I received this book from Usborne in exchange for an honest review.

Deep Water follows Danni, a girl who’s forced to temporarily move into her quirky father’s eerie town when her mother suddenly goes missing. In her search for her mother, Danni discovers that there was a lot more to herself than she ever imagined.

This book was intensely atmospheric. I read this during one of the hottest months this year, but this book never failed to transport me to the damp, gloomy town of Ancrows – where the weather was wet and the people were strange.

The elements of magic in this book felt natural, and tied together well with the strange town and its inhabitants. A lot of this book’s success was owed to the setting. Ancrows was eerie and discomforting in the best way – which is why I’ve recommended this book to fans of Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners Of The Earth. You know that feeling of unease and mystery that you feel the minute Jack Walters arrives in Innsmouth? This book has some of that. It’s great.

It is, however, a Middle-grade book, so it didn’t get too heavy on the dread. In terms of giving readers a modern take on old folklore, Hersey did a great job. It still held some of that old wonder, but with a modern twist, which was nice.

This is a book that you could race through. Hersey’s writing style is simple, and the plot doesn’t dawdle about unnecessarily. I wasn’t a big fan of the characters, but the story and the world building completely made up for that.

All in all, Deep Water was a nice, compelling read that I’d happily recommend for anyone who likes myth, folklore and stories about family. For me, it wins big points on atmosphere alone, so I’d go as far as to say that I’d buy it for my younger cousins, who are the book’s intended audience. The way this book transports its readers will knock their socks off.

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