#92 The Vanishing Deep

The Vanishing Deep by Astrid Scholte 

Before i begin i just want to say that all opinions are my own. I read Four Dead Queens last year and fell in love with the story, the writing was so good that i (slightly obsessively) began stalking for the next book that Astrid was going to come out with. I was delighted that i didnt have to wait too long and that The Vanishing Deep was another stand alone story as they are my favourite.

The Vanishing Deep is a story with a similar set up to our world except that it is completely covered by water which was created by a natural disaster known as the great waves. There is a small piece of land known as Palindromena which is a research facility that specialises in reviving the dead for 24 hours for a hefty price. Our main character Tempe aka Tempest has recently lost her sister as she drowned 2 years prior. Tempe also lost her parents to a boating accident and is happy to let them rest in peace until she finds out that her sister, Elysea may know more about what happened the night their parent died the Tempe makes it her mission to save up enough money to revive Elysea to question her and reveal the truth. Tempe is a diver and dives in order to find uncovered treasures from the world before in order to sell them to survive but to also save to revive her sister. When Tempe finally saves enough to revive her sister all does not go smoothly, Elysea figures out straight away that she is dead and convinces Tempe to break out of the facility to go and find out what happened to their parents together.

Lor works at Palindromena in the basement aquarium where he likes to stay hidden from everyone due to the tragic loss of his best friend Calen that he feels solely responsible for. When his only friend Raylan who works as a warden in the revival process asks Lor to cover his shift Lor hesitantly agrees. Lor has never been a warden before and when he cant stop Tempe and Elysea from escaping he enlists Raylans help to go after them and bring them back before the 24 hours are up or they will face dire consequences.

This is a story filled with mystery and the attempt to mend a sisterly bond. I couldn't guess what was going to happen at pretty much any point, the ending was really surprising to me and i just fell in love with the characters! I really like Elysea as a character, she was so humble and gentle throughout. Tempe is a bit more 'typical teenager' and i enjoyed how angsty she was, her personality was very reflective of what she had been through. I loved the plot in general i found it to be so unique, ive never read anything like this story before and it was a breath of fresh air. Another big plus was the lack of romance in this book, i generally hate romance in YA as i feel like some authors use it as a main plot device whereas i prefer a good story so i was thrilled when this book wasn't all about a love story. The twists were also fantastic!

My only criticism was that a few things weren't tied up in the end and i am left forever wondering what happened to Lors mother haha. All in all i must admit that i love this book with my whole heart, even more that 4DQ which i didn't think was possible. Astrid Scholte has now become an auto buy author for me, cant wait to see what she comes up with next. (side not) Shes also so lovely on both Twitter on Instagram, when an author is engaging with their readers it only makes me love and want to support them even more so thank you Astrid for being such a lovely person.