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The Shea Ernshaw Bindup: The Wicked Deep; Winterwood
From New York Times bestselling author Shea Ernshaw comes two enchanting romances, “wickedly chilling” ( School Library Journal ) The Wicked Deep and “spellbinding” (Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series) Winterwood , in one magical volume.
In The Wicked Deep , two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery in the small coastal town of Sparrow, Oregon. Stones were tied to their ankles, and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding town. Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under.
Out beyond the bay, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot tries to warn Bo Carter, a boy looking for work and a place to stay, unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into. But like many outsiders, he doesn’t truly believe there is danger hidden beneath the waves. Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets as townspeople turn against one another, Penny and Bo suspect the other of hiding secrets, and death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters. Penny will be forced to save Bo, or save herself.
In Winterwood , you must be careful of the dark, dark forest… Some say the woods surrounding the town of Fir Haven are magical—haunted, even. Rumored to be a witch, Nora Walker knows the she and the Walker women before her have always shared a special connection with the woods. And this legacy leads Nora to Oliver Huntsman—who disappeared from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago in the middle of the worst snowstorm in years. He should be dead, but here he is alive, and left in the woods with no memory of the time he’d been missing.
Nora can feel an uneasy shift in the woods at Oliver’s presence. And she realizes she has no choice but to unearth the truth behind how the boy she has come to care so deeply about survived his time in the forest, and what led him there in the first place. What Nora doesn’t know, though, is that Oliver has secrets of his own—secrets he’ll do anything to keep buried, because as it turns out, he wasn’t the only one to have gone missing on that fateful night all those weeks ago.
In The Wicked Deep , two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery in the small coastal town of Sparrow, Oregon. Stones were tied to their ankles, and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding town. Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under.
Out beyond the bay, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot tries to warn Bo Carter, a boy looking for work and a place to stay, unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into. But like many outsiders, he doesn’t truly believe there is danger hidden beneath the waves. Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets as townspeople turn against one another, Penny and Bo suspect the other of hiding secrets, and death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters. Penny will be forced to save Bo, or save herself.
In Winterwood , you must be careful of the dark, dark forest… Some say the woods surrounding the town of Fir Haven are magical—haunted, even. Rumored to be a witch, Nora Walker knows the she and the Walker women before her have always shared a special connection with the woods. And this legacy leads Nora to Oliver Huntsman—who disappeared from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago in the middle of the worst snowstorm in years. He should be dead, but here he is alive, and left in the woods with no memory of the time he’d been missing.
Nora can feel an uneasy shift in the woods at Oliver’s presence. And she realizes she has no choice but to unearth the truth behind how the boy she has come to care so deeply about survived his time in the forest, and what led him there in the first place. What Nora doesn’t know, though, is that Oliver has secrets of his own—secrets he’ll do anything to keep buried, because as it turns out, he wasn’t the only one to have gone missing on that fateful night all those weeks ago.
- GenresFantasy
656 pages, Paperback
Published November 29, 2022
25 people are currently reading
540 people want to read
About the author
Shea Ernshaw
11 books5,487 followersShea Ernshaw is the #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Indie Bestselling author of THE WICKED DEEP, WINTERWOOD, A WILDERNESS OF STARS, LONG LIVE THE PUMPKIN QUEEN, and A HISTORY OF WILD PLACES. Her novels have repeatedly been chosen as Indie Next Picks and A HISTORY OF WILD PLACES was a Book of the Month selection. She is also the winner of the Oregon Book Award.
She often writes late, late, late into the night, enjoys dark woods, scary stories and moonlight on lakes.
You can connect with her here:
www.sheaernshaw.com.
www.instagram.com/sheaernshaw/
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 16, 2024
trigger warning wicked deep
trigger warning winterwood
Two books about teenagers dealing with witches in some way, one set in summer, one in winter.
Wicked Deep:
200 years ago, three sisters were accused of being witches and drowned in the bay. Since then, every year, they have been possessing girls and used them to lure boys to their deaths as revenge. Normally, our protagonist tries to stay out of it, but this year, she meets an outsider who needs to be warned.
