In Deep by Terra Elan McVoy

Jun 25, 2014 Debbie rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014, arc, i-would-punch-this-book-if-i-could, skipped-some-pages, beware-bad-rating, i-don-t-even-know, i-saw-that-coming, contemporary-challenge-2014, disappointments, netgalley-edelweiss

I've been on the swim team. My school is the official swimming pool in Toronto so I know how insane it can get with everyone needing to win and swim and shit like that. In Deep had me excited. I rarely read books about swimming and whenever I do, I usually want it to be light and funny but with McVoy, I expected insanity, betrayal, love, and above all, victory. Can you believe what I got?

Crap. If anything at all. There are contrived and stupid moments between Brynn and Gavin. Same with the b

I've been on the swim team. My school is the official swimming pool in Toronto so I know how insane it can get with everyone needing to win and swim and shit like that. In Deep had me excited. I rarely read books about swimming and whenever I do, I usually want it to be light and funny but with McVoy, I expected insanity, betrayal, love, and above all, victory. Can you believe what I got?

Crap. If anything at all. There are contrived and stupid moments between Brynn and Gavin. Same with the betrayal between Brynn and Grier. All of it is fake and forced and stupid. Almost none of it makes sense and it tries so hard to be bold and thoughtful. Unfortunately it's not.

The beginning of the story is just one huge info-dump about useless crap. Brynn only cares about swimming but Terra McVoy doesn't explain her swimming or how she pushes off the wall, how she pushes herself further and all that stuff that would come along with something so meaningful. Instead, it's all, "Van made us do 4 250 of free, freestyle, breast, and butterfly. I did them all really well, I'm the best." It doesn't say or explain how she felt about it. Readers are forced to assume that she loves swimming with all of her life even though it feels fake. The characters are also underdeveloped and very forgettable. I didn't care about any of them, especially for their relationships between one another. With Brynn and Grier, their friendship is so fake, they have close to nothing in common except for swimming which Grier isn't even that thrilled about. And as far as the relationship between Brynn and Gavin goes...

It's worse than two toddlers playing house for the first time. Nothing. It might be the worst romantic relationship I have ever read about. Not only are they shoved together with nothing in common except swimming, but it's done in a way that makes me feel absolutely nothing for them. They suck, their affair sucks, and their emotionless behaviours suck even more.

In Deep is a poorly written novel with close to nothing properly explained, weak characters and even weaker relationships. I don't recommend this book to anyone because it's too awful with no redeeming qualities. ...more

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Feb 01, 2014 Estelle rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2014-new-releases, young-adult, arc

Between 4-4.5 stars.

Review originally posted on Rather Be Reading Blog

A theme in many of more effective books I’ve read this year lately is complicated main characters. I like to remind myself that I am never going to agree with or understand why any one person does something. Not even some super close to me. That’s just about how I felt about Brynn, a supporting character from Terra McVoy’s 2011 novel, The Summer of First and Lasts, who steps to the forefront in the addicting and complex In Dee Between 4-4.5 stars.

Review originally posted on Rather Be Reading Blog

A theme in many of more effective books I’ve read this year lately is complicated main characters. I like to remind myself that I am never going to agree with or understand why any one person does something. Not even some super close to me. That’s just about how I felt about Brynn, a supporting character from Terra McVoy’s 2011 novel, The Summer of First and Lasts, who steps to the forefront in the addicting and complex In Deep. (Note: I didn’t much remember Brynn from an earlier reading of TSOFAL but, FYI, In Deep takes place before it.)

Brynn is a risk taker. She loves to egg on her best friend, Grier, and, in turn, loves to do stupid shit herself. She basically fills up her time with anything she can before returning to the place she feels the best — in the pool — working to perfect for times and feel like a winner. With her dad suddenly dying a few years ago and her unhappiness with how her mom handled the entire situation, she has basically shut everyone out. Sure, she says hi and bye and allows herself to play silly games with her stepdad in the car but, despite the title, it doesn’t go deeper than that.

