A coming-of-age story featuring a queer & quirky teenage girl struggling with mental health … and a supernatural twist.

After a tumultuous Tumblr post sends her mom spiraling, fifteen-year-old Brynn is banished to the Florida mangroves to spend a summer offline. Brynn is stuck with her dad (who hasn’t really been present in her life for years) on a small houseboat with no phone, no access to online friends, and an overwhelming amount of catastrophic anxiety. But when she meets fearless & vibrant Skylar - who is trapped in the bayou - Brynn is determined to save her new friend.

There are parts of Brynn’s story that I found deeply realistic & relatable. She’s navigating relationships with parents that are well-meaning but not always informed. Her mom questions the validity of online friends and the worth of online friendships and is making parental decisions from a place of fear rather than thoughtfully considering the needs of her child.

Brynn’s juggling an overzealous punishment from her mom alongside not enough care or monitoring from her dad. I was surprised that her mom trusted her dad enough to watch her during such a vulnerable moment in her life (and he KEPT leaving her alone after she had proven to be too impulsive for such a lack of supervision).

I appreciated the honest conversations and depictions around intrusive thoughts, death anxiety, and belongingness as a young adult. The mental health aspects were by far the strongest aspect of the novel and I felt like the author was sharing vulnerable snippets of their own life.

The parts I struggled with all had to do with Brynn’s recklessness and impulsivity. It’s partly a teenage thing, but it also felt a bit mischaracterized at times. Brynn’s a smart girl and she’s also got debilitating anxiety - so why is she making dangerous decision after dangerous decision? 

There is not a romance aspect here besides two crushes (one that could blossom into something and another that was unrequited). And speaking of the crush on Skylar, the unwanted & unwarranted kiss was a big miss for me. It’s another impulsive Brynn decision that she quickly regrets, but it was an unneeded predatory moment and added nothing to the story.

I enjoyed the supernatural elements & plot, but was disappointed by the ending & lack of closure to that arc.

Overall, I enjoyed The Immeasurable Depth of You and the earnest & honest conversations it opens surrounding mental health and navigating teenagehood.

CW: mental illness, panic attacks, death (child death), grief, suicidal thoughts, suicide, medical content, blood, vomit, injury, animal cruelty (fishing), animal death, ableism & internalized ableism, murder (discussed), biphobia

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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)