Book Title: Haunting the Deep (How to Hang a Witch #2)
Author: Adriana Mather
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Number of pages: 343
Genre: young adult, fantasy, historical, paranormal, witches, titanic
Release Date: October 3rd 2017
Favorite Quotes:
Goodreads Synopsis:
The Titanic meets the delicious horror of Ransom Riggs and the sass of Mean Girls in this follow-up to the #1 New York Times bestseller How to Hang a Witch, in which a contemporary teen finds herself a passenger on the famous “ship of dreams”—a story made all the more fascinating because the author’s own relatives survived the doomed voyage.
Samantha Mather knew her family’s connection to the infamous Salem Witch Trials might pose obstacles to an active social life. But having survived one curse, she never thought she’d find herself at the center of a new one.
This time, Sam is having recurring dreams about the Titanic . . . where she’s been walking the deck with first-class passengers, like her aunt and uncle. Meanwhile, in Sam’s waking life, strange missives from the Titanic have been finding their way to her, along with haunting visions of people who went down with the ship.
Ultimately, Sam and the Descendants, along with some help from heartthrob Elijah, must unravel who is behind the spell that is drawing her ever further into the dream ship . . . and closer to sharing the same grim fate as its ghostly passengers.
My review:
5/5 stars
Once again, I absolutely love Adriana Mather’s writing! Haunting the Deep is the second book following How to Hang a Witch. (You can click here to see my review).
Haunting the Deep takes place six months after the events that took place in How to Hang a Witch. The writing is still just as good as it was in this book at it was in the first book. I liked how the author incorporated a lot of what occurred in the first book so that you didn’t have to try and remember what happened before/ cause you to lose focus of the current story.
Mather has an incredible way of storytelling that is so vivid, the reader can feel as though they are experiencing what the characters are feeling. There is no confusion as to what is happening in the story. Every time I took a break and finished the book, I felt as though I was in a haze. Yes. A haze. It only took me two days to read this book because I was so enveloped in the story.
Again, what is fascinating with Mathers stories, is she incorporates her own family history in her writing. Her family was a part of the Salem Witch Trials, which was the back story for How to Hang a Witch. In Haunting the Deep, Mather incorporated people who were on the Titanic, including some of her relatives. This is what makes both books so unique.
Mather says in her Author’s Note, that it was difficult to read about her family history of being in the Titanic and about those who did not survive. It breaks your heart thinking about what those people went through that night, especially those who had no chance of surviving (ie gates being locked or people being told what happened when there was little to no chance of survival.
I also enjoyed the magic element that Mather incorporated throughout this book and definitely kept me on my toes.
My only issue was not being too surprised about who the “bad” person was in this book. I was bummed that it was somewhat easy to find out, but the events leading up to it was still fascinating.
I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy historical fiction, mystery, topics of witches and reading fiction about the Titanic.
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