BOOK REVIEW: The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
The Wicked Deep held a place in my #TBR pile for a long time before I finally read it. I was still new to the bookstagram world when The Wicked Deep was released this past spring, and the author, Shea Ernshaw, had been one of Instagram's "suggested people" for me to follow. I watched her count down the days until her book baby was shared with the world, vowing to read her book, inspired by her excitement, and hopeful for the day I'll get to do a countdown for my own book's birthday. (Spoiler: I've got a ways to go yet. Writing a book is slow going when you're a SAHM to little kids.)
Anyway, I went to the library a few weeks ago and a copy of The Wicked Deep was on display right as I walked through the door. I took it as a sign that I should bring it home and finally place it at the top of my pile. The story sounded delightfully creepy, but not too creepy. (In case you missed it, I am a wimp). After all, with Halloween coming up, I thought a story about three women suspected of being witches was the perfect seasonal read.Here's the blurb from inside the dust jacket:
Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow.Two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town.
Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three troubled girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into Sparrow's harbor and pulling them under.Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters' return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives, unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into.
Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople will turn against one another. Penny and Bo will suspect the other of hiding secrets. And death will come swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters.
But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo or save herself.
I'll start by saying that this book was not what I imagined. I thought it was going to be set in the time of the Swan sisters, explaining how the town came to be cursed. To be fair, I didn't read the description super carefully before reading the book, so that one's on me.
The story is set in present day, and while it is a story about a cursed town, it feels a lot more centered on the romantic plot line than I expected, and more than I think the blurb would lead one to believe.
The thing I enjoyed the most was definitely the setting. The fictional town of Sparrow, Oregon, came alive in the descriptions of the salty air, grey skies, and chilling ocean mist. The main character Penny lives on a tiny island where much of the action of the story takes place, and this added to the feeling of small town isolation. And as someone who grew up on the ocean, I love that the climax takes place in an abandoned light house in the middle of a storm. It's deliciously moody.
I also liked that the story of the Swan sisters is revealed slowly throughout the book, one short chapter here and there. I felt like that was a great choice by Ernshaw, as it keeps readers guessing about the origin of the curse and how it might be broken.
Still, even with a stellar setting and great premise, this book fell a little flat for me. It reminded me of how I felt when reading Children of Blood and Bone.
My one big gripe with the story was that I had a hard time believing an entire town would be so blasé about the fact that at least three teenage boys are drowned there every single year...for two hundred years in a row. Even the police didn't seem to want to try to catch anyone in the act or investigate the murders; they were just pulling bodies out of the water. I get that Sparrow was supposed to be steeped in shame and superstition after wrongfully drowning the Swan sisters, but still. Why didn't everyone just move away? I feel like if Sparrow were a real place, people would not want to raise their families there knowing that drownings are just an accepted fact of life. It was somewhat believable that Sparrow became a tourist attraction, though. People get thrills from really questionable things.
I was underwhelmed by a lot of the characters as well. I was disappointed when Penny and Bo became a thing immediately, and how cliché the romance felt. (And by how creepy/wrong it got at times). I also kept wishing for more from Penny's relationship with her friend Rose, and that Penny's mother had more going on than just melancholy.
There were a couple of twists along the way, and two major reveals near the end: the identity of Hazel, the third Swan sister, and the story of Penny's father. Without giving away any spoilers, I will say that I guessed Hazel's identity very early on and it seemed somewhat obvious to me, but the truth about Penny's father was actually a pretty good twist.
The verdict: The book felt more like a predictable teen romance than a ghost story to me, but I did read it through to the end. It's not long, and I wanted to find out if I was right about Hazel.So if you're hoping for a gripping ghost story with meaty characters, you may find yourself disappointed. But if you're looking for a light, Halloween-y read with a moody setting and a moderately cliché romance, you'll probably love this book.
