Reviews

In the Shallows by Tanya Byrne

lokiisreading's review against another edition

dark lighthearted sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

The last 70ish pages of this book is where anything actually starts to happen. And even then is super unfortunate how everything plays out. 

The beginning of this story was super slow and frustrating to get through. Which surprised me because the writing is really good. I wanted to stop reading at so many points while reading because I couldn’t understand why all this filler was needed. It honestly felt like 200+ pages of straight filler. None of it was conducive to the lack of a plot line at all. 

Thank you to Colored Pages Book tour and Fierce Fire Reads for the finished copy! 

worthy's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

In The Shallows is a book I didn’t originally plan to get around to as soon as I did but thanks to my trusty wheel of books, fate ended up leading me right to it, and by god, did I love it! In The Shallows balances an almost unbelievable story of a second chance romance after Nico falls into the sea and looses her memories, with a tense and heartbreaking story

of parental mental health issues which is gradually revealed but built up to so incredibly well with the writing

. Mara is such a great narrator because in how the book is written as if she’s telling the story to the audience directly, it makes her aware of her biases in the narration but it doesn’t stop the story being told in the way that it needed to be and I found it so impressive how the balance between Mara’s voice and the accuracy of the events was handled. This book genuinely had me in absolute pieces towards the end because I just didn’t know what was going to happen and the fact that I marathoned through the last 100-ish pages of the book is proof of that. It is intense, it’s funny, it’s beautiful, it’s charming, In The Shallows is everything it needs to be and for what it is, it’s a deeply moving and beautiful story that will have you hooked from the moment you start reading.

bookish_martina's review

emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

emmakbooks's review

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

3.75

chasingthepage's review

sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

moogreads's review against another edition

3.5

 ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
 
 I liked this one! I thought the mystery was set up really well - however, I didn't find the outcome very satisfying. 
 
 There were definitely some things that came into play that ended up being unexplained, such as Nico's sleepwalking and more details regarding her memory loss.
 
 I also think that Mara and Nico's relationship wasn't that believable in the beginning and could have potentially been improved with more scenes showing the positive aspects of it.
 
 Regardless of those things, I had a lot of fun reading this and I did like the whole cast of characters - particularly the representation behind them! I also thought it was generally well-written. 

librariangeorgia's review

4.0

Honestly, I wasn't feeling this when I started it and ended up putting off finishing it. However, I am so glad that I picked it back up again! I really liked the second half of the book - seeing Mara and Nico navigate their new relationship was so sweet and genuine. There's some tough topics in this book but it's written so well that it feels natural to be a part of the story.

anniekslibrary's review

2.0

How can a book that starts off so good fumble the bag so badly. This book is extremely well written, but it wasn't enough to distract me from what the absolutely shit plot. Especially the reveal in the end is horrible. It reminded me a lot of Everything, Everything and I mean that as the opposite of a compliment. I'm struggling to understand why authors still think villainizing mental illness is a good move. Here, it was used as a shocking plot twist rather than handled with care and sensitivity, and I absolutely hated it.

tamz27's review

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

bookshelvesandtealeaves's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thank you Macmillan Children’s and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m so torn on this book. I disliked the first half so much that I almost gave up on it. But I really quite enjoyed the second half.

The first half, the writing felt clunky and rambly and not very engaging. The characters all felt one dimensional to me and I didn’t really like any of them. I think on some level this may have been intentional so they could become fuller as the story progressed and certain things became clearer, but really, it just didn’t work for me. Curiosity was the only thing that kept me reading and I definitely skimmed parts of the first half just to try and get somewhere with it.

The way everything came together in the second half was really engaging though! None of it particularly surprised me because stories like this have been done before, but I was invested nonetheless. My heart really went out to Nico in the end.

Some highlights for me were Mara’s parents. They were absolutely wonderful. I just wanted to give them both big hugs. I loved them so much. I also really liked May and her and Mara’s friendship. I liked her far more than Michelle, the best friend.