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Art & Coll #2
In The Deep End
Coll and Art are back together again, and the question of sex is also back on the agenda. But it's different now - Coll feels the time is right. She is unprepared for the powerful new emotions that sex produces, though, and has to make sure she keeps her head above water.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
16 people are currently reading
427 people want to read
About the author
Kate Cann
45 books238 followersWhen I was a child, I wanted to be a witch. My first foray into writing was a series of nasty spells full of rats’ tails and bats’ wings. Then, when I turned thirteen, I began keeping a lurid diary, full of adoration or loathing, depending on who I was writing about. I used my later diaries for the Diving In trilogy.
I never thought ‘I want to be a writer’, but I loved books and writing. At school, I was rubbish at just about everything but English, so I went on to Kent University where I did two degrees in English and American Literature. At Kent, I fell dramatically in love with the man I'm still married to. We had loads of fights and adventures, but we kept coming back together. He's still the person I most want to spend time with. Awww!
My first proper job was in a publishing house, Time Life Books, as a copy-editor. I felt very glamorous. I used to go to the huge YMCA on Tottenham Court Road at lunchtime and do aerobics classes (very big in the 1980s and yes - I wore legwarmers). Then I'd fall asleep over my desk in the afternoon.
When my two kids came along, I set up as a freelance copy-editor and worked from home. By chance I got given some teenage books to edit, and I hated the way they treated sexual relationships: they were either full of gloom and doom, or were gushy, unrealistic candyfloss. So I got bitten by the ‘I can do better than this’ bug, and started writing. I remember the first day I started to write - it took me over. I forgot to eat (unthinkable for me) and I nearly forgot to collect the kids from school. About a year after that, Diving In was accepted for publication.
When I ran out of material from my diaries and memories, I realized my daughter and son were teenagers, and started eavesdropping on them. They were extremely tolerant about this although they did sometimes demand money from me.
Big changes have been afoot recently. My kids have left home - really left home, not just gap-year-travelling/university left home, and my old man is doing the sort of work that means he can work from home a lot of the time. So we've sold up and moved into the wilds of Wiltshire and so far I am absolutely loving it. The space, the silence, seeing the stars at night in the pitch black, the owls, the trees, the walks, the great food in the local pubs - everything! I'd started to bring nature into my books - it all started with Crow Girl - and now I'm working on two books about a city girl who gets plunged into the wilds. So the move is very much linked to and helping my writing. I think the sheer beauty and power of nature and how it can get right inside you is something a lot of kids are cut off from today.
I still love London though - the plan is to come up every couple of weeks, catch up with all my old mates, possibly do something seriously cultured like go to the theatre. And I want to travel a bit more, too - offsetting my increased carbon footprint with an enormous compost heap.
I love long conversations, running, reading, gardening, walking and white wine (in moderation of course) and I’m the first to admit I have the life of Reilly (who apparently had a pretty cushy life). I start the day with a run or walk with my dog, when I think about what’s going to happen next in the book I’m writing. Then I have a huge breakfast, and get down to work. I write on (or if it’s cold, in) the spare bed with a laptop, my dog at the bottom of the bed. If it’s sunny, I write in the garden, on a sun-lounger. Tough, ay? I also have this theory that you can’t be truly creative for more than about three or four hours a day, so in the mid afternoon, I knock off, and do my emails and stuff. Told you it was cushy.
I never thought ‘I want to be a writer’, but I loved books and writing. At school, I was rubbish at just about everything but English, so I went on to Kent University where I did two degrees in English and American Literature. At Kent, I fell dramatically in love with the man I'm still married to. We had loads of fights and adventures, but we kept coming back together. He's still the person I most want to spend time with. Awww!
My first proper job was in a publishing house, Time Life Books, as a copy-editor. I felt very glamorous. I used to go to the huge YMCA on Tottenham Court Road at lunchtime and do aerobics classes (very big in the 1980s and yes - I wore legwarmers). Then I'd fall asleep over my desk in the afternoon.
When my two kids came along, I set up as a freelance copy-editor and worked from home. By chance I got given some teenage books to edit, and I hated the way they treated sexual relationships: they were either full of gloom and doom, or were gushy, unrealistic candyfloss. So I got bitten by the ‘I can do better than this’ bug, and started writing. I remember the first day I started to write - it took me over. I forgot to eat (unthinkable for me) and I nearly forgot to collect the kids from school. About a year after that, Diving In was accepted for publication.
