I received this galley in consideration for an honest review.
Haunting The Deep by Adriana Mather Series: How To Hang A Witch #2
Published by Random House on October 3, 2017
Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal
Goodreads
Samantha Mather knew her family’s connection to the infamous Salem Witch Trials might pose obstacles to an active social life. But having survived one curse, she never thought she’d find herself at the center of a new one.
This time, Sam is having recurring dreams about the Titanic . . . where she’s been walking the deck with first-class passengers, like her aunt and uncle. Meanwhile, in Sam’s waking life, strange missives from the Titanic have been finding their way to her, along with haunting visions of people who went down with the ship.
Ultimately, Sam and the Descendants, along with some help from heartthrob Elijah, must unravel who is behind the spell that is drawing her ever further into the dream ship . . . and closer to sharing the same grim fate as its ghostly passengers
I enjoyed How to Hang a Witch and its blending of family drama and history. In Haunting the Deep, I think the same feel was achieved, but this time it was a different ancestor of Samantha’s that was involved. Instead of witch trials, everything at the high school seems to be trying to bring the Titanic back in to focus, but the reason why is a mystery to Samantha and her friends. The Titanic theme of the high school dance is the first clue that perhaps something isn’t quite right. However, Sam is trying desperately to hang onto normalcy, so she is determined to carve out a more typical high school existence for herself. Of course, that isn’t going to happen. I really love that Sam can see ghosts and it was especially effective in this story because she sees so many and it was so wonderfully creepy. Paired with the way too realistic dreams she has about being on the Titanic and it made for a creepy and fun book. Since the events of book one, Sam has made peace with The Descendants, and it’s a good thing because Sam needs their help and their magical abilities. The flashbacks to the Titanic were very interesting. A lot is known about the Titanic, of course, but it was interesting seeing snippets of life on the ship through Sam’s dreams.
Although the conflict didn’t surround the famous witch trials this time, we still get to read about all of our favorite (and some of our not-so-favorite) characters from How to Hang a Witch. Sam’s family is still reeling from such a terrible betrayal and her father is still trying to come to terms with what happened while he was in a coma. While I really enjoyed the Titanic story line, I was glad that Samantha stayed in Salem because it created a setting where the echo of witchcraft was still alive and brought that spookiness that I remember from book one. Samantha was as blunt and abrasive as ever and I kind of loved her for it. Overall, I enjoyed Haunting the Deep. It brought a famously deadly event into a unique story, adding ghosts and spookiness and making it a perfect read for October.
