I haven't read the previous work by this author but I have heard great things. In this book, I felt there were a lot of pacing issues and it is very YA and I have not been feeling YA at the moment
However, the world building was really cool and it's set in the same world as her debut book so I should def read it soon. Overall, I think I might have liked it better if I read it at a different time

Tanvi Berwah's debut novel, MONSTERS BORN AND MADE, impressed me. It was different, and I appreciate anything that feels fresh and new when you read as much fantasy as I do. Because I enjoyed her first novel so much, I knew I wanted to read her second novel, SOMEWHERE IN THE DEEP. While it suffers from second-book syndrome, there are enough elements I enjoyed to make her an author to watch.

It was a pleasant surprise to discover that SOMEWHERE IN THE DEEP is in the same world as MONSTERS BORN AND MADE. They occur on different islands, and Krescent's story runs concurrently with Koral's. While reading one before the other is unnecessary, you get a better picture of the political landscape between the Landers and everyone else.

What I like most about Ms. Berwah's storytelling is that she doesn't reveal everything at once. Neither does she unveil secrets in a standard fashion. Instead, it is almost as if backstory and secrets are secondary. For example, we don't find out what made Krescent a pariah among miners until well into the story. While you might think this is a big part of Krescent's backstory, it isn't as big as you thought. Knowing the details of Krescent's past doesn't change your opinion of her. If anything, knowing her past solidifies her fighter status, but it doesn't impact the rest of the story.

Unfortunately, SOMEWHERE IN THE DEEP does struggle with pacing—a lot. Nine days to get under the mines occurs in a matter of chapters. Eight days to return to the surface occurs in one chapter. The pacing issues don't stop there. Once Krescent and the group are at the surface again, the action moves at breakneck speed. The problem is that there is nothing to explain how we go from one situation to another - a very big life-altering -situation within a matter of hours. It's one thing to suspend disbelief for the myriad monsters Krescent faces, but it is another thing to have to suspend disbelief because of the pacing.

With the way SOMEWHERE IN THE DEEP ends, Ms. Berwah may be continuing with this pseudo-series. If so, that excites me. I would love to see Koral and Krescent meet. What's more, I know there are other islands in this archipelago, and the possibilities are endless. Despite the pacing problems, I enjoyed SOMEWHERE IN THE DEEP. Krescent is one of the fiercest heroines I've met, and I appreciate that Ms. Berwah doesn't force a romance on her readers. I still believe Ms. Berwah has the potential for greatness. In the meantime, her South Asian-inspired stories are excellent palate cleansers for those who read fantasy.

I immediately clicked to read more about this book when I spotted this cover. It's so unique and strange! Paired with the title, you get a vague sense of a sea creatures, alien worlds, and a sense of wonder and danger. Which, reading more about it, pairs perfectly with the type of story this proports to be! It's also very original from the covers you typically see for YA fantasy, so it does a good job of allowing the book to stand out from the crowd right off the bat. But let's get into the book itself.

So, I did struggle with this book, but it was more on the side of my failing to really connect to or become invested in the story itself. Some of this is surely down to my preferences, and other parts of this can come down to weaker elements in the book. But, that said, there were also a lot of strengths and I do think there are definitely readers out there who will like this book.

For one thing, it is definitely a breath of fresh air in the current YA fantasy environment. As much as I love fairytales and witchy fantasy stories, we've seen a good number of them over the last few years. But this book treads new ground feeling slightly sci-fi and slightly post-apocalyptic, all while exploring a very unique world made of an island and its deep, dangerous cavern system. I really enjoyed the creative creatures that populated this world, and the culture and society that had been built up around surviving in this sort of harsh landscape. All of these elements also creates the perfect stage on which to place a fast-moving, action-packed plot. The pacing starts out fasts, keeps going fast, and then wraps up fast.

That said, I struggled to really connect to the story that was being told. It is one of those cases where there is nothing actively wrong that I can point to, either in the style of writing or the characterization, but more a situation where everything felt a bit watered down. Krescent Dune (well, I guess I can point to that character name as highly questionable) is your generic YA heroine: strong, brave, but also conveniently obtuse about the motivations of those she claims to know best (we'll get to that). The writing, for its part, was also...serviceable? Again, nothing wrong with it, but it also felt incredibly generic, with a limited vocabulary and fairly repetitive approach to sentence structure. Like I said, none of it is bad, but it was also the type of writing that doesn't necessarily draw you in. It tells the story, but not much else.

