It was this place, it drew death toward us like the tide to the shore. And all we could do was wait for tomorrow, and hope it would be brighter.
Expect reviews a lot more frequently from me for the foreseeable future. Nothing gets you out of a reading slump quite like avoiding existential dread by escaping into books every chance you get.
And next up on that list of escapes is Astrid Scholte’s sophomore offering, The Vanishing Deep—a dystopian standalone featuring a watery world that is equal parts wondrous and terrifying, and a sisterly bond that outlasts even life itself.
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers | Pages: 432 | Release Date: March 3, 2020
Bestselling author Astrid Scholte, returns with a thrilling adventure in which the dead can be revived…for a price.
Seventeen-year-old Tempe was born into a world of water. When the Great Waves destroyed her planet, its people had to learn to survive living on the water, but the ruins of the cities below still called. Tempe dives daily, scavenging the ruins of a bygone era, searching for anything of value to trade for Notes. It isn’t food or clothing that she wants to buy, but her dead sister’s life. For a price, the research facility on the island of Palindromena will revive the dearly departed for twenty-four hours before returning them to death. It isn’t a heartfelt reunion that Tempe is after; she wants answers. Elysea died keeping a terrible secret, one that has ignited an unquenchable fury in Tempe: Her beloved sister was responsible for the death of their parents. Tempe wants to know why.
But once revived, Elysea has other plans. She doesn’t want to spend her last day in a cold room accounting for a crime she insists she didn’t commit. Elysea wants her freedom and one final glimpse at the life that was stolen from her. She persuades Tempe to break her out of the facility, and they embark on a dangerous journey to discover the truth about their parents’ death and mend their broken bond. But they’re pursued every step of the way by two Palindromena employees desperate to find them before Elysea’s time is up–and before the secret behind the revival process and the true cost of restored life is revealed.
You can find The Vanishing Deep on Goodreads, Amazon, Indigo, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, and Book Depository.
What initially intrigued me about The Vanishing Deep, was its premise. Given the chance, the possibility, that you could bring a loved one back from the dead for a day…would you do it? How would you spend those twenty-four hours, especially if it was with a loved one whom you never really got the chance to say goodbye to?
What pulled me in and kept me turning pages, though, was how Scholte wove these questions into her narrative and world.
She does an excellent job of exploring the ways in which grief—and also guilt—can manifest itself, and how these emotions can fundamentally change who you are as a person. The ways in which Tempest and Lor in particular were shaped by these experiences felt incredibly genuine; both consumed, and yet with very different reactions. There’s Tempest, who takes her grief and lets it fester into resentment, almost rage…but also action. And then there is Lor, consumed by a grief that fills him with regret, and guilt—and ultimately fear.
Perhaps he did know grief intimately, how it tainted every waking moment and how, after those blissful hours when you were asleep and managed to finally forget, it made the waking hours all the more painful.
I was instantly swept away by the dystopic, post-apocalyptic world Scholte created. I’ve always been equally fascinated and fearful of the ocean, of its beauty and mystery.
It immediately reminded me of the world in London Shah’s The Light at the Bottom of the World, but where Shah took us down to the deepest depths, Scholte imagines humanity struggling to survive on the surface. I loved the idea of man-made islands that threaten to sink if overpopulated, of “pirates” ruling the waters between islands and reefs, and of people diving down into the ruins of the Old World looking for artifacts to trade in order to pay for goods…and the resurrection of loved ones lost.
I needed to become the storm, not succumb to it.
The heart of The Vanishing Deep for me though, lay in Tempest and Elysea’s relationship.
Sibling dynamics has steadily—yet quickly—become a favourite element in the books I read, mostly because it’s so fascinating. I don’t think anyone can love and hate each other simultaneously as much as siblings can. And honestly, I reckon a lot of it comes down to the fact that I’m in something of a sibling withdrawal as both of my sisters no longer live at home, and I miss them. Were I in Tempest’s position, I would absolutely want to spend an extra twenty-four hours with either of them.
And yet, Tempest’s situation is so much more precarious; she loves her sister, but she’s also tackling her grief and her pain. At best, Elysea has knowledge regarding the death of their parents. At worst, it’s Elysea’s fault they’re dead.
Seeing how both sisters tackle this slippery slope whilst trying to uncover the mystery surrounding their family, all under the twenty-four hour countdown looming overhead made for a fast-paced read, that was also appropriately tense.
Change happened to you. Life, and death, they happened to you. And there was nothing you could do about it. You either held on for the ride or got swept away in the storm.
Unfortunately, it is in what comes after those frantic twenty-four hours are up where things started to unravel for me.
The story moves suddenly too quickly, and the events that unfold I found both too much and too little. It feels as if Scholte breaks the established rules of her own world, and in doing so undid what I found so effective about the plot twist (which I won’t spoil here!). And when ultimately none of it makes any real gigantic difference to how the story ends, I honestly was left questioning how much of it was actually necessary.
Side Note: It is my understanding, based on tweets from the author, that there were large edits made to the latter half of the book after physical ARCs had been produced and circulated. As a result, some of the issues I had may have been changed, or are altogether no longer present. Please do not let this alone deter you from reading!
With a fantastically imagined world occupied by characters impossible not to root for, and timely social commentary regarding sustainability and environmentalism, Scholte delivers an second novel that was enjoyable—even though I found the ending didn’t quite stick the landing I wish it had.
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Disclaimer: I received an ARC from Penguin Random House Canada. This does not affect my review, which reflects my honest opinions. Quotations have been taken from an advanced reader’s edition and are subject to change upon publication.
doodles and books 