Haunting the Deep

by Adriana Mather

The delicious horror of Ransom Riggs and the sass of Mean Girls meets Titanic in this follow-up to the #1 New York Times bestseller How to Hang a Witch, in which a contemporary teen finds herself a passenger on the famous “ship of dreams”—a story made all the more fascinating because the author’s own relatives survived the doomed voyage.
 
Samantha Mather knew her family’s connection to the infamous Salem Witch Trials might pose obstacles to an active social life. But having survived one curse, she never thought she’d find herself at the center of a new one.
 
This time, Sam is having recurring dreams about the Titanic . . . where she’s been walking the deck with first-class passengers, like her aunt and uncle. Meanwhile, in Sam’s waking life, strange missives from the Titanic have been finding their way to her, along with haunting visions of people who went down with the ship.
 
Ultimately, Sam and the Descendants, along with some help from heartthrob Elijah, must unravel who is behind the spell that is drawing her ever further into the dream ship . . . and closer to sharing the same grim fate as its ghostly passengers.
 
Praise for How to Hang a Witch:
 
“It’s like Mean Girls meets history class in the best possible way.” —Seventeen
 
“Mather shines a light on the lessons the Salem Witch Trials can teach us about modern-day bullying—and what we can do about it.” —Bustle.com
 
“Strikes a careful balance of creepy, fun, and thoughtful.” —NPR
 
“I am utterly addicted to Adriana Mather’s electric debut. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, twisting and turning with ghosts, witches, an ancient curse, and—sigh—romance. It’s beautiful. Haunting. The characters are vivid and real. I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down.” —Jennifer Niven, bestselling author of All the Bright Places

• ISBN10: 055353954X
• ISBN13: 9780553539547
• Publish Date: 11 December 2018 (first published 3 October 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Ember
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780553539547

Reviews

[Baroness Book Trove]

Haunting the Deep by Adriana Mather is another very informative piece of writing on how something terrible happened to a bunch of people. 

Can Sam and the Descendants be able to figure out what happened on the Titanic?

Sam Mather and the Descendants

Sam Mather is back again, but this time in the spring. Sadly, the budding friendships I saw in the first book didn't continue right away in this installment, but that changed throughout the book. Sam is a great character, and I hate how she is forced to have to do something when she doesn't want to. She comes even more out of her shell here and can do things that she thinks are great. What I like about Sam is that she is trying to be a normal kid with that not being possible when she sees ghosts. Another thing that I like about her is that she is coming out of her shell and speaking more of her mind. Especially with her dad. 

The Descendants are back, and they are still great from the first book. Alice is still the boss of the group, Susannah is the second, and with Molly being the last. These three try to talk to Sam after the events, but it doesn't work out that way. That is until they need Sam's help with something. The Descendants are a great group of girls that just need to feel like they belong somewhere. 

Elijah

I know I didn't talk about him in my last review much. Elijah is another character back from the last one. His presence and helpfulness aren't as significant as it was in the previous book. It is great to see him so frustrated sometimes.

The Villian

The villain is someone that I didn't expect at all. I am awe of the way that Ms. Mather was able not to let slip on who it was until the climax. I fell for all the red herrings but couldn't link them to the ship. 

Five Stars

How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather is another excellent book. Ms. Mather did a great job of bringing her family's history to life for all of us to read. I am intrigued about how she did this book, and I love the whole connection to the Titanic that was themed throughout the book. Sam and the Descendents do get closer, and I love it. I am giving this book five stars and recommending it to anyone that loves a paranormal mystery.

First Book in the Series

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Haunting the Deep by Adriana Mather. 

Until the next time,



Happy Reading!

This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

4.5 ★ Audiobook⎮ I know I’ve said this already this month, but I’m so glad I decided to continue on with this series. After hearing the first installment, How to Hang a Witch, I wasn’t exactly rushing to buy its sequel. But two things about Haunting the Deep intrigued me: 1) Narrator switch and 2) Titanic!

I’ve been fascinated by the tragic sinking of the Titanic since first learning about it in the third grade. My fascination grew when James Cameron’s film hit theaters in 1997. Of course, I was far too young to see it in the theater, but (after lots of begging) my parents allowed me to watch a censored version on VHS.

I’ve rarely thought about it since then, but that changed when I discovered that Adriana Mather was tackling the subject in the second installment of her series. Switching subject matters in the middle of a series was a bold move, but I like how Mather did it. Each installment is treated like a serial. They aren’t exactly standalones, because there are larger arcs spanning the series. The encapsulating events in each installment are approached in an episodic manner, somewhat like a television sitcom (but without the humor).

Haunting the Deep solidified my interest in this series and in Adriana Mather’s work as a whole. With How to Hang a Witch, I really wanted to like it, but I had several valid concerns that prevented me from being completely on board. Haunting the Deep managed to ameliorate (or negate) enough of my previous issues that I was able to enjoy it without reservation. No one was more surprised by this than me. I couldn’t believe how much I was enjoying listening to Haunting the Deep. I honestly did not want it to end.

