Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain is a strong debut novel and I absolutely anticipate other great works by her in the future. Dark and Shallow Lies is about the mysterious La Cachette and the disappearance of one of the summer children. Grey is desperate to find Elora and suddenly, you are swept up into an adventure to discover where she went and how the psychic abilities of the town are involved.

This novel contains enticing imagery and to me, created an elevated description of the US South by incorporation "magic" into the landscape - it became more mysterious because you didn't know what emotions were held underneath the landscape. I adore when this type of imagery is created and it gives me flashbacks to Where the Crawdads Sing because like that novel, the landscape is encapsulating and you truly can feel the heat. It is a core reason why this novel is worth your time.

La Cachette is filled with psychics and you must ask yourself as a reader, how can they not find a missing person? Dark and Shallow Lies will engage you as you try to answer that question and with curves and turns you won't expect, this is a read worth your time.

AND - I heard a rumour that there may be a second instalment, oh boy I hope it is true.

Where is Elora? And for goodness sake, why can't a town of psychics find her? The plot revolves around Grey's return to La Cachette, her home that has drastically changed since the disappearance of her best friend, her twin flame. The summer children, a group of 10 who were born in the same year, fractured before her return, with one blaming the other for Elora's disappearance and one avoiding the pain of that disappearance.

Grey is determined to mend their group but more importantly, find her best friend, even if it means discovering the body. And when a mysterious stranger arrives, do they have anything to do with her disappearance? With many questions to be answered, the plot takes you on a journey to find those answers - answers that will have you sitting straight as I guarantee, you will not expect this plot. This plot does stray from how the blurb portrayed the story, there is a more paranormal element to this novel than romance which to me, was what I was expecting but I am pleasantly surprised it focused more on psychics and that power than fast love. This seriously is a novel worth reading especially if you adore mysterious and paranormal-based plots.

Focusing on Grey, she is a seventeen year-old that has recently started to develop psychic visions, of course. In her town, her lack of power has been one of concern and this developing "gift" is a major aspect of the story and who Grey is as a person. Like her gift, Grey also develops throughout the novel transforming from a heartbroken and anxious teenager into a heartbroken and anxious teenager but with partial control over her life. Grey's development assists in the novel's readability and enjoyment as she is a good character.

All the characters in this novel are solid because they are flawed. There are so many secrets in La Cachette revolving around each individual, you won't be able to figure out who to trust or why certain decisions were made. The lack of moral righteousness in these characters further helps create an engaging read which when combined with the plot, makes this such fun.

Interesting. There was one instance that confused me but overall, it ended with a bang. It is an ending perfectly suited to this novel but it leaves the smallest gap for the darkness to slip through and continue reading about in the second novel if there is one, but if there is not, this ending is still an absolutely fantastic one.

Dark and Shallow Lies is a great paranormal novel filled with psychics, the southern summer, and mystery to keep you engaged. This is a novel worth an hour of your time.

Dark and Shallow Lies grew on me. At first, I anticipated a cheesy romance with Elora's death being a major component of the "will Grey choose Zale or Hart to help her heal," storyline and oh boy, I was so wrong. Thank goodness because the novel that I read was so much better than the plot I created myself. Yes, Grey was a bit wishy washy in her thoughts and there were a few moments I didn't like in the novel but overall, I enjoyed this a lot.

What I liked the most was how Grey's powers developed and how the interval between chapters, intervals that until the end I believed were from Elora's POV, were actually from Grey's POV. That revelation was such a twist and I loved it as towards the end, I thought they dragged and wanted them gone but when they started to repeat in realtime as Grey fled from Hart, I was shaken! I thought this was a great connection and a cool way to write the story; I think it added layers and when that reveal happened, I was giddy. I really liked it.

As always, I value a morally grey character and for both the town and characters to be morally grey, it was an addition bonus. Let's start with Hart - his life absolutely sucks. He loves his step-sister, his dad abused his family, he helped his dad cover up the murder of two children, he witnessed the murder of a man, and he can feel other people's emotions. Gosh, his life must be tough. As we learnt more about Hart's character, I couldn't help feeling exhausted for him; being able to feel others emotions must be exhausting but towards the end, I was a touch frustrated with his decision to stay with Evie as for him, it was a way to absolve his sins of hiding so much evil when he was only a kid when it all happened, it wasn't his fault but I think the emotions may have overwhelmed him. Evil the town knew - not messed up or anything.

It was a toss up between Evie and Hart being the killer. I knew it wasn't Zale, he was too obvious and on a quick side note, I liked him. Even though I was tossing up between Evie and Hart, I still didn't feel it would be Evie, I was leaning more towards Hart as his behaviour was so erratic but no, it was Evie! She killed someone or at least assisted in their death via brutally attacking them because she didn't want her saviour to disappear, yikes. This town just kept on allowing terrible truths to remain secret. They knew Hart's dad killed the twins and yet, blamed someone else and then killed him and his child? And then covered it up?!?

This is why I liked the ending which apart from Hart's rougarou moment that did have me confused, I thought the sinking of the town was a perfect ending. The pain, secrets, and destruction within vanished and it meant a new start for all, especially Grey, Grey whose ending was a delight. Dark and Shallow Lies was a wonderful read and I adored it, I can't wait to explore more of Ginny Myers Sain's writing and her paranormal world-building.