It’s hard for me to explain why Brynn acted the way she did. Was she jealous when Grier met a new guy and completely ditched her? Why couldn’t she let Charlie be good to her and accept that he wanted more from her than just sex? All of this work focusing on swimming, not caring about schoolwork, not being honest with Grier — it was all bound to come to explode at some point, right? I mean, that’s the thing. In Deep felt like a ticking time bomb. I was on the edge of my seat wondering what all of this debauchery was leading up to, but, at the same time, completely charmed by Brynn sometimes too. Like the way she dispensed useful advice to her school friend, Kate. Or how admirable her work ethic was when it came to swimming.

But that’s the thing. Our life can’t be just one thing. No matter how good it makes us feel, balance is key to our well-being. I worried that Brynn was filling up her time with some very damaging habits because she was hiding from her mom, hiding from the death of her father, and never truly dealing with any of it. Just like McVoy did with Criminal, she completely immersed me in a world that felt dangerous: emotionally and physically. But there were also so many layers to Brynn’s behaviors and routines, so many shades of gray, that I found myself wanting so badly to be able to discuss all my thoughts with someone. My mind was all over the place — in a good way.

I love to be challenged in my reading, and I’ve grown to love McVoy’s writing with every book I experience because not one of them is the same. She is constantly stretching my limits as a compassionate reader, and introducing me to characters and situations that make me consider possibilities in my reading I never have before. Sure, there is something to be said about knowing what to expect from an author, but being surprised and satisfied? There’s nothing like it.

In Deep is dark and messy; it’s a story about how we can abuse control and routine, using it to shield us from the moments that catch us off-guard and what we do to fill an impossible void. Terra Elan McVoy continues to deliver memorable, authentic characters (leading and supporting) and moments that cause you to question your own convictions and press pause on just about everything in life until you reach the last page. (And then you won’t be able to stop thinking about it so… it’s never ending — in a good way.) ...more

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Jan 10, 2014 Paige (Illegal in 3 Countries) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc

See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy was an ARC I received from the publisher via Edelweiss.

How do I begin to talk about In Deep? I've been trying to find words for ages now, but words still evade me for the most part. It's a mess of a novel about a mess of a girl and the mess of a situation she gets herself thrown into, but even though that sounds like a bad thing, it's an utterly readable novel at the same time.

Brynn is one of those characters who will make or break the book for yo See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy was an ARC I received from the publisher via Edelweiss.

How do I begin to talk about In Deep? I've been trying to find words for ages now, but words still evade me for the most part. It's a mess of a novel about a mess of a girl and the mess of a situation she gets herself thrown into, but even though that sounds like a bad thing, it's an utterly readable novel at the same time.

Brynn is one of those characters who will make or break the book for you, especially since her twisted mind is what drives the story. If you hate her and can't understand a thing she's doing, you're really going to hate this book as a whole. If you... Well, it's hard to predict how you'll feel if you like her because there's so little chance of that. She's a terrible girl who does awful things throughout the novel and it's hard to understand what's going on in her head and why she is the way she is. What kept me going was my desire to untangle this girl and see what made her tick, but you never fully figure it out. She's simply a girl who cares so much about swimming, getting a good college scholarship from that, and cruising through life that she ruins everything she has going for her.

Part of what makes her so impossible to figure out is that some of her issues are never addressed, like her tendency to use feminine slurs to insult something. When there's something people don't want to do, she tells them (or sometimes herself) to "stop being a pussy." This happens over and over again with no change. She's so determined to not take the blame for mistakes she is part of that she'll call other girls sluts and claim her best friend Grier made her have to prove to Grier that her boy toy is an awful person by making out with him.Then the one HUGE thing Brynn does to Grier could possibly ruin both her friend's life and the boy's, but she suffers no direct repercussions from it. There's some indirect stuff--lots of stress, the loss of her own boyfriend-kinda-guy (it's complicated--but nothing on the level she deserves for what she did. I just don't get Brynn!

