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2.69 AVERAGE
2.69 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
A dystopian novel about a dreamy coastal town that spirals into madness after a mysterious infection from the ocean takes over the living.
I was highly intrigued by the premise of this book, it hit a lot of the right boxes for me, in theory. Sadly already after reading a while I felt like this is not for me, I had a hard time getting into the setting and story and care for anything or anyone. It feels like it wanted to tackle too much and rolled over lifeless on the side after a while, it was definitely lacking focus left and right. All in all it definitely also fell too short on the horror side for my taste, I would’ve loved much more of that. Less bird facts, more horror please.
So overall it comes sadly down to a 1.75-2 for me.
I thank Netgalley and Kensington Books for the ARC!
I was highly intrigued by the premise of this book, it hit a lot of the right boxes for me, in theory. Sadly already after reading a while I felt like this is not for me, I had a hard time getting into the setting and story and care for anything or anyone. It feels like it wanted to tackle too much and rolled over lifeless on the side after a while, it was definitely lacking focus left and right. All in all it definitely also fell too short on the horror side for my taste, I would’ve loved much more of that. Less bird facts, more horror please.
So overall it comes sadly down to a 1.75-2 for me.
I thank Netgalley and Kensington Books for the ARC!
medium-paced
Thanks to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for the audio ARC. This novel features three different narrators: Luis Moreno, Robb Moreira, and June Angela.
The Deading, which the kids totally started first and then the adults started copying, is a phenomenon where people just drop wherever they are and play dead. Men, women, animals, it can happen to anyone.
What sounds like a somewhat interesting idea, unfortunately ends up being an incredible mess. It’s almost as if someone took the creepy idea behind Bird Box or Your Shadow Half Remains, those unseen but unstoppable changes in people, and instead just made it about people planking? At the start they kind of just play dead like hysteria fueled pranksters…and later it just evolves into shaking and spitting on the ground?
The deading is also started by sea snails, that are also alien, that are also a hive mind absorbing all in their path? It was far too confusing to me, eradicating anything scary or creepy that could have been. It also starts in a bay where they are harvesting oysters, a huge focus of the opening chapters, which I thought would be a big thing, but it’s not at all.
The novel features more than one character that is a bird watcher, and at one point early on in the novel there is literally several chapters in a row where they are just naming bird species? It just felt so strange, like nothing else at all. Perhaps the author is a big bird watcher? The audio narrators all take a separate piece of the pie. The woman doing the section that features an older woman, one of the bird watchers. The younger male voice gives the arc of the kids that don’t dead. They meet at night in a kind of Midnight Club YA-feeling resistance that does not pan out. The older male voice does everything else, and none of the three mesh together at all. I thought perhaps they would converge in the end, but they didn’t.
I would perhaps have not shared my thoughts if I DNF’d, however with it being an arc I wanted to push on through. This felt disjointed, confused, and lacking a strong developmental edit. It’s really hard to write a book, and after all that work, I’d never want to hear that it was bad, but this really lacked direction.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
2/5 Stars
First off, I want to say thank you to Netgalley and RBMedia for giving me an ARC of this audiobook to listen to.
I wanted to like the book so much. I was so excited after reading the premise, but the execution left a lot to be desired. I feel like there are too many different P.O.V.s. It causes the story to become disjointed and makes the reader feel as though they're being yanked around without getting any time to become invested in the characters. The diversity of the characters (age, ethnicity, etc.) was very well done though. I appreciated being able to see the town spiral, but sticking to just a couple P.O.V.s would have helped more in my opinion.
I think my favorite scene in the entire book was actually in the beginning where we watch the snails changing two characters into something other than human. That scene was so beautifully done. The creepiness factor was at a high point. However, that scene set an expectation for me that just wasn't followed through on in the majority of the book.
I also want to add that the narrators did a wonderful job. Without them, I'm not sure if I would have finished this book. They definitely added a lot to it.
First off, I want to say thank you to Netgalley and RBMedia for giving me an ARC of this audiobook to listen to.
I wanted to like the book so much. I was so excited after reading the premise, but the execution left a lot to be desired. I feel like there are too many different P.O.V.s. It causes the story to become disjointed and makes the reader feel as though they're being yanked around without getting any time to become invested in the characters. The diversity of the characters (age, ethnicity, etc.) was very well done though. I appreciated being able to see the town spiral, but sticking to just a couple P.O.V.s would have helped more in my opinion.
I think my favorite scene in the entire book was actually in the beginning where we watch the snails changing two characters into something other than human. That scene was so beautifully done. The creepiness factor was at a high point. However, that scene set an expectation for me that just wasn't followed through on in the majority of the book.
I also want to add that the narrators did a wonderful job. Without them, I'm not sure if I would have finished this book. They definitely added a lot to it.
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I received an Audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Overall: ⭐️
Overall: ⭐️
Writing: ⭐️
Plot: ⭐️
Characters: ⭐️
POV: Multiple, 1st & 3rd Person
The Praise: The premise was interesting.
The Critique: The premise was cool but the execution left A LOT to be desired. The story was confusing and just downright boring. There were too many characters and the POV kept shifting which made it hard to keep up with. The writing was almost…self-aggrandizing which made it annoying to slog through. And even after finishing the book, I don’t feel like I know what happened.
Final Thoughts: The premise of The Deading was wasted on this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oh, this one was tricky. I nearly put The Deading down permanently, but I decided to trust the process and see where it led.
The creepy aspects provided a hook that kept me invested. I kept waiting for the big reveal, as there seemed to be a lot of twisty options, but they didn’t really amount to much.
The diversity of the characters, especially in their ages, was impressively done and believable. I appreciated experiencing the town's tailspin from different generational perspectives, which was definitely my favorite aspect.
I wish some of the more burdensome areas, like the bird watching, had been edited down. If the time spent on those sections had been devoted to the storyline and spooky elements, this could have been epic. As it stands, I’m not sure I’d recommend it.
Thank you Nicholas Benares, RBmedia, and NetGalley for my advanced review audio copy!
Plot - 2
Writing and Editing - 2
Character Development - 4
Narration - 4
Personal Bias - 2
Final Score - 2.8
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an e-ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
I usually take a peek at the star rating so far for ARCS out of curiosity, and I don't think I've ever come across a book that wasn't review-bombed getting less than a three star rating, but it wasn't review bombing. That super low rating is valid here. Considering the "an edgy twelve-year-old named it" title, I probably shouldn't be surprised. This wasn't good. The concept is amazing and the cover art is absolutely incredible, but the story makes very little sense. The writing goes back and forth between dry and clinical or informal to the point where it doesn't feel like a book at all, which was really jarring. Pick a tone! Its also really repetitive. The atmosphere was nice, though, I'll give it that much. Love me a seaside horror story.
The narrators did as good a job as they could with the source material, so don't blame them. They did fine.
Two stars out of five to the mess that is The Deading.
I usually take a peek at the star rating so far for ARCS out of curiosity, and I don't think I've ever come across a book that wasn't review-bombed getting less than a three star rating, but it wasn't review bombing. That super low rating is valid here. Considering the "an edgy twelve-year-old named it" title, I probably shouldn't be surprised. This wasn't good. The concept is amazing and the cover art is absolutely incredible, but the story makes very little sense. The writing goes back and forth between dry and clinical or informal to the point where it doesn't feel like a book at all, which was really jarring. Pick a tone! Its also really repetitive. The atmosphere was nice, though, I'll give it that much. Love me a seaside horror story.
The narrators did as good a job as they could with the source material, so don't blame them. They did fine.
Two stars out of five to the mess that is The Deading.