Hello friends, happy Friday! I hope you all had a wonderful week! Today I’m posting my review of Cath Crowley’s novel Words in Deep Blue.

Words in Deep Blue by: Cath Crowley: Rachel and Henry used to be best friends, but the day before she’s set to move she writes him a love note. When he never mentions it, she assumes he doesn’t love her back and she begins to pull away. It’s been three years, and after a terrible accident, Rachel finds herself back in her old town. Trying to avoid Henry becomes a problem when her new job is working in his family’s bookshop before it closes. They are now in forced proximity and can either hate each other or learn to become friends again. This novel was filled with deep grief, loss and sadness. Despite the somber plots and storylines, this was still such a beautiful novel. It was really the writing that shined in this, it was so well done; the author had this deep rooted understanding of grief and was able to put into words what it truly means to lose someone or something really close or important. Aside from the grief plot, there was also a really substantial friendship plot that was developed well and brought out the true meaning of friendship, before adding a romantic layer on top. The friendships in this novel weren’t afraid to be messy or to go places that people are afraid to go; this dared to be different and to really look at the way we treat our friends. The way these plots also weaved in and out of each other was done with such balance and care, kind of like a dance. This novel also drew heavily on other books, a bookshop, book quotes and letter writing which gave this an even deeper layer to how good Crowley’s writing is, but also to her characters. These characters were so flawed, so imperfect that that’s what made them so relatable and genuine. The reader found themselves rooting for the characters, even when they were being annoying or not their best self, because they had all this baggage to them that they had to work out and deal with. Watching them grow and learn to be better versions of themselves and knowing healing takes time was beautiful to read. This was such a heartfelt story with many life lessons to take away, it was also an added bonus to read a book that dealt with books.