Rated 3.5 ROUNDED up to 4 STARS
Lying in the Deep captivated my interest as soon as I started reading and I couldn't put it down until I finished (hence, the rounded up score). College student, Jade and her roommate (turned frenemy) Lainey and her ex-boyfriend Silas (who now dates Lainey) all attend Stanford (WHY do all of the YA books lately place characters at the most exclusive schools that are unattainable for the majority of students?? Other students in this book attend Harvard, BU, etc) and ALL find themselves on the Campus On Board ship (similar to Semester At Sea) for 4 months. The descriptions of the ship, the ports-of-call, the food, the characters and situations all brought the story and mysteries to life. There were several twists that added to the story (some were easily guessed, others were more complex), however I was distracted by the interactions, vocabulary and dialog that clearly placed these students more in the upper middle school to early high school category, vs the elite college they were supposed to be attending ("zillions" and "lots of" occurred several times, along with many other examples.). Had the interactions been a bit more realistic and age appropriate, this book would have been a solid 4 to 5 STAR read for me. I'm looking forward to reading more of this author's work!

**4.5-stars rounded up**

After being betrayed by her best friend, Lainey, and her boyfriend, Silas, who are now a couple, Jade cannot wait to start her COB-adventure. She needs a way to escape from her regular life and what better way than aboard a shop? 'COB' is short for Campus on Board and is essentially a Semester at Sea program that Jade has been anticipating for years. It couldn't have arrived at a better time.

Set on a luxury cruise ship, Jade is ready to meet new people and escape from the dark hole she's been in. In the line to board though, she's shocked to see Lainey and Silas. They're kissing and laughing, clearly happy. Lainey attracting attention, as always. Jade's stomach drops. What are they even doing here!? This is her thing.

As annoyed as she is by the new couple, Jade is also confused as heck as to how it even happened. She wants answers and become set on getting them. Luckily, on the ship, Jade's mostly distracted from her heartache. She's making new friends, her roommates are supportive, they're going on excursions at various ports, but Lainey and Silas are never too far from her mind.

With time at sea, the players involved begin to get to know each other fairly well, their various dramas and secrets on full display. Therefore, they all know Jade holds a bit of a grudge against Lainey and Silas. When there's a murder, some people suspect Jade. She didn't do anything, but now needs to prove it, because if she didn't do it, that means there's a killer on board.

Along with her new crush, Felix, Jade sets out to get to the bottom of the mystery before more people die.

Lying in the Deep is easily my favorite Diana Urban yet. This was close to a perfect YA Mystery/Thriller for me. It features a fantastic setting, a varied cast of characters, wildly over-the-top drama, a classic-feeling locked room mystery, a shady corporation housing deadly secrets, blackmail, murder and more...

I had an absolute blast reading it. Lainey and Silas were so unlikable and I loved being on Jade's side and rooting for her as she tried to survive this dangerous cruise. There were moments I wanted to shake her, she didn't always make the greatest choices, but I was invested in her character and her life. The side characters were equally messy and fun. I loved watching their relationships grow and change over the course of the story.

I am an atmosphere-girlie and I loved the setting of the luxury cruise ship. A bunch of students, strangers to one another before boarding, being trapped on a ship together. You just know juicy things are going to go down. I also liked the idea of the excursions they went on in the various ports. There was always some action happening during those events.

Additionally, I thought the mystery was really well done. I loved how it progressed and the amateur sleuthing aspects involving Jade and Felix were so fun. I had many theories, some panned out, but a lot didn't. I didn't fully catch on to the whodunit until very close to the final reveal. I had a lot of fun getting to that point.

The ending was completely insane, almost too much, but not. I liked it and was fully satisfied with the very final moments. Overall, I think Urban nailed this one. I definitely recommend for Readers who enjoy a fun and fast-paced YA Mystery-Thriller. The cruise setting makes this the perfect Summer read.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Razorbill, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'm excited to pick up more from Urban in the futur

Enjoyable, great pacing, exciting settings kept me hooked. Fun novel that will be the perfect to lose yourself in. Thank you Net Galley for ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

I really enjoyed this. The story is fast paced and I did not guess the events that were going to happen. This was twisted in the most fun sense of the word.