In Deep is already a short novel, but it goes by even more quickly than it seems it would because of what Brynn's self-destructive choices are doing to her life. Reading this novel is a bit like watching a building fall apart or watching a tragedy in motion. You don't really want to see this happen, but it's so terrible that you can't peel your eyes away from it and can only watch it happen--and then you may see it happening over and over again in your head because you can't stop thinking about it.

Most of her other books sound very fluffy and sweet (with the exception of Criminal, her book before In Deep), so this apparent change in tone makes me curious about her other books. I own both Criminal and another one of her books called Being Friends With Boys and hope to read them soon thanks to my experience with In Deep. If you're looking for a train wreck novel or something that will baffle you, keep an eye on In Deep. ...more

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Jun 12, 2014 Sama Aziz rated it did not like it

This was a try hard. The characters were weak, and there was basically no plot. I was utterly disappointed because I've heard great things about this author. But no it was awful. Please don't read it. ...more

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Sep 29, 2013 Mike rated it liked it

Shelves: contemporary, reviewed, bad-books-have-good-covers, bad-ya, realistic-fiction, problem-novels, fist-person-present-tense, autographed-copy, lowercase-gimmick-reviews, addiction

Contemporary YA right now tends to be very big and introspective. To be fair, some of contemporary YA has been big ever since the 70s, when people realized that it could be used to Deal with Serious Issues, most commonly drug use and teen pregnancy. But alongside that, there’s always been a few lighter books, usually aimed at girls, that featured more mundane contemporary themes. Sweet Valley High is the most famous example I can think of off-hand. But ever since the 00s, that genre has been slo Contemporary YA right now tends to be very big and introspective. To be fair, some of contemporary YA has been big ever since the 70s, when people realized that it could be used to Deal with Serious Issues, most commonly drug use and teen pregnancy. But alongside that, there’s always been a few lighter books, usually aimed at girls, that featured more mundane contemporary themes. Sweet Valley High is the most famous example I can think of off-hand. But ever since the 00s, that genre has been slowly dying, until today, when lighter, fluffier books have only a very small hold on the YA market. In the age of John Green and Sarah Dessen, everything is big, dramatic, and emotional. That’s why Terra Elan McVoy is kind of an anomaly among all that. Her books don’t tend to be quite as trivial (or unrealistic) as Sweet Valley High, but they are very light and small compared to most contemporary YA today. And I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. Not everyone’s teen years are as dramatic as YA publishers would have you believe, and there’s nothing necessarily wrong with a more naturalistic approach.

At least, that’s what I thought until I read this book. It should be noted that this isn’t the first book by McVoy that I’ve disliked. I also wasn’t a big fan of The Summer of Firsts and Lasts, where my biggest problem was that the book was too light and fluffy for its own good. At McVoy’s best, in books like After the Kiss or Being Friends with Boys, she writes stories that feel very intimate and real, but are appropriately soft for the light tone that she goes for. Even in Criminal, by far the grittiest book McVoy has ever written, she knew exactly what she was going for: a realistic portrayal of what it’s actually like to be arrested and to go through a trial. It’s not nearly as light in tone as her other novels, yet it manages to have a fairly soft, mild impact - exactly what McVoy was going for, and exactly what fit the story. The fundamental problem with this book isn’t so much the problem I had with The Summer of Firsts and Lasts - I don’t think this is too fluffy and light for it’s own good, exactly. The problem is more that McVoy doesn’t know what she’s going for here. She doesn’t seem to have a coherent vision of the novel she wants to write.

This novel focuses on Brynn, a high school student who’s primary focus in life is competitive swimming. Throughout the novel, we slowly see how Brynn’s obsession with swimming harms her grades and her friendships. We also see drama involving Grier, and her competition with Brynn over a guy they’re both attracted to. (Brynn, it should be noted, has a boyfriend as this happens.) This could’ve easily made a great novel. But like Very LeFreak, another book about addiction, this book fails in what it chooses to focus on. For the first two thirds of the novel, the structure is practically incoherent. We get not only seemingly-unrelated sub-plots about Brynn’s addiction to swimming and her competition with Grier, we also see how she manipulates Kate into helping her with her grades, her increasingly empty relationship with Charlie, and a couple of other minor sub-plots. These sub-plots do start to come together towards the end of the book, but until then, there’s very little to link them together, plot-wise or tone-wise. The tone aspect is the part I’m most interested in, simply because McVoy is so different from other contemporary YA authors in her tone. The idea of a book about an addiction that becomes self-destructive suggests something intense and dramatic. But that tension and drama just isn’t present in the first two thirds of the book. In fact, if Brynn weren’t a different type of narrator than the ones McVoy usually writes, you could easily get this book mixed up with any other McVoy book. The tone is so light, it’s almost like McVoy isn’t aware of how weighty the premise of this book actually is. She seems to be trying to write something intense and dramatic, but she just doesn’t know how to break out of her usual M.O. Not only that, but the first two thirds of the novel just don’t work on a structural level. It’s difficult to tell what the overarching conflict is supposed to be, because of all the sub-plots cluttering the story. The result is constantly frustrating - I kept expecting something to come out as a thread to tie the book together, and it took far too long to happen.

That said, in the last third of the book, everything improves considerably. The sub-plots finally connect into something that feels coherent, as everything is linked back to Brynn’s addiction to swimming. The tone also becomes significantly less light during these sections, and it finally starts to feel like the book McVoy should’ve been writing from page one. It helps that, even in the less coherent sections of the book, Brynn is a remarkably interesting character. I’ve complained in the past that all of McVoy’s characters feel identical to me, but that’s definitely not the case here. I was right when I pinned Brynn as the most interesting aspect of The Summer of Firsts and Lasts when I first read that book. Her characterization could’ve been a little more subtle, but it’s nevertheless sharp and memorable. It reminds me a lot of a Laurie Halse Anderson book, in places. Her characterization is probably the biggest element that holds this book together. And in the final third of the story, it was nice to see her character arc come to a climax, even if that climax could’ve been set up better.

Brynn’s voice, however, was a source of a bit more contention from me. On one hand, McVoy does develop her voice quite well, better than any other protagonist she’s ever written. Her narration is memorable, often entertaining, and always realistic. But on the other hand, the prose in general is just not very well edited. There are a lot of blatantly awkward turns of phrase, a lot of basic word usage errors, a lot of little things that always took me out of the narrative. And it’s odd, because McVoy’s prose usually isn’t like this. I wouldn’t call her prose phenomenal or anything, but she certainly knows what she’s doing as a writer, and it’s unusual to see something this lazy from her. With some basic editing, Brynn’s voice could’ve been great. But as it stands, it was a bit of a weakness for me.

Really, that stands for a lot of this book. McVoy is approaching a decade of releasing a book every year, and on that kind of schedule, it’s understandable that the editing process might sometimes have to be rushed to meet deadlines. I don’t want to speculate too much, but I’m not the only one who’s caught onto the fact that this book seems a little less polished than normal for McVoy. It’s by far her least well-received book, even though it fits in better than most of her writing with what contemporary YA readers want right now. I wonder if that’s an indicator that with some more editing, this could have been a great - or at least a much better - novel. For the record, I don’t think this is McVoy’s worst book. It does have a significant amount to offer, which is more than I can say for The Summer of Firsts and Lasts and Drives Me Crazy (2015). But if you’re looking for a McVoy book, I’d recommend After the Kiss or Being Friends with Boys over this. And if you want a YA book about addiction, I’m honestly not sure if I can recommend a better one than this. I’ve read a few, but none of them have been any good - this is probably the best one. So I guess if that’s what you’re looking for, the search continues.

