This was ok but I didn’t love it. The second part of the novel is more action filled and enjoyable, however the first half just sounds like teenage drama for the most part

Ahh what a blast this book was.

It’s fast-paced, high-stakes, and I LIVED for the Death on the Nile references. Diana’s descriptions of the different cities and locations were fantastic and added such a fun flare. I was pleasantly surprised to find that while the book is categorized as YA, the characters are college juniors/seniors, which made it much more plausible. I didn’t see some of the twists coming, which is always a bonus, and I LOVED Felix and Jade’s relationship.

Super grateful to Netgalley and Razorbill for the arc! Highly recommend for readers of upper YA locked-room thrillers who love a dash of romance in their stories.

I love me a locked room mystery, and generally really enjoy YA mysteries, but this one just didn’t work well for me . The first half of the book is just “teenage” whining although these are college level students and should be a bit more mature … the second half is more fast paced and a lot more interesting .

Jade has signed up for a semester at sea on a cruise ship, not realising that she'll be stuck on the vessel with none other than her ex boyfriend... And her ex best friend whom he's now dating. This may not be the exciting adventure she had hoped.

Lying in the Deep is a brilliantly twisty mystery with a murder and a juicy ending. Not the answers I was expecting, I was gripped right from the start!

Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy.

I was sent a copy of this book in return for an honest review, thank you to those who sent it to me!
I loved this YA retelling of Death on the Nile! It was fast paced and the ‘whodunnit’ aspect piqued my interest from the get go.
I won’t lie, I wasn’t huge on the main characters at first, and the love triangle did make me roll my eyes quite a bit, but by the second half I was completely invested in the main characters and all the love interests that they had.
There were lots and lots of twists and turns but in the last quarter or so things were being resolved and plot holes were being filled with reasonable explanations.
Overall, this book was a fast paced and intriguing read!

I read a lot of thrillers but never before have I gone from "this is so obvious" to "OMG WHAT". While the plot twist is almost impossible to predict, it works for the book. More than just a "whodunnit", Lying in the Deep is partially a character exploration of it's protagonist, Jade. While Jade comes off as juvenile at times, it works for the book. She is, in many ways, a child playing adult games, which is precisely how many actual college students feel. Aside from the murder mystery, this book does an exquisite job of portraying the aftermath of a breakup in which you must confront the fact that the person you thought you loved never actually existed. It is an important narrative and one that will resonate with many readers. As a mystery, Lying in the Deep succeeds in weaving a complex tale of deceit and betrayal, although some parts did feel slightly rushed.

A faced paced book that's literally filled with twists and turns, you never know what's going to happen next and who's the real culprit. I was kept guessing to the end and couldn't put this down. I also loved this studying at sea theme which is really unique similar to a "locked room mystery" and I've never heard of it before so I also felt like I learned a lot. The characters are dynamic and have personalities that draw you right into the story. Overall this is a really strong mystery thriller and I really recommend.

I was hooked on this story until the last 10%. Once the reveal happened, there were so many twists that I could not keep up. I ended up more confused than amused and was just glad to be done.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I LOVED this book. I always wanted to do a Semester At Sea so this being based on that was what initially caught my eye. The twists that I didn’t see coming kept me hooked. I thought I had guessed who did it but then it wasn’t them. I gasped so many times. Due to recent events in my life, what happened to a character hit close to home and I cried. I didn’t see the ending coming AT ALL. When I say my jaw didn’t come up from the floor until about 5 minutes after I finished the books. It got crazier and crazier until the last page. I also want to know what happens to Felix and Jade. I loved them and I hope they’re happy.

This is the modern feminist retelling of Agatha Christie’s Death On The Nile that I never even knew I needed till after I read every terrific page!

Let’s be honest: Death On The Nile is one of Dame Christie’s most famous books, but is one of my least favorite of her canon. It’s smart, sure, but without going into spoilers, I can safely say that I really disliked the central relationships. Diana Urban’s refreshing take on the characters updates the plot for the 21st century, paying excellent homage to the original while providing her own incredibly clever twists to make this story her own.

Our narrator Jade Miller figures that the best way to nurse her broken heart is to go full steam ahead with her plans to spend a college semester at sea, far away from where she’s enrolled at Stanford University. Having grown up poor, she’s pinched her pennies for this experience, and is looking forward to putting a lot of distance between herself and the people who betrayed her. So imagine her shock when she sees both of them getting ready to board along with her.

