Deeper: A Novel (Caroline & West, #1)

by Robin York

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY LIBRARY JOURNAL

In Robin York’s sizzling debut, a college student is attacked online and must restore her name—and stay clear of a guy who’s wrong for her, but feels so right.
 
When Caroline Piasecki’s ex-boyfriend posts their sex pictures on the Internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice college girl. Suddenly her once-promising future doesn’t look so bright. Caroline tries to make the pictures disappear, hoping time will bury her shame. Then a guy she barely knows rises to her defense and punches her ex to the ground.
 
West Leavitt is the last person Caroline needs in her life. Everyone knows he’s shady. Still, Caroline is drawn to his confidence and swagger—even after promising her dad she’ll keep her distance. On late, sleepless nights, Caroline starts wandering into the bakery where West works.
 
They hang out, they talk, they listen. Though Caroline and West tell each other they’re “just friends,” their feelings intensify until it becomes impossible to pretend. The more complicated her relationship with West gets, the harder Caroline has to struggle to discover what she wants for herself—and the easier it becomes to find the courage she needs to fight back against the people who would judge her.
 
When all seems lost, sometimes the only place to go is deeper.

Praise for Deeper

“York’s beautiful prose and vivid descriptions enhance the realism and impact of Caroline and West’s story. Deeper and Harder are sensual and profoundly moving. The books are told in first-person from both Caroline’s and West’s POVs, and I sat on the emotional roller coaster right beside them as West learns to hold tight to Caroline and embrace life to the fullest. . . . They are books I will cherish.”—Lea Franczak, USA Today

“Deeper perfectly captured me. Robin York masterfully tells this story with the perfect balance in tone and realistic characters that I’m still thinking about days later. One of the best written New Adult novels, hands down!”—Cora Carmack, New York Times bestselling author of Losing It
 
“Bursting with chemistry, emotion, and heart, Caroline and West’s story will take your breath away!”—Katy Evans, New York Times bestselling author of the REAL series
 
“The perfect New Adult story. West will make you swoon!”—New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy
 
“Beautifully written and full of swoony tender moments, toe-curling chemistry, and delicious, twisty angst . . . Stop whatever you’re doing and read this book.”—Christina Lauren, author of the Beautiful Bastard series

• ISBN10: 0804177015
• ISBN13: 9780804177016
• Publish Date: 28 January 2014 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Bantam Books Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780804177016

Reviews

[thebookdisciple]

I knew Deeper was going to be an emotion filled story. Revenge porn is all too common now and it can happen to anyone. Caroline is every girl. She is normal. She was in a relationship with her boyfriend for YEARS. She trusted him. When she broke up with him, he ruined her life.

Caroline was a 'good girl'. She had 1 boyfriend her entire life. She started dating Nate when they were in high school, and through their 1st year of college. But, Caroline decided that it just wasn't working and she tried to end things with Nate on good terms. He didn't take it well, posting nude pictures of her on the internet. Caroline had plans to go to law school, become a judge, maybe even a government official. Now, she spends her time trying to scrub naked pictures of herself off the internet. The other students at her tiny university all treat her like a slut and she just wants everyone to forget.

West used to live across the hall from her. She had always found him interesting. But really, they didn't talk all that much. Now, West is the only person she feels she can be honest with about how horrible her life is. Bridget (Caroline's BFF) is supportive and helpful, and outside of West, pretty much the only support Caroline has. West has a slew of his own problems though. A worthless mom who wants money from him, a 9 year old sister who he is desperate to keep safe, 3 jobs to pay his college tuition, and this desire he has to 'fix' Caroline is just not in his plans. But, they form a friendship of sorts late at night in the bakery. My struggle with West was that he is a very typical character in New Adult. This bad boy who is doing all the wrong things for good reasons. Do the ends justify the means? It seems that is the question in every new adult hero.

I think my eyes leaked pretty much the entire book. Caroline's life is in such shambles and it is so easy to think of how it could have happened to anyone. I wanted her to really let West in, and I wanted West to fight for her. These two danced around each other so much though! So, in addition to the angst of the revenge porn, you have the angst of these two pushing each other away. I typically don't like the overly angsty new adult reads, but the plot of Deeper is so compelling, I couldn't put it down. The angst isn't stupid drama-llama stuff; its real and it happens all the time. Its not manufactured angst like a miscommunication or something, so I didn't feel that the story was manipulating my emotions or creating angst just to be angsty. York's writing is emotive and flows well so you will be able to immerse yourself in the story.

My biggest struggle was that the book is so angsty, I couldn't read much of it at a time. I just can't seem to binge on stories with THIS much angst any more. I think its because I'm old and I don't have the patience, but whatever the reason, this book had to be read in small doses.

Cover notes: So, the cover is a bit confusing to me because the girl on the cover looks like a dancer to me. But, Caroline is not a dancer. Am I the only one who sees dancer when they look at the cover?

 

• POV: dual 1st


• Tears: yes


• Trope: crazy ex, college


• Triggers: Caroline is the victim on sexual harassment by her boyfriend and others on campus once the pictures of her are published. This may be a trigger for some women who have experienced this type of victimization. 


• Series/Standalone: series


• Cliffhanger: yes


• HEA: ??-at the end of this book, they are not together

Wet by Stacy Kestwick, Finding Honor by Ripley Proserpina, Carter Reed by Tijan...then you will probably like Deeper!

 

Deeper

See full review on The Book Disciple

[Berls]

This has a lot of what you expect in a New Adult - sex and some sort of broken guy. But in a lot of ways it's unexpected. I love the message that a woman is not to blame when she's victimized or taken advantage of and the clear recognition that we live in a society that stigmatizes a woman and not the men, let's men get away with things they do to women and raises them to kit even realize how wrong it is. The hook didn't end quite the way I expected, in both a refreshing and slightly bitter sweet kind of way. Definitely hope to read more.

[Ashley]

2 stars, maybe 2.5. I don't know. Crap. Lol.

I don't know. I kind of liked it, but I also kind of didn't.

* Caroline felt like... a really dim character. Mostly around West. She'd look at him and suddenly lose the ability to think or function. It was honestly kind of pathetic. Made me want to slap her.

* I feel like I might get some flack for this, but I also feel like Caroline made a bigger deal out of the photos than necessary. YES, the guy who released them was an asshat. YES having your photos out there sucks big time. But I feel like Caroline let the incident rule her life and she massively exaggerated it. She acted like everyone was constantly judging her and whispering at her... but they weren't. So many people just didn't give any fucks. She finally started to realize this ("omg there are people who don't think I'm a slut???" *sigh*) but it took so damn long.

* Caroline's relationship with West was kind of retarded. She demanded that they not be friends.. so West was like, "Okay you can hang out with me if you want but we're not friends." Then later, she'd get all pissed at him for not sharing all his feelings and life details. GIRL! COME ON! Do you want to be friends with the guy or not? You can't have it both ways.

* Can't believe she paid a company to "scrub her from the internet". Stupid stupid stupid. On the one hand she was like, "Everyone always told me once something is on the Internet it's there forever." Then she'd turn around and say, "There's this company that can totally defy that logic and remove my pictures forever." Yeah. Right.

* West had some annoying-as-fuck moments. Oh yes, let's have phone sex with Caroline, AWESOME! Then the next day he realizes that he can't be with her any more because of some stupid self sacrificing shit. Fine, whatevs. But then he basically gives Caroline the cold shoulder WHILE PRETENDING NOTHING IS WRONG. "Oh yeah I'm not going to look you in the eye or smile or acknowledge anything happened, but everything is fine. No, nothing is wrong." If you're going to try to dump her at least CONFRONT HER ABOUT IT LIKE A NORMAL PERSON. My word.

Pros:

* I kept reading. That says something.

* The sex was hot.

* I'm glad she kicked Nate's ass at the end and isn't letting him get away with this. Good for her. I'm glad she didn't just let it go. Asshat deserves everything coming to him.

* There were just generally moments where I was enjoying the book. Particularly the scene where West jacks off while on the phone with Caroline and she has no idea. Creepy as fuck but OMG so funny. And the fact that he acknowledged its creepiness just made that whole scene epic.

[Leah]

When I was offered the opportunity to take part in Robin York’s blog tour for her debut New Adult novel Deeper, I thought it sounded great, so of course I said yes! I love New Adult books but haven’t had the opportunity to read one for a little while, and this one sounded right up my alley. I couldn’t wait to receive it and when I did I thought it looked fantastic and I couldn’t wait for my next day off so I could dive in! Deeper isn’t your typical New Adult novel – for a while, Caroline and West decide that being not-friends is the key to their whatever-it-is so it’s not like they dived into a relationship right off the bat, so I was definitely interested to see how that would work (and for how long they would be “not-friends”).