This review can also be found on my blog. ...more

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Mar 12, 2014 Sarah Elizabeth rated it liked it

Shelves: netgalley-edelweiss, love-triangle, as, r2r-complete, contemporary, young-adult, read-2014

2.5 stars
(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Simon Pulse and Edelweiss.)
16-year-old Brynn lives to swim, and she always wants to be the best.
When some new guys join her swimming practice, and her best friend immediately connects with one of them, Brynn isn’t sure how she feels about it, until the same guy then makes a pass at her.
Who will get the guy? And does Brynn really care about anything other than swimming?

This was an okay book, but ...more

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Jan 21, 2015 Marc Daniel rated it it was ok · review of another edition

In Deep by Terra Elan McVoy
genre: realistic fiction

I choose this book because it look kind of interesting.

The story is about this teen girl names Brynn. She obsessed with swimming and want her life to be related to swimming. She is some much into swimming that she gives up all stuff around her like: school, friendships... She puts herself in trouble a lot of times and everytime she just goes swimming to help her think about the situation and try to find a solution. She used to have a pretty nor ...more

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Jan 12, 2014 Reving rated it it was amazing

Review to come, but I gotta say, this author is just incredible. Every book so different, but every book so excellent. Wow.

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Oct 10, 2017 Hope rated it liked it

Shelves: sophomore-reading-challenge

I chose to read ¨In Deep,¨ by Terra McVoy because I think it is very relatable for a high school student. Especially student athletes. This book is also similar to one that I read, and liked, last summer. I knew that it would be a good book to get me back into the swing of reading. The story started off interesting right from the begining, and it was not a hard/ complex read.

The story is about a high school girl who is overcoming many problems in her life to achieve her goal. The main character I chose to read ¨In Deep,¨ by Terra McVoy because I think it is very relatable for a high school student. Especially student athletes. This book is also similar to one that I read, and liked, last summer. I knew that it would be a good book to get me back into the swing of reading. The story started off interesting right from the begining, and it was not a hard/ complex read.

The story is about a high school girl who is overcoming many problems in her life to achieve her goal. The main character, Brynn, is still getting over her dads death, while also trying to accept her new stepdad and clueless mom. On top of all that, she is also stuck in a love triangle with her best guy friend and a college boy from her swim team. Brynn is not going to let all of the things going on in her life impact what she does in the pool. Swimming is the only thing that brings pure joy into her life. She wants to get a scholarship to a college for swimming so badly, she does whatever it takes. She practices long hard hours and does everything she can to be the best swimmer possible. However, the stress from school, her social life, and her family starts to impact her. Brynn makes decisions that are hurtful to everyone around her, including herself.

The book did a really nice job explaining Brynns life, and it gave enough deatail to be able to understand her situation. I also loved how the story was very realistic. It felt like it could be happening to a person (or people) in my school. The author used the right mix of formal, and ¨highschool slang¨ to keep it realistic and interesting. I also liked how the book progressed. Each chapter something new was hapening in her life, and it made the book easy to read. After I finished one chapter I wanted to see what was going to happen in the next.

I did not like the ending of this book. Brynn made some very questionable decisions towards the end of the story, and she did not recieve the right consequences for them. It makes it seem like she got away with everything she did. The ending also left me with a lot of questions that I really wanted to know. Also, I did not like Brynn by the end of the book. She ends up being very stuck in her ways, and it is very annoying to the reader.

Overall, I think the author did a very good job writting a story that high schoolers can connect with. I reccomend this book for high school students looking for a light, but interesting read.

...more

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Mar 10, 2019 RachelL rated it it was amazing

I was looking for the second book in a series in my classroom, but someone already took it for the month. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to read when I remembered I saw an add on one of my social medias for this book. I'm very happy I came across this add and was able to find this book in my classroom library.

Brynn seems to have the perfect life as the book takes off . Her heart is devoted to swimming and hanging out with her best friend Grier. She pushes off her grades and only does I was looking for the second book in a series in my classroom, but someone already took it for the month. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to read when I remembered I saw an add on one of my social medias for this book. I'm very happy I came across this add and was able to find this book in my classroom library.

