Have you ever had one of those books that you think “I really need to read that book.”? For me, Dive Smack was one of those books. It sounded pretty exciting, although it ended up being a different kind of book than I expected. Not in a bad way though.
Theo Mackey has had it kind of rough. His mom died in a fire that he thinks he set; his dad died shortly afterwards. Now he lives with his grandfather, who seems a little crotchety and doesn’t want him hanging out with his uncle (it’s not his biological uncle, but he feels like his uncle).
The only thing he really has going for him is his diving. Even that starts going haywire when he starts getting distracted by a family history project he has to do for school. Soon, he discovers that what he thought was true… really isn’t. What he uncovers will upend his life forever.
What I Liked
This book ended up having quite a lot of thrills and mystery to it. Not everything is as it seems. Even though it was not what I was expecting when I started reading this book, I liked this aspect a lot.
I also liked the characters. Although I don’t read a lot of books with male protagonists, Theo seems like I’d imagine a guy would be like. He’s (understandably) upset over the death of his parents. And he has a thing for a girl. I think the characters in this book were well done. Theo also has rivalries with some of the other boys on his team, which is probably normal? I don’t know; I’ve never been a guy.
Other Things?
I can’t really say I disliked any aspect of Dive Smack, although maybe the pacing could have been a little different at the beginning.
Conclusion
If you’re interested in diving, swimming, thrillers, and arson (reading about it, not doing it or being the victim of it) then you might like Dive Smack. It wasn’t my favorite book of the year, but I liked it well enough to give it four stars on Goodreads. Both the Kindle and hardback prices are pretty good, or it might be available at your library. I found the Kindle edition on sale for $1.99, so I got pretty lucky there.