List Price: $19.99 Details

Save: $6.50 (33%)

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime & FREE Returns

FREE delivery Monday, May 23 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon

Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 19. Order within 14 hrs 38 mins

In Stock.

As an alternative, the Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app. Want to listen? Try Audible.

[{"displayPrice":"$13.49","priceAmount":13.49,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"13","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"49","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"jg4ZozdomHfQ%2FG4ISsZMSkvf8JI12ih5dVwLrl3xdvh6dyG3FlNJaVsrQCSlMRQyj38Sdj2RjeT1lZbhmsl3JbJb0SvJJyFDP1IFESaBrpyBwaHwOsEgERmTMWNPOuVbra1PpG5dLBkTEWh7UIi8Vw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"$9.35","priceAmount":9.35,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"9","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"35","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"UruZbgE1jRvslp03eZCdZYB8Z09LeMC2iEtDXoz2m1tpYcYbCtJUbOSafBEvTzh03Zpspj9JIhtYOGTNqRXEwUBR50tZX9Ukli6%2BbeO6atn4CXc6MuHqZWh6WWFNIYULZArIMvSDDemAMfiuN6bgPwAkaPumTD9xThQOKWr9gy7xM4xSc0HJkA%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]

$$13.49 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Return policy: Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Monday, May 23 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon

Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 19. Order within 14 hrs 38 mins

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Vivé Liber Books LLC

Fulfilled by Amazon

Share <Embed>

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$7.15
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: Merrymac

Added

Not added

$13.00
& FREE Shipping

Sold by: MiamiBookSellers

Added

Not added

$14.99
& FREE Shipping

Sold by: Dazzle-Deals

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 4 images

Follow the Author

Shea Ernshaw

The Wicked Deep Hardcover – March 6, 2018

by Shea Ernshaw (Author)

1,524 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$8.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$7.00

$7.95 with discounted Audible membership

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$13.49

$7.15

$3.00

Paperback

"Please retry"

$10.59

$8.63

$5.20

MP3 CD, Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$10.10

$9.40

Kindle
$8.99 Read with Our Free App
Audiobook
$7.00 $7.00 with Audible Premium Plus to get this title
Hardcover
$13.49

63 Used from $3.00 30 New from $7.15
Paperback
$10.59

34 Used from $5.20 23 New from $8.63
MP3 CD
$10.10

5 Used from $9.40 9 New from $10.10

Enhance your purchase

A New York Times bestseller

Hocus Pocus and Practical Magic meets the Salem Witch trials in this haunting story about three sisters on a quest for revenge—and how love may be the only thing powerful enough to stop them.

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.

Print length

320 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication date

March 6, 2018
Grade level

9 - 12
Reading age

14 years and up
Dimensions

5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

1481497340
ISBN-13

978-1481497343
Lexile measure

HL830L
See all details

Frequently bought together

+
+

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Choose items to buy together.

by Shea Ernshaw Hardcover
$13.49 Get it as soon as Monday, May 23 FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
by Shea Ernshaw Hardcover
$15.21 Get it as soon as Monday, May 23 FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
by Shea Ernshaw Hardcover
$19.50 Get it as soon as Monday, May 23 FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Shea Ernshaw
757
Paperback
54 offers from $5.89
Shea Ernshaw
1,596
Hardcover
88 offers from $6.52
Erin A. Craig
3,185
Paperback
79 offers from $2.16
Alexandra Christo
5,165
Paperback
60 offers from $3.52
Sasha Peyton Smith
521
Hardcover
63 offers from $3.33
Rachel Griffin
1,017
Paperback
38 offers from $7.17

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Review

Spring 18 Indie Next Pick
Goodreads Best of the Month for March 2018
Goodreads Most Anticpated YA Novels of 2018
B&N Teen Blog Most Anticipated March YA Novels
B&N Teen Blog Most Anticipated Debuts of 2018
B&N Teen Blog Most Anticipated YA Fantasy of 2018
BookBubs 14 New Books 'Harry Potter" fans will love in 2018

"A wickedly chilling debut about ghosts, witches, love, and revenge."-- School Library Journal

