DNF Review – The Darkdeep (Darkdeep, Book 1) by Ally Condie, Brendan Reichs (2/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Horror/Fantasy
Length: 272 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Release Date: October 2, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1547600465
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Darkdeep series
Source: Bought for Son
Rating: 2/5 stars

“Everyone in Timbers knows Still Cove is off-limits, with its creepy Beast sightings and equally terrifying legends. But when a bullying incident sends twelve-year-old Nico Holland over a cliff and into Still Cove’s icy waters, friends Tyler and Emma–and even Opal Walsh, who usually runs with the popular kids–rush to his rescue . . . and discover a mysterious island hiding in the murky, swirling mists below.

Though the island appears uninhabited, the kids can’t shake a feeling that something about it is definitely not right. Their suspicions grow when they stumble upon an abandoned houseboat filled with all sorts of curiosities: odd-looking weapons, unnerving portraits, maps to unknown places, and a glass jar containing something completely unidentifiable. And in its lowest depths churns a dark, deep secret.

As the group delves deeper into this mysterious new clubhouse, their lives begin to intertwine in weird and dangerous ways. For something ancient has awakened . . . and it can detect not only their wishes and dreams, but also their darkest, most terrible imaginings. Do they have what it takes to face the shadowy secrets lurking within their own hearts?”

My son picked this up to read, didn’t like it, and gave it to me. He said it was too creepy. I stopped reading this book around page 180 mainly because it was just really boring and I was sitting there as I picked it up thinking…I just don’t care.

This story is about some kids who discover a strange house boat in the middle of a lake that is supposedly inhabited by a horrible beast. They explore the house only to find a strange dark pool in it. That’s all I can really say without spoilers.

This seemed promising at the beginning. I loved all the folklore around the evil beast and the creepy atmosphere. Unfortunately that didn’t help with how disjointed and just plain boring the story was. The story jumps between different characters and I struggled to engage with any of them. There is no tension or anything driving the story. When I finally realized how ambivalent I was about it all, I decided to stop reading it.

Overall this was not a well done book. It moves really slow, is pretty disjointed and hard to engage in. It’s also pretty predictable and not nearly are scary/creepy as advertised. I would skip it.