11.17.2022

BOOK REVIEW: Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain


"It hits me hard how every single one of us—everyone in the whole wide world—is walking around with missing pieces."

Between the cozy yet eerie setting of the bayou of La Cachette, Louisiana, and the promise of both a slow burn and a town dubbed the Psychic Capital of the World, it was 100% impossible for me not to download Ginny Myers Sain's Dark and Shallow Lies when I spotted it on sale - and I don't regret it. At all. Y'all, this book was unputdownable. Like, I literally spent my entire weekend reading it. NGL, there was something about the overall story that left me feeling unfulfilled by the time I turned the last page; but the lyrical writing itself {reminiscent of Tucholke's Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and Garcia and Stohl's Beautiful Creatures} is simply stunning, and a reason to read from beginning to end.

Despite only residing in La Cachette during the summer, sixteen-year-old Grey {Greycie} has always been considered a full-fledged member of the Summer Children - a group of twin flames born within days or months of one another, many of whom harbor paranormal abilities running the gamut from empathic talents to psychic foresight. Though Grey has never come into abilities of her own, she has always had a twin flame in the form of Elora Pellerin.

Inseparable since birth, Grey and Elora shared the type of bond that made it nearly impossible to be far from one another for too long. Six months ago, however, that changed. Elora went missing without a trace. No suspects, no arrests, no sightings...no body. Somehow, in a sea of psychics, no one in La Cachette has a clue as to where Elora has gone - or why she disappeared to begin with. The one thing Grey is sure of, is that Elora, with no rhyme or reason, started pulling away from her the summer before she vanished. The other? Life hasn't been the same since she disappeared.

With her seventeenth birthday on the horizon, Grey, lost since Elora's disappearance, makes the decision to return to La Cachette for the summer. Surrounded by the rest of the Summer Children, including longtime crush {and Elora's stepbrother}, Hart, as well as her grandmother, Honey, Grey is hoping to find the strength to pick up the pieces of her once intact world; but things are different. While Grey finds the charmed community grieving for Elora, it's evident that something is being hidden. Grey is convinced that there is more to Elora's story, and resolves to uncover the truth - only to learn that it's not that simple. Though her abilities have always remained dormant, upon returning to La Cachette, Grey is convinced that she hears Elora whispering to her through the wind and trees - brief murmurings that connect her disappearance to the decade-old horrific murder of two Summer Children; as well as the untimely death of her own mother. Then there's the mysterious stranger with icy blue eyes who claims to have known Elora, and may possibly be Grey's key to unlocking her abilities once and for all.

When I say that this book surprised me, I am not lying. I absolutely could not tear my eyes away from the pages. The slow burn created by the descriptors was just incredible, and still come to mind at the most impromptu moments. That said, I can't say that I loved the characters - any of them {including Grey}; I was more mesmerized by the setting, and the overwhelming sadness found within the lyrical writing that was both haunting yet masterful. This is a story that is wrapped in such incredible atmosphere, that you feel transported directly into the pages. Truth be told, there was a bit more romance than I prefer; but it didn't make me love the story as a whole any less. Though not a sequel to this standalone, I am eager to experience Ginny Myers Sain's writing again, and am excited to get my hands on her latest, Secrets So Deep.


Star Rating: ***


xx
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1 comment

R's Rue said...

Adding to my list.

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