"Chilling both by the damp, briny streets of Sparrow and by its residents’ sudden fervor for vengeance." -- BCCB, starred review

"Balancing delicate emotion and authentic suspense, the hypnotic prose pulls readers into the question of how, or if, the curse of the sisters can be broken." --Publishers Weekly

"Readers will drown in this finely crafted, atmospheric book." -- Kirkus

"Complex and sweetly satisfying." -- Booklist

"A tale with substance and depth, one of magic and curses, betrayal and revenge, but most importantly, it is a story about the redemptive power of love to make even the worst wrongs, right. -- Amber Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be.

"Prepare to be bewitched." -- Paula Stokes, author of Liars, Inc. and Girl Against The Universe.

"Eerie and enchanting." -- Jessica Spotswood, author of The Cahill Witch Chronicles and editor of Toil & Trouble

"A magical, haunted tale of the sea, spells and secrets. . . . Beware!" -- Shannon Parker, author of The Rattled Bones

About the Author

Shea Ernshaw is the author of A History of Wild Places, the New York Times bestseller The Wicked Deep, Winterwood, and A Wilderness of Stars. She is the winner of the 2019 Oregon Book Award. She lives in a small mountain town in Oregon and is happiest when lost in a good book, lost in the woods, or writing her next novel.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Wicked Deep

ONE

I have an old black-and-white photograph taken in the 1920s of a woman at a traveling circus floating in a massive tank filled with water, blond hair billowing around her head, legs hidden by a false mermaid’s fin made of metallic fabric and thread to look like scales. She is wispy and angelic, with thin lips pinched tightly together, holding her breath against the icy water. Several men stand in front of the glass tank, staring at her as if she were real. So easily fooled by the spectacle.

I think of this photograph every spring, when murmurs begin to circulate through the town of Sparrow about the three sisters who were drowned beyond the maw of the harbor, past Lumiere Island, where I live with my mother. I imagine the three sisters floating like delicate ghosts in the dark shadows beneath the water’s surface, mercurial and preserved just like the sideshow mermaid. Did they struggle to stay above the waterline two centuries ago, when they were forced into the deep, or did they let the weight of each stone carry them swiftly to the cold, rocky bottom of the Pacific?’

A morning fog, somber and damp, slides over the surface of the ocean between Lumiere Island and the town of Sparrow. The water is calm as I walk down to the dock and begin untying the skiff—a flat-bottomed boat with two bench seats and an outboard motor. It’s not ideal for maneuvering in storms or gales but fine as a runner into town and back. Otis and Olga, two orange tabby cats who mysteriously appeared on the island as kittens two years back, have followed me down to the water, mewing behind me as if lamenting my departure. I leave every morning at this time, motoring across the bay before the bell rings for first period—Global Economics class, a subject that I will never use—and every morning they follow me to the dock.

The intermittent beam of light from the lighthouse sweeps over the island, and for a moment it brushes across a silhouette standing on the rocky western shore atop the cliff: my mother. Her arms are crossed in her knobby camel-colored sweater wrapped tightly around her fragile torso, and she’s staring out at the vast Pacific like she does each morning, waiting for someone who will never return: my father.

Olga rubs up against my jeans, arching her bony back and raising her tail, coaxing me to pick her up, but I don’t have time. I pull the hood of my navy-blue rain slicker up over my head, step into the boat, and yank the cord on the motor until it sputters to life, then steer the boat out into the fog. I can’t see the shore or the town of Sparrow through the dim layer of moisture, but I know it’s there.

* * *

Tall, sawtooth masts rise up like swords from the water, land mines, shipwrecks of years past. If you didn’t know your way, you could run your boat into any of the half-dozen wrecks still haunting these waters. Beneath me lies a web of barnacle-crusted metal, links of rusted chain trailing over broken bows, and fish making their homes in rotted portholes, the rigging long since eaten away by the salty water. It’s a graveyard of ships. But like the local fishermen chugging out through the dreary fume into the open sea, I can navigate the bay with my eyes pinched shut against the cold. The water is deep here. Massive ships used to bring in supplies through this port, but not anymore. Now only small fishing boats and tourist barges sputter through. These waters are haunted, the seamen still say—and they’re right.