Rating; Really Enjoyed It, 4 stars

Lying in the Deep is a soapy, YA thriller set during a semester at sea aboard a cruise ship. Jade has been looking forward to Campus on Board since before she started college, and she is determined to have a fantastic semester, despite having been recently betrayed by her ex-boyfriend and best friend. She plans to forget about them in the whirlwind that is CoB, but as she boards the ship, she realizes that they are both there. It becomes impossible for her to move on when the happy couple is flaunting their relationship everywhere that she turns. She becomes obsessed on making Silas jealous and trying to figure out what really happened to their relationship when a grisly murder sets a domino effect in motion and students start showing up dead at an alarming rate. Now Jade must figure out what is going on aboard the ship before she is framed for the murders, or worse is murdered herself.

This was such a good time. I would have read it all in one sitting if I had had the time to do so. It was fast-paced and kept me guessing for a good chunk of it. I don't read a lot of mystery/thrillers, but I feel like I prefer them in YA books. I enjoy the soapiness of it and the need to suspend disbelief. I feel like the MC in this made some really terrible decisions, and some of the events were a bit unbelievable, but that's really part of the fun.

Definitely had a great time with this and will be checking out more by Diana Urban when I'm in the mood for a thriller. I received an ARC from Netgalley and Razorbill. All opinions are my own.

First of all, thank you for Netgalley for sharing a copy of Lying in the Deep for me to review- I am SOOO happy to finally be a part of the Netgalley community!

And now for the book: Jade is taking part in a semester at sea voyage to help her get over her ex-boyfriend and ex best friend who have turned their backs on her, except SURPRISE! They are going on the trip as well. When people on the ship start dying, Jade needs to get to the bottom of it before she is blamed.
This book was a fun YA mystery that will keep you guessing until the end. I found out after I had finished the book that it was based on Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile, which I wish I would have read first so that I could compare the similarities. I really enjoyed that the whole book was written with different locations as the backdrop.
I think that reading this book is showing my age because I couldn't always relate to the characters. Many of them came across as bratty and selfish. Jade was a bit whiny and self-centered and the WORST sleuth in the history of sleuthdom. Each time she would get a TINY clue she would go into this wild rant where she "magically connected all of the clues" but nope, she kept being wrong. Until she finally wasn't. But I won't spoil the ending.
This book was a quick, fun read. I appreciated it more by the last 1/3 because there were some fun twists and turns. And an ending that made my jaw drop a bit, so kudos for that, Diana Urban. There was also a message in there about the jerks that are Big Pharma, so I appreciated that. Overall, a fun book to read on the beach, but I don't think it made me lose any sleep worrying about the characters.

🌟🌟🌟

Lying in the Deep is Diana Urban’s latest YA Mystery/Thriller. Set on a cruise ship, college student Jade, attends a semester at sea type program called Campus On Board. While on board, her ex-best friend and ex-college roommate, Lainey, is murdered. She races to find the killer before the ship docks at the next port and she is blamed for the murder.

The first half of the book seemed juvenile and was a bit underwhelming. While the last half of the book really took off and left me wanting to finish the book and solve the mystery. I liked how there were multiple characters with motive and you as a reader suspected everyone to be the killer. The ending was a bit complicated, although I appreciated that since most mystery books can be solved half way through reading.

Overall, this was a fun summer read.

I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

For me this book started off slow and I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through it. Around 40 percent in, that changed though. The story picked up, things started happening. I liked the ending and thought the mystery part of it was good. Stick through the beginning and you have a pretty good YA mystery!

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book for an honest review
I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn’t get into it. I felt it was more of a YA book. I think for that audience it would be more enjoyable.

When Jade's long-term boyfriend Silas breaks up with her over text to date her best-friend Lainey, she is left feeling broken-hearted and betrayed. Months ago Jade and Lainey planned a semester-a-broad on a cruise ship together, but Jade is sure Lainey is no longer coming when her room arrangement goes back to pending. When Lainey shows up on the first day, with Silas in tow, Jade is devastated. Then, a body appears and Jade finds herself the number one suspect in a murder case.

I really liked this drama-filled story! It was so over-the-top ridiculous I ate up every second of it. I've now discovered I quite like the locked room mystery trope, and I loved the cruise ship setting! The characters definitely don't feel like college students with how incredibly immature and whiny they can be (especially Jade), but it was still enjoyable. The side characters were intriguing, and I liked following the mystery trying to piece together the motives each person had. I wasn't the biggest fan of the romance though, and would have liked it better if it was left out. I liked the ending and hadn't seen it coming although a lot of people say it was rather predictable if you know the story of Death on the Nile, but I've never read it so I was taken by surprise.

Overall, I thought it was fun with a lot of drama thrown in to keep you entertained.

Lying in the Deep is Diana Urban's latest YA book and my latest teen read. The title can be taken two ways - clever.

