Level: Young Adult
Recommended Age: 16+
Genres: Paranormal, Romance
Tags: Ghosts, Sisters, Sirens
Mature Content:

  - Mature language: some swearing, including multiple F bombs.

  - Moderate sexuality: detailed kissing scenes and allusions to sex and sexual manipulation.

  - Moderate violence: descriptions of murder and drowning.

Ever since the three Swan sisters were drowned as witches two hundred years ago, the seaside town of Sparrow is cursed. Each summer, three young girls are possessed by the Swan sisters to drown unsuspecting boys in the ocean. People flock to the small coastal town in Oregon for the spectacle every June but not everyone believes the legend, and not everyone makes it through the summer alive.

Penny knows the legend is true. She’s grown up on a small island off the coast of Sparrow her whole life, taking care of the lighthouse and watching boys drown every summer. But ever since her dad disappeared, Sparrow has felt less like home and more like a life sentence. And while Marguerite, Aurora, and Hazel Swan wish revenge on the Sparrow residents, Penny wishes only to escape. But then a boy wanders into town looking for work, and Penny hires him to take care of the lighthouse. Together, Penny and Bo try to solve the mystery of the legend, but while Bo wishes to destroy the siren sisters once and for all, Penny focuses on trying to free the girls from their watery curse.

Review:

The Wicked Deep combines a spooky legend with modern day superstition. Sparrow is haunted by its past and has paid for its crimes every summer for two hundred years, with girls accused of being possessed and boys lured into the ocean. It’s an interesting twist on the witch hunting culture that should have died out a long time ago, but somehow manages to pop up now and again.

Penny and Bo both seem exactly like the kind of people who would live on a freezing cold island with no internet. They’re resourceful and reserved, determined and difficult to dissuade. Penny is desperate to know what happened to her father, and resigned to taking care of her grieving mother. Bo is mourning his brother, and determined to find the murderer. They both have their fare share of secrets, and are slow to trust, but they learn to rely on each other as the sisters unleash their vengeance on Sparrow. With each death, the solstice grows closer, giving them less time to discover the secret to breaking this centuries old curse, and just enough time to fall in love.

The flashbacks to the Swan sisters show glimpses of their strong bond and magnetic charm as they relished their youth and beauty. Their love for each other is so much more present in the flashbacks, before two hundred years of killing changed them. Penny and the other Sparrow residents are raised on this inescapable curse, resigned to the consistent deaths each summer. But with Bo, Penny gains the hope she needs to put an end to the deadly tradition, no matter what it takes.

This story shows the beauty of finding hope in despair, and seeking redemption even if it seems impossible. There’s plenty of romance, not just in Penny’s life but in the sisters’ lives as well. The concept of love is explored through romance, showing how holding onto something or someone you love can keep you human, while letting go of your ability to love leaves you with less to live for. There are some questions of the morality of possession and how it affects consent, but the overall tone is reflective and beautifully alluring. It’s easy to envision the misty town, ruled by the ocean and its laws.