The Depths has the feel of an M. Night Shyamalan movie, with its supernatural aspects and contemporary plots and settings. The book is a gothic horror tale set in the current digital age.
<b><i>There’s a video of me dying on the internet, and I can’t stop watching it. My mother says it’s morbid, and I need to stop.</i></b>
As the introduction to the book, the above truly sets the stage for the eeriness of the story. A freediving accident has turned Addie’s life upside down. Not only was her death almost permanent, the fallout has changed her life, perhaps forever. She’s trying not to worry her mother, but the reality is that she’s neither healing nor dealing with the trauma well, leading her to become obsessed with the video of her death. But on the island, her access to the videos is eliminated, and she soon finds another obsession… discovering the secrets of the island. But those secrets might be too much for her.
The island was as much a character as any of the humans. The descriptions of it were lush and vivid, allowing the reader to feel the humid heat, smell the cloying odor of flowers, feel the heaviness of sap on the skin, smell the stench of mold and decay, hear the birds sing. There is much about the island that is mysterious… cenote and caves filled with water that pulses and seems to heal, even if only for a little while. Flowers that change colors in an instant, plants that react in sentient ways. And the ghosts of two Victorian girls and a mysterious boy, inextricably tied to the island itself.
This was a beautiful book, with wonderful writing and a great story.