Close

Login

Lost Password     Register

Close

Register

Lost Password     Login

Close

Lost Password

Login     Register

Book Review

Publisher's Note:

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. Echoes 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.…

This review may contain affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase using these links, then Compass Book Ratings may earn a small commission.

Secrets So Deep

by Ginny Myers Sain

Reviewer: Lydia
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Recommended Age: 16+

Overall Book Review:

Just in time for spooky season, if that’s your thing, Secrets So Deep is a mystery and a ghost story about a girl in search of answers and the limits she will push to get them. It’s also a bit of a love story- of falling in love for the first time, and realizing both how fragile and how strong relationships can be.

Whisper Cove may seem like a cute name at first, but once you get to know the story behind the name, you may feel differently. A creepy ghost story to tell around the fire, or something that really happened? It can be tough to tell, especially with Avril, the narrator of this story who has a track record of misremembering events; if she can even recollect them at all. Whisper Cove is home to a famous play writer who hosts a theatre camp, and while making friends and practicing for a play, Avril begins getting flashbacks of the last time she was in Whisper Cove.

Avril should have memories of her mother, but no matter how hard she tries, all she gets is bits and pieces of images that she can’t interpret, often triggering a sort of dissociative state that typically raises more questions than provides answers. These parts of the book were almost too well-written, giving me a panicked feeling in my stomach at times. Drawing on the memories of those who knew her mother, it often seems as though Avril is getting information she’d rather not believe is true. 

From the creepy fog that silently wafts in at night to the fragments of the past that Avril is piecing together, Ginny Myers Sain has written her second book in a way that really makes the reader feel a connection to the characters and what they’re going through, almost as if you’re right there with them. I’m eagerly awaiting her next book, slated for sometime in 2024.

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy from Penguin Random House

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 50 religious exclamations; 23 mild obscenities; 5 religious profanities; 47 scatological words; 7 anatomical terms; 74 F-Word derivatives.

Violence/Gore: A ghost story is told of a legend about women disappearing from a village with their children; their bodies start to wash up on the shore of a nearby body of water soon after, it is assumed they were lured into the water by something and drowned; a girl is depicted several times using a lighter to burn her hands; a mention is made of a woman drowning years ago and her daughter almost drowning as well; a girl experiences multiple scenes of dreamlike states where she experiences scary moments that may be memories resurfacing; a conversation is had about when a girls mom drowned, it is mentioned that it wasn’t an accident and that she killed herself; a minor is convinced her mother was murdered; a brief scene occurs where a boy dives into a body of water and takes a long time to resurface and his friend is worried he drowned; a woman is found after she fell off the edge of a cliff, her body is described to have limbs at odd angles and her eyes stare lifelessly, it is later reported that she passed away; a serious accident occurs and a minor almost dies; a house is reported to have started on fire and is badly damaged.

Sex/Nudity: A mention is made of a character wanting to have a hot summer romance; a reference is made to a minor couple hooking up; two boys are mentioned to flirt with each other; a girl imagines what it would be like to kiss a boy she is attracted to, a kiss soon occurs and the boy slides his hand under her shirt on her back in the heated moment; a girl recalls a kiss where a boy she didn’t really like “rammed his tongue down her throat”; a group of boys and girls go skinny dipping and one couple ends up swimming together, the girl is mentioned to feel exposed with her clothes off and she is mentioned to look at a nude boy; a girl assumes her mom was having an affair with a family friend; a boy and girl  share a deep kiss and the boy is mentioned to reach under her shirt and unclasp her bra, moaning sexily; a girl thinks about an older man that always seems creepily attracted to young girls and how his eyes often linger on her body; a boy who typically shows interest in boys kisses a girl in a brief scene; a boy and girl kiss multiple times when they are acting out a play.

Mature Subject Matter:

Loss of a loved one; extramarital affairs; ghosts; self-harm; murder.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Minors drink beer at a party; an adult is mentioned to like weed and to look the other way if minors possess it; minors smoke cigarettes in several scenes; minors share a bottle of wine are described to get drunk.

Overall Book Rating
Profanity/Language
Rating:
10
10
Violence/Gore
Rating:
4
10
Sex/Nudity
Rating:
5
10

Share This Post

About the Reviewer

Lydia
Books and reading have always been an important part of my life. When I was very young, my grandma was the library director at our local public library. Years later, after she had retired, I became a librarian at the same library and worked there for several years before taking a part-time job at a local coffee shop, which gives me more time to do what I love, to read and to review books! A few of my favorite authors are Aimee Bender, Diane Chamberlain, and Curtis Sittenfeld however, I will read almost any book I come across! In my spare time you can find me reading (of course), volunteering at a wildlife animal rehab, or hanging out with my three house rabbits.

Share Compass Book Ratings