The skiff bumps against the side of dock eleven, slip number four, where I park the boat while I’m in class. Most seventeen-year-olds have driver’s licenses and rusted-out cars they found on Craigslist or that were handed down from older siblings. But instead, I have a boat. And no use for a car.

I sling my canvas bag over my shoulder, weighted down with textbooks, and jog up the gray, slick streets to Sparrow High School. The town of Sparrow was built where two ridges come together—tucked between the sea and mountains—making mudslides all too common here. One day it will likely be washed away completely. It will be pushed down into the water and buried beneath forty feet of rain and silt. There are no fast-food chains in Sparrow, no shopping malls or movie theaters, no Starbucks—although we do have a drive-through coffee hut. Our small town is sheltered from the outside world, trapped in time. We have a whopping total population of two thousand and twenty-four. But that number increases greatly every year on June first, when the tourists converge into town and overtake everything.

Rose is standing on the sloping front lawn of Sparrow High, typing on her cell phone. Her wild cinnamon-red hair springs from her head in unruly curls that she loathes. But I’ve always envied the lively way her hair cannot be tamed or tied up or pinned down, while my straight, nut-brown hair cannot be coaxed into any sort of bouncy, cheerful configuration—and I’ve tried. But stick-straight hair is just stick-straight hair.

“You’re not ditching me tonight, are you?” she asks when she sees me, tenting both eyebrows and dropping her cell into her once-white book bag that’s been scribbled with Sharpie and colored markers so that it’s now a collage of swirling midnight blues and grassy greens and bubblegum pinks—colorful graffiti art that has left no space untouched. Rose wants to be an artist—Rose is an artist. She’s determined to move to Seattle and attend the Art Institute when we graduate. And she reminds me almost weekly of the fact that she doesn’t want to go alone and I should come with her and be her roommate. To which I’ve skillfully avoided committing since freshmen year.

It’s not that I don’t want to escape this rainy, dreadful town, because I do. But I feel trapped, a weight of responsibility settled firmly over me. I can’t leave my mother all alone on the island. I’m all she has left—the only thing still grounding her to reality. And perhaps it’s foolish—naive even—but I also have hope that perhaps my father will return someday. He’ll magically appear on the dock and stroll up to the house as if no time has passed. And I need to be here in case he does.

But as our junior year comes to an end and our senior year approaches, I’m forced to consider the rest of my life and the reality that my future might be right here in Sparrow. I might never leave this place. I might be stuck.

I’ll stay on the island, reading fortunes from the smeared remains of tea leaves in white porcelain cups just like my mom used to before Dad vanished and never came back. Locals would steer their boats across the harbor, sometimes in secret under a ghost moon, sometimes in the middle of the day because they had an urgent question they needed answered, and they’d sit in our kitchen, fingers tapping on the wood-block table, waiting for Mom to tell them their fate. And afterward they’d leave folded or crumpled or flattened bills on the table just before they left. Mom would slide the money into a flour tin she kept on the shelf next to the stove. And maybe this is the life I’m destined for: sitting at the kitchen table, the sweet scent of chamomile or orange lavender tea settling into my hair, running my finger around the rim of a mug and finding messages in the swirling chaos of leaves.

I’ve glimpsed my own future in those leaves many times: a boy blowing in from across the sea, shipwrecked on the island. His heart beating wildly in his chest, his skin made of sand and wind. And my heart unable to resist. It’s the same future I’ve seen in every cup of tea since I was five, when my mom first taught me to decipher leaves. Your fate lies at the bottom of a teacup, she had often whispered to me before shooing me off to bed. And the idea of this future stirs inside me whenever I think about leaving Sparrow—like the island is drawing me back, my fate rooted here.

“It’s not ditching if I never said I’d go,” I say in response to Rose’s question.

“I won’t allow you to miss another Swan party.” She shifts her hips to the side, looping her right thumb around the strap of her book bag. “Last year I was stuck talking to Hannah Potts until sunrise, and I won’t do it again.”

