A Magic Deep and Drowning is a unique take on a fairytale retelling. The author seems to have done a great deal of research on the tales referenced in the book, the period, and the setting in which they would have taken place. As an academic, I can very much appreciate something that displays just how much study went into it, especially in the literary arts.

Aside from how well this story seemed historically researched, it was also extremely well-paced. While it still had elements of 'love at first sight' in it, they were more realistic in ways; 'infatuation at first sight' came first, and deeper connections were formed later. The conflicts in the story were complicated and took their time to resolve, and the reveals in the story were placed particularly well. It didn't rush anything and didn't take too much time on things that didn't need to be drawn out either.

I thoroughly enjoyed the depictions of 'the Old Ones' and the genuinely scary moments when the main character's past trauma came back to haunt her. The relationships that were strained had explanations for why they were strained. The circumstances of that trauma were explained well so that the reader could draw their own conclusions about what was going on, or at least make their best guess, the book never treating the reader like they weren't smart enough to understand and needed everything spelled out for them to an unnecessary extent.

Overall, I found this book to be charming, appropriately dark and whimsical for the atmosphere the story meant to portray, and the characters interesting, but the situations they found themselves in and the events that led up to those situations even more interesting. The resolution was satisfying and felt truly well earned. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a gripping take on fairytales, many of us know very well but have never gotten the chance to truly explore the dark side of.