One of these people is her former roommate Lainey Silverton, the beautiful daughter of a pharmaceutical tycoon:

QUOTE
[She was] a magnet for attention and an easy flirt, the way she’d flash her radiant smile and make you feel like the sun was shining at night. She was stunning, because of course she was, with her silky platinum hair, eyes blue as the winter sky, rosy high cheekbones, and rosier full lips. Forget the money–Lainey could steal your heart just by breathing, charm you with a glance, convince you of anything. She could get whatever the hell she wanted, even if she didn’t already have it all.

Apparently, that included the love of my life.
END QUOTE

Silas is Jade’s ex, and is arm in arm with Lainey as they board the Sea Voyager. A baseball star until a skiing accident put his entire Stanford career in jeopardy, he’d feared having to drop out of school and go back to a life of small town anonymity. Jade had begged Lainey to ask her powerful father to get Silas a summer internship so he could gain some industry contacts and rebuild his shaken confidence. She hadn’t expected for Lainey and Silas to get close in the process, culminating in Silas breaking up with her long distance via text before immediately blocking her number.

Seeing them together in the flesh makes Jade’s thoughts turn unerringly to murder, but when a stone nearly lands on Lainey’s head at one of their first stops on the cruise, Jade begins to reevaluate her own thirst for vengeance. Lainey, of course, does her best to avoid her former friend, but Jade can’t let go. It isn’t just that she’s hurt by what they’ve done. She genuinely doesn’t understand how or why it happened. As she explains to a new friend she makes on the ship:

QUOTE
“Hey, you said you like figuring out what makes people tick, right? So help me figure out what happened.”

He laughed. “Why are you so desperate for a reason?”

“Because the alternative is that the two people I loved most betrayed me for absolutely no reason.” I could no longer mask the tremor in my voice. “Because the alternative is that I have to hate them.”

That, and I didn’t want to daydream about murder anymore.
END QUOTE

When people start dying, Jade finds herself in the uncomfortable position of being prime suspect in a murder she once fantasized about committing herself. Refusing to passively accept this role, she begins investigating, not only to figure out whodunnit but also in hopes of figuring out how two people she loved and trusted so much could hurt her so badly. As she sleuths her way to the shocking truth, she’ll discover that not all secrets should see the light of day, and that some are best left relegated to the depths of the ocean.

When I first heard that Ms Urban was reimagining this story, I did not expect to fall wholeheartedly in love with her characters, or to be as impressed as I am by how she refashioned this tale to satisfy the hearts of readers tired of female rivalry tropes. To go into specifics would be to risk spoiling a masterful update of the classic that hits the original’s most important beats while also fashioning a truly absorbing Young Adult mystery. I loved it, and hope you will, too.

I was so thrilled about reading this book and now that I’ve finished it, I can confirm that it was worth my time.

When going into a novel like this one, a reader must be aware of the genre it pertains to. Written for a young adult audience, Lying in the Deep is a mix of teen romance, a day long game of Clue and betrayal that doesn’t fail to keep entertained.

As for the characters, I liked our protagonist because she could truly be a regular student, making her more believable than, say, a young Sherlock Holmes in a skirt.

Personally, I am not a big fan of romantic developments in books and Jade and Felix here are no exception. Other than my personal taste, though, I also think their relationship was far too quick and cheesy to be believable.

Overall, this was a fun, quick read that I’d recommend to anyone who’s looking for a soft mystery in an original setting. Even is some twists could be fairly predictable and you get an idea of the direction things are going, you’re pulled to stick around to check whether you got it right and you end up liking the ride to the end.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group, Razorbill for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book took took ahvile to get to the mystery part, and when we finely got there it was over will quik... i would have love af little more mystery and more thrill

I absolutely loved this book. Finding your worst enemies on a 6 month long cruise would be hard in and of itself, but when you don't know why they hate you, it would be pure misery. Such a great book with great fleshed out characters that you get to know, based on a Semester at sea type program, with multiple stops around Europe. So inventive and well done. And the twists? Amazing. When I finished this book I immediately had to find the author's other novels, and finished All Your Twisted Secrets within days.;

That was one heck of a ride. The way it ended was crazy! Holy moly. Murder, mayhem and blackmail!!!?!!!? I loved it.

