Review: Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

Published June 6, 2017, by Knopf Books for Young Readers.

YA > Contemporary, Romance

Years ago, Rachel had a crush on Henry Jones. The day before she moved away, she tucked a love letter into his favorite book in his family’s bookshop. She waited. But Henry never came.

Now Rachel has returned to the city—and to the bookshop—to work alongside the boy she’d rather not see, if at all possible, for the rest of her life. But Rachel needs the distraction. Her brother drowned months ago, and she can’t feel anything anymore.

As Henry and Rachel work side by side—surrounded by books, watching love stories unfold, exchanging letters between the pages—they find hope in each other. Because life may be uncontrollable, even unbearable sometimes. But it’s possible that words, and love, and second chances are enough.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me an ARC for review!

A book about books and the people that love them? Um, yes please.

I hadn’t heard about this one until it arrived in my mailbox, but let me tell you, I’m so so thrilled that it did. From the moment I saw the cover, then read the description, I’d been itching to pick it up and devour it. And devour it, I did! I whizzed through this in one sitting, enjoying every page.

I loved how we got to read from not only Rachel and Henry’s points of view, but also from snippets of conversations happening in letters from the Letter Library. The Letter Library itself is a novelty that I fell in love with altogether. The idea of people writing to others through the pages of their favorite books is so romantic.

What I loved so much were the many different stories that were intertwining. There was Rachel and Henry’s individual lives and struggles, their relationship with each other, but also Henry’s parents’ relationship, Rachel’s brother who passed away, and Henry’s sister. All happening with the backdrop of the bookshop. The puzzle pieces of each story slowly fall together, and into place.

Cath Crowley’s writing is beautiful, as is the story she’s crafted. This is a must-read for book-lovers!