Review--Secrets So Deep by Ginny Myers Sain

 

From the bestselling author of Dark and Shallow Lies comes a darkly atmospheric paranormal thriller about a seventeen-year-old girl returning to an exclusive theater camp to uncover the truth of what really happened there twelve years ago, the night her mother drowned.

Twelve years ago, Avril’s mother drowned at Whisper Cove theater, just off the rocky Connecticut coastline. It was ruled an accident, but Avril’s never been totally convinced. Local legend claims that the women in the waves—ghosts from old whaling stories—called her mother into the ocean with their whispering. Because, as they say at Whisper Cove, what the sea wants, the sea will have.

While Avril doesn’t believe in ghosts, she knows there are lots of different ways for places, and people, to be haunted. She’s spent the past twelve years trying to make sense of the strange bits and pieces she does remember from the night she lost her mother. Stars falling into the sea. A blinding light. A tight grip on her wrist. The odd sensation of flying. Now, at seventeen, she’s returning to Whisper Cove for the first time, and she might finally unravel the mystery of what really happened.

As Avril becomes more involved with camp director Willa and her mysterious son Cole, Whisper Cove reveals itself to her. Distances seem to shift in the strange fog. Echos of long-past moments bounce off the marsh. And Avril keeps meeting herself—and her dead mother—late at night, at the edge of the ocean.

The truth Avril seeks is ready to be discovered. But it will come at a terrible cost.

Ginny Myers Sain's Secrets So Deep has been on my TBR pile for too long! I remember enjoying her debut, Dark and Shallow Lies, so picking up her sophomore book was natural. In this book lies a very mysterious backdrop filled with more secrets and lies and perhaps a ghost or two.

Avril is set to go to a drama camp for summer, but it's more than just a summer camp. It's a very prestigious program led by the talented Willa Culver. It's the camp Avril's mother went to, it's the camp where Avril's mother also tragically died and Avril almost died too. Her father wasn't overly thrilled with her going, but Avril was insistent.

The story gets off to a rather mundane start once we get the backstory of Avril's mom and how she died. It's the big mystery that will eventually become more apart of the story, but that's not until later. There were some slow moments in this one with Avril going back and forth with camp activities and the big upcoming play, but in between we did get these mysterious odd moments. Avril sleepwalking and having no idea how she came to be in one location, seeing things out of the corner of her eye, spectral figures...it was pretty creepy. I did wish we could've gotten a little more ghostly action, but what was there was just enough of a creep factor to make you question what you were seeing.

Along the way, Avril makes some friends who I at first thought might turn into competition for the play, but ended up being genuine friends which was nice. And then there's Cole Culver, Willa's son, who has a history with Avril from their time as children back when Avril's mom was friends with Willa and they were at the campgrounds together. There's definite chemistry between the two and an air of mystery as well. Cole seems like a guy who knows things but is up for telling them right away.

We do eventually circle back around to the mystery of Avril's mother's death and it was a doozie! I started making speculations and I feel like I had it pinned down at one point, but it's been a long week (crazy busy since I started reading this one) and I can't quite remember when I thought I had this down!

The ending, naturally, was the epic climax when all gets revealed and relayed. It got a little intense at times and of course I had a few miniscule questions at the end, nothing major that would detract from the mystery but just those "why" questions one tends to have with murder mysteries. All in all, this was an enjoyable and spooky read, perfect for this time of year. Yes, I wish there could've been a little more ghostly encounters but there were some and a deadly mystery to boot that leaves you unsure of who to trust. So, all in all, Myers Sain did her mystery writing duty!

Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars