Review – ‘Into the Deep’ by Lauryn April

I have been meaning to start doing reviews of fiction generally, and particularly of some of the outstanding Indie fiction, for some time.

I can’t think of a better way to begin than with Lauryn April’s ‘Into the Deep.’

Now, I admit that Lauryn April has become a cyber friend of mine – but she was unknown to me when I started to read this book, and I was impressed with it at once.

I have to admit something else; though not a young adult (and not even a young at heart adult) I have a weakness for a really well written YA story. There’s something that infuses them which is lacking in most adult fiction – exubriance, maybe? – certainly, optimism. Life is seen as a challenge, not an tragedy, and life is seen through the eyes of those who find it relatively new and exciting.

This starts off as interesting, and gets more and more so. The main character, Ivy, is at first under the influence of a superficial, vain set of girls who see themselves as ‘high flyers’ but gradually, her new abilities lead her not only to detect a deadly threat to her fellow students but also, that people are often very different from how they appear to be. This has happy and unhappy consequences for Ivy, who begins to question her old values.

In company with the School Bad Boy (colourfully and sensitively drawn) Ivy is forced to confront the dangers into which her new, extra sensory powers lead her.

I particularly like the conjoining of the psychological and the psychic in this book. The writing is lively, but there are serious points being made about teen culture. The two main characters stand out because they are learning to question the accepted values of their contemparies. They are lead into an uneasy partnership and a terrible sense of responsibility.

There are a lot of brilliant descriptive touches, so many that it is hard to pick one out, but my favourite is ‘the clouds looked like orange waves rolling in and crashing against the darkening sky’.

The characters are excellently drawn in this, the pace is well maintained throughout, the tone of realism is impressive, and the contrast between the normal school background of Ivy and her associates makes a telling contrast to her strange experiences.

This is the third YA I’ve really enjoyed of late, and I have to give it a five star rating.

You can get ‘Into the Deep’ on Amazon.com at
<a href="http://http://www.amazon.com/Into-the-Deep-ebook/dp/B008SG0ACQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363543859&sr=8-1&keywords=Into+the+Deep+Lauryn+April"

or at Amazon.co.uk on http://www.amazon.co.uk/Into-the-Deep-ebook/dp/B008SG0ACQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363544036&sr=8-1