I’d had my eye on Ginny Myers Sain’s works for a while, despite my rocky relationship with young adult thrillers, but I was so happy to be approved for an Advance Reader Copy. However, I found the pacing of this novel to be much too slow for my liking. I considered DNFing, but I managed to slog through to the end. I will likely not be reading any other works from Ginny Myers Sain, unless there is an interesting genre change.

All I have to say is:
URGHHHHHHH IMMEDIATE 5 STARS


Into the real review now.....the ending made me question what I thought I knew when it came to my theories, it made me question the ending, the answers that Avril was looking for, everything. EVERYTHING. This book it just blew me away. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time and I have absolutely nothing else to say because this book was just THAT amazing. Go read it right now. Right now. Go.

2.5/5 stars, it just slowed down way too quickly

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group & Razorbil for the arc through netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

A year ago I was granted this arc and did not have time to get to it unfortunately during my adjustment period into my first semester of college. This year I wanted to read it and see what I was missing out on but unfortunately, I did not enjoy it. My reading experience started off strong with the audiobook, as I've really enjoyed lately listening to more audiobooks, but over time it just...lost my interest.

The idea of the story was unique, but the writing style didn't give me enough incentive to feel very involved with the characters and the story. There just wasn't enough tension for me to feel like I should care about anything happening and that was the big problem. That was pretty much why it took me so long to finish because I could not bring myself to be excited.

[TW: death of loved ones and parent mentioned, underage drinking, drowning, mental health depiction]

This was unfortunately a DNF for me at 37% after spending a month trying to push through it. I’m defeated because Dark and Shallow Lies was a five star read but I’m just so bored by this. I will continue to pick up her books, though.

SYNOPSIS: At Whisper Cove theater, the sea takes what (and who) it wants. Avril's mother was taken by the sea many years ago, and she has returned to the scene of the crime to uncover if there's more to this unbelievable story. She struggles to piece together her memories of that night, and hopes spending time at the theater will help her remember what she has lost.

MY FEELS: As much mystery and intrigue there was throughout the story, I felt that the ending just didn't deliver the way I had hoped. The ghost story elements were really fun and entertaining, but the pacing didn't grip me throughout the entire book. It was good overall, just not a favorite of mine.

3/5 Stars

[Gifted by Razorbill/Penguin Teen and Netgalley - thank you! All opinions are my own.]

Sometimes this one moved too fast and sometimes too slow. I liked the flashback scenes and that at times it felt like it had a magical/fantastical element to it. In the end it was a murder mystery that was a predictable but enjoyable.

Love Ginny Myers Sain and the dark gothic way in which she writes. Her debut was one of my favorite books the year it came out. I found myself loving this book too. Oh the story's she tells!

It honestly pains me to say that this was a waste of my time. I should have just DNF this in order to avoid reviewing it.

I absolutely loved Dark and Shallow Lies. It was a fantastic debut. Maybe I expected too much from this one.

This book felt entirely too long. So much could have been removed. I also knew immediately who the killer was. There was one detail that the author kept plugging in for absolutely no reason. After the third time I knew it would be significant and how I figured out the mystery.

Maybe it’s cause I’m a mom but I was incredibly annoyed by the fact that one seemed really worried about the MC. This girls is passing out left and right but no one bats an eye? Um what?

I’m also still confused. Is this supernatural or not? I honestly can’t tell.

I will still read her next book and I’m hoping I love it as much as her debut.

DNF at 58% the story felt extremely repetitive. I loved the intrigue, the setting. The romance was cute. The mystery is fun and unsettling. However at the point of 58% i felt like we were going around in circles with no new development for the last 10-15%. It made me lose interest.

Do you want to know the end to the story? Then you miss the journey there. This was a great character driven story. Avril is a great MC that is driven figure out her past while at an intensive acting camp that her mother died at. You go on this journey with Av as she discovers the truth about what happened that night and becoming the person she is meant to be. I also enjoyed the tragic romance between Avril and Cole.

