Bloggin' 'bout Books: Watery Dystopian Action-Packed and Exciting

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Watery Dystopian Action-Packed and Exciting

9:55 AM

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Five hundred years ago, the Great Waves destroyed the known world, burying its gleaming cities under fathoms of water. The rusty ruins beckon to 17-year-old orphan Tempest "Tempe" Alerin, who scavenges them every day hoping to find treasures to sell. She's been scrimping and saving her Notes ever since her older sister, Elysea, drowned two years ago. When she finally has enough currency, she can exchange it for a wondrous gift—scientists will bring her dead sibling back to life for 24 hours. That's all Tempe needs. Five years ago, Elysea caused the death of their parents. Tempe will do anything do find out why.

Reviving the dead is a carefully-controlled process, one that goes awry right from the start. First, Elysea claims she had nothing to do with their parents' deaths. Then, she asserts that they may still be alive. In addition, Elysea doesn't want to spend her 24 hours of life sitting around in a boring research facility. When the sisters find a way to escape their confines, 19-year-old Lor Ritter—the son of the scientist who invented the revival process—is charged with bringing them back. Or else. What ensues is a desperate race against time with Tempe and Elysea hunting for answers, with Lor in hot pursuit. The closer the sisters get to uncovering the secrets of their watery home, the more dangerous their quest gets. Can they find the answers they seek? Or will both of them die trying?

Watery dystopian worlds always fascinate me, so the setting of The Vanishing Deep by Astrid Scholte definitely got my attention. While not everything about the world made sense, it still created an intriguing backdrop for this exciting, action-packed ecological thriller. I liked the characters at the story's center. It was easy to empathize with them and root for their success. As far as plot goes, I saw the Big Reveal coming, but there were other twists that caught me by surprise. The ending was disappointing, which made the novel feel less than satisfying. Overall, then, I didn't love The Vanishing Deep. It did keep me turning pages, though, and I liked it for the most part.

(Readalikes: Reminds me a little of Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (1 F-bomb, plus milder expletives), violence, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love: Another library ~~fine~~ find

7 comments:

Lark 17 October, 2020 10:07
Another disappointing ending. Why do authors do that?
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Replies
Kimberley Griffiths Little17 October, 2020 19:25
I have this one in my TBR pile! I was going to get to it soon. Hmm. A couple of months ago I read this author's first book, FOUR DEAD QUEENS. It was different and an interesting world and I enjoyed it, but I wasn't in love with it. Do we just get pickier the more books we read?
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Replies
Cath18 October, 2020 01:57
Now this one interests me. Back when I was a teen I read a sci-fi book where everything seemed pretty normal plotwise and you wondered where it was going and what the point was. Then all of sudden about halfway through you got told that these human characters live under water and have gills. One of those 'Oh, gosh!' moments. I've been looking for this book ever since because I can't remember the title or author. Oh, well.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Helen's Book Blog18 October, 2020 11:22
I haven't read a dystopian novel in a while (after spending a few years feeling like I read almost nothing else). I think it's time to dive in again.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Sam 18 October, 2020 14:11
I love the basic premise of this one as it's not one I've run into before. The whole idea about being to revive the dead for a 24-hour period offers so many possibilities. It's a shame the author doesn't quite pull it off in the long run, but I'm still going to take a closer look at this one.
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Replies

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8. God Spare the Girls by Kelsey McKinney [audio] (Jan)
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10. The Last One by Will Dean (Jan)
11. Last Word to the Wise by Ann Claire (Jan)
12. My Plain Jane by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows* [audio] (Jan)
13. Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong (Jan)
14. Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda* (Jan)
15. The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant (Jan)
16. Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity by Elizabeth C. Bunce* (Jan)
17. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson* (Jan)
18. More Than a Body by Lindsay and Lexie Kite (Feb)
19. All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay (Feb)
20. Slayed on the Slopes by Kate Dyer-Seeley (Feb)
21. My Imaginary Mary by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows* [audio] (Feb)
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23. Artifice by Sharon Cameron* (Feb)
24. Something About Sophie by Mary Kay McComas (Feb)
25. Ill-Fated Fortune by Jennifer J. Chow (Feb)
26. My Lady Jane by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows* [audio] (Feb)
27. Buffalo Flats by Martine Leavitt (Feb)
28. Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead (Feb)
29. Murder on Millionaires' Row by Erin Lindsey (Feb)
30. Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson (Mar)
31. End of Story by A.J. Finn (Mar)
32. None of This is True by Lisa Jewell (Mar)
33. My Contrary Mary by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows* [audio] (Mar)
34. Where There's Smoke by E.B. Vickers (Mar)
35. Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong* (Mar)
36. The Kind to Kill by Tessa Wegert (Mar)
37. Lying in the Deep by Diana Urban (Apr)
38. Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Apr)
39. Swimming in a Sea of Stars by Julie Wright (Apr)
40. The Girl Who Wasn't There by Penny Joelson (Apr)
41. The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers [audio] (Apr)
42. The Secret of Rainy Days by Leslie Hooton (Apr)
43. How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin (Apr)
44. The Nights the Lights Went Out by Karen White (Apr)
45. Flippin' Skaters by Teresa Richards (Apr)
46. Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch [audio] (Apr)
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48. Dust by Dusti Bowling* (Apr)

49. Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie (Apr)

50. One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware (Apr)

51. Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest (Apr)

52. The Hunter by Tana French (May)

53. Murder at Rough Point by Alyssa Maxwell (May)

54. The Hard Parts by Oksana Masters [audio] (May)

55. Watch It Burn by Kristen Bird (May)

56. Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson* (May)

57. No Matter What by K.M. Frost (May)

58. Death in the Details by Katie Tietjen (May)

59. The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain [audio] (May)

60. Candy Cane Crime by Amanda Flower [novella] (May)

61. An Improbable Season by Rosalyn Eves (May)

62. Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs* (May)

63. Borrow My Heart by Kasie West (May)

64. Beauty Reborn by Elizabeth Lowham (May)

65. Thieves' Gambit by Kayvion Lewis (May)

66. The Weight of Everything by Marcia Argueta Mickelson (May)

67. Make the Fireflies Dance by Rachel Bateman (May)

68. The Lost Girls of Willow Brook by Ellen Marie Wiseman [audio] (May)

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70. Where They Lie by Claire Coughlan (Jun)

71. The Shift: 7 Powerful Mindset Changes for Lasting Weight Loss by Gary Foster [audio] (Jun)

72. The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan (Jun)

73. A Deadly Endeavor by Jenny Adams (Jun)

74. The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie (Jun)

75. Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen, and the Body Under the Piano by Marthe Jocelyn [audio] (Jun)

76. The Watchers by A.M. Shine (Jun)

77. Deep Water by Jamie Sumner (Jun)

78. First Victim by Debbie Babitt (Jun)

79. One Big Open Sky by Lesa Cline-Ransome* (Jun)

80. Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix [audio] (Jun)

81. When the Day Comes by Gabrielle Meyer (Jun)

82. Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth (Jun)

83. The Great Trouble: A Story of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel by Deborah Hopkinson [audio] (Jun)

84. 49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards (Jun)

85. Light and Air by Mindy Nichols Wendell (Jun)

86. Trouble Island by Sharon Short (Jun)

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89. Falling Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Jun)

90. Apple Cider Slaying by Julie Anne Lindsey (Jun)

91. First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly* (Jun)

92. Homecoming by Kate Morton* (Jul)

93. The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King* [audio] (Jul)

94. Middle of the Night by Riley Sager* (Jul)

95. The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon (Jul)

96. The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave (Jul)

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102. The Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall by Ali Standish (Jul)

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104. Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney* (Jul)

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106. Popcorn by Rob Harrell* (Jul)

107. Library Girl by Polly Horvath (Jul)

108. Such a Lovely Family by Aggie Blum Thompson (Jul)

109. Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty (Aug)

110. The Outlaw Noble Salt by Amy Harmon (Aug)

111. Basket Case by Nancy Haddock (Aug)

112. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett* (Aug)

113. Front Country by Sara St. Antoine [audio] (Aug)

114. Stowaway by John David Anderson (Aug)

115. Consigned to Death by Jane K. Cleland (Aug)

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118. Wrong Alibi by Christina Dodd (Aug)

119. Peanut Butter Panic by Amanda Flower (Aug)

120. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl (Aug)

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122. Criminally Cocoa by Amanda Flower [novella] (Aug)

123. The Kaya Girl by Mamle Wolo (Aug)

124. The Last Word by Gerri Lewis (Aug)

125. The Last Kids On Earth by Max Brallier* (Aug)

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175. Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino (Oct)

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178. Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie (Oct)

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180. The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin (Nov)

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Watery Dystopian Action-Packed and Exciting

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