Kind of predictable but great atmosphere. If you can read a book just for the vibes, you might like this.
Winterwood:
In the mountains there is a village so remote that cellphones won't work and it is not unusual that the people in there are cut off completely from the world by snowfalls. This year, it happens again, and two boys from a camp for delinquent youth go missing.
Maybe witchy powers can help.
Did struggle with this. It did not get a nice atmosphere going and without that, I do not appear to be interested in the author's work. Not only was it repetitive and boring, there was a clear lack of dealing with the situation. If you live in such a remote location and deal with such extreme weather, I expect some depiction of everyday life going on while strange events happen. We have a witch with special knowledge, but her superpower appears to be the lack of need to eat. There is a tea mentioned, once. There is always enough wood available without anyone needing to go outside and grab it. There are marks in the snow left by boots, but nobody ever struggles walking on the surface of fresh snow that froze over in the night. It felt like the author only cherry picked aspects of life there, and ignored the rest, which annoyed me. A lot.
Probably won't read further books by the author.
trigger warning winterwood
Two books about teenagers dealing with witches in some way, one set in summer, one in winter.
Wicked Deep:
200 years ago, three sisters were accused of being witches and drowned in the bay. Since then, every year, they have been possessing girls and used them to lure boys to their deaths as revenge. Normally, our protagonist tries to stay out of it, but this year, she meets an outsider who needs to be warned.
Kind of predictable but great atmosphere. If you can read a book just for the vibes, you might like this.
Winterwood:
In the mountains there is a village so remote that cellphones won't work and it is not unusual that the people in there are cut off completely from the world by snowfalls. This year, it happens again, and two boys from a camp for delinquent youth go missing.
Maybe witchy powers can help.
Did struggle with this. It did not get a nice atmosphere going and without that, I do not appear to be interested in the author's work. Not only was it repetitive and boring, there was a clear lack of dealing with the situation. If you live in such a remote location and deal with such extreme weather, I expect some depiction of everyday life going on while strange events happen. We have a witch with special knowledge, but her superpower appears to be the lack of need to eat. There is a tea mentioned, once. There is always enough wood available without anyone needing to go outside and grab it. There are marks in the snow left by boots, but nobody ever struggles walking on the surface of fresh snow that froze over in the night. It felt like the author only cherry picked aspects of life there, and ignored the rest, which annoyed me. A lot.
Probably won't read further books by the author.
January 23, 2026
The Wicked Deep - 5/5 stars
Winterwood - 3/5 stars
Winterwood - 3/5 stars
September 20, 2025
Loved and was hooked during the first half but the twist snd the ending really lost me.. had a really hard time relating and liking the main characters.
March 21, 2023
As this is a bindup of two books, I'll give my reviews here.
The Wicked Deep was my favorite of the two. I loved the eerie seaside town of Sparrow and loved the story of the Swan Sisters. I devoured this half of the bindup and told everyone about it. 5 stars.
Winterwood was also a good read but I rated it a 4.5 only because I enjoyed The Wicked Deep slightly more. I saw a lot of myself in the main character, Nora, and loved her backstory. I love stories built in strong woman dispersed over generations.
As a whole, I'll give this bindup a solid 5. I'm glad I picked it up and am already adding more Shea Earnshaw to my TBR.
The Wicked Deep was my favorite of the two. I loved the eerie seaside town of Sparrow and loved the story of the Swan Sisters. I devoured this half of the bindup and told everyone about it. 5 stars.
Winterwood was also a good read but I rated it a 4.5 only because I enjoyed The Wicked Deep slightly more. I saw a lot of myself in the main character, Nora, and loved her backstory. I love stories built in strong woman dispersed over generations.
As a whole, I'll give this bindup a solid 5. I'm glad I picked it up and am already adding more Shea Earnshaw to my TBR.
