Blog Tour: Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley @CathCrowley

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.

Praise for Words in Deep Blue

“One of the loveliest, most exquisitely beautiful books I’ve read in a very long time. . . . I didn’t just read the pages, I lived in them.” —Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places

"Reading Words in Deep Blue feels a little bit like a slow dance, or falling in love, or swimming in the ocean on a rainy day. It's a stunning reminder of the power of words and books and stories that will leave your heart full and heavy and hungry for more. Cath Crowley is magic." — Krystal Sutherland, author of Our Chemical Hearts

"A big-hearted, stunner of a novel. Cath Crowley's gorgeous prose will make you both tear up and swoon. A beautifully honest meditation on grief and love.” —Jasmine Warga, author of My Heart and Other Black Holes

"Words In Deep Blue is beautifully written. Laced with humor and poignancy, tragedy and joy, this story will break your heart and then piece it back together." —Emma Mills, author of First & Then and This Adventure Ends

Brooke's Review:

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book to read and review for this blog tour. I really enjoyed it!

The premise of this book sucked me right in: People writing letters and words to each other in books in a book store. All sorts of letters and words to communicate and tell each other how they feel. I love the idea of using an author or poet's words and ideas to help express your own right there on the page where it happens.

I really grew to adore the main characters in this book. Rachel is withdrawn and depressed but comes out of her shell and realizes her need to face her sadness. Henry is has his head so tightly wrapped around the present he can't see what is so available for him in the future. Their worlds colliding, or coming back together as the case may be, is just what they both need. I love the friendship they have. How they can know so much of each other, understand so much of each other, even having had so many years apart.

Both characters experience loss, though in different ways. And both express their loss differently. But they still have this connection which brings them onto a similar path.

This is my first book by this author and I will say I really enjoyed her writing. It is easy to follow and flows well. The words help create a depth of emotion to each character which I really enjoyed. The story is told from both points of view, with snippets of letters thrown in between. This gives you not only information on the main characters but also on the side characters, which makes for an interesting twist. Crowley does use quite a bit of language in the book I would say makes this more of an upper YA novel than anything else. And there is talk of sex and drinking, so perhaps this one is meant for an older crowd of teens or even young adults. The characters are very well developed, interesting, and relatable.

But best of all, I love that this is a book about books. It makes it fun.

Definitely a must  for fans of Jennifer Niven, Jennifer E. Smith, or Stephanie Perkins.

Author of A Little Wanting Song (Chasing Charlie Duskin), Graffiti Moon and the Gracie series. Am living in Melbourne and writing my next book. You can also find me at:

http://www.cathcrowleyauthor.com