Idk why I thought this one will be a fun summery read. I mean, I've read six Ashley Herring Blake books with this one. I should have known better.

The ocean in the cover? It's salty, because it was made of my tears. I sobbed so hard I couldn't see the pages.

The death of a parent and the grief is so personal to me and Hazel's grief was pretty similar to how I reacted and handled what I was going through.

I also loved the friendships, her relationship with her mom and sister, and even with Claire.
The conversation between her mom and Claire at the beach she eavesdropped on? Wow. I was an emotional mess. Because from Hazel's perspective yes, they were the bad guys, I felt her rage in my bones, because again, I went through the same thing myself, but as an adult, I wanted to hug those women and tell them it's alright, everything will be okay, just hold tight a little bit longer.

This book was utterly beautiful. It is probably my favorite from the author now, even tho I've given 4 stars to all of her books. She is my number one favorite author without question. She knows how to make me emotional for sure.

I wish more people would read her middle grades, because they are exceptional.4-star best-of-2022 lgbt-read ...more71 s Stella ?Paper Wings?562 45

if some random person decided to give this wonderful-sounding book 2 stars way before its release, I can rate it 5 stars way before its release28 s •°• gabs •°•254 234

hoooo boy where do i even start.

spending 2020 without a new ashley book was so hard,, especially since it was such an overall tough year but if this book needed more time to come into the world then it's ok. at this point i think no one is surprised that i loved it and that i'm gonna give it five stars bc i've been loving ashley's books since 2017 when i read how to make a wish.

and every single time she makes me SOB GODDAMN IT. i'm never gonna be able to talk about these books bc i am never able to talk, or at least not coherently, about anything i love, but i just had to put it out there that this book is very precious and means incredibly much to me. that is all byee

23 s Anniek2,095 821

When I tell you I WEPT1-2021-releases 2-middlegrade 3-contemporary ...more19 s Helena (helinabooks)391 333

rtc4-stars age-middle-grade fav-authors ...more16 s Ace435 45 Shelved as 'release-2021'

This book has an average of 2.00. Which I thought was weird. As fair as I knew AHB was a good author? Then I realized it was one (1) person. Please check. Don't write this book (or any book) off just because it has a low rating, and this book hasN'T EVEN BEEN RELEASED YET COME ON.14 s Christine Indorf940 135

. If you haven't experience a Ashley Herring Blake book you must read one and why not try Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea. The story of grief, forgiveness, love and of course mermaids!! Hazel loses her mum and her other mother can't talk to Hazel about the accident. Both are suffering and both are running away from the grief that is consuming the family. The story is raw but beautiful. If you have lost someone close to you, you will relate the struggles this family suffers. I would recommend this for a middle grader who has suffer a lost. This book will open communication. The story is beautiful and I am so glad I had a chance to reread this wonderful book!!!!fiction lgbtq middle-grade12 s Eileen Winfrey973 6

This one strikes me as almost slightly older than middle grade because of the budding romances between Hazel and Jules as well as between Hazel's mom and one of her friend's Moms. Really, it's about how Hazel is a complete mess after watching her mother (it's a two mom family) die in the ocean in a kayaking accident. Hazel is mean, afraid and isolating as a survival technique all while moving around the country as her remaining Mom seeks a fresh start. I kind of wanted to shake Hazel's mom for just letting Hazel do all the caretaking of her sister while also being dramatic about Hazel's worrying and neglecting Hazel in her grief.
It is a compelling story, even though I didn't really Hazel all that much. (I think that might have been the idea, so it worked!)middle-grade realistic-fiction11 s Natasha496 423

Ashley Herring Blake never fails to absolutely blow me away. queer-side-characters10 s Izzie614 108

Sometimes a book comes a long and it carves out a little space in your heart, where it can live, safe and warm and close. This is one of those books. I went into it knowing nothing about the plot, only that it was written by Ashley Herring Blake who IÂ’m pretty sure is incapable of writing a bad book. But then I started reading, and I wondered how Ashley Herring Blake had looked inside my brain and seen me. This book was me, and it meant the whole world. It is a story of Hazel, who lost her Mum in an accident which she was there to witness. It follows her, her 5 year old sister Peach, and their Mama, two years after the death of their Mum. They have been moving from town to town, and the next rental is a cottage in the seaside town of Rose Harbour. There Hazel has to face a lot of emotions that she hasnÂ’t been able to process, and has to figure out how to truly live when her Mum doesnÂ’t get to. Not only that, but how to cope with the panic and anxiety of anything else happening to those she loves, and finding herself after such trauma.
I have c-PTSD, and IÂ’ve never seen it so accurately represented (except maybe A Heart In A Body In The World) before. Hazel has PTSD, rather than c-PTSD, but every emotion was raw and real and so unfortunately familiar. I was invested in Hazel in a matter of pages, she was such a compelling and honest character. Her struggle to let people in, to allow others to help her, to show that vulnerability, was uncomfortably familiar. And as sad as it was to read, the relief of knowing that I am not alone in dealing with this, was breathtaking. That my feelings, my experiences, my pain is valid. It also helped me to put things into perspective. To know that I would never tell Hazel that she shouldnÂ’t feel that way, or that what happened was her fault, or she should of dealt with it better. That would be untrue. So why do I say that to myself?
Maybe the best thing about this book is HazelÂ’s journey to healing. It really is a journey, and itÂ’s not linear, because thatÂ’s not how healing works. ItÂ’s hard and itÂ’s painful and itÂ’s joyful and itÂ’s exhausting and itÂ’s relieving and itÂ’s all of those things wrapped into one. But there is hope, and healing is possible. When you have people who love you, no matter what, when you have professional help to guide you, when you stop blaming yourself and hiding away your pain, you can start to heal. Hazel showed that healing is quiet, and it takes time, but most importantly, itÂ’s hopeful.
Hazel makes a beautiful friendship with her next door neighbour Lemon, and her two friends Kiko and Jules (who is non binary and there is a little bit of romance in the book that just warmed my heart
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