When I ran out of material from my diaries and memories, I realized my daughter and son were teenagers, and started eavesdropping on them. They were extremely tolerant about this although they did sometimes demand money from me.
Big changes have been afoot recently. My kids have left home - really left home, not just gap-year-travelling/university left home, and my old man is doing the sort of work that means he can work from home a lot of the time. So we've sold up and moved into the wilds of Wiltshire and so far I am absolutely loving it. The space, the silence, seeing the stars at night in the pitch black, the owls, the trees, the walks, the great food in the local pubs - everything! I'd started to bring nature into my books - it all started with Crow Girl - and now I'm working on two books about a city girl who gets plunged into the wilds. So the move is very much linked to and helping my writing. I think the sheer beauty and power of nature and how it can get right inside you is something a lot of kids are cut off from today.
I still love London though - the plan is to come up every couple of weeks, catch up with all my old mates, possibly do something seriously cultured like go to the theatre. And I want to travel a bit more, too - offsetting my increased carbon footprint with an enormous compost heap.
I love long conversations, running, reading, gardening, walking and white wine (in moderation of course) and I’m the first to admit I have the life of Reilly (who apparently had a pretty cushy life). I start the day with a run or walk with my dog, when I think about what’s going to happen next in the book I’m writing. Then I have a huge breakfast, and get down to work. I write on (or if it’s cold, in) the spare bed with a laptop, my dog at the bottom of the bed. If it’s sunny, I write in the garden, on a sun-lounger. Tough, ay? I also have this theory that you can’t be truly creative for more than about three or four hours a day, so in the mid afternoon, I knock off, and do my emails and stuff. Told you it was cushy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
April 5, 2018
Total nostalgia read (well, listen) and it took me right back to being a young teenager. I think Kate Cann writes obsessive relationships so well.
June 15, 2022
3.5 stars. Voor een boek die erg ouddated op sommige momenten is doordat popculture en technologie enzo veel veranderd is in de 20+ jaar dat het boek uit is, zit er toch nog scenario's in die nog steeds relevant zijn en ook close to home kan komen voor vele tieners zoals een eerste serieuze relatie
August 31, 2020
I found the lead, female character in this book infuriating - there is not other word for it!! Infuriating.
The story was pretty bland, any time I wasn’t being infuriated by Coll I was bored, basically.
Scraped through with a second star for some of the realistic thoughts and actions of 17 year old girls but oh my, really hard to stick with this one to the end.
The story was pretty bland, any time I wasn’t being infuriated by Coll I was bored, basically.
Scraped through with a second star for some of the realistic thoughts and actions of 17 year old girls but oh my, really hard to stick with this one to the end.
March 9, 2022
Throwback read and wow what a journey it was! Reading books like this when I was younger were great as sex education was so terrible and thus actually was an insight into sex BUT this book is perpetuating toxic relationships as being the romantic ideal in one of the most ridiculous ways. Great nostalgia read buy definitely was laughing at the book rather than with it.
September 8, 2019
This is the kind of story I needed when I was 16/17. I really enjoyed it now as well and felt as though it stands up to the test of time well
October 14, 2014
The main reason why I enjoyed this book and why I'm enjoying this series overall is because of all the fond memories attached to it. Memories of first picking it up years and years ago (I think I was 14 years old) and it becoming one of my favorite books to read and reread. Back then young adult books were scarce and books that dealt with mature content like sex even more so. If this were my first time reading this book I probably would have rated it lower because of all the flaws in the characters and the relationship between them.
I don't really like Collette. I thought she was okay in the previous book but her behavior was really off putting in this book. She is so obsessed with Art it's borderline insanity. But I get it, she's a teenager and it's her first love and it's intense and makes her feel things she's never felt before. But the reason I didn't like her this time around is because this book delved deeper into her feeling for Art and I found them to be incredibly shallow. She says she loves him (which I don't doubt) but she names the most vain reasons why, like his stunning good looks. And she doesn't really care that she can't confide in him because she says "that's not what he is for" and that she doesn't need him to be her friend.
I definitely liked Art more. He's a flawed character as well and acts like an asshole most of the time but there's a complexity to him that Collette lacks. I do believe he has genuine feelings for Coll because why else would he be in a relationship with her after years of man whoring (not to mention Coll's manic mood swings that don't hold a candle to Art's). He's just heavily burdened by issues he doesn't want to deal with or even recognize he has them and it prevents him from delving deeper into his feelings for Collette. I really enjoyed his part of this story.
This book revolves around sex a lot. For the majority of this book that's all the main characters think about and later do. It only emphasizes the lack of depth their relationship has. But I really liked the ending. It was sad but it was also the most mature part of this book and it made complete sense. It was a natural progression of the situation the characters found themselves in and it gave them an opportunity to grow up and act like adults.
I don't really like Collette. I thought she was okay in the previous book but her behavior was really off putting in this book. She is so obsessed with Art it's borderline insanity. But I get it, she's a teenager and it's her first love and it's intense and makes her feel things she's never felt before. But the reason I didn't like her this time around is because this book delved deeper into her feeling for Art and I found them to be incredibly shallow. She says she loves him (which I don't doubt) but she names the most vain reasons why, like his stunning good looks. And she doesn't really care that she can't confide in him because she says "that's not what he is for" and that she doesn't need him to be her friend.
I definitely liked Art more. He's a flawed character as well and acts like an asshole most of the time but there's a complexity to him that Collette lacks. I do believe he has genuine feelings for Coll because why else would he be in a relationship with her after years of man whoring (not to mention Coll's manic mood swings that don't hold a candle to Art's). He's just heavily burdened by issues he doesn't want to deal with or even recognize he has them and it prevents him from delving deeper into his feelings for Collette. I really enjoyed his part of this story.
This book revolves around sex a lot. For the majority of this book that's all the main characters think about and later do. It only emphasizes the lack of depth their relationship has. But I really liked the ending. It was sad but it was also the most mature part of this book and it made complete sense. It was a natural progression of the situation the characters found themselves in and it gave them an opportunity to grow up and act like adults.
June 8, 2008
I've read the first book in this series and I actually thought it was pretty good. So when I picked this one up from the library I was excited to read it. I have to say, I was very disappointed in the second book. Really the only thing it was about was sex! It seemed like every other chapter the main characters were having sex. It was boring, bland, and I never wanted to read it. Though I did finish it, only because I wanted to get onto a different book. I don't know if I'm going to read the third book - maybe if I'm bored and have nothing better to do. Who knows?
August 18, 2010
Art and Collette's relationship is nauseating at best, but I unfortunately found myself relating to pathetic Coll's woes about not being loved as much as she loved. I think it's something every girl has to go through and the author described it well. I was really pleased with the ending, however I don't think I will be reading the third book because I know Art and Coll will get back together and I would really rather they didn't. So I will just pretend the book ends here and be happy.
October 20, 2013
I read this book when I was about 13 as it is a young adult book and I absolutely loved it! It's a typical teenager book with both love and heartbreak and the book continuously reaches out to the reader to make you feel involved. As a teenager I felt as if the book dealt with many topics that were relevant to that age group and therefore I gave the book 4 stars as for a young adult book I loved it a lot!
October 14, 2010
Probably the most sexually explicit YA book I have read. There's sex in almost every chapter. I appreciated the unflinching honesty but found it severely lacking in depth. Too bad because I liked Art and Coll in the first book.
April 24, 2015
This book was featured as part of a Throwback Thursday post.
Check out the full review:
http://treasurecovebookreviews.com/20...
Happy reading =)
Check out the full review:
http://treasurecovebookreviews.com/20...
Happy reading =)
January 31, 2024
I read this in year 6-7, it was my first book that I ever read, it was amazing to me at the time! I have re read some pages and now I am older it isn’t very much the same feeling, still a great book, more for younger adults.
July 30, 2020
Bra bok. Skulle vilja veta hur det gått för Coll i framtiden.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2023
I think I liked this one even more than the first! It’s great YA writing. Not patronising and doesn’t tip-toe.
September 3, 2022
Er, Art suddenly plays rugby? And is wounded by it, while that didn’t happen in the weeks they met and started dating? What was the function of the little sister storming in the room multiple times at the party? And so convenient, a house in Greece, for all their horny escapades. No. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the evolving of Art’s character, he was so superficial and I didn’t follow the emotions of Colette as they were better in the first book. No.
Two stars because of the happening of the abortion. That was real, raw and good to be part of a ya book. But other than that: no.
(I’m of to book 3, because I need closure and have this ocd-tic where I need to finish series. Thanks George RR Martin, for writing so quickly)
Two stars because of the happening of the abortion. That was real, raw and good to be part of a ya book. But other than that: no.
(I’m of to book 3, because I need closure and have this ocd-tic where I need to finish series. Thanks George RR Martin, for writing so quickly)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 25, 2025
I had to re-read the whole trilogy. In this second book. Art has just apologised and he and Coll are back together. They reach some new milestones and Coll feels ready to go all the way with him but will they find the right time and place?
This is an excellent book about lots of teenage problems. Coll falls harder for Art and they become stronger but she also has to balance their relationship with her year 12 exams and looking after her friend Val who has a very difficult decision to make. I loved how Coll realised she needed to stick close to Val and although the ending is a little tough for her you feel she has empowered herself and spoken her mind to Art.
This is an excellent book about lots of teenage problems. Coll falls harder for Art and they become stronger but she also has to balance their relationship with her year 12 exams and looking after her friend Val who has a very difficult decision to make. I loved how Coll realised she needed to stick close to Val and although the ending is a little tough for her you feel she has empowered herself and spoken her mind to Art.
Read
December 3, 2010it was a good read for the topic, and the three books didn't go over the top with PSA, and that can be hard to find in stories like this.
i would read it again if i was asked but not out of free will smiley. i love the plot and all three books overall but i am not a highschool kid anymore so they don't work for me but i think a lot of teens should give them a try, just for the interesting insight it can be a bit black and white in places
but it something worth reading once
i would read it again if i was asked but not out of free will smiley. i love the plot and all three books overall but i am not a highschool kid anymore so they don't work for me but i think a lot of teens should give them a try, just for the interesting insight it can be a bit black and white in places
but it something worth reading once
April 19, 2012
Although typical chicklits, I remember that I loveeeed reading Kate Cann's books as a teenager. Really, I bought every book as soon as it got out here in the Netherlands. Lovely books for young teenage girls!
In my eyes this trilogy is the best set of books she's ever written. Grecian Holiday and Spanish Holiday were very enjoyable as well.
SO: typical and not particularly original, but VERY well writen.
In my eyes this trilogy is the best set of books she's ever written. Grecian Holiday and Spanish Holiday were very enjoyable as well.
SO: typical and not particularly original, but VERY well writen.
March 11, 2008
2nd in the trilogy from a talented YA author. Deals with pressures of sex on teens. Moving, and very witty. Loved it.
November 11, 2010
It is a really sad book! I liked the other two more though:)
Read
August 26, 2016Didn't remember so much about this book, but I do remember it was alot of sex in it ( boarding on too much for my taste even).
Swedish title: Djupt vatten
Swedish title: Djupt vatten
June 14, 2012
a great portrayal of the problems of young and unready sex. a wonderful read for those debating whether loosing it is right for them.
May 20, 2012
I read this when I was a teenager I remember being in aww of it.
Want to read
September 8, 2012WELL I ONLY READ THE 1ST BOOK SO I THINK I WILL GIVE THIS 2ND PART A TRY, PEOPLE SAY THAT MOSTLY THE CONTENT OF THE BOOK ARE "SEX" BUT I'M LOOKING FORWARD OF THE LOVE STORY OF THE TWO SO ...
April 23, 2013
I'm finding this series very enjoyable, and surprisingly current feeling since it is so old. I don't know how long it will take for my last book to get here from the UK, but I really can't wait...
July 22, 2013
Read this about ten years ago. Nice light read, but I've outgrown it
May 14, 2015
It continues to get better!
September 9, 2015
I feel like this book really ramps up the relationship between art and coll but the ending wasn't as great as I remembered it from the first time I read it
June 23, 2016
This one flew so quickly I didn't even realize I had already come to the end! I love love LOVE Colette and I enjoy reading her story. Now--off to start the next one!
February 5, 2017
een mooi boek en het leest heel lekker weg!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews