Another book another review, my ink-stained dreamers! I finished Deep End by Ali Hazelwood, and it is another 5-star review from me. I absolutely loved this story! Also, spoiler alert for those of you who haven’t read this book yet, I will be diving deep (no pun intended) into the characters and other aspects into the story they may give away the story. So, with that warning, here is my review.
Characters: I really connected with the main character Scarlett because of how she is a perfectionist, has a hard time maintaining eye contact, and is an introvert. Additionally, the struggles Scarlett was going through were really authentic and I could feel her frustration for not being able to do something she was supposed to do. I loved how although she struggled, she didn’t shy away from her truths and turned to Lukas for help.
I love Lukas and how sweet and kind he is to Scarlett as she was struggling. He is an ideal guy, and they are so cute together! There was one thing that shocked me about Lukas’s character, and that was his struggle with letting himself enjoy things. Meaning, that he would hold himself back until he felt “worthy” of it. This was so powerful for me because that was something I had never heard a character doing before and yet, it really deepened his character and made me empathize with his character and also for Scarlett.
Style/Emotional Response: I really love the way Ali writes. It is the perfect blend of descriptive and minimalistic. She gives the perfect amount of information without overloading the reader with unnecessary fluff. Her writing of emotion and the toll Scarlett’s inability to perform was really well done. Additionally, her knowledge of diving was insane! I know nothing about diving and yet her descriptions of different diving styles made me believe I did. Ali Hazelwood is an insanely good writer, or maybe just an amazing researcher, either way the style of this story and the way it was written was awesome.
My emotional response to this was something different, but in a good way. I truly felt Scarlett’s character on a spiritual level. Every response she had to Lukas and her situation felt like my own. Typically, when I read, I tend to do this thing where if a character asks a question or does something, I’ll take note of my response and compare it to the main character’s response. In the case of Deep End, almost every response that I had, Scarlett reacted in the same way! I kept having to close the book and sit there, completely dumbfounded, but I loved it! I loved being able to read a book where I felt so closely aligned with a character that I was having such an emotional response like this.
My Favorite Part of the Book: My favorite part of the book is when Lukas and Scarlett are caught by their friends and Lukas’s ex Pen (who knows about the two of them already). Pen completely turns around and pretends she has no clue what Scarlett and Lukas are doing. This sends Scarlett into a spiral and on top of that, Lukas confesses his love for her. Because of all this, Scarlett asks for space and instead of getting mad, Lukas gives her space while reassuring her that he still loves her. This, THIS, was my favorite part because it’s not a bad thing to need space and time to think about what to do next and a lot of people make this into a bad thing. I really hate that because for me, I need space and time to think about things before I am comfortable making a decision. Making in the moment decisions does not work for me because my brain tends to short-circuit, and all my thoughts feel jumbled. Seeing this moment in Deep End really made me feel for Scarlett’s character and love her and Lukas even more. They are such green flags for me and are a couple I look up to.
Ending Thoughts: I absolutely and 100% would recommend this book to anyone, especially those who love other books written by Ali Hazelwood and characters who are in STEM. I am not a STEM major, I have a bachelor’s degree in writing and a master’s in creative writing, so I’m nowhere near being in STEM, but I love reading about them anyways. Their lives seem so much more difficult than any other major because of the ridiculous classes they have to take (and I can say this because my own sister is a STEM major and seeing the things she has to do is actually diabolical in my opinion) and yet seeing them manage their relationships and build romance outside of their busy lives gives me hope for mine.
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