This group of older teens are taking a learning semester on a cruise ship. Jade has been looking forward to this forever. But's she's devastated to see that her former bestie and her used to be boyfriend are the trip as well. Now's probably a good time to mention some of the themes? Jealousy and revenge are at the top of the list.

How about murder....yup there's one. Who could be the killer? Jade and her new beau are in the thick of things, trying to suss out the whodunit. But they may be suspects as well. They're supported by a wealth of supporting characters that fill in the various tropes.

Urban has melded teen obsession with a murder mystery and a nice twist in the last few chapters.

But, I do feel like some of the 384 pages could have been pared down a bit. Some scenes and events feel repetitive. The other thing I want to mention is that the teens in this are at college. Their behaviors and thinking seems to belong to younger teenagers. On the other hand, they drink and a few of them are casual drug users. Their choice of drug just kinda sat wrong with me. Seriously? M***?

A quick read, that tows the line between reading like YA versus an adult focused novel. The “who-done-it” element will keep you guessing. If you figure it out before the ending you’re more clever than I am.

What worked:
•The boat setting
•The revolving cast of characters, all with motive

What didn’t work:
•The reactions from the “adults” on the ship seemed completely off/fake
•I’m not sold on the logistics of the twist

Read if you like: one room thrillers, The Woman in Cabin 10, Death on the Nile

Thank you to Razorbill, Penguin Teen, and NetGalley for this eARC for review.

Jade was betrayed by her ex-boyfriend and her best friend. She’s hoping a semester at sea program will give her some space and time to heal. Unfortunately for Jade, they both board the ship without giving her a heads up. After expressing her anger around the situation to other students, a rumor gets out the she’s obsessed. Then her ex-friend is murdered. All signs point to Jade. As other students begin to be murdered Jade has to rush to prove she’s innocent before she finds herself locked up in a foreign jail (or murdered herself!).

3/5 stars, I guessed all the plot twists but the concept was interesting

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

This book took me a few more days than normal to read because I was very busy but I was still able to appreciate the really good aspects of this story, and what I wish had been improved upon. I don't read as many thrillers and mysteries as I did a few years ago, outside of October, and I think that's because it's a lot easier to get into the mood during that month. It might also be because I recognize what the plot twists are going to be a lot of the time, especially in the young adult area of reading.

In general, the setting of this book lent itself to connect better during summer than other mystery books I've read as it was set on a ship/cruise. While I usually enjoy it when books give exposition, in this case, I felt the story was really slow and lots of the beginning and middle could have been cut out. It was really slow leading up to the climax, and while it was entertaining enough to keep me going I felt the pacing could have been better. As well, even from the beginning, I guessed some of the major plot twists, even if I didn't get all the details. This made the ending a lot less surprising and less climactic than I would have hoped.

I would say that the writing style was average, it definitely fell into some young adult tropes as well but I still enjoyed being on a cruise ship. I've read very few books read on cruise ships so that was a fun experience, even though I'm afraid of going on them in real life haha. I wish there had been a bit more about the places that they ended up visiting, though this book did take place over a shorter period of time (also why it felt weird to be so slow-paced) so I understand why that didn't happen.

For me, the main character was very annoying, though there were times when I totally understood where she was coming from. It just felt how she handled some things was often very juvenile, especially as this was supposed to be centered around college-aged individuals. There were also lots of times when she got really violent thoughts or had anger issues, which I'm glad was it addressed that she needs therapy, but she was being really manipulative with everyone as well.

The other characters were honestly less than memorable, some of them like Felix and Silas stuck out but there was a pretty large cast that I don't really remember. I think this was because a lot of them had very similar personalities, especially surrounding drama, so it was a bit harder to keep them separate as I was trying to do.

[TW: parental abandonment, getting hit by a car, alcohol use, parental death mentioned, death of a friend, blood and gore, suicide, hanging, gun violence, murder]

Locked room murder mysteries are my favorite, and I loved that this story is set on a Semester at Sea cruise ship.

Jade has an opportunity of a lifetime to spend a college semester on a cruise ship and travel to eleven countries. As a scholarship student at Stanford, it’s not something she expected in her future. She just wasn’t prepared for her ex-best friend and ex-boyfriend (it was a traitorous, seriously crappy way to break up), now a couple, to be on board. She also didn’t anticipate a string of murders and her name to top the suspect list.

