginie, a newlywed couple, ditch their ten-hour work days to sail to unknow destinations on an old yacht. At their first port, a local sailor convinces them to travel to a little know island in the southern hemisphere, miles from anywhere. When Jake and Virginie arrive, they are greeted by two other yachts, and soon a third appears. Although the newlyweds are far from civilization, they soon learn there are rules and protocols to follow. When Jake and Virginie's yacht breaks down, Jake becomes frustrated with the interference of the other sailors. The situations grows even more heated when Virginie becomes friendly with another yacht captain. Deep Water is a good, page-turning escape read.

Deep Water by Emma’s Bradford

The dark side of paradise is exposed when a terrified couple is in the grips of the island’s secrets.

Well-written. Good terrifying plot. Friendly characters. Much suspense. I recommend this book.

Thanks to Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for my review.