Brynn seems to have the perfect life as the book takes off . Her heart is devoted to swimming and hanging out with her best friend Grier. She pushes off her grades and only does work when she needs to pass the class. She has a boyfriend, Charlie who would do anything for her. And in return Brynn just hangs out with him after swim. As Brynn continues her daily routine her life changes. A new swimmer comes to the pool and he takes both Brynn and Grier's breath away. This sparks the very beginning of Brynn's competitive obsession. As Gavin and Grier start dating, Brynn becomes jealous. Grier slowly stops hanging out with her because she is spending more time with Gavin and this completely outrages Brynn. Until one day Gavin starts flirting with Brynn. Brynn starts to secretly like Gavin and sneak around without Grier knowing. But she could only keep a low profile for so long. Brynn and Gavin are caught kissing at the lake house party by Grier and this completely destroys their friendship. Grier then goes and tells Charlie all about what happened, completely destroying Charlie and Brynn's relationship. From then on, Brynn only cares about ruining Grier's reputation and winning states. She starts to spiral downhill and let's her competitive side take the best of her. She starts loosing sleep and ends up testing out one of her mother's pills from when Brynn's father passed away. She stops consuming a healthy amount of food and pushes herself over her limits. Before she knows it, its too late. She's in too deep at the meet that determines whether or not she goes to States. Brynn finds herself at a complete dead end and doesn't know how to fix it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I loved how Brynn's crazy and wild decisions created this story. The author did a great job creating new plot twists that I never saw coming. I loved how the author was able to incorporate the main character truly finding herself once again which created a great ending to the book.

What I didn't really like about this book was how Brynn's past was barely mentioned until the end of the story. I wish the author described her father and his impact on her life in the beginning instead of the end. Other then this small thing, I loved this book and I highly recommend it to others to read. ...more

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Dec 31, 2021 Squid rated it liked it

I hate the main character so much

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Jun 23, 2017 Books are TARDIS marked it as dnf · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, loaner-from-library

I'm way too old for this young 'uns teenage angst stuff. I'm out. ...more

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Jun 27, 2014 Beyond the Pages rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

In Deep was a colorful array of conflict, emotions, and discoveries. I loved it! From the characters to the peculiar relationships, it all worked.

This story had so many layers to it, and I completely got it. Here are my thoughts...

Brynn: The main character, Brynn, was a young girl who was seemingly functioning on automatic pilot after having suffered such a devastating loss. Her way of dealing with her grief was to turn off in terms of people and expectations and to turn on in terms of swimming In Deep was a colorful array of conflict, emotions, and discoveries. I loved it! From the characters to the peculiar relationships, it all worked.

This story had so many layers to it, and I completely got it. Here are my thoughts...

Brynn: The main character, Brynn, was a young girl who was seemingly functioning on automatic pilot after having suffered such a devastating loss. Her way of dealing with her grief was to turn off in terms of people and expectations and to turn on in terms of swimming. In the water was where she could find her rhythm. It's where she could get into her groove. It was where she didn't have to make sense to anyone. All she had to do was trust herself and hear her own voice. In the water was where she gained her strength and found her direction. With that said, although it was Brynn's place of refuge, it was also her place of avoidance.

Brynn's Mom and Stepdad: The relationship that Brynn had with her parents was interesting. The dynamics were clear cut but not. Throughout the majority of the book, it seemed that Brynn had more of a connection with the stepdad. He was certainly more involved than Brynn's mom. This stepdad-daughter relationship was especially noteworthy when you consider the fact that where she had "life" in this connection, she had "death" in the connection with her biological father.

Grier: All I could think about regarding this character was insecurity and low self esteem. This young lady was lost and searching. She craved attention and affection. Sadly, she mistook lust for love and got caught up. The whole way through this book, it was like she was seeking thrills. She needed so much to fill the void left by the emptiness at home.

Charlie and Kate: I adored these characters. In fact, I want more, more, more of them. They were innocent in many respects, and yet they still had a wise maturity. They were quirky and fearless (even though they were seemingly lacking in some ways).

