Review Detail

Bridey Corkill dreams of escaping her claustrophobic town next to the ocean. She’s hated the ocean since she was nine and watched her grandfather dive into it with a smile and die. Now, in 1913, Bridey suspects what lured her grandfather to jump is back, as villagers keep going missing. When she starts working for an old woman the village calls a witch, rescues a young man who washed up on the shore, and sees something mysterious in the water, Bridey’s world turns upside down, and it’s up to her and her friends to save the Isle.

FEAR THE DROWNING DEEP is consuming, romantic, and eerie story that won’t let you go. Sarah Glenn Marsh weaves an unforgettable tale of the ocean and what creatures might lurk beneath the waves. Bridey has everything I want in a main character: complexity, strength, loyalty, and bit of a bite. She’s unashamed in enjoying kissing, and she’s careful with whom she trusts with her heart. Her interactions with her family are nuanced and realistic, as is her relationship with the village that scorns her. While there is a big romance, the heart of the story is Bridey’s journey. She goes from fearing the ocean and avoiding ever going there to tackling the ocean’s creatures head on to save her village. Her hesitancy turns into determination, and her ideas about where her place is changes as she does.

This is the kind of book that’s hard to articulate the tone and mood in a review because it’s so unique and creative. From the edge of fear that comes every time the ocean is mentioned to the swoons when Fynn smiles to the rising anticipation of a great battle as each chapter passes, this is a story that begs to be read over and over. I found myself devouring each page and getting sucked into the Isle quicker than I could have imagined.

FEAR THE DROWNING DEEP is an ocean-powered gem of a novel with scary thrills, bittersweet sighs, and a journey that will captivate.