I found myself in a bit of a reading slump lately. A weird reading slump. The kind of slump where there are dozens of books I want to read, but when I pick them up to begin, I can't get past the first few pages.
So frustrating...
I think the problem was I was picking up the same type of book over and over again. I needed something different.
So I picked up...
Now, I am a sucker for almost any type of ocean survival story. I love movies like Jaws, The Meg, Underwater, Open Water, The Shallows... You get the idea. So when I came across Watt Key's Deep Water, I thought I would give it a shot.
The story begins when 12 year old Julie Sims goes out with her somewhat irresponsible father to charter a spearfishing dive in the Gulf with a wealthy businessman and his son, Shane. When her father becomes ill, Julie faces the decision of having to guide the dive herself, or risk her father losing the much needed money from this charter.
Seeing no other option, Julie descends the 105 feet to the ocean floor with two reckless divers in unsavory dive conditions. Things quickly go from bad to worse, and the trio finds themselves in a life or death survival situation as they battle sharks, withstand lightning storms, and fight off dehydration. Julie has to use every bit of her knowledge about the ocean and survival techniques to get them out of Deep Water alive.
I felt something rough brush against my leg. I yelped and jerked it away instinctively.
"What?" Shane asked.
Before I even lowered my head, I knew. Underneath me I saw the sleek
gray body gliding below.
While the main character, Julie Sims, is 12 years of age, a little younger than the MCs of most of the books I read, her characterization and maturity in the face of a life-threatening situations made her seem much older. Thus, it was easy for me to connect with her as a character.
I really enjoyed the pacing of the story. I think it would be easy for a survival story set in the middle of the ocean to become boring because so much of surviving in the ocean is just not dying. There is not a lot Julie, Shane, or his father can do except stay alive and hope that help arrives. To break up the monotony of their ocean survival situation, Julie's survival story is interspersed with flashbacks of her life that help explain how she got into this situation in the first place.
Fun Fact: This story is also somewhat based on a real-life experience the author had when he and a friend went scuba-diving. He didn't have near as many obstacles to face as Julie, though.
I flew through the story in just two days and I found it to be a highly enjoyable survival story that kept me guessing about the outcome. My only regret is that I felt like the friendship between Shane and Julie could have been a little more developed. If you think you are going to die, you don't really need to keep all your fears, hopes and dreams to yourself. While Key did work this into the story to some extent, I feel like he could have taken it a little farther.
Overall, if you are looking for an engaging survival story with interesting characters and plenty of suspense to keep you turning the pages, then be sure to pick up a copy of Deep Water by Watt Key.
"When do we give up, Julie?" he said.
"I don't know," I said. "Maybe you can't even if you want to."
HAPPY READING!
