Deep Blue by Jules Barnard (Review)

Release date: March 6 2014

Publisher: Jules Barnard

Number of pages: 239

My Rating: 4/5

You know, I don’t usually like new adult books. Call me childish, but I typically much prefer reading young adult books. This book was a great representation of the new adult genre. Yes, it does have some romance in it. Yes, the guy is really hot and muscular. But this book had so much more in it, too.

Calista has got everything figured out. She got accepted into Harvard Law, she has a boyfriend, and is going to spend a summer in Lake Tahoe. She plans to spend the summer working to save money for tuition fees and trying to mend her friend Genevieve’s broken heart. All her plans go awry as her plans and her relationship with Eric falls apart.

Cali was a really relatable character. She’s in between college and grad school, and she faces a bit of a crisis as she tries to decide what she really wants and what she should do with her life. Her problems never feel exaggerated or menial. I think that a lot of people face the same problems that Cali does, and Jules Barnard does a wonderful job of portraying these problems realistically.

Although I liked Jaeger, I felt that he was a little stereotypical. He’s really big, hot and sweet, but also rough. Aside from that, he was a pretty cool character. His relationship with Cali felt quite realistic, and I quite enjoyed reading about his moments with Cali.

Gen was featured a lot in the beginning, but she sort of disappears a bit near the end of the novel as Cali’s problems reach a climax. I really liked her, and I am totally excited that the next book in the Blue series will be about her! She was a bit secretive about her life in this novel, so I can’t wait to see what she was keeping secret in the next novel (yes, I will definitely be reading that!).

I was a little disappointed by some of the secondary characters in the novel. Some of them are super minor, and they didn’t stand out at all. By the middle of the book, I had completely forgotten who most of those people were.

Aside from the romance and the personal problems that Cali faces, there was also a big element of drama and mystery. There were some shady things going on around the casino and in Jaeger’s life. I won’t spoil what they are, but they make the novel more than just a basic new adult romance book. When these parts of the novel were at their fullest, I was kept glued to my Kindle screen!

This book did have some moments that made me roll my eyes a little bit. Particularly Jaeger, as his wealth, and his talents made him seem a little too perfect. However, I soon forgot about these elements as I kept reading on. The first half of the book is just a teeny bit slow, but the second half really picks up.

Although this is self-published (yeah, yeah; I say this in almost all of my reviews of self-pubbed books), there is no compromise on quality. The writing is pretty good, and the editor did a great job. I didn’t spot any typos or anything like that in the entire book.

I would definitely recommend Deep Blue. People who actually like new adult books (yeah, I admit that they are not my thing) will absolutely love this. A big thumbs up to the author for writing such a good book!

An electronic copy of this book was provided free of charge by the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!