Beautiful, breathtaking, and intriguing, Astrid Scholte has done it again! A must read!
The Vanishing Deep tells the story of seventeen-year-old Tempest “Tempe” Alerin who lives in a world overruled by water as a result of the Great Waves that destroyed the planet five hundred years ago, forcing everyone to survive on the water while the remains of the “Old World” lurk below. Tempe dives daily to scavenge these “Old World” ruins for anything of value that she can trade for Notes, Notes that she wants to use to revive her dead sister Elysea for twenty-four hours on the island of Palindromena. Opposed to reviving her sister for one final, heartfelt goodbye, Tempe wants answers on Elysea’s role in their parents’ death. Elysea, however, does not want to spend her final twenty-four hours in a room accounting for a crime that she claims she did not commit and instead wants a chance to see the life that was taken from her and convinces Tempe to break her out of the facility to discover the truth about their parents’ death. However, the pair are pursued in their quest by two Palindromena employees, Lor and Raylan, who are desperate to find the sisters before Elysea’s time is up and the secret to the revival process, and the true cost of restored life, is revealed.
Before I even picked up this book, I knew that I was going to love it. The premise of the novel is so intriguing and unique, unlike anything I’ve ever read before. A world overruled by water? A tale of sisters? Reviving the dead for a day? Mystery and adventure? Sign me up! I found myself flying through the novel and I did not want it to end!
I’ve quickly learned to pick up anything that Astrid Scholte has written. I loved her debut novel Four Dead Queens and I loved this book, maybe even a little bit more. Scholte has the amazing ability to craft multi-dimensional, realistic characters in fantastical settings that is just pure genius. Her imagination and ability to create unique worlds is awe-inspiring and I adore her writing style, it’s so vivid and full of detail and description.
I really loved the world-building presented in this novel and the history that we learned about how the world came to be this way. I just loved the idea of having society basically live and survive on water and all the aspects that came with it. I can tell that Scholte did a lot of research when creating this story and what life would really be like if we lived in a world filled with water. I enjoyed witnessing the characters travel from place to place and learning about these places along the way, especially seeing these places from the perspectives of characters who had never traveled to certain locations before to see their reactions. I only wished that we got more background on some of the other Reefs besides the Equinox and how life is there.
I also really love the twists, turns, and elements of mystery that were presented in the book. There were just so many surprising elements that I just absolutely loved. In terms of plot twists, this novel was full of them, both big and small, surprising and not so surprising. The ending twist was something that I was definitely not expecting.
In terms of Palindromena and what they did there, I was super intrigued. Hearing about all the mystery that surrounded Palindromena and learning why all this mystery and sense of foreboding existed was super intriguing and just made the place even more creepy, making what Nessandra was doing even worse. I was surprised that society let Nessandra go as far as she did in reviving people and basically having full control over Reefs like the Equinox because they could provide them with food and medicine. I kind of wanted to know more about the revival process and how it worked, but I feel as though most of my other questions were answered or were explained enough that I didn’t feel as though they needed more of an explanation.
I absolutely loved all the characters! I swear that Scholte has a gift when it comes to creating characters that you cannot help but root for and fall in love with! The story is told through two perspectives – Tempest’s and Lor’s. I really enjoyed Tempest’s character and I could not help rooting for her throughout the story. She is filled with so much (justified) anger and loneliness, I just felt so bad for her. I enjoyed seeing her development throughout the book and seeing her put her walls down and become vulnerable, letting people see the true Tempe after years of guarding her heart and hardening it with anger. Her reactions to the situations around her were so achingly real and raw, it was amazing. I also loved her relationships with Elysea and Lor. I loved Lor as a character and how his story worked against Tempest’s and how they were both grieving over the loss of those they cared about. He carried around so much grief and guilt, I just wanted to give him a hug.