“I’ll think about it,” I say. The Swan party has always served a double purpose: the start of the Swan season and also the end-of-the-school-year bash. It’s a booze-fueled celebration that is an odd mix of excitement to be free of classes and teachers and pop quizzes, blended with the approaching dread of the Swan season. Typically, people get way too smashed and no one remembers any of it.

“No thinking, just doing. When you think about things too long, you just talk yourself out of them.” She’s right. I wish I wanted to go—I wish I cared about parties on the beach. But I’ve never felt comfortable at things like this. I’m the girl who lives on Lumiere Island, whose mom went mad and dad went missing, who never hangs out in town after school. Who would rather spend her evening reading tide charts and watching boats chug into port than chugging beers with people I barely know.

“You don’t even have to dress up if you don’t want to,” she adds. Dressing up was never an option anyway. Unlike most locals in Sparrow, who keep a standby early 1800s costume tucked away in the back of their closet in preparation for the yearly Swan party, I do not.

The warning bell for first period rings, and we follow the parade of students through the main front doors. The hallway smells like floor wax and rotting wood. The windows are single-pane and drafty, the wind rattling the glass in the frames every afternoon. The light fixtures blink and buzz. None of the lockers close because the foundation has shifted several degrees off center. If I had known another town, another high school, I might find this place depressing. But instead, the rain that leaks through the roof and drips onto desks and hallway floors during winter storms just feels familiar. Like home.

Rose and I don’t have first period together, so we walk to the end of A Hall, then pause beside the girls’ bathroom before we part ways.

“I just don’t know what I’ll tell my mom,” I say, scratching at a remnant of Blueberry Blitz nail polish on my left thumb that Rose made me paint on two weeks back at her house during one of our movie nights—when she decided that to fit in as a serious art major in Seattle she needed to watch classic Alfred Hitchcock movies. As if scary black-and-white films would somehow anoint her as a serious artist.

“Tell her you’re going to a party—that you actually have a life. Or just sneak out. She probably won’t even notice you’re gone.”

I bite the side of my lip and stop picking at my nail. The truth is, leaving my mom alone for even one night makes me uneasy. What if she woke up in the middle of the night and realized I was no longer asleep in my bed? Would she think I had disappeared just like my dad? Would she go looking for me? Would she do something reckless and stupid?

“She’s stuck on that island anyway,” Rose adds. “Where’s she going to go? It’s not like she’s just going to walk out into the ocean.” She pauses and we both stare at each other: Her walking out into the ocean is precisely what I’m afraid of. “What I mean,” Rose corrects, “is that I don’t think anything will happen if you leave her for one night. And you’ll be back right after sunrise.”

I look across the hall to the open doorway of my first-period Global Economics class, where nearly everyone is already in their seats. Mr. Gratton is standing at his desk, tapping a pen on a stack of papers, waiting for the final bell to ring.

“Please,” Rose begs. “It’s the biggest night of the year, and I don’t want to be the loser who goes solo again.” A slight lisp trails over the word “solo.” When Rose was younger, she talked with a lisp. All her Ss sounded like Ths. In grade school, kids used to tease her whenever a teacher asked her to speak out loud in front of the class. But after regular visits to a speech therapist up in Newport three days a week during our first years of high school, suddenly it was like she stepped out of her old body and into a new one. My awkward, lisping best friend was now reborn: confident and fearless. And even though her appearance didn’t really change, she now radiated like some beautiful exotic species of human that I didn’t recognize, while I stayed exactly the same. I have this sense that someday we won’t even remember why we were friends in the first place. She will float away like a brightly colored bird living in the wrong part of the world, and I will stay behind, gray-feathered and sodden and wingless.

“Fine,” I relent, knowing that if I skip another Swan party she might actually disown me as her only friend.

She grins widely. “Thank God. I thought I was going to have to kidnap you and drag you there.” She shifts her book bag higher onto her shoulder and says, “See you after class.” She hurries down the hall just as the final bell chimes from the tinny overhead speakers.

