Deep and Dark and Dangerous

Genuinely one of the best books I read in my childhood. The impact it had on me is evident in who I am today. I read this book for the first time in late elementary school, but even before that I was so enamoured by the cover of the unknown girl deep in the lake. It frightened me but I wanted to know more.

This book is one of my first true memories of encountering horror in media. It intrigued me being such a morbid child. I always had questions about death and I had intense daydreams about how people in my family may pass one day and I wasn’t always sure how to grapple with these darker emotions.

Books like this one helped me explore those scarier topics in a healthy and safe way. I think it should be more normalized for children to be able to engage with horror media that is tailored for them, and allow them to be scared. The world is a scary place already and learning how to deal with these emotions and explore them can help them compartmentalize and understand things in away their brains can handle.

Sissy I truly believe is so well done. Despite being much older now, she still found a way to get under my skin in a way only younger siblings know how to do. Her antics upset me and I couldn’t stand her, but some how she is still one of my favorite characters. I didn’t remember much from this book before I reread it, but I remembered Sissy. She honestly never left my mind.

The way this book manages to make you hate her and feel so sorry for this young, lonely, and insecure girl all at once? It had me tearing up as an adult. The author does an amazing job with the dialogue especially between Sissy and the main character.

The scene between Ali and Sissy as they’re laying on Ali’s bed is one of the best scenes I have ever read and I mean that so seriously. There are so many emotions in the little words they speak to each other, I was thinking about this scene for WEEKS after I read it omg.

I would honestly recommend this book to everyone I know if I could. It’s a good read no matter how old you are. There are a few issues with it, and I might be glazing the story a bit through the lens if nostalgia, but I don’t care. I’m biased and enjoy the book regardless.