Book Review: When Through Deep Waters

Alicen McCaffrey finally has the life her mother always dreamed for her: beautiful home in Santa Monica, successful husband, adorable daughter. Then tragedy blows her carefully assembled facade to pieces. Worse yet--Alicen feels solely responsible. At rock bottom, she decides to accompany a childhood friend back to Red Lodge, Montana, where they spent summers together as kids.

The peaceful mountain landscape, accented with lush forests and small-town charm, brings back happy memories of time spent with her beloved, eccentric Grandma Josephine. Alicen begins to hope that perhaps things could be different here. Perhaps the oppressive guilt will lift--if only for a moment.

But when Alicen starts hearing voices and seeing mysterious figures near the river in the woods, she begins to fear she's completely lost her sanity, as it's rumored her grandmother did. Or might there be more to Red Lodge than meets the eye? Could the voices and visions be real--and her only means of finding the healing she so desperately needs? Or will they prove to be her final undoing?

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Sometimes you pick up a book and you have no idea if it's going to be a good fit for you or not. That's part of the reason why I write up book reviews. I want to help others find books that they're going to love.

The Good:

Ms. Dekker writes amazing lead characters. She does such a wonderful job of sharing Alicen's grief and the dive into depression. I could relate to Alicen and the struggles that she had after watching her "perfect" life fall to pieces. I felt as if I were walking right alongside her as she struggled. This was made easier by the wonderful job that the author does at setting the scene. I could see the woods, the small bookstore, the house, and all of the places that Alicen finds herself. 

The Bad:

This book is completely labeled as the wrong genre. It isn't really a mystery or a thriller. I would have tucked it more under paranormal fiction, if anything. Also, while it didn't bother me, some may be bothered by the theme of self-forgiveness due to their beliefs that only God can truly forgive. Like I said, this wasn't an issue for me but I wanted to give y'all a heads up in case that sort of thing may be an issue for you.

The Summary:

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The fact that it was listed as a thriller worried me but as I said above, it really isn't a thriller. It's really a book about finding yourself again after the world has taken your light away. For me, I am very glad that I took a chance and picked up this book. I hope you will too.

I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments, and opinions are my own.

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