June 14, 2025
The Wicked Deep: 4 ⭐️
Winterwood: 3.5 ⭐️
Winterwood: 3.5 ⭐️
April 8, 2023
The Wicked Deep: 3 Stars - This book is eerie, and a little bit creepy. Marguerite, and Aurora Swan were not very interesting to me. Their backstories fell flat and I honestly just didn't care about them one way or the other. I did enjoy the backstory of the character Hazel Swan. Her character came alive with in the pages of this book. I had expectations for her ending, not the choice she was determined to make or the one she chose. One that allowed her a different life, shall we say. One in her own body. The main issue I had was the town girls being possessed against their will. It just didn't set right when the sisters do things with their host’s body without their consent. It was so strange. I did find this book a compelling read and even though it didn't end the way I had hoped, I am really glad I got to read it.
The Winterwood: 2 Stars - This book dragged on, the characters were all one dimensional, and I was so very bored.
The Winterwood: 2 Stars - This book dragged on, the characters were all one dimensional, and I was so very bored.
June 4, 2023
⭐️⭐️/5
I’m not really a YA book fan but I decided to pick this one up because the cover intrigued me, and because it was two stories in one book.🤷🏻♀️ The Wicked Deep was the first story and it was about these angry ghost women that lured men into the depths of the ocean and drowned them. It was a pretty good story and had a really good plot twist but you could definitely tell it was YA. The second story was called Winterwood and it was actually about witches, and these scary woods, and ghosts. Honestly I wasn’t a fan of that one and I almost DNFed it. Again I was fed up with the YA aspect of it and it was extremely cheesy at times.😂 Also the story just lost me at some point and I really really got bored with it. This was definitely a different read for me and I was hoping it would bring me out of the slump I’m in but it just made it worse. ☹️
I’m not really a YA book fan but I decided to pick this one up because the cover intrigued me, and because it was two stories in one book.🤷🏻♀️ The Wicked Deep was the first story and it was about these angry ghost women that lured men into the depths of the ocean and drowned them. It was a pretty good story and had a really good plot twist but you could definitely tell it was YA. The second story was called Winterwood and it was actually about witches, and these scary woods, and ghosts. Honestly I wasn’t a fan of that one and I almost DNFed it. Again I was fed up with the YA aspect of it and it was extremely cheesy at times.😂 Also the story just lost me at some point and I really really got bored with it. This was definitely a different read for me and I was hoping it would bring me out of the slump I’m in but it just made it worse. ☹️
July 6, 2023
The Wicked Deep: I liked the thought of this story but it was soooooo slow. It took awhile to get into. I did appreciate the twist towards the end. I did not see that coming. Overall decent read but not my favorite.
Winterwood: This book was like the other one. Slow to start & it took forever to get through. I will say I did not see Oliver being the dead one. Or her being able to go back to stop him drowning. That was a nice twist.
Winterwood: This book was like the other one. Slow to start & it took forever to get through. I will say I did not see Oliver being the dead one. Or her being able to go back to stop him drowning. That was a nice twist.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2023
This was an entertaining (two book) YA compilation about witches and the stereotypical things that happen to them. The fantastical parts were good and kept me reading without being the same witch story told over and over (and I liked that book two references the town from book one (even though they are not related stories.)
November 3, 2025
3.5⭐
The wicked deep: me gustó, el final fue lo que más me gustó sin embargo los personajes me parecieron no ser lo mejor del mundo. 4.5⭐
Winterwood: este me gustó un poco menos que The wicked deep, sin embargo puedo decir que no está mal, pero el final en cambio no me fascinó. 3⭐
The wicked deep: me gustó, el final fue lo que más me gustó sin embargo los personajes me parecieron no ser lo mejor del mundo. 4.5⭐
Winterwood: este me gustó un poco menos que The wicked deep, sin embargo puedo decir que no está mal, pero el final en cambio no me fascinó. 3⭐
January 26, 2023
Es un libro que esta bien si medio me gusto no era para mi pero aprendí mucho y si me gusto
October 24, 2024
I knew it.
May 2, 2025
2.5 stars
ok so I read the Wicked Deep a while ago and liked that but i don’t really remember it. i just finished Winterwood, and I didn’t like that. felt like a chore to read.
ok so I read the Wicked Deep a while ago and liked that but i don’t really remember it. i just finished Winterwood, and I didn’t like that. felt like a chore to read.
December 5, 2025
read " la maledizione delle sorelle Swan" italian version of "The Wicked Deep"
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews