The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

|Synopsis|

Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow…

Where, two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town.

Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under.

Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into.

Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets. And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters.

But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo, or save herself.

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|Review|

The Wicked Deep was this beautiful and eerily dark yet utterly atmospheric book about loss, injustice and love. It was beautifully written and so captivating with pieces of magic woven throughout it.

It was a unique and well executed plot about three sisters who were drowned for being witches and are now cursed to take the body of a girl for a few weeks every summer. I was instantly drawn into the mystery of it all, guessing who the sisters had possessed. If you play close attention you can quickly figure it out. I enjoyed being in Penny’s head, she was a great narrator, seeing this awful tradition play out while she’s falling in love with this mysterious new boy in town.

There might be a smidge of insta love in this story, the timeline of it is only a handful of weeks, but I too fell hard for Bo. We do get some romantic scenes and that first kiss one was so swoony. It was probably one of the best first kisses I’ve ever read even with the circumstances being a bit iffy. Bo and Penny had that connection from the start and I like how their romance played out.

The timeline for this story is very fast and due to the nature of this story we don’t really get to know any of the characters beyond this summer. It worked but I think the story could have been deepened a bit more if we could’ve gotten to know these characters better. It was still a well crafted story though with beautiful quote-worthy writing. It’s definitely worth checking out.