Good Reads: The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners by Luann Rice

Goodreads Synopsis:

A legendary island steeped in the mystery and wisdom of centuries…
A runaway heiress learning to trust life, and love… 
A mother and daughter, separated for years, searching for a way to face the future together…

Years ago, Lyra Davis left behind a world of wealth and privilege and the people she loved most in the world, unable to reconcile the expectations of her celebrated family with the longings of her own wild heart. Now she lives quietly among a community of expatriates on the isle of Capri, slowly, carefully learning to live fully for the first time, flourishing in the friendship of a singular man who recognizes in her a kindred spirit. 

Granddaughter of the reigning doyenne of Newport, Rhode Island, wise beyond her sixteen years, Pell Davis is poised to take her place at the pinnacle of society. Yet she and her young sister still long for the mother who ran away from them when they were children so that they could be raised by the father they adored.  Pell knows that Lyra felt she loved them best by leaving. But with her father now dead and her sister veering dangerously into fantasy, she will travel across an ocean to find the mother she remembers and the deeper truths they all need so desperately….

My Thoughts:

The Deep Blue Sea For Beginners takes secondary characters from Luann Rice's The Geometry of Sisters and expands on their stories. It follows sixteen year old Pell Davis on her journey to the Italian island of Capri as she tries to reconnect with her estranged mother and bring her back home. The novel also introduces a new cast of characters that intertwine in the lives of Pell and Lyra. I especially like Rafe, a trouble young man with a past. This book goes into great detail about the island of Capri, to a point where the description of the island takes away from the plot and the beautiful story that it was. I got so tired of reading the detailed description of Capri I started to skim in order to get back to the actual story. Had it not been for this, it would have gotten another star. I feel that if the author had spent more time on the plot and less time on the descriptive passages about Capri it would have been a more meaningful read. Overall, it was still a good book and readable.