Gavin: I have mixed feelings about this guy. He was hot, likable, spoiled, selfish, but charming too. I did not like him, but I still liked him. What he did was cruel. Messing with two friends like he did was not cool. He was into mind games. Player games. Stink--- games. He was intense. The passionate chemistry that drew Brynn and him together was insane. He was simply Gavin. Love him or hate him, this story needed him.

The Makeout, Breakup, and Final Scenes: Whoo hoo!!! Okay. Yep. I loved the fact that we gained a better perspective on Brynn. Her final lessons that she learned were valuable and quite meaningful. I was definitely able to see how she was maturing and being stretched.

Summary: Excellent book! I would not mind revisiting Brynn and her friends. Surely, there is more to come. I am unwaveringly all in! ...more

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Jun 16, 2014 ExLibris_Kate rated it really liked it

3.5 Stars

I have always been fascinated by high achieving athletes. The singular focus that they must have to reach the higher levels of performance is something that I just don’t have about anything in my life, and so I was interested to read In Deep because of that. Brynn is extremely focused on swimming. So much so, in fact, that everything else in her life is just noise. Everything she says, and each friendship she has, is a means to an end for Brynn. So, in that respect, she really doesn’t k 3.5 Stars

I have always been fascinated by high achieving athletes. The singular focus that they must have to reach the higher levels of performance is something that I just don’t have about anything in my life, and so I was interested to read In Deep because of that. Brynn is extremely focused on swimming. So much so, in fact, that everything else in her life is just noise. Everything she says, and each friendship she has, is a means to an end for Brynn. So, in that respect, she really doesn’t know how to have meaningful relationships because everything is secondary to her need to win. It became less about relationships and more about winning at relationships, which never turns out well. It was actually a breath of fresh air to read a book that focused on a relationship with an interest, in this case a sport, instead of a romantic relationship. The pain that Brynn felt about her life was muffled by her need to compete and win. Since her way of coping was a sport, I think that it was viewed by everyone in her life as being constructive rather than destructive.

As the book progresses, you see her need to complete for everything start to erode friendships and romantic relationships. More interesting was that the people in her life, up to a certain point, were easily dissuaded. As long as she was swimming and seemed somewhat normal, her mom , step dad, and friends, seemed to ignore or perhaps not notice how Brynn was sinking more and more into her obsessiveness. It struck me how easy it can be to fool people into thinking you are ok, whether you are a teen or an adult, and Brynn certainly had that down to an art form. Eventually, though, that becomes too hard to keep up, and when things fell apart, it was heartbreaking for everyone. The scenes with her mom were very emotional and well written, I thought. I have to say that I was a little sad that the ending was a bit rushed because I really wanted to see more of Brynn’s realization about her life and how she balanced it. The revelations came too easily, in my opinion. Despite that, I thought that In Deep was a very thoughtful examination of letting one thing, whether it’s a love interest, a hobby, or a sport, take over your life and obscure the people who truly make up your support system. ...more

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Oct 23, 2013 Andi (Andi's ABCs) rated it liked it

Shelves: kindle-archive, amazon-review, edelweiss

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 a 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. ...more

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Jun 29, 2014 ana rated it really liked it

*I received this as an ARC for an honest review*

3.5/5 stars*

In Deep by Terra Ellan McVoy was an enjoyable read. I really like how the main character Brynn was so devoted and focused on her swimming but I feel like her character and the other characters weren't very developed. They felt quite bland and I didn't really connect with any of them. Also, some of the events that happened in this book seemed a bit ridiculous and I really didnt like the relationship between Brynn and Grier. They claim to ...more

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Feb 22, 2015 Christine Osborne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

So, I don't usually read realistic fiction but I decided to give this one a try. Something about watching/reading about people swim, I love. The book was great though. The writing was very clear, crisp, and down to earth. I didn't expect what I got from this book but I like what I got. I love her mind, how she copes with things through her swimming and how she views people. I didn't expect the abundance of alcohol, drugs, and partying I got, but I didn't mind it too much. But not having read too ...more

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May 13, 2014 Linda (un)Conventional Bookworms rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, 2014-releases, contemporary, read-in-2014, edelweiss

*I received a free ARC of In Deep from Simon Pulse via Edelweiss in exchange of an honest review*

In Deep is a contemporary YA / NA novel in which the main character is a swimmer. The story itself is about friendships and betrayal, obsession with results and not really caring about school.