I also went in with high hopes for the romance. We've seen a good number of enemies-to-lovers romances, and of course I love those as well. But I was excited going into this one with the promise of a friends-to-lovers story (I will say that the book description seems to be intentionally misleading on this point, which I find very annoying, especially as romance tropes/types are very subjective as far as what readers do and don't enjoy). And while I did still appreciate this change in tone and approach to a love story, I was also fairly frustrated by much of it. Like I hinted at earlier, much of the tension in the romance was centered around Krescent's inability to see what was right in front of her: Rivan's feelings for her. Of course, there are ways to make this sort of relationship drama work, but I do think it takes a certain skill to create a love story where you main character has to be oblivious to the motivations of someone she knows well without also coming across as a bit of a dunderhead herself. It also wasn't helped that much of their relationship was completely dependent on the reader being told that they have had this long-standing friendship, more than showing these moments between them.

So, I don't really know where to leave things. I think that some readers will enjoy this book for sure, but I also wasn't blown away by anything it had to offer. If you're highly anticipating this one, definitely give it a shot. But if you're on the fence, there might be other ones you want to check out first.

Rating 7: While the author created a unique world and had some interesting creatures, I struggled to stay invested in the story.

Review will go live on The Library Ladies on Jan. 19

Content Warning: violence, killer insects

+ I read a book by this author last year and thought it was pretty good and this book is set in that same world. What I really enjoyed about this book is that it’s in the same world, so we get to learn more about it but it’s inspired by South Asia and I love that representation. I like that is it unique.

+ This has a lot of action. Kress is a fighter in the ring, but she has a bad reputation because of something her parents did. I love that she’s a strong character. Kress is an outcast but because she’s a fighter she gets chosen to go on this expedition deep underground. She is part of this expedition group of miners and other people but not everyone is trustworthy so there is a lot of tense moments underground with this group of people and monsters coming for them.

+ There is a little bit of romance going on with Kress and her best-friend, Rivan. It’s a friends to lovers situation so it takes them awhile to really admit their feelings but there is a lot of angst and longing in both but they are kind of stuck in a harrowing situation so it takes them awhile to figure that out.

~ I didn’t totally connect to any of the characters but I did still enjoyed the story. Would have loved to be more invested into the characters though but for some reason I just couldn’t.



My Thoughts:

I like the South Asian inspired setting and the action is great.  I just wish I could connect to the characters so I could be invested in the high stakes of their situation but despite all that I did enjoy this story for the most part.

This was a good book but it wasn't what I expected based off of the description. It has a slight romance to it. I liked the main character, but I expected to book to me more of her fighting off sea monsters and the like and that was really a much smaller part of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and, Sourcebooks Fire, for this book.

I became immersed in the world of Kar Atish. The author did a fantastic job creating this world and interweaving the characters and plot into this fantastic world. I felt as if I were a part of the world and just wanted thevstiry to never end.

It was so vivid and so throughly developed. You must read this book. I have never had a book in which the world was so clear and vivid.

The story, characters a word building are also incredible.

Highly, highly recommend.

4.5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC. I really enjoyed this story. The characters are well developed, she is very descriptive in the layout of the underground and all its monstery inhabitants. I really enjoyed this adventure. There's fighting, monsters, darkness, betrayal, a little love and a lot of comradery. I definitely recommend this book. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I think that this book is better understood (and enjoyed ) if the reader has previously read Monsters born and Made, but the same author. It brings a deeper understanding to Somewhere in the Deep. Thankfully I had read the first book and slipped very easily back into the world. An enjoyable read.

