Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan

Title: Daughter of Deep Silence
Author: Carrie Ryan
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 26, 2015
Source: ALA MW

Summary from Goodreads:

I’m the daughter of murdered parents.
I’m the friend of a dead girl.
I’m the lover of my enemy.
And I will have my revenge.


In the wake of the devastating destruction of the luxury yacht Persephone, just three souls remain to tell its story—and two of them are lying. Only Frances Mace knows the terrifying truth, and she’ll stop at nothing to avenge the murders of everyone she held dear. Even if it means taking down the boy she loves and possibly losing herself in the process.


Sharp and incisive, Daughter of Deep Silence by bestselling author Carrie Ryan is a deliciously smart revenge thriller that examines perceptions of identity, love, and the lengths to which one girl is willing to go when she thinks she has nothing to lose.

Review

The first thing I’ll tell you is that I LOVE revenge storylines and this book started off as a pretty great one. Frances had all her moves calculated and watching her execute her plan was a real treat. I also love it when characters are attuned to other people’s feelings and can modify their own behaviors to get the reaction that they want. Frances could work people like the best of them. But it wasn’t long before things spun out of her control. Libby’s childhood friend Shepherd saw through Frances’ impersonation and didn’t agree with everything Frances was doing. And as Frances got closer to Grey her old feelings started to surface which made it harder for her to keep her Libby mask in place. And then the attempts on her life started…

While the romance did start to overshadow the revenge story pretty quickly, I happened to enjoy the battle raging inside Frances, which the romance brought to light. Frances has been pretending to be Libby for so long now, and has been so consumed by uncovering the truth, that she doesn’t know who she is anymore. In a way, Frances died on that life raft instead of Libby. But she’s aching to be seen and free of this burden and she’s finally starting to question her choices and allow herself to grieve and move on. Her story was emotionally raw.

I do think some things happened too easily but overall this book impressed me, the ending being no exception. I just don’t know if this book has a lasting impression on me. It was really good but not great. There were feels but not FEELS. And as much as I enjoyed it while reading it, I already find myself forgetting about it… But it is definitely still worth the read, especially for revenge AND romance fans!