In the Shallows by Tanya Byrne - a Review
- madgirlthoughts
- Jan 14
- 6 min read
“I’m in the songs I listen to on repeat, the clothes I’m not brave enough to wear, and the sentences I underline in books.”
Why not make the first review of 2026, my final read of 2025?
It’s sapphic, it’s emotional, it’s REAL, and oops - would ya look at that? It all starts on a fateful New Year's Eve…
Why yes other invisible half of this conversation - I AM posting this two weeks after our own New Year’s Eve. Why, you ask?
Well, first of all, mind ya business.
Secondly, I gave myself some time off, sue me.
Thirdly… this book affected me a lot more than I thought it would, so I wanted to take the time and get this review ‘right’ enough for my liking.
Now, let’s take a paddle, shall we?
Mara Malakar is in love.
And it absolutely SUCKS.
Nico is the girl Mara is hopelessly in love with, and it’s all so… complicated.
Emphasis on the ‘Nico,’ ‘Mara,’ ‘hopelessly,’ and ‘complicated.’
One minute, Nico and Mara are the centre of each other’s universes.
The next? Nico will vanish in a hundred different ways - whether it’s not texting back for days at a time, blowing off plans and dates for weeks on end, or completely withdrawing into a horribly cold shell - even when she’s right there with Mara holding her hand.
New Year’s Eve. Nico promises to meet Mara at their bench in time for midnight.
But she never shows.
Instead, Mara gets a coldly cutting text ending their relationship, followed by absolute radio silence.
Until, that is, she watches the news.
Some poor young girl has been fished out of the ocean on New Year’s Day, able to recall her name and nothing else. The face flashed up on the report?
Nico.
Despite her friend's opinion that Mara should still treat it as a clean break(up), when destiny reunites them, Mara can’t help but wonder if this is their second chance.
Nico is different for sure. Amnesia will do that to a person. But she’s different in so many good ways. Kinder. Softer. More open. Mara knows it’s messed up, but she can’t help feeling that this version of Nico might finally love her the way Mara has always wished she would.
Besides, telling her the truth of their past could have massive repercussions on Nico’s recovery, right? That’s what Nico’s mum seems to believe when she practically begs Mara to lie and pretend she and Nico have no history. It’s for Nico’s own good.
Can their relationship make it out of the shallows?
And what will happen when they discover the truth behind Nico's accident?
Because one day, Nico might just remember everything.
One day…
There’s a whole bunch of ways to approach this bookish beastie.
On the one hand, it’s a book about toxic relationships of all shapes and sizes.
On the other hand, it’s a book about identity, belonging, self-discovery and growth.
But on a weird mutant third hand (that I happen to prefer), In the Shallows is a book about love.
First love. Fleeting love. Toxic love. True love. The love between friends. The love between mothers and daughters. Loving someone and losing them. Loving someone and letting them go. Loving the idea of someone rather than the reality of who they are, and all the ways that those loves can get twisted along the way.
I’d only read two of Tanya Byrne’s books before this one, and though I really loved the previous two, I think In the Shallows may be my favourite now. She is truly an exceptional writer, and In The Shallows is such a masterclass of its genre and type.
It’s just… gah, I hate when stuff is so good that finding the exact right description is HARD.
I think I’ve said before how sometimes, like, you read and/or watch something that makes your face screw up? And that’s because URGGGGHHHH it’s so good, or such a vibe, or some other word that is colloquially equated with positivity, even if its regular use is that of a negative expression.
Like cuteness aggression, right? Something is so cute and squidgy and adorable that the only way to express how much you love it is to issue vague threats - “I could just eat you up,” “it’s so fluffy, I’m gonna die,” etc., etc.
That’s kind of what I’m getting at here, but neither of those applies quite as well.
In the Shallows is too good for words, but not in the way of a face scrunch or general positive aggression.
In the Shallows is too good in the way of a sigh. A gasping intake of breath when you finally come up for air, and then this huge, staggering exhale when you look around at where you are.
By the time you read the end, it’s being tied to an anchor but floating free with the tide at the same time.
It’s a weight in your chest and this unbelievable lightness all at once.
It’s a love story. And, sometimes, love hurts.
Unfortunate, but true.
So I didn’t know this until I started writing this review, but apparently, some people have some VERY strong opinions about In the Shallows.
They think that the book is ‘bad’ because it romanticises unhealthy/toxic love and relationships, and honestly? Yeah, it kinda does. But, it also doesn’t. People also complain that it villainises mental health issues, and, yeah, it kinda does. But it also doesn’t.
In the Shallows is a contemporary novel and, funnily enough, much like contemporary life… shit ain’t black and white! It’s got as many grey areas as the sea has fish, and probably more so.
It could take a lifetime to cover all the micro-details/realisms/arguments that could alter a reader’s opinion one way or another, but as succinctly as I can, here’s my three cents:
The characters in this story are not only human, they are teenagers. Let’s say for half a second that they were real teenagers living down the road from you. They have to be allowed to fuck up, make mistakes, and, crucially, GROW FROM THEM. Would I be concerned if one of my mates were dating someone like Nico? Sure. Am I going to let the mistakes made in a young relationship define a person's character for the rest of their lives? Honestly, it depends on the mistakes - but as far as I’m concerned, Nico, Mara and the rest of their peers don’t screw up even close to badly enough for a rational person not to see that they are still learning and growing as young people. And certainly nothing that warrants some of the vitriol I’ve seen aimed at these FICTIONAL TEENS or the person who created them.
Having a mental illness does not indemnify or exempt you from being a shitty person. And just because a ‘villain’ presents with certain symptoms or has a confirmed diagnosis in the plot, it does not excuse or justify their actions, same as in the real world. Jesus, I’ve got a shopping list of mental illnesses and 6 times out of 10, if I’m being an asshole, it’s got little to do with my batshit crazy brain. A lot of mentally ill people are still capable of being total dickheads, and should still be held accountable in the context of their lives and actions. Same with a lot of fictional folk.
Yes, contemporary novels are based in/on the real world we live in, a.k.a. an upsetting lack of dragons. But, at the end of the day, they are still fiction. If you don’t like it? Don’t finish the book. Don’t reread it if you do finish it. Don’t recommend it to anyone. See?
Anyways. I loved the book: three cents and all.
Like I said, I loved In the Shallows.
But I both loved AND hated it for how it made me feel.
I’ve always been very good at being alone. Being alone is actually pretty great, because being alone is not and should not be the same as being lonely.
But, every now and then, you read something like In the Shallows. You read about people like Mara who are so, so, so in love that even the idea of that loss is like losing the air in the room.
And you can’t help but wonder… maybe one day.
One day, it might be nice to have someone who helps you remember how to breathe again.
Maybe you just need someone who doesn't mind being alone together.
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