I love that Diana Urban took on a death on the nile retelling especially with a YA twist. This seemed young and fresh and what is needed in YA. I loved how fast paced this book was and the pacing was great. I really felt the build up and kept wanting to know what happened next. I wasn't a huge fan of the love triangle but overall great read!

I twittered between giving this book two or three stars but ultimately landed on three because while this book was far from perfect I was entertained for most of it.

I will say if you're looking for a main lead who is very smart and intuitive, and who conducts a logical investigation, then look elsewhere because our MC, Jade, is a hot mess. She is very emotionally led.

Now I will also say that if there is one thing I've learned from watching soap operas growing up, it's that if there isn't a body then chances are nothing is as it seems. That was most certainly the case here.

In the romance department, I just found it so...cheesy? Unbelievable? Probably a mix of both. It all happened so quickly and felt so unnecessary. And while I know some people are fast burners I never really felt anything much for Jade and Felix. They're just two conventionally attractive teens that the author was trying to convince me were in love with each other. But meh...

With all my criticisms, one might wonder why I even enjoyed this book. Well, I enjoyed it the same way I enjoy cheesy Disney Channel-esque YA Netflix movies. They are all predictable. Deep down you know how things are going to end, but you stick around to see the little flourishes added in. You stick around to see if your theories prove to be correct. And I will admit there were a few twists I did not see coming, so that was fun.

This was kind of like playing a game of Clue. It's not the best board game out there. But it is a fun and easy enough way to pass the time.

Lying in the Deep is an exciting mystery set on a “campus on board” cruise ship. This was a very quick and entertaining read. The twists kept me turning the page to see what would happen next. I also enjoyed the quick pace of the plot.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group, Razorbill for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication: May 2, 2023

I was really looking forward to this book because it sounded very Suite Life on Deck, but you know, with murder. Lol. But I don't know... I didn't end up enjoying it as much as I thought I would.

I think the thing that put me off the most was all the secondhand embarrassment I got from the actions of the main character. I don't often get secondhand embarrassment from books... sometimes it will happen when I read a contemporary romance, but it's never been this bad! The way Jade kept following around her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend, trying to talk to Silas, and getting rejected and humiliated...

And I don't know why it got me so much in this book! Jade kept making one bad decision after another, and it was just a mess... one I didn't enjoy. I usually like a good trainwreck of a situation, but Jade's decisions made me cringe more often than not, and I was not enjoying myself.

I also didn't really love any of the characters, which also fed into me not liking this book as much as I thought I would. There wasn't anything necessarily wrong with them, I just didn't really connect with any of them. I did like Felix for the most part—I thought his concern for Jade was very sweet.

But the story and mystery... I think I liked the premise more than the execution.

The action didn't really get started until about the 45% mark of the book. Before that, it was just Jade obsessing over Silas and Lainey, which I was not a fan of. But I'll give the book this: I did not guess who the killer was until the reveal, which is always great. But the set up of it all... idk, I wasn’t a fan. And I wasn’t a fan of a certain someone keeping secrets. Idk why. It almost felt like a betrayal, even though it wasn’t really? I think it’s the miscommunication trope at play, a trope I am not a fan of. And even though the killer was a prick for sure, I'm not certain everything that happened to them, especially at the end, they deserved. It was crazy! And while I usually like crazy, this was not it.

All that being said, I didn't dislike the book. I liked the premise, as I mentioned, and I also enjoyed the setting on a cruise ship plus the different countries the characters visited. I liked the romance for the most part, but honestly, by the end, I just wanted to be done with this book. It had good potential, but in the end, this book was not for me.

Lying in the Deep definitely kept me wondering what the heck was going on throughout the entire book. I loved the mystery and the constant whodunit as well as the cruise setting that made the characters very isolated. However, Jade made this book extremely hard to get through because of how immature she was. I had a hard time enjoying the storyline through her point of view but the twist was worth the read.

Got this a week before the pub date. Wasn’t able to read before, I will read & review later.

Premise sounds interesting, I’ve always wondered about semester at sea, ever since Suite Life on Deck, lol

3.5 stars