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cheyenneisreading's review
3.0
I really enjoyed the story and liked the pace and development until the end. The story was progressing and when it was revealed who killed Amanda the story came to a quick conclusion and an abrupt end. I didn't want a lot more of the end, the length was great, it just would have been nice if the reveal could have been better developed.
youbeauty's review
3.0
3.5 stars.
Enjoyable read and well written, though at times a little too descriptive, if that’s possible.
Took me a few chapters to get into it as I found the dialogue and thought process of the main character somewhat confusing. It also bothered me that she used her parents names rather than ‘mum’ and ‘dad’.
Captured the feeling of a 1970’s Summer in Australia perfectly, and particularly the scenes set at the school gave a nice sense of nostalgia.
Enjoyable read and well written, though at times a little too descriptive, if that’s possible.
Took me a few chapters to get into it as I found the dialogue and thought process of the main character somewhat confusing. It also bothered me that she used her parents names rather than ‘mum’ and ‘dad’.
Captured the feeling of a 1970’s Summer in Australia perfectly, and particularly the scenes set at the school gave a nice sense of nostalgia.
liralen's review
3.0
Nicely understated for a YA mystery: it's Australia in the early 70s, a girl is dead, and the protagonist grows increasingly convinced that the police (not to mention the community) are targeting their suspect for class reasons rather than because he actually did it.
There are quite a few subplots at play, and they intersect in ways I didn't always see coming, which I appreciate. Plus: romance of the mild, realistic type rather than 'we're in high school and we love each other madly and we're gonna be together forever'. I probably could have used Winter being a bit more active a character in places, but mostly I just appreciate how much the book grounds itself in time and place rather than in dramatics.
There are quite a few subplots at play, and they intersect in ways I didn't always see coming, which I appreciate. Plus: romance of the mild, realistic type rather than 'we're in high school and we love each other madly and we're gonna be together forever'. I probably could have used Winter being a bit more active a character in places, but mostly I just appreciate how much the book grounds itself in time and place rather than in dramatics.
chels82's review
3.0
It was good, not great. Some plot points kinda came out of nowhere, with no link to anything else and not much explanation or follow up. This didn't detract too much from the story however, just kinda threw me a little as I was trying to figure out what they meant. And turns out - nothing. Oh well.
An easy read.
An easy read.
pandemoniumpizza's review
I thought Darkwater would be an intense mystery and while there are mystery parts the main focus isn’t on clues and the investigation but on Winter and the events surrounding Amanda’s mysterious death.
I quite enjoyed Darkwater and I managed to read it in a day because the pages tend to read quite fast and the story is pretty engrossing. I was able to guess who had played a part in Amanda’s death although the why wasn’t what I had thought it would be.
I felt that there was one part of the story that was just sort of tacked on and I felt like it was just shoved in there for the sake of being a part of the investigation on Amanda.
The characters were all quite interesting and I enjoyed reading from Winter’s perspective. I found it sort of fitting that someone who wasn’t too close to Amanda, nor too distant from her was the narrator. It meant that the judgements on people and what they had done was closer to neutral than anything else. I liked that.
I liked Nicky too, he just seemed like a really cool guy and I found the parts of the book with him in them to be really interesting. I liked Lyndon too, I just really felt like I could sympathise with him.
The book is set in the 70’s and this is usually a turn off for me but reading through Darkwater it honestly didn’t bother me so much. I thought it was a nice difference.
Overall, I thought that Darkwater was an interesting read. It wasn’t perfect but it was entertaining and good for an afternoon sitting when it’s too hot to do anything else.
I quite enjoyed Darkwater and I managed to read it in a day because the pages tend to read quite fast and the story is pretty engrossing. I was able to guess who had played a part in Amanda’s death although the why wasn’t what I had thought it would be.
I felt that there was one part of the story that was just sort of tacked on and I felt like it was just shoved in there for the sake of being a part of the investigation on Amanda.
The characters were all quite interesting and I enjoyed reading from Winter’s perspective. I found it sort of fitting that someone who wasn’t too close to Amanda, nor too distant from her was the narrator. It meant that the judgements on people and what they had done was closer to neutral than anything else. I liked that.
I liked Nicky too, he just seemed like a really cool guy and I found the parts of the book with him in them to be really interesting. I liked Lyndon too, I just really felt like I could sympathise with him.
The book is set in the 70’s and this is usually a turn off for me but reading through Darkwater it honestly didn’t bother me so much. I thought it was a nice difference.
Overall, I thought that Darkwater was an interesting read. It wasn’t perfect but it was entertaining and good for an afternoon sitting when it’s too hot to do anything else.
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