In Deep by Terra Elan McVoy Published by Simon and Schuster
Published: July 8th 2014
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Ultracompetitive Brynn from The Summer of Firsts and Lasts craves swimming victory—and gets in over her head—in this irresistible novel from Terra Elan McVoy.Swim.Push.Breathe.Swim. Nothing else matters to Brynn as she trains her body and mind to win. Not her mediocre grades and lack of real friends at school. Not the gnawing grief over her fallen hero father. Not the strained relationship with her absent mother and clueless stepdad. In the turquoise water, swimming is an escape and her ticket to somewhere—anywhere—else. And nothing will get in her way of claiming victory. But when the competitive streak follows Brynn out of the pool in a wickedly seductive cat-and-mouse game between herself, her wild best friend, and a hot new college swimmer, Brynn’s single-mindedness gets her in over her head, with much more than a trophy to lose.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I was excited about In Deep for a long time. McVoy has a way about her writing that shows she’s not afraid to go there. Every book you get from her is different and that’s what I appreciate about her and what I appreciated about In Deep. It wasn’t a favorite of mine but it was good and a quick read.
In Deep is about Brynn, a top competitive swimmer that lives her life on discipline. She has very few friends, a deceased father and a remarried mother. She has one good friend and dislikes romantic attachments. To her all she needs is swimming. But when her BFF Grier starts hanging out with the new college hot guy on the team Brynn needs even more than swimming. She needs to be the best at everything. But at what cost?
Right off the bat I will say that Brynn is not a likable character. She only thought about herself and nobody else’s feelings seemed to matter. I appreciated her discipline for getting what she wanted, but her methods were not something I could get on board with. She was one of those girls to me that could only be happy if she made everyone else miserable. Honestly I didn’t understand her need for competition with Grier. But I’m also not a huge fan of the frienemy business that was made popular by Gossip Girl. I also didn’t really get the whole Gavin thing. Besides being hot there was nothing great about him. He was kind of just there for me.
I did really like Kate. She was a great character in Brynn’s life. She gave her some balance that she needed and even made her likable. Their friendship, although rocky and not 100% solid, was one that I could work with and get behind because it was real. It wasn’t that annoying friends but not friends thing, and it wasn’t all or nothing. They fought and worked through it. Kate was shy and timid to an extent but also didn’t let people walk all over her and I appreciated that.
All in all I liked In Deep. It was a quick read with characters that definitely will make you feel things. The plot moved quick at the end, maybe even too quick, but it all made sense. McVoy stayed true to what I’m used to from her and managed to give me something new. I can’t wait to see what she has for us next.
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