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kaneebli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Suicide, and Medical content
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
puntifexmaximus's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
anarmandameg's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Dementia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
megandherbook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
In the unspecified future, space exploration is a huge money making endeavor and there are two corporations that basically own the market. ERS is a space base condition that can lead to disaster and is a death sentence for someone's career. There's a famous case that ended with the brutal murders of 29 people and since, it's something that nobody wants to be associated with. Dr. Ophelia Bray is a psychologist that specifically works in the study and prevention of ERS in those that work in the space exploration field. After Ophelia experiences a work-related tragedy she decides to take her expertise on site. She's assigned to a crew that also has had a tragedy among them and soon finds herself in space with a group of people that clearly don't trust her or want her there. As they get to the planet they will be exploring things start to get odd - the previous crew clearly made a hasty exit from the planet. Then a member of the crew is found dead in a gruesome way and things go from odd to a nightmare. The crew must work together to find out what is going on but when everyone has secrets it's hard to know who to trust - especially when you might not even be able to trust yourself.
This book has layers! Set in the future it immediately gets you acclimated to this futuristic world. Though it's futuristic there are a lot of parallels to present day so it's easy to connect to. Dr. Ophelia Bray is the FMC that has layers herself. As you get to know her background, family, and motivations you get more questions surrounding Ophelia. Not only has Ophelia experienced a tragedy, the team she is assigned to has as well. This has left the team on edge and even more reluctant to trust Ophelia since psychologists can end someone's career without even meaning to. Any mention of ERS or symptoms that could lead to ERS can easily put someone out of work in the space exploration field.
ERS itself is interesting. It reminds me of PTSD but stemming more from isolation instead of trauma. Which space would be pretty isolating I would think. How S.A. Barnes creates this whole mental illness into the book was so interesting and gave the book more tension. The motivation behind Ophelia's study of it is also so intriguing, though that's part of the mystery of Ophelia that you learn about as the book goes on. Every character is interesting; there are things that make you like them or hate them but every one of them had me wondering what they're hiding.
Overall the book is a great blending of sci-fi and horror. There's some body horror along with thriller vibes. Also, if you don't trust big corporations and those that run it this book won't make you feel hopeful for the future.
The audiobook edition was easy to listen to but wasn't super entertaining. The narrator did a pretty good job but narrated in a pretty even tone even when scenes were a bit more action packed. I enjoy a good even toned narrator but I think this book deserved a bit more excitement. However, I want to say that I don't think the narrator was boring or hard to listen to. I just found that reading the ebook allowed me to do some scenes more justice rather than listening to the audiobook.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Self harm, Suicide, and Dementia
heather667's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
clairebonney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Animal death
Very brief mention of a dead dog, but it is slightly graphic and sadezwolf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Something I found interesting with both Ghost Station and Dead Silence do the portrayal of capitalism. I know sometimes it's nice to have an escape from reality, but I found it really intriguing to consider. In Ghost Station especially, capitalism is the source of a lot of the problems the team suffers, both before and during the story. Overall this was a fine book. It was suitably thriller-y and horror-y, the mysteries made me want answers. But we didn't get all of the answers in the end which is always something that bothers me, I am not a fan of loose ends.
And finally, this isn't really a spoiler, but if you have trypophobia (an irrational or disproportionate feeling of discomfort or revulsion at the sight of clustered holes or bumps) I maybe wouldn't recommend this for you. The lead up to the reveal had enough instances of it that I almost stopped reading, but wound up just skipped ahead past descriptions.
Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Dementia, and Classism