This Raging Sea: A Book That Will Stay With You In Every Universe

From NetGalley

18-year-old Briar Winters must untangle the horrifying eldritch secrets of her picture-perfect coastal town in order to save the boy she loves after he disappears from time itself in this YA dark fantasy for fans of Bly Manor.

Historic Loch Creek is a witchy New England tourist trap—but it’s just a trap for Briar, who’s convinced she’ll die there among the waves that devoured her twin brother thirteen years ago. But when her best friend who she's loved since childhood, Finn, vanishes from the seaside carnival, there’s only one person who can help Briar find him: Morgan, her biggest enemy who knows her darkest secret.

As Briar uncovers hidden truths as deep and dark as the water that haunts her, it quickly becomes clear that Finn has gone much further than anyone could have imagined. He’s lost in time, and neither of them are safe. If Briar and Finn look too hard, they might find terrifying answers—not just about what’s buried beneath the shores, but also the threads tying them to each other. As past and future collide, the seductive yet evil underwater entity that intends to claim Briar still needs its sacrifice . . .

And it’s too hungry to go unsated.

Equal parts epic bisexual romance and pulse-pounding horror, This Raging Sea is a dual POV dark fantasy as sweepingly powerful as the ocean that threatens to consume everything and everyone Briar has ever loved—prepare to be devoured.

"Do you ever feel like you lost something, but you can't remember what?"

If you have ever read a book that permanently altered your brain chemistry and made you want to immediately return to page one, then you'll know what I mean when I say: This Raging Sea carved my heart open and salted the wounds, and I loved every second. This debut is the kind of novel you forever wish you could read for the first time, all over again. Because there is no way to get back such an emotional experience once it's gone.

We start with Briar, a girl carrying heavy secrets. She's surrounded by friends and at a fun-filled summer carnival, but she's filled with dread inside. She's at the precipice of change and fearing that she'll lose her best friends forever. The more isolated she becomes, the more at risk she is of being drowned by her secrets. One of those secrets being her feelings for Finn.

Finn, a physics enthusiast, loves to solve a problem. He knows something is terribly, terribly wrong with Briar. She won't tell him the truth--she hasn't even talk to him in the two months since graduation night. But he will do anything, cross any boundary including time itself, if it means protecting Briar. Which leads to his disappearance.

But, "Lost doesn't mean gone."

It's fitting that the book begins at a seaside carnival. The plot of this book is a genuine roller coaster of emotions. It's a tightly woven tapestry of pitfalls. And just when the characters think they've figured something out, they get hit with a curveball. While grappling with a ticking clock, a deadly town secret, and an unseen eldritch horror that is slowly unraveling Briar's psyche, she and remaining friends, Astrid and Kai race to figure out what is really happening. What happened to Finn and why can't anyone else remember him but them? Them, and one other person.

Morgan Parker-Blake (aka, Daddy Morgan. I will not elaborate on this title at this time). Morgan information Briar needs. She's also the last person on earth Briar wants to ask for help. Because Morgan knows her darkest secrets, and as the clock begins to run out, those secrets start to reveal themselves. No matter how hard Briar tries deny it, she can't avoid her role in the chaos. It was all about her, from the very beginning.

This story, while incredibly cinematic and filled with dangerous magic, and heart-pounding stakes, is made all the more gut-wrenching and terrifying because of the romance between Briar and Finn. Not only are they desperate to be with each other--with an aching, gnawing longing--they're willing to sacrifice it all to save one another. They're an unstoppable force and an immovable object, respectively. Throughout the book, from both points-of-view, the readers gets to see the tender love than was fostered through trauma and understanding, they way it grew into an unbreakable connection, and boiled up to become an all-consuming devotion. It's no wonder their love goes beyond the limits of physics!

This Raging Sea is brimming with depth and vulnerability from every character, in every scene. It will break your heart and slowly start taping the pieces back together, hesitantly. But the hope is that it will be put together again. Eventually. Maybe.

A stunner of a debut from De Elizabeth, with more books on the horizon in 2026 and 2027.

I cannot recommend This Raging Sea enough. Fans of Mike Flanagan's Haunting series, Stranger Things, The Multiverse, and unending yearning, this book is for you!