Book Review: Below the Surface

Reviewed by Gabriella Harrison

A seemingly idyllic town meets tragedy in this tense YA thriller

“Where is my son?!” screamed a woman. “Where is he?!”

This is the jarring scene that begins Below the Surface, a sharp contrast to the idyllic town readers are soon presented with. Author Andrea Beck utilizes a flashback structure that returns to almost a year before this jarring scene, introducing a sixteen-year-old Emily, who has just been told that her family is moving to a small town with a functional art program, an improvement from her current school with a cut art program.

She looks upon the town with its “historic homes lined up on perfect little streets, each driveway marked with its own antiquated lamppost and old-fashioned mailbox,” with hopeful eyes, eager for a fresh start after drifting apart from her best friend in her previous town. However, she soon discovers that with the smaller population comes already established social groups only willing to offer surface-level kindness to outsiders, with even her optimistic mother remarking: “I was kind of hoping to feel more connected with the community already. I walk Duke every day and get a lot of friendly waves, but that’s it.”

Her dad nudges her to try joining the basketball team, and then she runs into Aggie, who becomes her rock along with a new set of friends. Before long, there’s a new boy in school who has all the girls talking, even attracting attention from the school’s It girl, Lexi, just as her relationship with the equally popular Matt begins to crumble. The new boy, Oliver, takes an interest in Emily, and as their bond grows, along with his reputation as a skilled athlete, tensions flare between them and the school’s golden couple (Lexi and Matt), culminating in the disappearance of a student. As everyone tries to find the missing student, reckless accusations and violent acts come into play, with some withholding and reinventing information about what happened at the ill-fated party leading to the disappearance.

Beck creates immediate and compelling conflict by contrasting Emily and Oliver’s families with the established families of the golden couple. The use of a prologue and flashbacks also immediate suspense as the relationships and rivalries develop with a sense of impending doom. We know that a tragedy is coming. Regardless of this sense of impending doom, the pace is steady and characters are properly introduced before the central conflict unfolds.

Andrea Beck’s Below the Surface is a young adult mystery-thriller that explores the struggle to belong, the cruelty of high school cliques, the intensity of first love, and the moral complexities of loyalty versus truth. However, the arc of the popular athlete feeling threatened by the new, more talented kid is somewhat predictable, and the motivation behind Lexi and Matt’s malice toward Emily and Oliver feels a bit one-dimensional.

The book opens and closes with a short poem that mirrors Emily’s emotional journey, adding lyrical depth to the mystery. The inclusion of a simple tree sketch alongside this poem works well as a metaphor that visually and thematically ties together the book’s exploration of belonging. Evidently, Emily’s identity as an artist influences the narration beyond simply being a character trait. Beck masterfully vivifies the small town of Oak Park with its claustrophobic gossip and wooded river landscape, enhancing the tension and suffocating social dynamics.

Andrea Beck’s Below the Surface skillfully captures how grief and unresolved trauma linger long after a traumatic event has passed.

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