Revenge porn is what you call what happened to Caroline – somebody purposefully posting your nude pictures online for whatever reason they see fit (revenge, mostly). Which honestly I find totally wrong. I think if you’re going to stoop so low to posting personal, private pictures on the Internet, then you deserve somebody like West coming and beating you up. Just saying. I think every school should have a West because I’m sure every school has a Nate, and the Nate’s need to be taught a lesson. It ain’t cool, Nate. It’s mean, and petty. So it’s pretty safe to say that I was super thrilled with West’s arrival on page 9 on Deeper. That’s quite the way to make an impression, not that Caroline was particularly impressed, since she copped a punch in the face to boot. But that starts a interesting thing between the pair, where they’re definitely not friends, and definitely nothing more than friends, but the sparks fly, and soon they can’t really keep denying their feelings for each other.

I enjoyed Deeper so much! Like I told you, West makes quite the first impression, and it’s a first impression you’re going to remember. It’s the first impression I’m sure many people want when they’re looking for a potential boyfriend. Don’t you want someone who will always defend your honour? See. But the novel isn’t just about the romantic tension between Caroline and West, though that makes up like 80% of the novel, I also liked their simple interactions – like Caroline spending time at the bakery where West works on evenings when she can’t sleep, and he taught her how to bake. But, I also loved the romantic tension and I just wanted to scream at the book “JUST KISS EACH OTHER ALREADY!!!”. But it was more than worth the wait because they were great as not-friends and great as more than not-friends and it was always disappointing when they were struggling to keep their emotions from boiling over the surface.

Deeper is a fantastic first novel in the series, I can’t wait to read more about Caroline and West and I’m gutted I have to wait until July for the second novel in the series, Harder. I have no idea where the second novel’s going to go, because of how Deeper ended, so I foresee Harder will most definitely be harder for Caroline and West’s relationship. Which is so disappointing as they’re awesome together, and I love when they’re flirting and sparring, and I don’t want the second book to give them so many obstacles to overcome, but I have faith in Robin York. She’s an ace writer. I’d also be quite interested in a book featuring Bridget and Krishna, I see some sparks there, though I’m not 100% as Krishna seems a bit of a girl-magnet, to put it politely. I also really liked Quinn, another of their group. I liked how she just welcomed Caroline into the rugby team and didn’t judge Caroline like everyone else did, I thought their little group was just amazing, and I’m sure there’s plenty of stories there if York wanted to go down that route of making it a series to encapsulate all the characters. I would read them, that’s for sure, and I can’t wait for Harder!

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

When I first heard what Deeper was about, I knew I just had to read it. A book about "revenge porn"/"non-consensual pornography"? Something you don't read about often, but such an important subject. But Deeper is about so much more than that. It's an absolutely beautiful love story.

Caroline's life is turned upside down when her ex-boyfriend posts photos of her having sex with him online. The whole college has seen those photos, and she can help but imagine what these people think of her whenever she leaves her room. But when resident bad boy, West, defends her when her ex is mouthing off about her, everything changes. Through their non-friendship, West shows her that she doesn't have to hide, that she should stand up and fight, and go for the life she wants. West's own life isn't a breeze, and knows what it's like to fight for to make life better. As their feelings for each other grow, and their non-friendship heads towards something more, they show each other there is a possibility of a life they would never have imagined.

Deeper is a beautiful and powerful story narrated by both Caroline and West in alternating chapters, generally each person narrating a month within the story. At first, I thought it was going to be a similar, more grown up version of Good Girls by Laura Ruby. But Deeper isn't about non-consensual pornography. What Nate, Caroline's ex, does is absolutely disgusting, and is a huge part of the story, of Caroline's story, but Deeper is about Caroline's life. And West's. So the fact that those photos have been seen by hundreds of people, although a huge deal, it doesn't overshadow the whole story. It's not the soul focus of every single page. I was expecting it to take up a hell of a lot more page time than it did, but I'm glad it didn't. It's not about how awful it is, it's about beating it and moving forward. It's done in such a fantastic way, with West showing Caroline there's so much more that should be taking up her head space, that she could be spending her time on.

