Deep End

COVER REVEALL

So happy to read another Ali Hazelwood book! I enjoyed the mix between science and sport. Always appreciate the depth of the characters and their background stories!

This was my introduction to Ali Hazelwood and I have to say, I will be devouring anything she writes. I am a fan of dark romance but this was on the lighter end. I sat down and read this book in 1 sitting and do not regret it. Would highly recommend for someone looking to get out of a book slump, wanting to pause a multi book series and read a light-ish book (there are TWs), or someone who likes to see science terms in their romance.

I feel like review for this book is a review for a long way we and Ali Hazelwood made since The Love Hypothesis. Deep End is still funny, bright, romantic, with academic setting - all the things we have loved AHs books for from day 1, but everything feels more mature now: characters have more dimensions, love story takes more time to develop (though he still falls first for some unknown to me reason. It is not even a spoiler, fight me), and the story itself now has more depth (pun intended).

I realy enjoyed following the Scarlet`s personal, proffesional and academic journey, watching her deal with strugles, overcome trauma, and navigate quite kinky relationship (PSA: book is very spicy). She is not a charachter from a comedy film - goofy, clumsy girl, who needs a man in her life. No, she is strong, powerful, and smart, and she actualy puts a lot of effort in her vell-deserved sucsses.

Another win is that MMC - Lukas - is not her saviour, like it was in first 2 or 3 books, where MFC struggled until she met him. He does not save Scarlet but rather supports her in her healing journey and I swear it makes him even hotter. Of course, he is tall, fit, smart, but AH gives him personality beyond being the best in everything, brooding and obsessed with a girl, which means we can enjoy him outside of spice sceens too.

Last but not least - Penelopy is not a good friend! I kinda understand the redemtion arc, but no! Being such a horrible friend to Scarlet after an important event and than saying Ops! Sorry, I was sad… is not okay. And thats not counting all the microagressions during their friendship. Scarlet is a better woman than me, I would have never talked to Pen again.

Long story short, I loved this book, loved much more that I expected! The story is not all sunshine, as it involves topics of trauma, healing from abuse, academic and athletic pressure for success, but it is still captivating and optimistic.

This book is the damn near epitome of “New Adult Contemporary.

I genuinely loved this book. I read it in one day, probably could have been quicker except I highlighted A LOT.

Overall, this was written beautifully. Specifically, how she approached fulfilling your partners sexual desires, acquiring and reassuring consent, meaningful discussions about specific boundaries, and how to have an overall healthy relationship with those elements. As a former D1 athlete, I think she captured the lifestyle surprisingly well. Their banter was so cute.

I was a bit skeptical about reading another one of her books. I read The Love Hypothesis, absolutely loved it but that was nearly 4 years ago. Back then, I read YA and used to like it, but it’s generally not my forte anymore. But this book exceeded expectation.

Honestly the only thing I really didn’t like about it, was switching it to third person POV in the epilogue. I liked it was Lukas, but I wish it had been first person POV.

Me ha encantando!!!! Ojalá hubiera sido un dual POV, pero aun así es un libro larguito (600 páginas) y me lo he leído en un día!!! La Ali no decepciona, y aunque a la gente no le convenza lo que está escribiendo... a mi me mola.

Me pone nerviosa. Y me pone a secas, pero prefiero no hablar de eso.

Literatura 🚬🚬🚬

Interesting

Oh, interesting. This is by far Hazelwood's kinkiest, and I liked the collegiate/Olympic athletic subplot. It's not as explicitly feminist as her STEMinist ones, but that's just an observation, not a criticism.

My entire review can be summed up with: *massive, whimsical sigh*

Really though, this was so wonderful. The chemistry between Scarlett and Lukas was incredible, I loved the mental health and trauma discussions, and most of all, this was perhaps the single best portrayal of kink discussion I've ever read. While I don't personally feel like this book was as explicit or kinky as I expected it to be based on the general reception (lol), there was SO much emphasis on consent, aftercare, and (best of all, imo) even delving into why submission is so comforting for a lot of people. I loved it so much. ♥️

Buddy read with Malli!

Thank you to the publisher and LibroFM for the gifted audiobook! All thoughts are honest and my own.

✨ Representation: casual queer rep (love interest and multiple side characters)

✨ Content warnings for: dom/sub dynamics, discussions of BDSM and consent, sports injuries, trauma, brief mentions of emotionally/verbally abusive parents, brief mentions of parent loss and grief, kink-shaming (challenged), anxiety

It was a good book but didn’t live up to all the hype. It ran on about 100 pages too long and I found Scarlett harder to like as the book progressed. The characters were well written with depth and it pulled you in. It was an enjoyable read that faded towards the end.