This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews ...more

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Mar 20, 2014 Fiorela rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya-fiction

The first part of the book is really boring but then it pick up a bit. Brynn is a very angry character, her life is consumed by swimming and it seems that she has a similar problem as her father did.
She has a poor relationship with everyone around her and after all is exposed she keeps being a selfish brat.

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Jan 31, 2014 Kim added it

Shelves: arc, edelweiss, young-adult, 0-dnf

I normally give a book 5 chapters to catch my attention. I gave this one 12 and no dice. I don't like the main character and I can't get into it.

Moving on. ...more

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Jan 11, 2015 Abbie rated it liked it

Shelves: abuse-and-psychological-issues, ebooks, contemporary, young-adult

I was waiting for something... but the book ultimately disappointed me.

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Jan 24, 2018 Hazel rated it it was ok

The book In Deep by Terra Elan Mcvoy is a more realistic fiction book. The book follows a high school girl named Brynn. Brynn has been working as hard as possible to become the best swimmer that she can be. In her mind nothing else matter, not school and definitely not her home life. Soon though Brynn realizes that she cant keep pushing herself. As she was trying to become a great swimmer, she lost her way and even eventually lost all the people that she cares about. She now has to question if s ...more

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May 25, 2020 Alivia rated it liked it

My school library gave me a free copy of this book a few years ago and I completely forgot about reading it until now, but because I'm stuck at home because of quarantine, I thought I'd pull it out and finally read it. This book was a pretty typical teenage drama/romance story. The characters were mainly two dimensional and the storyline was fairly uneventful and boring. Considering I didn't expect much from the book, it was decent enough, but for someone who's trying to expand their reading var ...more

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Mar 06, 2019 Brooke Nauman rated it liked it

In Deep by Terra Elan McVoy is a really good book about a girl that lives a normal life and is a swimmer. This book is just about her daily life as a student -athlete and how hard she works at swimming and becoming the best. I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend this his book to anyone that needs motivation.”How much are you willing to lose to win?” At the beginning you’re not always going to win, you’re going to lose first but if you keep working hard, the hard work will pa ...more

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Jan 25, 2019 Jade Ibarra rated it it was amazing

I think this is a great book because it has many different characteristics. it's just so many interesting things about this girls life when she is in high school. but I do not recommend for kids under 11 to read this book, because it has swearing and things that kids under that age are not mature yet to read from a book. But overall this is one of the best books that I have ever read when I first picked up the book I just couldn't stop reading it and now that it done I love it. ...more

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Dec 30, 2018 Elaine Smith rated it did not like it

I originally read this book before I let my daughter read it. I had so much trouble reading this book. It didn’t have a clear plot. The characters weren’t developed enough. And to many strings where left in tied. I wish we could have explored the character dynamics in a more realistic when rather then them be so mundane.

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Jan 18, 2018 Taylor rated it it was amazing

This has become one of my favorite books that I have read yet. I think it has the perfect mix between teen romance and hardships, and friendship. I also love the fact that swim is tied into the story, it made it very relatable to someone who may be interested in sports.

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Oct 27, 2018 Tantara Stevens rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Brynn reminded me of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye. Angry at the world and nothing that goes wrong in her life is her fault. She takes no responsibility for her actions and everyone is against her. Weak ending.

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Aug 28, 2017 Briana rated it it was amazing

I personally really enjoyed this book, and I thought the language was strong but other than that it was a great book I recommend, 5 stars

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Apr 22, 2018 Megan Johnston rated it liked it

Didn't love the book, but it was ok. Haven't had this experience on a swim team. Not ignorant that this happens but it didn't feel real to me. ...more

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