In terms of more side characters, I was surprised by how much I liked Elysea as a character. I loved seeing her relationship with Tempe and how she really demonstrated living life to the fullest, even when death is in sight. She worked as a perfect juxtaposition to Tempe and is so full of love, kindness, optimism, and is so unselfish, it’s crazy. I also really enjoyed Raylan’s character, he added quite a bit of humor to the story, which worked in contrast to the more serious themes of life and death that the novel focuses on. I just wanted to see more of him in the story!
I also loved the themes that this novel discusses. It focuses on living life to the fullest, like every day is your last as well as the importance of family, especially sisters. These themes were beautifully played out and the book included a lot of life lessons that really struck home with me.
Overall, I absolutely loved this book and I cannot wait for Astrid Scholte’s next novel!
Before I even picked up this book, I knew that I was going to love it. The premise of the novel is so intriguing and unique, unlike anything I’ve ever read before. A world overruled by water? A tale of sisters? Reviving the dead for a day? Mystery and adventure? Sign me up! I found myself flying through the novel and I did not want it to end!
I’ve quickly learned to pick up anything that Astrid Scholte has written. I loved her debut novel Four Dead Queens and I loved this book, maybe even a little bit more. Scholte has the amazing ability to craft multi-dimensional, realistic characters in fantastical settings that is just pure genius. Her imagination and ability to create unique worlds is awe-inspiring and I adore her writing style, it’s so vivid and full of detail and description.
I really loved the world-building presented in this novel and the history that we learned about how the world came to be this way. I just loved the idea of having society basically live and survive on water and all the aspects that came with it. I can tell that Scholte did a lot of research when creating this story and what life would really be like if we lived in a world filled with water. I enjoyed witnessing the characters travel from place to place and learning about these places along the way, especially seeing these places from the perspectives of characters who had never traveled to certain locations before to see their reactions. I only wished that we got more background on some of the other Reefs besides the Equinox and how life is there.
I also really love the twists, turns, and elements of mystery that were presented in the book. There were just so many surprising elements that I just absolutely loved. In terms of plot twists, this novel was full of them, both big and small, surprising and not so surprising. The ending twist was something that I was definitely not expecting.
In terms of Palindromena and what they did there, I was super intrigued. Hearing about all the mystery that surrounded Palindromena and learning why all this mystery and sense of foreboding existed was super intriguing and just made the place even more creepy, making what Nessandra was doing even worse. I was surprised that society let Nessandra go as far as she did in reviving people and basically having full control over Reefs like the Equinox because they could provide them with food and medicine. I kind of wanted to know more about the revival process and how it worked, but I feel as though most of my other questions were answered or were explained enough that I didn’t feel as though they needed more of an explanation.
I absolutely loved all the characters! I swear that Scholte has a gift when it comes to creating characters that you cannot help but root for and fall in love with! The story is told through two perspectives – Tempest’s and Lor’s. I really enjoyed Tempest’s character and I could not help rooting for her throughout the story. She is filled with so much (justified) anger and loneliness, I just felt so bad for her. I enjoyed seeing her development throughout the book and seeing her put her walls down and become vulnerable, letting people see the true Tempe after years of guarding her heart and hardening it with anger. Her reactions to the situations around her were so achingly real and raw, it was amazing. I also loved her relationships with Elysea and Lor. I loved Lor as a character and how his story worked against Tempest’s and how they were both grieving over the loss of those they cared about. He carried around so much grief and guilt, I just wanted to give him a hug.
In terms of more side characters, I was surprised by how much I liked Elysea as a character. I loved seeing her relationship with Tempe and how she really demonstrated living life to the fullest, even when death is in sight. She worked as a perfect juxtaposition to Tempe and is so full of love, kindness, optimism, and is so unselfish, it’s crazy. I also really enjoyed Raylan’s character, he added quite a bit of humor to the story, which worked in contrast to the more serious themes of life and death that the novel focuses on. I just wanted to see more of him in the story!
I also loved the themes that this novel discusses. It focuses on living life to the fullest, like every day is your last as well as the importance of family, especially sisters. These themes were beautifully played out and the book included a lot of life lessons that really struck home with me.
Overall, I absolutely loved this book and I cannot wait for Astrid Scholte’s next novel!