West is trying so hard to be someone he's not. He's flirty, he's sexy, and he does some things a lot of people wouldn't agree with, but he's not your typical bad boy. He's a great, great guy. West's family is dirt poor, and he's doing all he can to get them a better life. His mother is hopeless and keeps going back to his abusive dad, who only sticks around long enough to get what he wants until he's bored. West's younger sister is only nine, and he has to take care of her, because their mother is just so flighty and irresponsible. He has had to work his backside off and do terrible (for himself) things to earn money,  to keep them all afloat. He's only at Putman because of a generous, rich donor is paying for his tuition, and he works three jobs and sells drugs to send money back home, and does all he can to keep his grades up. He will graduate and get a better life for his younger sister. He will get her out of that crappy trailer park and make damn sure she doesn't end up like their mum. He has a plan, he has people depending on him, he can't afford a distraction in the form of Caroline. So those two being not-friends is the only way to go - even if she does spend most nights hanging out with him as he works over night at the bakery.

If I was to talk about anything negative about the story, it would be the language. There is so much of it. Words are used to shock, words I don't want to hear, but in the right way, as these are words that aimed at Caroline because of her photos. She is treated so disgustingly by these anonymous commenters. But West is a swearer. A big swearer, he has a mouth like a sewer. And a word I find highly offensive is used several times throughout the book. Normally, this would stop me reading a book altogether, but I was so gripped by the story, in the end, my need to read this book won over my disgust at the language coming out West's mouth.

What blew me away about Deeper is how honest it is. Being NA, the characters are more honest about what they think than in other novels - even other NA novels. Like when small, completely normal things the other does turns them on, for example. It's less hot for the sake of it, but more honest, real. This is what people actually think. Not just sex related, but other things too. Things people don't say out loud, but things they think.

What I loved most is that the sex in Deeper didn't overshadow the characters. It was hot, but not as important as the two people having sex. Some of the hotter NA I've read just has sex for sex's sake. It gets a bit boring and, well, annoying. Deeper is just honest. People have sex, but there's more to people than sex. They have stories too. Sex is just a part of their lives. And Deeper really shows those stories are important, more important. Sex doesn't have to be the be-all and end-all of NA.

Saying that, there is a lot of sexual activity going on in Deeper. It's quite graphic, and I could say it's "dirtier" than other books I've read, but not in the sense that York was thinking, "I'll write this, and it will turn the readers on." More like, "This is what people do when they have sex." Again, honest. Real. Not hiding anything. And I think that links back to the photos. Caroline feels ashamed about the photos, and a lot of comments people leave on them are insults to her. But she didn't do anything wrong. She had sex with her boyfriend - normal - and some photos were taken - it happens. Nothing wrong. Nothing dirty. Nothing to be ashamed of. People have sex, it's one of the most natural things in the world, and what people do in private is no-one's business but their own. That's what comes across through the story regarding the photos, and through the extent to which sex is described.

Deeper is such a beautiful, beautiful story! The end is absolutely heartbreaking, and I've no idea what I'm going to do until Harder, the second book in the series, comes out. I didn't want the story to end, I love these two together! If there's one NA novel you read this year, it absolutely has to be Deeper.

Thank you to Piatkus for the review copy.

[Cocktails and Books]

I remember when I was a teenager and having the discussion about never taken photographs that you would regret if they came out. Those were the days before digital cameras and cell phones, so it was kind of hard to sneak a snapshot of you in a compromising position without knowing about it. So as I began Deeper and discovered what happened to Caroline, part of me kept going back to that lesson. Because today, that picture you took thinking it was staying amongst friends or someone you love could be in front of billions in a second. And in that second life will be forever changed.

It's hard not to feel very, very badly for Caroline. She is deeply broken by the revenge act of her ex-boyfriend. While he gets to walk around the college campus laughing and having fun, Caroline hears only the voices of those that left hateful messages about her online or whispers in a classroom or hallway. She's closed herself off from people in an attempt to protect herself from all the hurt. But there is one person who she can share her true self and feelings: West Leavitt.

West has his own set of issues. He's doing his damnedest to get his degree and work his way to medical school, despite the way he grew up. But Caroline has been a draw for him since the first day he met her. So he's unable to push her away when she starts to hang around him and share some of how she's coping with what happened to her. But you could see that there was a part of West that wanted to lean on Caroline so he didn't have to carry the burden of his family on his shoulders. You didn't always agree with what West was doing to support himself and his family, but you couldn't help be a little in awe of him and the way he tries to take care of his family and reach for his dreams.

This was one of those books that was hard to read, but the author wrote it in such a way that I found it virtually impossible to put down. The subject matter may be very tough and what Caroline had to go through emotionally challenging, but you really wanted these two characters to find a way to fight. Fight what was happening to them because of what happened to Caroline and to fight for each other and what they have.

I can't wait to get the second book in this series and look forward to reading more New Adult titles from Robin York.