Somewhere in the Deep is story of a young girl orphaned and left under a huge debt after her parents die bringing shame to the family. Krescent Dune wants nothing more than to escape the island she has grown to hate. She earns money to pay off debt by fighting monstrous creatures in an underground fighting pit, but when circumstances prevent her from continuing she is made an offer she can't refuse. All she has to do is protect a hunting party in the mining caves, but things aren't what they seem and they are left fighting for their lives.
I loved the relationship between Kres and Rivan, and how much he was willing to sacrifice for her. I only wish we would have gotten more background information on the parents, and the team she is paid to protect. Such an epic adventure, I can't wait to read more from Tanvi Berway.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyable read! This book was packed with action and thrills, but I found myself having a difficult time being hooked. I think maybe if there was a bit more world building and descriptions of the world I would have been more immersed in the story. With that being said, I still enjoyed this story and would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Carissa Broadbent!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Determined to leave the island that has trapped her as the Kinkiller's daughter, Krescent agrees to an underground expedition through darkness and filled with unknown enemies both animal and human. She's wiling to sacrifice whatever she can to be able to start a new life away from the tarnish of her parent's legacy. But will she make it out alive when all the odds seemed stacked against her.
What I did like: the description. I would not have picked this book up if it didn't sound interesting. I loved the idea of the underground adventure. It reminded me a bit of David Estes Dwellers series. And the cover, that is some beautiful art. But after these two things, my love for this title stopped.
I have to say I was not a fan of this book. I really wanted to like it but I felt it was lacking in so many different areas.
First, the world building. This book is fantasy and in any fantasy book, world building is key to hooking someone into reading it. I feel like there was not enough background in this book to build that up for me and make me care. How did her world come into existence? What were the circumstances of the separation of classes? We do get some background on this but just not enough to make me understand why it is important to the story. Krescent has had to take on the legacy of her parents which has kept her in debt and down on her luck. But it's unclear what exactly happened or why that would truly effect her. I definitely got a Hunger Games feel from this one, but it was just a feel. Nothing about the book comes close to how that series progressed.
The action scenes were confusing. When I read a book with this much action, I want to see it in my mind ,but I just could not picture it. This was mostly due to not being able to picture the underground area where this takes place. Also, I wasn't able to really feel the tension these scenes were supposed to help me feel.
The writing style is flat. It didn't help me with connecting to the story or the characters. I was fairly bored the entire time and had to push and scan to get through some parts.
I had no connection with the characters. I know I was supposed to feel some kind of empathy for Krescent, but I just didn't care about her or her horrible life. And the romance between her and Rivan? Nope, wasn't feeling that either. I didn't feel any of the relationships were fleshed out, but especially this one since it was supposed to be of more importance to us.
There are also some plot holes that I just could not get over. All of a sudden Rivan is there? How? She's able to gather all the group's belongings without alerting those on watch? Again, how?
My biggest gripe with this title is I was waiting for something truly mind blowing to happen to make it worth the struggle of reading it and that just never happened for me.
Unfortunately, I took many long breaks to put this book down and read other things hoping I could pick it back up and get into it. But that just didn't happen for me. I ended up speed reading to get a feel for what was happening hoping there would be an area that would peak my interest and the book would come to life for me. But that didn't happen.
Maybe it was the writing, maybe it was the story, maybe it's just not for me. I didn't not have a chance to read this author's other book so I'm not sure if I would like that one better.
I will not be featuring this on my blog at this time.

I liked parts of this book. I think that it is a cool concept, you have Krecent who is fighting to get off the island and escape her family’s history. Her journey is one of self-discovery as she finds out her past is not maybe exactly what she originally thought it was. However, I found myself drifting as a reader. Which I never liked doing. I had to go back and reread a couple of sections because I lost track easily. This is probably a personal issue, but I really took me out of the book at times and made it hard for me to go forward. The end felt a bit rushed. However, it makes sense if this is a one-off book. Overall, it was an okay book, I still think I am trying to decide my true feelings.
Thank you to Sourcebook Fire and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

Somewhere in the Deep is a south Asian inspired fantasy. Set on an island where the Collector rules all, Krescent spends her days fitting monsters in the pit to earn enough money to survive. When her chance at escape is ripped from her grasp, she is provided with a choice—go on an expedition deep into the mines in exchange for her freedom, or be enslaved to the Collector. Thrust into a party of strangers and enemies, Kress is tasked with keeping everyone alive as they face the unknown creatures that lay deep in the earth below the sea. But the deeper they venture, the more it feels as though something doesn’t want to let Kress out alive.

I went into this book not realize that there was one previously written in the same universe! I think if I had read Monsters Born and Made first, some of the world building wouldn’t have felt so choppy. I know nothing about south Asian mythology but this book made me want to explore it as the creatures described where not ones I’ve read in any other lore before.

Kress’s character growth throughout the story was well written. Her internal struggles with her past and her desire for a different future were explored in depth, though sometimes a bit repetitively. I appreciated seeing into her frustrations and strengths because of the life she was forced to live. I did not expect this book to contain much, if any, romance but I was pleasantly surprised.

