Hi everyone and welcome to my tour stop for Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain hosted through TBR and Beyond Tours. I’m excited to share my full, spoiler-free review of the novel for my stop on the tour.
You can check out the full schedule for the tour here.
About the Book
Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers SainPublished by Razorbill on September 7, 2021
Pages: 432
Goodreads
A teen girl disappears from her small town deep in the bayou, where magic festers beneath the surface of the swamp like water rot, in this chilling debut supernatural thriller for fans of Natasha Preston, Karen McManus, and Rory Power.
La Cachette, Louisiana, is the worst place to be if you have something to hide.
This tiny town, where seventeen-year-old Grey spends her summers, is the self-proclaimed Psychic Capital of the World--and the place where Elora Pellerin, Grey's best friend, disappeared six months earlier.
Grey can't believe that Elora vanished into thin air any more than she can believe that nobody in a town full of psychics knows what happened. But as she digs into the night that Elora went missing, she begins to realize that everybody in town is hiding something - her grandmother Honey; her childhood crush Hart; and even her late mother, whose secrets continue to call to Grey from beyond the grave.
When a mysterious stranger emerges from the bayou - a stormy-eyed boy with links to Elora and the town's bloody history - Grey realizes that La Cachette's past is far more present and dangerous than she'd ever understood. Suddenly, she doesn't know who she can trust. In a town where secrets lurk just below the surface, and where a murderer is on the loose, nobody can be presumed innocent--and La Cachette's dark and shallow lies may just rip the town apart.
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About the Author
Ginny Myers Sain is the author of DARK AND SHALLOW LIES, her debut YA novel available 8-31-21 from Razorbill/Penguin. Although she comes from a long line of writers, her first love has always been the theatre. She has a degree in theatre and has spent most of her career teaching acting and directing plays and musicals. Ginny currently live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with her teenage son and a very cowardly doberman named Shipley. When she is not working in the theatre or writing, you’re likely to find her listening to true crime podcasts, taking pictures of alligators, eating tacos, or planning a trip to Walt Disney World.
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My Thoughts
Dark and Shallow Lies is a dark, lush ya mystery with fantastical elements that is perfect for those looking for a spooky read to cozy up with this Fall.
Grey or “Greycie” is our making character who is returning to her hometown of La Cachette, a small boardwalk community located in the Bayou of Louisiana, for the summer. La Cachette is known as “the psychic capital” of the world and is filled with fortune tellers, seers, and those willing to brew you an effective love potion.
This particular summer, Grey returns to La Cachette with a lot to work through. Her best friend and “twin” Elora has been missing for month and she is determined to find out what has happened to her.
While most of the story is told from Grey’s POV, her chapters are interspersed with snapshot of Elora’s experience the night she disappeared. As the story goes on, the reader is given just a slight clearer glimpse of what happened and we find out the truth as Grey unraveling it herself.
The author does an amazing job of creating a strong sense of place with plenty that goes bump in the night and the touches of magic that infuse the pages. It has been a long time since a novel has utterly transported me.
Sain packages important topics of individual and familial trauma, identity, and what it means to wrestle with grief and loss in her expertly crafted debut infused with just a touch of the supernatural.
Overall I gave Dark and Shallow Lies 5? and would recommend it to anyone looking for a solid novel to get them in the mood for the holiday season.
What About You?
Have you read Dark and Shallow Lies? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments!
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