Deep in Providence by Riss M. Neilson

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and finished copy from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Deep in Providence

Author: Riss M. Neilson

Book Series: Deep in Providence Book 1

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Filipino Bisexual MC, Black characters, Caribbean characters, Black MC, Puerto Rican Lesbian Character, Hispanic Anxiety Disorder MC, Domincian Queer character, various people of color

Recommended For…: young adult readers, paranormal, contemporary, LGBT, magical realism, fantasy

Publication Date: May 31, 2022

Genre: YA Contemporary Paranormal

Age Relevance: 16+ (parental death, death, grief, gore, language, neglect, abandonment, parentification, drugs, drug abuse, alcohol consumption, overdose, rehab, therapy, anxiety, religion, religious trauma, deportation, abortion, pregnancy, miscarriage, fatphobia, sexual content, sexual harassment, sexual assault)

Explanation of Above: The book revolves around a character’s impactful death and there is also mention of parental death and a lot of grief throughout the read. There is very mild cursing. There is a character who is neglected and abandoned, there is also parentification involved. Drugs, drug abuse, alcohol consumption, overdose, and rehab are all shown in the book. There are also some therapy scenes and some shows of anxiety disorder. Religion and religious trauma are frequently shown and mentioned in the book. Deportation is mentioned and its impact is shown. There are scenes of pregnancy, mentions and talks about abortion, and a miscarriage scene and mentions. There is some small fatphobia in the book with a character’s nickname in relation to how they look. There is sexual content in the book, one scene with sexual assault, and a small amount of some sexual harassment. There is also a very brief mention of rape but it is very vague.

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Pages: 456

Synopsis: For best friends Miliani, Inez, Natalie and Jasmine, Providence, Rhode Island has a magic of its own. From the bodegas and late-night food trucks on Broad Street to The Hill that watches over the city, every corner of Providence glows with memories of them practicing spells, mixing up potions and doing séances with the help of the magic Miliani’s Filipino grandfather taught her.

But when Jasmine is killed by a drunk driver, the world they have always known is left haunted by grief…and Jasmine’s lingering spirit. Determined to bring her back, the surviving friends band together, testing the limits of their magic and everything they know about life, death, and each other.

And as their plan to resurrect Jasmine grows darker and more demanding than they imagined, their separate lives begin to splinter the bonds they depend on, revealing buried secrets that threaten the people they care about most. Miliani, Inez and Natalie will have to rely on more than just their mystical abilities to find the light.

Thrilling and absorbing, Deep in Providence is a story of profound yearning, and what happens when three teen girls are finally given the power to go after what they want.

Review: I really liked this book! It was completely not what I expected but it was so beautifully well written and so amazing. I loved the use of the multi-POV and I loved how it was fantasy like but not overtly fantasy. The book examined the aftermath of a death, but also examined karma in what happened to the characters after they started casting more and more powerful spells. The book had well done writing, great character development, and amazing world building. I can’t wait for book 2!

The only issues I had with the book is that it was a bit slower paced than I normally like book, but the writing more than made up for that. The book also had a moment where a character is in a clinic and they’re talking about the 6-week embryo’s “heartbeat”. There isn’t a heartbeat at that stage; it’s more like the electrical components of what will be a heart. The heart is far from fully formed at this stage and this does not translate to the viability of a heart. While the heart does start to form at this stage and it’s one of the first organs to develop and four clearly defined chambers, the heart does not have fully formed muscle tissue until the 20^th week as stated by medicinenet website. While the book is very much not telling people to not get an abortion (it very much did the opposite), I just wish that this was better stated by the ultrasound technician just due to today’s day and age.

Verdict: It’s a great read! Highly recommend!