This book had much more mystery and depth to it than the blurb initially hinted at, but I found it hard to connect to the story.

I loved seeing Elsie learn how to dive, and seeing how she gradually learned to go deeper and explore further. The mechanics were interesting to hear, although I didn't really understand what was happening half the time. I loved that Elsie was so unique and individualistic, and how she really had her own personality.

I was less impressed by how a male lead seemed to take over a lot of the story. I will always appreciate a good romantic undertone to a story and this one definitely contributed to the plot development; however, I thought that since there was so much emphasis put on Elsie's relationship with said boy it in a way detracted from the problems she was working.

The eventual conclusion wasn't really satisfying to me in regards to Elsie's family. I felt like though the mysteries were solved and the secrets came out, they didn't really have any conclusive moment of moving forward. I had thought that Elsie might have had a few more psychological things going on, what with seeming to talk to Scott all the time, but none of this was really acknowledged.

This was a solid read, but I felt like there was something missing. Though I enjoyed Elsie, I couldn't get involved, and if not reading this to review, I probably would have put it down after a few chapters.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

CW: MC wants to learn free diving because she is wracked with guilt over the drowning of her brother when she was looking after him. Whilst not directly stated it seems like she wants to get lost in the depths of the ocean herself (she feels she deserves to die) ( )

The Main family, living in Fortrose on the Black Isle of Scotland, is a troubled family. Five years ago, Eddie Main drowned during a visit to the beach, and the family has been not dealing with it ever since.

Elsie, now sixteen, was Eddie's twin. Eddie, born second, was developmentally challenged due to difficulties during his birth. Elsie always felt responsible for him, and now feels responsible for his death.

Dillon, two years older, is the smart one, the one who aces everything at school--and also blames himself.

As for their parents, Celia and Collin, they're not in great shape, either, each in their different, troubled, and not very communicative ways.

They all have secrets.

But the art of not breathing is the art of free diving, and Elsie, whose twin drowned, who is forbidden to ever go in the water, meets a boy who will teach her to free dive. And long-buried memories start coming back, piece by painful piece.

This is a thoroughly engrossing book. We see the story through Elsie's eyes, and Elsie is a girl struggling to survive, discovering a new and joyful skill, and coping with emerging, terrifying memories. It's all beautifully handled, and along the way we learn with Elsie more and more about the full and complicated inner lives of her brother Dillon, their parents, and her new friend Tay and his cousin Danny, as well as the awful convergence of normal human errors and failures that led to a tragedy out of proportion to those individual failures.

A very readable and compelling book. Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

I liked this book. I have had a review copy of this book for about a year and a half and put it off after I started seeing mixed reviews. That was a mistake because this book worked really well for me. It is a rather short book but I think it moved fast for me because of how the story flowed. I just didn't want to quit turning pages once I reached a certain point in the story.

I was curious about the characters and their histories from the start of the book. The more that I read the more that I hooked. These characters have a lot of issues to deal with and I really wanted to see things work out for them. I am kind of surprised by how many tough topics found their way into this story but it worked.

This story follows Elsie. Elsie's twin brother, Eddie, died in a drowning accident 5 years earlier. Elsie and the rest of her family are just trying to keep moving forward but in many ways they are failing. Elsie's dad leaves for long periods of time and nobody knows where he is. Her mom drinks more than she should. Elsie isn't doing well in school and has no friends. Dillon seems to doing the best in the group but that's not really the case.

Elsie doesn't remember exactly what happened the day that Eddie died but she wants to remember. When she meets Tay and the other diving boys, she ends up learning to dive and finds that she feels closer to her lost brother under the water. She is remembering things and hopes to learn what happened just as her family is falling apart.

There were a few times in the story that I wanted to shake the characters for some of their actions but I always felt that what they did felt authentic. People don't always do what they should and as teenagers it can be even harder. While I didn't always like what the characters were doing, I understood why they made the choices that they did.

I would recommend this book to others. It was a book that had a really strong finish that made me feel for the characters. I am really a bit upset that I put this one off for as long as I did. I would definitely read more from Sarah Alexander in the future.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group - HMH Books for Young Readers via NetGalley. ( )

A coming of age and coming to terms with circumstances in life novel. Witty at times, heart wrenching at others, Alexander delivers a full bodied story with interesting elements that drives it along. The aspects of an sport and a mystery come together to tie up loose ends and give you a feeling of hope. Well done.
*I received an arc from NetGalley for an honest review ( )