My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Dark and Shallow Lies

Author: Ginny Myers Sain

Format: eBook (own)

Pages: 432

Publication Date: 8/31/21

Publisher: Razorbill

Categories: Paranormal, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Romance, Young Adult

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.

Content Warning: Death, Abuse, Murder

My favorite thing about this book is the setting of La Cachette, a very small town in Louisiana filled with people who have different psychic powers. I love seeing the cultures that thrive in Louisiana, from Creole to Cajun and everything else in the mix. The author immerses us in the language, food and the way of life in La Cachette. One year ten babies were born, they were known as the Summer Children. All of them, except Grey, it seems, has some powers whether it’s hearing spirits, or being an empath. But there are dark secrets in this murky town and it’s a race to uncovering them with a storm bearing down on them. When Grey’s best friend, and twin flame, Elora is lost and most likely dead, Grey needs closure to find out what happens but she uncovers a lot more than she was expecting.

The tone of this book never loses its mysteriousness. I was immersed in the humidity and dark waters of La Cachette! I could only imagine living in a place where I’m running barefoot in the mud, and the humidity is nasty along with the mosquito bites. I already live on a tropical island and I thank God when there are trade winds blowing! But the setting is perfect for a story like this. I found the people with psychic abilities fascinating and once again, the setting of Louisiana is the prime place for a story like this.

I had my suspicions of who could have killed Elora, and what one of the secrets could be and I was right. The secrets revealed are pretty shocking and uncomfortable – ooo those small town secrets! I thought it was funny how no matter how creepy the scenes are Grey kept going outside at night! lol…like what is she thinking?! I get she felt safe in her small town but with the rougarou (werewolf) stories and that Dempsey Fontenot creepy song and urban legend about him – I’d be freaking out going out in the dark, especially with gators around and snakes, plus maybe a killer on the loose.

It seems like not a lot happens in the story though. Grey is trying to find out what happens to her best friend but the weeks go by with her not finding out much at all. You would think a town full of psychics and such would be helpful, even Grey’s powers as they manifest would have been helpful if she could understand it. But they don’t help a lick except for keeping town secrets apparently.

Why you should read it:

• fantastic setting and atmosphere – felt like I was in La Cachette, Louisiana being eating up by mosquitos l
• the psychic abilities by most of the town was fascinating
• you like little towns with dark, dark secrets – creepy

Why you might not want to read it:

• there is a lull in the middle of the story
• some uncomfortable topics, dark read

My Thoughts:

I absolutely enjoyed the setting in this one: Louisiana mud, rivers, getting around on boats, dark nights, fireflies, muddy feet and mosquitos, humidity, psychics, and a hurricane. As for the characters, most of them were interesting but not a lot happens in the middle of the story, fortunately the story does end with a bang. For the most part I enjoyed this one and I hope to read more from this author.

📚 ~ Yolanda

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Quotes From the Book

It may not be what you were expecting, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t what you need.”

Ginny Myers Sain – “Dark and Shallow Waters”

Knowing is hard…but it’s a thing you can survive. The not knowing will kill you in the end. It’s the secrets that fester.”

Ginny Myers Sain – “Dark and Shallow Waters”

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

Ginny Myers Sain – “Dark and Shallow Waters”