The Vanishing Deep by Astrid Scholte

The Vanishing Deep

by Astrid Scholte

Bestselling author Astrid Scholte, returns with a thrilling adventure in which the dead can be revived...for a price.

Seventeen-year-old Tempe was born into a world of water. When the Great Waves destroyed her planet five hundred years ago, its people had to learn to survive living on the water, but the ruins of the cities below still called. Tempe dives daily, scavenging the ruins of a bygone era, searching for anything of value to trade for Notes. It isn't food or clothing that she wants to buy, but her dead sister's life. For a price, the research facility on the island of Palindromena will revive the dearly departed for twenty-four hours before returning them to death. It isn't a heartfelt reunion that Tempe is after; she wants answers. Elysea died keeping a terrible secret, one that has ignited an unquenchable fury in Tempe: Her beloved sister was responsible for the death of their parents. Tempe wants to know why.

But once revived, Elysea has other plans. She doesn't want to spend her last day in a cold room accounting for a crime she insists she didn't commit. Elysea wants her freedom and one final glimpse at the life that was stolen from her. She persuades Tempe to break her out of the facility, and they embark on a dangerous journey to discover the truth about their parents' death and mend their broken bond. But they're pursued every step of the way by two Palindromena employees desperate to find them before Elysea's time is up--and before the secret behind the revival process and the true cost of restored life is revealed.

Reviewed by readingwithwrin on

4 of 5 stars

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My Rating: 4.5 stars

Thank you to Bookishfirst for the free copy in exchange for my review.

The Vanish Deep is set in a world where everyone now lives on the water and very little real land is available for use. What is available for use is controlled by a company that has made it possible for you to revive your loved one for 24 hours to see them again.
We get to see this world from multiple different points-of-view, but our main character is Tempe who is now an orphan and is trying to get her sister back for the 24 hours to know what happened to there parents.
We also get to see things from Lor and Ray’s point-of-view and their view of things is just as interesting and I loved seeing how they saw things happening. Tempe is a character I loved she was truly willing to do anything to protect her sister and get answers to her questions. Elsyea, Tempe’s sister is a character I found myself getting frustrated with at times, because of how she was handling everything. But at the same time, she has a short amount of time left and wants to do a few things she used to love as well as getting Tempe her answers.
Lor was a character I unexpectedly started liking after a while, he truly did care, he had just been misled for so long and had gotten closed off because of it.
Ray was a character I wished we had gotten to spend more time with and see what his life was like after everything had happened in this book. His part of the story was small but showed how the things that were happening on this floating island connected to the mainland affected everyone and how people had very few choices for jobs. The main focus though is Tempe and her sister and them finding out what happened and why all before time runs out.

Overall I loved this book! I loved the world and the world-building, and the way that family was the main focus of the book was nice as well. Learning the history of Palindrome while everything was happening helped the story keep a breakneck speed. So many unexpected things happened throughout this book and made me love it even more. I can’t say too much more without giving it away, because of how everything goes together to get Tempe’s answers.

The ending of this book killed me and made me happy at the same time. I highly recommend this book and I can’t wait to go back and read the authors first book.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 22 January, 2020: Finished reading
  • 22 January, 2020: Reviewed