I loved the uniqueness and cleverness of Ginny Myers Sain prior novel, so I knew I had to read Secrets So Deep, and I can tell you the experience I had with this one was just as immersive. YA used to be one of my go-to genres, but I have since then cut way back on them, and it has to be something that REALLY interests me now to get me to read one. Clearly, this is saying something, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this if you want a YA that is both gripping and extraordinarily unique. Some parts were just plain weird (sorry not sorry), but this author has such a beautiful way of writing that nothing was going to stop my enjoyment. Also, the parts that I found weird were important to the story and in no way is weird a bad thing here. The storyline is so vivid, and I was a huge fan of how the fog felt like a character in itself.

Valerie Rose Lohman is the narrator for the audiobook and while her reading pace was probably too slow overall, I really enjoyed listening to her. She was also quite lovely as Avril, so if you asked me if I would recommend listening to the audio I would say yes. I loved that Secrets So Deep has some romance elements going as well as a mystery, and I was completely invested in both of them. It's hard not to root for Avril and with a setting as creepy and ominous as the one that Myers Sain created here, it's also hard not to be on edge the entire time. I really had no idea what to expect from the end, and what happens was a complete surprise to me. I'm sure there are some people out there who will see the major twist coming, but I did not, and I almost got chills at the audacity of it. Myers Sain is one of my top young adult authors now, and I will continue to read everything she puts to the page.

a beautiful haunted story, such a wild ride. This was great to dive into after reading Dark and Shallows lies last year, which I absolutely loved. The characters were luring. I enjoyed the romantic side on me. The mystery in Whispering Cove, was definitely hypnotizing. I would have loved to learn a bit more about the reasoning behind everything. I loved the twists the author took, it kept me interested in the story.

This book will be enjoyed by those who love romance and mystery.
Avril has returned to the summer theatre camp where her mother had died years before from a supposed suicide. She is plagued by confusing memories and hopes to learn more about that last summer with her mother.
The theatre and romance elements of this read will be enjoyed by many.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great mystery and I loved this novel!

Oh. Oh I LOVED this. The vibes? Immaculate. The setting? Immaculate. The characters? Weird and fun. I don't know that the plot entirely held up or it completely stuck the landing; a lot of the twists were either inexplicable or predictable, and I'm still not sure how much I should have bought into the supernatural elements (were they real? what's the lore here? does it matter?). But I had such a good time and will be recommending this one to everyone I know.

Not a fav and I probably wouldn’t recommend. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and that’s always a downfall for me while reading.

I really am enjoying this author lately! Keeps me guessing and engaged through the whole book! The character development was great

Her first novel was so amazing so I was really excited for this one. Unfortunately, the romance aspect of this novel annoyed me. It was a constant occurrence in the story. The suspense didn’t happen organically and the poor choices of the main character was a lot to deal with.

I didn’t like this book as much as I did the author’s first book. I was expecting another supernatural thriller, but that’s not what I got. While this was a mystery/thriller at heart it just fell flat for me.

When the book first started there was a set up of a mysterious backstory for the location of the theater camp that the main character attends. A whispering that if you started hearing it, you’d be the next victim. However this storyline soon just disappeared. I honestly forgot about it until it was briefly brought up again near the end of the book.

I just felt like the author couldn’t decide which direction to take the story and it definitely suffered for it. I will definitely give this author another try and hope that this was just a sophomore slump.

Once again Ginny Myers Sain delivers an outstanding, suspenseful ya mystery that stands out amongst its genre. If I haven’t mentioned it enough- Dark and Shallow Lies was one of my favorite books last year- one of my all time favorite books ever so the expectations going into SSD were unreallll.

I’m happy to say that those expectations were met 100%, Ginny is an absolute legend for her lyrical writing and even more so for her brillaint storytelling. The theater kid aspect prominent here was also really amazing to read about. I am not a theater kid myself but the way the author writes the magic of the play and ability to immerse yourself in a role was breathtaking.

Only two cons I will mention:

1. I was able to guess the mystery pretty early on but honestly I was here for the vibes and haunting atmosphere and she defintiely delivered on that so it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment. Plus Ginny has such a masterful way of unraveling all the pieces and little details that you can’t help but be awed regardless.
2. The ending was super abrupt to me- there was sooooo much build up and then we’re left with a lot more questions about so many things and it really didn’t sit well with me. I don’t know if the authors point for the ending was to keep me up every night wondering about the what ifs and what could’ve beens because that was definitely accomplished.

Overall, another amazing thrilleresque YA from Ginny and one I highly recommend!