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Book 44 - Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

I’ll pretty much read anything Ali Hazelwood writes. I like her intelligent characters. The book had a lot of spice. College-level kinky. Scarlett’s a diver at Stanford who is struggling with the twisties after suffering an injury. Lukas is a golden boy swimmer who was just dumped by Pen, the dive team captain. Lukas and Scarlet bond over a common interest, and start a no-strings relationship.

I really liked reading about Scarlet’s mental block with doing a difficult dive. After watching Simone Biles be brave enough to share and conquer her own struggles with twisties, I think more books normalizing mental health concerns among athletes is good. I didn’t like the seemingly forced drama of Pen and Lucas not telling anyone on the swim or dive teams that they were no longer together. It felt like the author needed a conflict, but it didn’t feel natural or realistic especially once Pen was off dating other people. I read a couple other reviews that hated Pen’s character, but I didn’t mind her, and the ex-still-lingering thread added some complications. I’d even read a Pen-led book if the author decided to go that route. Then again, I’d pretty much read anything Ali Hazelwood writes…(8.5)

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