There were a few writing errors that stood out to me. I was confused how they were able to keep track of time underground without sunlight? Their way of timekeeping was never explained. I also felt some scene transitions were incompletely. The plot was sometimes repetitive while they were within the mines, but this didn’t detract from the story for me. The ending felt a bit rushed, but I liked how it was left open for the potential for a sequel.

All in all, the book kept me engaged from start to finish. I was drawn in by the mystery of the monsters and the magic, and stayed for the politics and action.

*thank you Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Somewhere in the Deep is an eerie, almost horror style fantasy in parts, filled with action and danger and set in a South Asia inspired world. Krescent Dune (Kress) is buried under the weight of her parents debt, as well as their legacy. The only hope she has to get free of the island that hates her is to fight vicious monsters that roam the island in an underground fighting pit. But after a fight goes terribly wrong and Kress has no way to pay the latest installment of her debt, she is offered a choice; join an expedition underground to search for lost miners or spend the rest of her life mining the salt flats. With no option but to accept Kress and the team she is sent with start on their treck down to the depths of the Island, but with danger at every turn, and not just from the creatures that call the mines their home, Kress comes to realise that there is more going on here than they were told. Someone doesn't want Kress to leave the mines alive, and she will have to figure out who before she gets swallowed by the dark... or what calls it home.

I think my favourite thing about this book was the setting, and the atmosphere that Berwah creates. An Island, colonized for it's mining potential, with creatures lurking at it's depths. The Island itself almost becomes a character, and as the story progresses you learn more about the history, not just of this Island, but of the whole chain that Kress's Island sits in. The story is a dark one, something that was helped along by the setting, but also the atmosphere. Eerie and intense, there's a constant sense of danger and, alongside the characters, we spend the majority of the book on a knives edge, knowing there is peril is around every corner, never knowing who you can trust. It really adds to the intensity and pace of the book, making it incredibly hard to put down with each chapter almost ending on a mini cliffhanger.

Kress is a really intricate and well built character. She is someone who has spent her life being blamed for the actions of her parents, actions she played no part in. Always on the outskirts of society, the only place she feels safe is with Rivan and his brothers. She tries her best to hide her identity, fighting the in the underground pits to make ends meat and try and pay off the debt her parents left for her. She's a character that asks the questions of what we owe our communities. Her internal battle on whether she should fight for her Island, and for the Miners who have never given her a chance, was brilliantly done, and I truly thought she was a well fleshed out character.

Rivan... I so wanted to love him, but he became the dreaded male character who can't let the female MC head into danger alone so forces himself into the mission, only causing more danger and peril for the MC. He just stressed me out in parts, almost like he didn't believe Kress, who had spent most of her life fighting monsters, couldn't handle her own and because he annoyed me so much, I never felt truly invested in their romance. I also felt like the whole Kress doesn't feel good enough for Rivan/ Rivan trying to show how much her loved her was a little overdone and repetitive in parts. I did love/hate the rest of the characters on the crew though. Miners, fellow beast fighters, each person came with their own skill and purpose and Barwah does a fantastic job of making us question who we could trust.

Overall, I did really enjoy this one and will definitely be picking up the authors first book which is set in the same 'world.' If you like your stories with plenty of action, danger, politics and twists I can't recommend this one enough.

This story is about descending into darkness (in this case, literally under the earth) and returning changed--the main character, Kress, discovers secrets about her past, about her friends, and has to rethink her place in the world. Naturally, since this is a YA novel, a revolution follows!

While I enjoyed a lot of the elements of this book, it does have some common YA characteristics like a deeply simplified/improbable social order and shallow characters (Landers vs. Renters, everyone automatically hating Kress because of her parents, etc.) which I personally have trouble suspending my disbelief for. Her love interest, Rivan, was also not the most well-fleshed out character and I wished we could have seen more depth and nuance in adventuring group that goes with Kress below the earth.

That said, there were lots of exciting monsters, fight scenes, and drama. It was a bit slower paced at points that some YA novels but still fast enough to keep your attention. Overall, it was a solid, fun read.

I love this. I found everything just to be able to hold and capture my attention. It's amazing and just I have nothing negative to say about this book.

