For fans of Betty…
Summary - A dark, coming-of-age story told from the perspectives of two young sisters, Edie and Mae, who navigate a ctional home life with their unstable mother, Marianne. The book explores themes of family trauma, mental illness, and the intense bond between the sisters as they cope with their mother’s severe depression and their father’s absence.
I made it to around the 30% point thinking “dark” wasn’t very dark but then, it got DARK. If you enjoyed Betty by Tiffany McDaniel’s and/or darker books, I highly recommend this one HOWEVER 1. check trigger warnings and 2. go with the physical format. I did audio and there are a lot of different voices, which was a good way to gain objective perspective, but not great when you missed the viewpoint at the start of a chapter.
This book had been on my TBR for longer than I’ve been here on bookstagram so I was very happy to check it off. What was the last book you read on your 15+ year TBR??
Find The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish at the publisher →
Toni Rocchetti is a copy editor helping authors strengthen their narratives, deepen character arcs, and find the story that is already in the draft. She reads 80+ books a year across literary fiction, memoir, and nonfiction — and writes about what she is learning along the way. Work with Toni →