What a tangled web filled with lies and deceit. With a large cast of characters, there certainly isn’t a shortage of suspects, all of them with motives ranging from almost justifiable to petty. I changed my mind about the culprit so many times I lost track of the number. I loved how the author used the ship setting. It’s easy to picture the characters in the classrooms, dining areas, decks, and claustrophobic staterooms, then racing around the ship to try and solve the murders.

The first half of the book is weighted down with teen drama and angst, and I admit to some eye rolling on my part. Jade spends (wastes) a good amount of time pining over Silas and borderline stalking him. But the second half moves at a rapid pace, and I found it difficult to put down the book. I’d be sure of the culprit, then that person wound up on the body count list. I love it when mysteries keep you guessing. The ending didn’t take a path I expected, but I love surprises.

I’d recommend this book to readers who enjoy locked room murder mysteries in fun settings, plenty of red herrings, and unexpected twists and surprises.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Jade is on the trip of a lifetime; she will be visiting 11 countries in 4 months aboard the Campus on Board ship. When she arrives to board the ship she discovers that her ex-boyfriend will be a part of CoB, and in the company of her former best friend no less. Jade is determined to make the best of the situation however, made easier due to some new friends she has made, but when a student disappears, seeming to have gone overboard, the trip of Jade’s life may very well take her life from her.

This was a rather twisty, turney novel that kept me on the edge of my seat. It's one where I knew that there was a lot more going on below the surface, but I wasn’t sure exactly what. It’s rather fast-paced, and I flew through it, wanting to know what was going on. I enjoyed the characters and what each of them brought to the story. While I had a lot of suspicions about what was actually going on, and was halfway correct, there was one aspect of the ending that absolutely blew me away.

Thank you for the advanced copy! I always love a good whodunit mystery, and this kept me guessing until the end. The personalities of the characters were intriguing to get to know as the story progressed. Just goes to show, you may think you know a person inside and out, but they may suprise you by being someone totally different than they seem. All in all, I loved reading this novel, I couldn't put it down, and I can't wait to see what the author writes next!

I enjoyed the setting of the cruise ship and "semester at sea". The author did a good job at describing the surroundings and the ports so it was easy to visualize the setting. It started off a bit slow but there were enough twists to keep me reading to the end. It's a fun ya read.

Unfortunately, I found this book just okay. While I was interested in seeing how the story continues, it felt a bit too YA to me. I think this could be a great thriller for the younger audience. However, there were a few twists that I wasn't expecting and that surprised me. I also really liked the secluded atmosphere on a cruise ship.

Lying in the Deep by Diana Urban is a suspenseful thriller that takes readers on a journey filled with jealousy, love, and betrayal. Set aboard a Semester at Sea-inspired cruise ship, the book offers a unique and intriguing backdrop for a tale of mystery.

The story centers around Jade, a young woman who is determined to leave behind the heartbreak caused by her ex-boyfriend, Silas and best friend, Lainey. With the promise of adventure and a chance to heal, Jade embarks on a once-in-a-lifetime journey across multiple countries on the luxurious Campus on Board ship. However, her plans take a dark turn when she discovers that Silas and Lainey are also on board.

There is plenty of tension and suspense as Jade's obsession with her ex-boyfriend and best friend grows, leading to a shocking murder that rocks the ship. The diverse cast of characters adds depth to the narrative, with each one harboring secrets and motives that keep readers guessing at every twist and turn.

The pacing of the book is excellent, keeping the reader engaged and eager to uncover the truth behind the murders. The author expertly weaves together themes of trust, deception, and revenge, creating a thrilling and addictive reading experience. The jaw-dropping twists and unexpected revelations keep the suspense alive, leaving readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.

Fans of authors such as Natalie D. Richards, E. Lockhart, and Karen McManus will find "Lying in the Deep" to be a perfect fit for their reading preferences. The book captures the essence of a thrilling psychological suspense with its well-crafted plot, complex characters, and unexpected twists.

With its blend of romance, mystery, and high-stakes tension, "Lying in the Deep" is a must-read for fans of the genre. Prepare to be captivated by a tale of secrets, danger, and the lengths one will go to protect their own life amidst a sea of suspects.

I would have loved to spend a school year at sea (but would hope it would be a more tame). This made for a great setting for this mystery/thriller. The story started out slowly but once it picked up about halfway through, I really started to enjoy it. Jade, the main character, was not my favorite, as she came off as whiny and annoying in the beginning and then made the typical TSTL mistakes amateur sleuths make. The ending was completely unexpected and made the slog through the first half almost worth it. Added bonus for me was the stops in the different ports and the descriptions of the surroundings; it was nice to be able to get off the ship for a little and explore.