A deep and delicious story of men and monsters and the things we will do to save those we love. I loved these characters and the great depths Kress was willing to navigate for herself and those around her. She carried a great burden of guilt that was not hers to own, and even when the truth came to light, she struggled to see her own worth. Riven was fantastic as he did his best not to get in Kress's way but to stand by her side and let her fight and be the warrior she's been forced to become. She might not like her skills, but she doesn't hesitate to protect and defend. I'm excited to see what happens next for this series. The author did a wonderful job with description in the mines and how she pulled me into the story with vast detail and character development that had me on the edge of my seat. There's nothing better than a story like this pulling you out of a six-month reading slump. I read the whole thing from start to finish in a day and I have no regrets.

Vibes: adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

I think I should have read Berwah’s other book before reading this because it did seem like I was missing out on context or nods to it? Otherwise, the setting was extremely rich with detail and the chapters are very short! I’d read from Berwah again in the future but something about this left me wanting a bit more.

Based solely on the premise, this seemed like something I'd be really down for. Certainly, there were parts that were enjoyable or interesting. I liked the unique monsters that Kress fights and that live underneath the earth; I liked the themes of overthrowing colonizers and breaking past the sins of your parents; I felt like the first few chapters with the caves were eerie and claustrophobic with the threat of madness looming like a specter in the shadows. One of my problems with this book, though, was that the summary doesn't mention anything of a romance in this book and my god does this romance take up a significant chunk of the book. Like, not even the tags on Goodreads mention the romance element. It's supposed to be a friends-to-lovers romance with Rivan, a miner who takes care of his two brothers and Kress. However, the romance didn't work for me on multiple levels. For starters, Rivan is such an underdeveloped character. He's essentially a ghost; you can see a bit of character here and there, but nothing substantial enough to make me care about him or his relationship with Kress. Secondly, a lot of elements of their relationship were told instead of shown. If you're going to introduce a friends-to-lovers romance, you have to make me believe that they're friends first. Like, these two are apparently ready to sacrifice themselves for one another, but I couldn't really believe it. I feel like some of this could've been remedied by cutting out some of the underground exploration sections and adding more interactions between Kress and Rivan and his brothers. Make me believe that they're essentially a found family.

Which leads me to: the underground exploration. This was far, far too long and repetitive. While the initial exploration bits were interesting and tense, it just kept going on with not enough variance in what was happening to make the tension last. That, and Rivan's inclusion in this exploration pulled away from Kress interacting with the other people on the exploration team so that, by the end, I didn't really believe that there was enough good will between these people and Kress that they'd vouch for her after labeling her as "Kin-killer" all these years.

Finally, the ending battle--the Landers versus the Renters--didn't really feel quite as satisfying as I'd hoped it would. For one, Rivan was there and that boy just sucks any interest or fun out of anything he's involved in. I feel like that final confrontation would have meant a lot more if it were just Kress or, hell, even her teaming up with Yara, to bring the Collector down. Because Rivan, despite having reason to want the Collector gone, didn't feel like he cared about anything outside of Kress. It just seemed like a wasted opportunity and a means for Kress prove herself and her people that she wasn't what her parents were. That she viewed the island and its people as more than a means to an end.

I'm sure there are going to be people that feel much differently than I do. However, I do think that the marketing shouldn't have omitted the fact that there's a huge chunk of the book dedicated to romance. If I'd known, I would've avoided it, but that might be a huge draw for other readers who otherwise would've turned away from the book at the supposed lack of it.

There are three things I know I can count on in a Tanvi Berwah book

1) there are going to be action scenes that leave me both impressed and stressed (so dang stressed)
2) the mc is going to be a lovable underdog just trying to survive in a system that was designed for her to fail
3) absolutely bizarre mystical creatures

Monsters Born and Made is one of my all time favorite books, so naturally I’ve been excited for Something in the Deep and it lived up to every expectation I have.

Kress is really just trying to survive. She’s drowning in debt and there’s really only one option for her to make money: monster fighting in this underground monster fighting ring. She’s one of the best but a serious of unfortunate events results in her going on an expedition deep underground with some strangers, some other fighters that hate her, and her best friend Rivan. There’s a lot that happens underground that I wish I could tell you about but just know that a lot of secrets were buried deep underground.

I loved the little nods back to MBaM, the way that Kress interacts with all of the side characters (especially Rivan). I can’t wait to see what Tanvi has coming next… but no pressure!