Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara

A resonant debut novel about retreating from the world after losing everything—and the connections that force you to rejoin it.
Since the night of the crash, Wren Wells has been running away. Though she lived through the accident that killed her boyfriend Patrick, the girl she used to be didn’t survive. Instead of heading off to college as planned, Wren retreats to her father’s studio in the far-north woods of Maine. Somewhere she can be alone.
Then she meets Cal Owen. Dealing with his own troubles, Cal’s hiding out too. When the chemistry between them threatens to pull Wren from her hard-won isolation, Wren has to choose: risk opening her broken heart to the world again, or join the ghosts who haunt her.

I hadn’t heard anything about this book before getting it in the mail. I have no idea why I hadn’t heard of it before. Lovely, Dark and Deep was sad and emotional, but also incredibly good. Amy McNamara didn’t just made the book about Wren going through the grieving process. She made it about the journeys of other characters and how they all interact with each other. Overall Lovely, Dark and Deep was a really good novel.

Wren was so well written. She was relatable, but still had her own story that made her unique. Her mom, though at times a little too protective, was extremely believable. Owen was interesting, and I really liked him. I specifically liked how he had his own ‘thing’ going on. His existence in the novel wasn’t to act as just a love interest. He had his individual personal struggles, which isn’t something you see in many YA novels.

From the very beginning, McNamara had me hooked on Wren’s story. I couldn’t stop reading. I aimed to read the first 100 pages, and when I looked up from the book it was 3 hours later and I had finished reading. Lovely, Dark and Deep is a really original story, and is difficult to put down. The characters are all amazing. The writing is lyrical, but not in a way that distracts from the story. Amy McNamara is a debut author to watch.

FTC- Review copy received via publisher.