Today is only a half day: first and second period, because today is also the last day of school before summer break. Tomorrow is June first. And although most high schools don’t start their summer session so early, the town of Sparrow began the countdown months ago. Signs announcing festivals in honor of the Swan sisters have already been hung and draped across the town square and over storefront windows.

Tourist season starts tomorrow. And with it comes an influx of outsiders and the beginning of an eerie and deadly tradition that has plagued Sparrow since 1823—ever since the three Swan sisters were drowned in our harbor. Tonight’s party is the start of a season that will bring more than just tourist dollars—it will bring folklore and speculation and doubt about the town’s history. But always, every year without fail or falter, it also brings death.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (March 6, 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1481497340
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1481497343
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 14 years and up
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ HL830L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 9 - 12
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #108,878 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #73 in Teen & Young Adult Ghost Stories
- #497 in Teen & Young Adult Wizards & Witches Fantasy
- #730 in Teen & Young Adult Paranormal Romance

Customer Reviews:
1,524 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Shea Ernshaw

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Shea Ernshaw is a NYT Bestselling author. Her novels THE WICKED DEEP, WINTERWOOD, and A HISTORY OF WILD PLACES were Indie Next Picks. She is the winner of the 2019 Oregon Book Award, and her books have been published in over nineteen countries.

You can connect with her online at www.sheaernshaw.com

Customer reviews

5 star		68%
4 star		19%
3 star		10%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all customer images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Cameron Chaney

Dreary... made me feel like I was taking a dip in chilly waters.

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2018

Verified Purchase

The Wicked Deep, the debut YA novel from Shea Ernshaw, is being described as "Hocus Pocus meets Practical Magic." I'd say this is pretty accurate. It certainly isn't goofy and funny like Hocus Pocus but it takes the whole "three witches return from the dead" idea and puts a darker spin on it, akin to the atmosphere of Practical Magic.

The story follows a seventeen-year-old named Penny Talbot who lives in Sparrow, a small town said to be cursed by three sisters who were sentenced to death by drowning for the crime of witchery. Now, every summer, the sisters return from the dead by possessing the bodies of local teenage girls and using them to lure boys into the harbor, only to drown them as an act of revenge on the town. Despite the danger of the legend, tourists still flock to Sparrow during this time to see if old tale is true. But Penny knows it's true. She's seen things the others haven't...

Lately, there has been a serious dry spell (pun intended) when it comes to YA. It's been a long time since I've read a young adult book that didn't make me want to throw the book across the room. Maybe I've outgrown the genre. Maybe my tastes have changed. Or maybe YA authors should just take some pointers from Shea Ernshaw. Because I thoroughly enjoyed The Wicked Deep.

I won't say the book is without flaws, but those flaws were few compared to the things I liked. For one The Wicked Deep is one heck of a cloudy book. Ernshaw’s writing style is dreary and made me feel like I was taking a dip in chilly waters. This is a good thing, of course, and serves the story well. The writing is poetic without being flowery, reading smoothly and understandably. There were a few repetitions that I would have cut, but it’s a small complaint.

The story itself, as you can tell, is very original. You can compare it to "Hocus Pocus and Practical Magic all you want, but The Wicked Deep is still very much its own thing. It’s subtle with some rather surprising twists and turns that lead to a beautiful, ghostly conclusion.

It’s hard to talk about the characters without giving away anything significant, but I’ll say that they were mostly believable. The romance did stand in the way a bit for me, but considering it ends up being very vital to the plot, I was able to overlook it.

Overall, I really liked this book and will definitely read anything else Shea Ernshaw writes.

73 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kindle Customer

I loved it!

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2018

Verified Purchase

What can I say, I've had this on my TBR since last year when I first heard about this book being released this year. I was mesmerized by the beauty of the cover from the beginning and even more when I finally got to hold it in my hands.
I was super excited to read this book and I have to say, this book did not disappoint, I absolutely loved it and it is now one of my favorite books.
I was hooked from page one and when I had to stop reading to do the usual day to day activities that had to be done, I couldn't stop thinking about being able to get back to this book and reading what was going to happen next.
The writing was captivating and description of scenery and events made me feel like I was there, sucking me in to every scene. I could almost smell the sea and hear the waves, taste the little pies and tarts and feel the energy of Sparrow, Oregon.
I love books that draw me in like that. I felt for the characters and really enjoyed reading this book.
I definitely recommend this book to everyone.

36 people found this helpful

Helpful

Taylor Parker

Just like her intricate plot

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2018

Verified Purchase

5/5 stars

Holy smokes. I was not prepared for The Wicked Deep, I thought I was but I was so wrong. I read this book in one night. I shouldn't have, I tried not to, but I could NOT put it down.

Sparrow is a small town in Oregon plagued by the return of three sisters seeking revenge for being drowned in the bay for witchcraft two centuries before. Now they return each year on June 1st where they steal the bodies of three girls and drown boys in the ocean until the Summer solstice. The MC, Penny, fears the return of the Swan sisters, especially when a strange boy turns up right as Swan season begins, with no knowledge of the danger he is in. Penny doesn't want to get involved, but if she doesn't Bo might drown for ignorance of the danger.

This book is dark and twisty, and so unique. It has similarities to Hocus Pocus and Practical Magic, of course, but Ernshaw knows witches aren't a new subject, she knows it will take more than a typical plot to keep readers interested. When it comes to plot, Ernshaw delivered. I kept reading because I PHYSICALLY NEEDED to know which girls were inhabited by the Swan sisters, why Bo was in Sparrow, and what happened to Penny's father, and HOLY PLOT TWIST. Maybe I should have seen that coming but I didn't and it threw me for a loop.

Just like her intricate plot, Ernshaw's world building was beautiful. I felt the stickiness in the air and could hear the singing of the sisters in the harbor. It was easy to feel as if I lived in Sparrow as well, as if I went to school with Penny, and tended the lighthouse. It is this spectacular world building that really draws you in to the story and makes it feel so incredibly real.

The romance in this story is tricky, both Bo and Penny are so full of secrets, yet they manage to develop feelings so quickly. Those who aren't a fan of the "love at first sight" trope may struggle with this romance because, while it isn't technically love at first sight, it's close. I generally dislike this trope, but Ernshaw handled it delicately, it wasn't obnoxious, and it complemented the rest of the plot as opposed to detracting from it.

This book was not what I expected, frankly I wasn't sure what to expect. I certainly did not expect something so original and engrossing. I may have stayed up until 5 am reading it, but I have no regrets.

33 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Anthemusa Reviews

Beautifully written

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 5, 2019

Verified Purchase

I really didn't know what to expect when I bought this book since I purchased it kind of on a whim, so I was pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed it as much as I did. It's really beautifully written - with language and sentences that are really evocative of the atmosphere of the story. It was very reminiscent to me of Sarah Addison Allen - that way that magic is woven into the words without ever being a tangible thing. I loved the style.

The story is very simple but that's actually one of the joys of this book because it allows you to fully understand and take your time with the depth of the emotions that are at play. It's a bit like a Grimm's fairy tale in some respects - a pretty story on the surface but when you actually think about it, very dark and horrifying. It would be easy to dive into interpretations of the story about feminism and current events but I think to do that would be a mistake. This book is timeless and I think that much simpler truths are evident.

I've recommended the book several times to friends and all of them have enjoyed it, so you're probably wondering why I didn't give it 5*. The issue was that I saw the plot twist coming from a mile off so it didn't have the intended shock factor that blew the minds of some of my friends. That said, I'm aware there is another book coming from this author later in the year and I'll definitely be in line to buy it. I really enjoyed this one and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for something a bit different.

3 people found this helpful

tonythereader

An enjoyable, quick read!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 22, 2018

Verified Purchase

This was really good! I don't know what I was expecting going into this, but I enjoyed it anyway.

Two centuries ago in a small town in Oregon, three sisters were drowned in the ocean, suspected of being witches. Every summer since, they've emerged from the shadowy depths, stealing the bodies of weak-hearted girls and using them to lure boys to the harbour where they will meet their deaths. Like most locals, 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's just placed himself in. Rumours and lies quickly spread throughout the town, and Penny and Bo both are convinced that the other is holding secrets. Death comes quickly to those who cannot resist the sisters, and Penny can see things that others cannot...

I really liked the setting of this book. I did struggle with picturing it in the way that the author intended though, but not because the writing was bad - it was actually really good - but because I kept picturing it being set in the UK, maybe on one of the islands in the North of Scotland, rather than the coast of Oregon in the US. This might just be because I'm Scottish myself, however, and I found it easier to picture it like this. This did not put me off the book though, and I did really enjoy the setting. I really didn't understand why people just didn't leave the town what with all the drownings that happened every year and the supposed curse, or why they were ok with it. You'd think many people would've just thought "nah, screw this" and left. I was willing to oversee this though because I was really enjoying the book, even if it did seem a bit unrealistic. I did manage to guess the plot twist halfway through - the first time I have ever guess correctly!! - but it didn't happen in the way I expected it to. I thought it was done really well, even if I did see it coming.

I liked all of the characters. Penny was a likable, strong lead. Her mother was mysterious and interesting, even if she wasn't a huge part in the story. There were a few of Penny's schoolmates that I really did not like at all - one in particular - and if you read the book you'll discover why a few chapters in. I disliked them to the point where I wished one of the Swan sisters would just drag him into the ocean. The Swan sisters themselves were really interesting, and I enjoyed the scenes from the past that detailed their lives and why they were sentenced to death.

All in all, this was a good quick read and I'd definitely be open to reading more by the author.

4/5 stars.

5 people found this helpful

Iza

Creepy and fantastic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 18, 2019

Verified Purchase

It was a slow start and I put it aside, for a bit in October because I wasn't feeling it, but then when I picked it back up, I almost read it in one sitting.

Our heroine, Penny, lives with her mom in Sparrow, a place that is supposedly cursed by three witches the locals muredered two centuries before. What was a bit unsettling for me was that it became a festival, which attracted tursists from far and wide, even though people - boys and men - died during this period. Why? The three murdered sisters - supposed witches - came back for a month and, as a revenge for being killed, they would posses the body of a girl and lure men to their deaths, drowning them.

Creepy and morbid, if you ask me. But original, so kudos to the author!

Things are different this time around, however, because Penny meets a boy who has never heard of the Swan sisters or the festival or the murders. So, Penny will do everything to keep him safe.

The twists and turns this book had were amazing. I'll be honest, I didn't see them coming, the truth of how things are never crossed my mind.

Thanks to said twists and turns, I'm giving this book 5 stars, even though the ending was bittersweet and made me cry. Fantastic read and definitely worth a reread!

Marcia

Great witchy story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2022

Verified Purchase

As soon as I picked this book up I couldn't put it down. I loved the concept and the story did not go where I expected it to.
The story gripped me from the beginning right until the end.
The characters all had purpose and the three witch sisters coming back to claim a new body left me with shock. Especially when I thought I knew who the third sister had claimed. Alas I was wrong and when I found out I was definitely shocked.
I did feel rather sorry for her in the end though.

esther

Lost for words

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2019

Verified Purchase

That was one of the best books i have ever read. There are always faults in these new books, in the story, or in the writing style. But i barely could make myself to put it down from time to time. I loved every second of it. Partly maybe because i can relate too. I lost my dad as i lost my husband in one year. I know how grief and hope can feel tangled together. And those feelings i never could have made into words,they are here on these pages of this book. I really loved it, and im so grateful i had the opportunity to finally find a book what really does have something real to say.
Thank you!

One person found this helpful

See all reviews

Buy new: $13.49$13.49 FREE delivery: Monday, May 23 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon. Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com

Buy used: $9.35

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Author

The Wicked Deep Hardcover – March 6, 2018

Enhance your purchase

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

ONE

Product details

About the author

Shea Ernshaw

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$13.49

FREE delivery: Monday, May 23 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon.

Ships from: Amazon.com

Sold by: Amazon.com

Buy used:

$9.35