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!
See full review on The Book Disciple