Fear the Drowning Deep

by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Some secrets are better left at the bottom of the ocean.

Sixteen-year-old Bridey Corkill longs to leave her small island and see the world; the farther from the sea, the better. When Bridey was young, she witnessed something lure her granddad off a cliff and into a watery grave with a smile on his face. Now, in 1913, those haunting memories are dredged to the surface when a young woman is found drowned on the beach. Bridey suspects that whatever compelled her Granddad to leap has made its return to the Isle of Man.

Soon, people in Bridey’s idyllic village begin vanishing, and she finds an injured boy on the shore—an outsider who can’t remember who he is or where he’s from. Bridey’s family takes him in so he can rest and heal. In exchange for saving his life, he teaches Bridey how to master her fear of the water—stealing her heart in the process.

But something sinister is lurking in the deep, and Bridey must gather her courage to figure out who—or what—is plaguing her village, and find a way to stop it before she loses everyone she loves.

Sky Pony Press, with our Good Books, Racehorse and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of books for young readers—picture books for small children, chapter books, books for middle grade readers, and novels for young adults. Our list includes bestsellers for children who love to play Minecraft; stories told with LEGO bricks; books that teach lessons about tolerance, patience, and the environment, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

• ISBN10: 1510703489
• ISBN13: 9781510703483
• Publish Date: 27 October 2016 (first published 11 October 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Imprint: Sky Pony Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 312
• Language: English

Reviews

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

~*Full review notes on The Bent Bookworm!*~

“Nothing from the ocean is meant to survive on land forever.”

Feels:

Satisfaction. I adored the resolution of this book. It’s not a perfect happily-ever-after (HEA) and that makes ME so very, very happy. I’m a disgruntled, hard-hearted porcupine when it comes to love, and while I like endings with hope, only rarely do I completely get behind a tidy little HEA. FtDD has a very hopeful ending, but one that could go several different ways. I loved that.

Characters:

It took me awhile to warm up to Bridey, I’ll be honest. She is so defined by her fear of the sea that at first that is the only quality I saw in her. As the story goes on though, I came to genuinely like her. Lugh and Cat, her best friends, I wish we had seen a little more of. I felt sorry for them as she kind of abandoned them to go work with Morag and then in her absorption with Fynn.

Fynn is something of a mystery for most of the book. A lot of reviews I saw complained about the insta-love between him and Bridey, but to me it was believable BECAUSE from the very beginning, it’s obvious Fynn is not just a normal human boy. Because of that, I feel like the insta-love is understandable and realistic – even though I usually DESPISE it.

Morag was my favorite character. An odd choice, I guess – but I loved her. I love that she was old and crotchety and hurt – both physically and emotionally, yet she was such a wise woman and genuinely cared about people. She was like a gingerbread cookie…crunchy on the outside but soft and delicious on the inside (that IS how you make your gingerbread cookies, right?).

Plot:

FtDD starts off kind of slow, not going to lie. It’s beautiful and haunting, but slow. The pace picks up about a third of the way through, and I was completely drawn into the Isle of Man world Sarah Marsh has created. I already wanted to visit but now I want to go even more!

At first I thought I had misjudged the cover blurb and this was a historical fiction YA with some mythology thrown in…but no. It soon becomes apparent that all is not as it seems on the idyllic Isle, regardless of what the villagers want to believe. And of course no one wants to listen to the tales of old women or the vision of the young. No one wants to believe that maybe the faery stories are more than stories.
Worldbuilding/Description:

Beautiful. Idyllic. Almost mystical and definitely slightly creepy. I loved it. It felt so real…next time I’m at the ocean I’m going to be on the lookout for creepy ghosts playing violins. I still want to visit the Isle of Man though.

Rating:

4/5 stars. There were some things I felt were too easily explained away, like some things about Fynn. Some things I felt happened too easily…like once Bridey got over her fear, suddenly she was a grand rescuer…but they were small things, and adrenaline and love do give people almost superhuman strength sometimes.

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[layawaydragon]

I signed up for this tour to review because I love creepy books. Large bodies of water freak me out already, so what could go wrong?

Apparently the romance. But gratefully, this and an obvious turn of events are the only things that hindered my reading experience.

The romance is where Fear the Drowning Deep went wrong for me. But thankfully, this and an obvious turn of events are the only things that hindered my reading experience.

Besides Bridey and Fynn’s part creeped me out TOO much. Plus, it’s all about the physical attraction, which I don’t get. I can’t root for them, because I can’t see them together in a meaningful way. That might just be me, but it’s the main reason I didn’t enjoy this book more.

I do wish the blurb didn’t give away the working for the witch aspect, because she isn’t when the story starts. It gives away what doesn’t happen for a while. This and being able to foresee Fynn’s origins didn’t leave much to the imagination. I was just waiting for them to get to it and move along.

I still wanted to know exactly how it turned out and the atmosphere carried a lot of weight. Bridey and her family carried the rest. I loved how loving and supportive they all were. Bridey’s friends took a back seat during the middle but they were gone for a reason and come back.

[shannonmiz]

4.5*

First thing you need to know about this book: the atmosphere is incredible. Like, I could feel the eerie, unsettling vibe of a sea town in distress. The story is set in 1913, which totally adds to the ambience- obviously no one can call for help, transportation is minimal, etc. It created a sense of urgency and isolation, and I loved it so much!

The setting was obviously perfect for strange disappearances at sea. Bridey is all too familiar with this, since she lost her beloved grandfather to one such incident, and has never been able to venture near the sea since. But as the stakes get higher and higher, Bridey gets bolder and bolder. It makes sense to the story, because Bridey cares deeply about her family and friends, which was another huge plus to this book. Bridey's family plays a huge role in the story, which is incredibly refreshing. And while they had their moments of butting heads, it was quite clear that they were a close, loving family. Bridey also had some close friendships, which had their ups and downs as typical friendships do. The family and friend relationships in the book seemed incredibly relatable and realistic. There is a romance, and I was a fan for sure. The synopsis tells you a bit about Fynn, but there is so, so much more to it than that, so I will just let you discover this for yourself.

The plot had me hooked, too. I wasn't sure at first, because I will fully admit that I get wary of mythical creatures and such, but there was no need to worry because it all felt very authentic, especially since the townspeople were so skeptical too. That made me feel like the whole situation was more realistic, because of course the town would not believe in magic and sea creatures without some serious proof!

The story is about the perilous situation for Bridey and her town, yes. But it is also a story of Bridey overcoming her own fears and demons, of growing up, and of navigating relationships and life in general. Add to that, it's incredibly well written, it makes for a huge win.

My only real qualm with the book is that I had hoped that the ending would have been a bit more wrapped up- there were a few open ends, which some people will probably be fine with, but worth a mention!

Bottom Line: Fear the Drowning Deep is a haunting, atmospheric tale of a young woman trying to save her loved ones while discovering her strength. Beautifully written, and not one to miss!