Adriana Mather can now count me among her biggest fans. I love the fact that she again drew inspiration from her family history to create such a historically rich tale. I especially appreciate that she approached the well-known legend of the Titanic from a lesser seen viewpoint by emphasizing the injustice that was shown to lower class passengers.

This was an incredibly haunting story that made my skin prickle. In other words, it was the perfect listen for October! I hope to be able to hear more from Mather this time next year. Listening to her books is becoming my new Halloween tradition.

Narration Review: What a difference a narrator makes! I can’t help but wonder how much of my disappointment with the previous installment and my enjoyment of this installment can be attributed to the choice of narrator. Adriana Mather narrated How to Hang a Witch herself, but decided to hire a professional voice actor for Haunting the Deep. I’m not normally a fan of mid series narrator switches, but in this case, I’m all for it. Mather has shown confidence in her series by investing in its professional telling. In my opinion, she got more than her money’s worth.

Tara Sands saved this series for me. She’s new to me, but I was deeply impressed with her abilities. The characterizations she provided were well done and she delivered and all-around excellent performance. ♣︎

[readingwithwrin]

4.5 stars

This is the second book in the How to Hang A Witch Duology (is it still a doulogy or is it going to be a series?)
I really loved this one and loved how I wasn’t able to figure out who was causing everything to happen. The friendships were even better in this one and I loved seeing them work together. I just really liked how easy of a book this was plus it’s about the Titanic which I have always loved.

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 stars

A different review originally appeared on We Live and Breathe Books

In this installment, we get to learn some really interesting things about the Titanic. I loved the way Mather wove her family history into How to Hang a Witch, and she did an excellent job once again in this book.

Another win for me was that friendship took center stage in this volume. I have a thing about strong friendship, and am even more elated when they feature female friendships. I really enjoyed this particular development in the story, because it works with moving Samantha forward with her magic and claiming her place in the town.

The romance went nowhere, but Mather did keep the flames alive. So the triangle continues. I would love for Samantha to make a choice, because only one makes sense in my mind.

I wasn't sure how Mather was going to continue this story, but she delivered another great story packed with history, magic, and suspense.

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[Beth C.]

Review to come on vampirebookclub.net

[girlinthepages]

One of my favorite things in the YA genre has always been paranormal stories, especially ones focusing on good, old fashioned witches. It seems like the genre has moved passed paranormal in many ways after the "Twilight" years, so I was excited last year when I found out about How to Hang a Witch, which focused on a witch and ghost story set in the infamous Salem and inspired by the Salem Witch Trials. The book gave me so many Halloween-town esque vibes (albeit much darker). When I found out that the author was writing a companion novel about the Titanic, I became instantly curious about how it would all tie together, and then Max managed to score a copy for me at YallWest. I tried to save it for a fall read, but I just couldn't resist diving into it before the end of summer!

Like it's predecessor, Haunting the Deep takes place in Salem, a town that is pretty much obsessed with all things paranormal and fantastical all year round. Even though this book was set in the Spring (appropriately so, since the Titanic sunk in April), it still evokes an eerie fall vibe. While you can definitely read Haunting the Deep without having had to read How to Hang a Witch, they do mention the events of the first book and the emotion toll they've take on the characters, however the mystery in this second novel is completely new and original.

Sam continues to see spirits in this novel, and continues to hide her magical abilities from her father, who has a deep mistrust of any and all magic. However, this repressing of her magic leads to her further ostracizing herself from her family and her town, and once again she becomes susceptible to a haunting of sorts- this time being transported in her dreams to the Titanic before it sunk, living an alternate life aboard the luxury ocean liner while asleep until elements from the cruise start appearing in her waking life as well. She forms an alliance with Alice, Mary and Susannah from the Descendants (who have been character developed from the quasi-antagonists of the last book to an empowering and supportive circle in this one) as they try to figure out why Sam is being haunted by spirits from the ship, what her connection to the boat is, and why Salem has suddenly caught Titanic fever, with the school's spring fling dance being themed after the tragedy.

Like How to Hang a Witch, Haunting the Deep draws upon a lot of historical facts (many from the author's own family!) and I found it fascinating to learn more about the Titanic, from information about famous passengers and their fates to eerie happenings before the ship departed (people who mysteriously had a feeling they should NOT get on the boat and didn't board at the last minute, the ship's cat taking all of her kittens to shore before the cruise departed. etc.) These unsettling facts created an atmosphere where it was totally believable that the Titanic could be wrapped up in a paranormal haunting, and I felt the use of the Titanic as the anchor of the plot (haha, boat puns) was really clever. I'm curious to see if Mather writes another book set in this world (I hope she does) because I'm fascinated to learn what other major historical events her family is connected too!

A lot of the elements that bothered me in How to Hang a Witch felt improved upon too. The writing felt much improved (though the chapter titles felt unnecessary) and the love triangle, while still sort of there, really took a backseat to the more important, dangerous, and magical stuff that was happening (as it should!).

Overall: Haunting the Deep is an intriguing mystery that keeps the wonderful setting of Salem and creates a creative plot around yet another historical event. Part sequel, part companion novel, I thoroughly enjoyed this installment and hope Mather continues to revisit the world she's created. This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages