Underwater.

☆☆☆☆

underwater

marisa reichardt.

Publisher : Farrar, Straus, & Giroux

Publication Date: January 12,2016

Genre: YA  Contemporary Romance 
Format|Pages: Hardcover|288.

 Source: Goodreads|Library. 

“It turned out I wasn't dying on the outside. I was only dying on the inside, where nobody could see.”

☂

Morgan didn’t mean to do anything wrong that day. Actually, she meant to do something right. But her kind act inadvertently played a role in a deadly tragedy. In order to move on, Morgan must learn to forgive—first someone who did something that might be unforgivable, and then herself.



But Morgan can’t move on. She can’t even move beyond the front door of the apartment she shares with her mother and little brother. Morgan feels like she’s underwater, unable to surface. Unable to see her friends. Unable to go to school.



When it seems Morgan can’t hold her breath any longer, a new boy moves in next door. Evan reminds her of the salty ocean air and the rush she used to get from swimming. He might be just what she needs to help her reconnect with the world outside. 

☂

An astonishing debut novel. I am blown away. It is one of those debut authors that I am glad that I decided to check out, and it made me wish that I check this book out earlier.



The writing, the characters and the emotions were amazing; each of them amazed me. Even though I have read novels about school shootings before, it was nothing like this one, considering that this took place after October 15th, and as a reader you got to see how someone dealt with it, after the tragedy. That was one of the things that I loved about it, fact that it was unique and school shooting is a hard subject to write about. MARISA REICHARDT found a way to hook the reader to Morgan’s story until the end. I wanted to see what would happen with Morgan, if she would come out of her apartment, if she would ever make it past her doorway, if she would even make the attempt to try and move past her comfort zone. I feel that if it was not for Brenda pushing her as far as she did. I loved how much Brenda cared about her, and wanted to help her. She was part of Morgan’s success.



Evan, I felt like he was part of her success as well. I loved how patient he was with her, expect that one time but then I can understand why he got annoyed with her. I also loved how supportive he was, especially when Morgan freaked out during her little brother’s play, he did not treat her any differently, instead he helped her to calm down. Evan was good for her, in a way he also helped her to overcome the tragedy that happened to her, even if it was not all the way, at least she was getting there. There were also her little brother, I just loved the relationship with him. It’s not often that siblings have the type of relationship that the two of them had, they adored one another. He’s another reason she got out as far as she did, because he wanted for her to see his play and she did, even if it was not all of it, at least she made the effort. She made it that far. I know that she is a fictional character but I was proud of her too. Morgan went a long way.





I loved the cover. How can you not look at it and not wonder about it? It fits Morgan’s story so well. I love the writing as well, it was lyrical and even thought it started out a bit slow for me, it picked fast and after that I could not get enough. I’m glad that I came across UNDERWATER , a debut that is worth checking out. I can’t wait to see what other adventures MARISA REICHARDT will come up with next. A story and characters that you will find yourself unable to forget.