As well as there were loved parts in this book, some were equally worth of eyerolls.

The beginning is heartbreaking. Rose's daughter Jules is full of life, happy she's gotten her favorite author/idol to be her mentor while she's struggling to find what to write for her own memoir. And then she drowns in the lake, never to be found. Rose is compelled to visit the place, learn more of the last days of her daughter, and for that, she disguises herself as one of the students that same author takes once in a while.

Usually I can tell with books around where they went wrong, but I'm not even sure if this book went wrong, or if it wasn't that good and somehow it saved itself? It is an okay read. But some parts are much more than just okay. And other parts were weird, when they weren't cringe-worthy. My verdict is that I liked it after all, despite how it unrolled.

Both Rose's and Jules's parts were pleasing to read, although they tended to have a similar voice. However, I did like how those characters built, the drama part of this thriller was probably what made it good. Meanwhile, the actual events, not so much.

That said, I do want to read more of this author. There's something gripping about the way she writes that makes me want more. This book was a case of, I had a good time, but I'm aware of many reasons I wouldn't normally.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Right from the start, this book sucked me in and held me captivated. I couldn’t put it down.

Jules, a young, carefree, world traveler is excited to work for her beloved author, Eva Marshall, at a memoir workshop in Guatemala. This is her dream job! Her parents, however, want her to finish college, so she keeps them in dark about the specifics of the job.

Rose, Jules mother is devastated when she learns her daughter has drowned in Guatemala’s Lake Aititlán. The authorities have informed her that it’s unlikely Jules’ body will be found because the lake is the deepest in Central America. Rose decides to go there and learn how this could have happened to her daughter.

The story is told from two points of view; Jules’ and Rose’s. I liked that we get to read Jules’ first person account of what happened leading up to the drowning. Her story is slowly unraveled alternating with chapters from her Mother’s investigation.

The story quickly picks up like a roller coaster and everything comes to a hair-raising ending!!

I would have given it 5 stars but the ending seemed implausible. I have so many questions! But other readers may understand it better than I did. Overall, I really liked this book and would highly recommend it!

Many thanks to Andromeda Romano-Lax and Soho Press for the ARC via NetGalley!!!

The Deepest Lake was a captivating, intense, spooky thriller! I enjoyed reading this spiraling story as the various layers revealed the twists and turns through the two POVs. Felt it gets a bit unbelievable and unraveled at the end but is a solid story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Rose's daughter, Jules, was backpacking through Central America when she went missing. Despite all the resources available to Rose and her ex-husband, the only thing they know is that she was working at a writer's retreat in Guatemala run by famous author Eva Marshall. Everyone presumes Jules dead--except Rose, who refuses to give up. She decides to register for one of Eva's retreats under a fake name, determined to figure out what happened to her daughter.

What she discovers once she arrives to Lake Atitlan, the deepest lake in the world, is more than she could have imagined. Murder, corruption, lies...Rose is confronted with all of these as she desperately searches for clues about what happened to Jules.

This book was thrilling and took me places I wasn't expecting at all. The setting was amazing, and I loved learning about a place I'd never been before. The theme of mothers and daughters ran throughout the book, which would be relatable to nearly anyone whose ever had a mother.

There were some triggers I wished I'd known about beforehand (infant death, for example), but overall I really enjoyed this book.

A slow start and took some time to set up where this was all taking place but if you give it some time it all comes together. I enjoy dual point of views and reading more to see how the pieces fit and where there stories will cross. You just have to keep going with this one and get over the slow start then it hooks you in.
Thank you NetGalley and SoHo Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would! I sort of expected an average thriller that wouldn't knock my socks off, but I was pleasantly surprised!

I have to start by saying that I imagined Eva Marshall as Gwyneth Paltrow, which was very fun for me. I think she embodied the kind of wealthy woman who would appeal to other wealthy women wanting to stay in a luxurious place to write their own memoir.

I thought I knew where this story would go, I love it when I'm surprised. Without spoiling, I was very pleased with the way the plot progressed. It was a book that also made me want to book a plane ticket to Central America.

A small criticism for me is just that the cast of characters was too large. I couldn't keep any of the women in the writing group straight and just gave up. Luckily that didn't detract from the plot, but it was hard to keep a firm grasp on who was who.

Thank you NetGalley and Soho Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Deepest Lake is a compelling mystery with a unique setting and premise. In Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, there is an elite writer’s workshop hosted by a famous author. Rose arrives at the workshop with ulterior motives, to find out what happened to her daughter Jules. Jules’s disappearance has left Rose with grief and unanswered questions. She hopes the retreat, the city, and the workshop leader hold the answers.

Told between Rose and Jules, on altering timelines, the reader gets drawn into the space, the other attendees, and the spell of writer and teacher Eva Marshall.

There is so much promise in this novel, but it left me wanting more. The setting is really compelling, but it is approached with a tourist’s lens. I didn’t get a sense of the people of Guatemala in any deep ways. Eva is a compelling character, and the elusive writer’s workshop holds a lot of potential, but the reveals didn’t satisfy. I wanted it to be darker or more flushed out.

The book is a compelling read and the audiobook is really well done.

A very good read. The story starts a little slow, setting the scene. As someone who had not heard of Lake Atitlán before reading this book, setting up the environment where the story takes place is necessary. I found myself wondering where the plot was hiding (and began to wonder why the book was categorized as a mystery, then 'BAM' there it was. From that point on, I found I was unable to put it down. I found the dual point of views the author utilized is easy to follow (some often leave gaps and the reader wondering what they are missing). The ending was exactly what I would of expected.

The formatting of this ARC was really wonky on my Kindle, as a result it is impossible to read for enjoyment or engagement. That I'm sure took away some of the enjoyment of this read for me. I loved the writing of this book. The descriptions of Guatemala and the lake were beautiful. This book just didn't grab me and I couldn't finish it. I will pick up more reads by this author though, as the author's writing style is amazing.

I have visited Lago Atilán myself multiple times and had to pick this book up! There is something incredibly magical about the deepest lake in Guatemala, in all of Latin America. Surrounded by volcanoes, it is truly a vision. This book is also magical and kept me guessing and fully engaged until the very end!

In this story, Rose has traveled to a writing retreat at a small colony on the lake. Her daughter had been working as an assistant for Eva Marshall - a famous writer who is well known worldwide for her story and her writing retreats. Jules has been missing for many months and is presumed dead, drowned in the lake. The famous Eva claims that she barely met Jules much less had her work for her.

Like most mothers, Rose is determined and travels that many miles, many busses, planes and cars to the lake. She is sure she will find something out and it isn't long before she finds a thread.... Romano-Lax provides Jules' portion of the story, a young college graduate searching for that next step, completely enamored with her favorite writer. How did Jules die? Is Eva culpable? Can Rose find closure? Read the Deepest Lake to find out!
#sohopress #thedeepestlake #lgoaatilan #andromedaromanolax

Honestly the cover of this book caught my attention at first and I’m so glad it did. This thriller/mystery was sooooo good! This would be a great summer or spring read!

This is a story of a mother who goes on a writing retreat to figure out what happened to her daughter who has disappeared and probably died. It is her story and also the story told by the daughter. The book is pretty slow and then gets unbelievable to me, I didn't get a real sense of the mother. The daughter was more real to me but overall, this was a miss for me

Compelling story and characters. Book clubs will enjoy discussing this book's twists and turns. A writers' workshop set in an exotic location, add a woman's mysterious disappearance, along with sinister money trails, and it's a page turner .

Such a great book! It had a mix of everything that makes it the perfect read on a winter day. I was excited to be curled up with hot coco as I read this. Not a single page disappointed. The pacing and level of mystery was just right.

The ARC is not correctly formatted and as a result it is impossible to read for enjoyment or engagement. No insights would reflect the actual reading experience.

Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
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ARC Book Review: I was intrigued right away by the premise of the book. It begins with news coverage of the disappearance of a girl named Jules in a remote location in Guatemala. Her mother, Rose, decides she’s not satisfied with the investigation and goes undercover as a retreat member. Right away, I knew that all these elements would make this a good read.

I enjoyed the dual POV of both Rose and Jules. It gave a unique look at both sides of the writing retreat. The retreat brought up a lot of the negative things I hear about authors and the publishing world, and found it so interesting. I found myself liking Jules’ story more. The leader, Eva, was quite the character and right away gave off the worst vibes. I was intrigued by her motives and actions.

As much as I enjoyed the plot, the story just didn’t wow me the way I expected it to. It had a lot of potential but it was missing something. There was a lot of repetition, a lot of characters at the retreat (hard to keep track), and a slow in the beginning. It did really pick up around halfway with a lot of twists.

I think the author could have gone deeper with Rose’s story. I felt like I didn’t really understand her. What stood out to me was Jules’ story, the twist near the middle, the ending, and the descriptions of beautiful Guatemala. My grandfather lived in Guatemala for many years, and this book made me realize I should have asked him so much more about the culture!

If you enjoyed The Writing Retreat, you will be sure to enjoy this one!

This book comes out May 7, 2024. Thanks for Netgalley and SoHo Press for an advanced copy of the book.

Clever p[ot and kept me reading at a fairly fast pace. I enjoyed the setting and some of the character development although I felt some of the characters could have had more work. Overall, delighted to have been able to read this early and I look forward to more from this author. Thank you

The Deepest Lake by Andromeda Romano-Lax had a very intriguing thriller premise - 20-something Jules attends a writing retreat in Guatemala, hosted by her favorite author - a very eccentric Eva. Jules goes missing and is assumed dead, this prompts a search and newspaper headlines but no answers for mother, Rose. Rose decides to take things into her own hands by signing up to the same writing retreat to get answers and closure only 3 months after Jules had gone missing.

The story was difficult to stick to in the first half of the book, the chapters alternated between Jules' experience at the writing retreat and then 3 months later her mother's experience at that same retreat. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough between those two perspectives to distinguish them from each other. Rose gets a bit involved with questioning people about Jules' disappearance but she is mostly attending the writing retreat and processing her loss of her daughter with internal thoughts.

The pace picked up in the last 40% of the book but I was mostly just trying to get to the end by this point. Rose ended up accomplishing very little by the end of the book, and the twist while interesting wasn't a surprise at all. Anyone reading the book knows whodunit within the first writing workshop chapter. The resolution is also very quick and clean, and there were a lot of plotholes that were explained away.

The biggest plothole - which was explained at least 3 times throughout the book was how could Jules' mother attend the same writing retreat as her daughter, 3 months after her daughter went missing and no one is the wiser? She even stated that she didn't change her name to enter the retreat. The excuse? Somehow she wasn't in the newspapers about her daughter's disappearance.... what?

Overall, it just wasn't for me - maybe it's for someone else? I did read a book about a year ago that was about a writing retreat by Julie Bartz. That was also a fun thriller but it didn't take itself as seriously as The Deepest Lake tried too and I think that's why Bartz's worked better for me.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a copy of this book to read, I enjoyed it and I would rate it a solid 3/5 stars.

I enjoyed a lot of elements of The Deepest Lake. The descriptions of Guatemala are beautiful and set a vivid scene, the retreat setting is instantly gripping, and the premise is very intriguing. However, I just could not stay interested in the story. Neither of the POVs stood out to me, especially Rose's, which relied heavily on internal monologue rather than action. Ultimately, this was a DNF for me, but I would definitely read something else by the author.