The Swan sisters were sentenced to death 200 years ago in Sparrow, Oregon, drowned in the harbor as a punishment for witchcraft. Every summer, however, they return to inhabit the bodies of young girls and lure boys into the same harbor, seeking revenge on the town that destroyed them. Penny, like so many locals, has accepted Sparrow’s fate. But when Bo, a mysterious outsider, arrives on the eve of Swan Season unaware of the danger he faces, Penny knows this is the summer things have to change.
Fans of Leslye Walton (The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender) and Anna-Marie McLemore (The Weight of Feathers) will enjoy The Wicked Deep, Shea Earnshaw’s newest contribution to young adult magical realism.
This novel’s dark whimsy draws readers in as the mysteries of the Swan sisters’ curse—and Bo and Penny’s desire to break it—unravel in a town where drownings have become an annual spectacle and spelled cakes that dissolve unpleasant memories.
Billed as “Hocus Pocus meets Practical Magic,” The Wicked Deep is an enchanting, romantic read. Though Ernshaw’s mortal characters often feel like unfinished sketches, the three sisters at the center of the novel are magnetic, as is the magic that has settled over the town of Sparrow like fog blown in from the sea.
