Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Mélység

Promising start. Disappointing finish. I agree with many who said this should've been 50-75 pages shorter. I was expecting the deep ocean setting to rear its ugly maw and make its presence felt more but you could've switched out the setting with a cave most of the time and got the same results. More claustrophobic than thalassophobic you know? The initial premise of a weird disease culling the human (and bee) population is just discarded entirely by the end and Alice as a character feels totally perfunctory aside from her sub piloting skills. And don't expect any levity because this book is BLEAK but that's Nick Cutter for you.

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hunterkat's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The Deep 4.5/5
A supremely creepy fever dream of a book. The one criticism I have is that it could have played with the fear of the deep ocean more, as the horrific scenes felt disconnected from its setting at times. But wow, I couldn’t look away. I had my hand over my mouth for most of the book, and it made me cry at one point. The descriptions of things in the dark and body horror are truly, truly horrifying. I’ll be sleeping with the lights on from now on, and God knows I’m not going into a submarine any time soon!

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unlivinh's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book did a phenomenal job of instilling a sense of dread in the reader. I didn’t think it was possible for a book to make me feel claustrophobic, but The Deep did so. It was a great read and has a lot of potential for a reread. My only gripe is that female characters were not fully developed and did not get the same complexity and writing quality as the male characters.

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trianglethethird's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I loved the book and read through it in one sitting. Cutter has an amazing way with words when described horror. The first 90% while great the last 10% was a mess. Alice a supporting character felt like she wasn't there to do anything. The setting felt like a waste. There were some unnecessary plot points that could have been better handled or not have been included.
For instance, the plague 'Gets, which essentially causes Alzheimer's disease, initially drew my attention and seemed significant. A good part of the book was focused on it, setting up a strong motive and adding tension. Yet, after the first part, the plague was barely mentioned, with occasional off-hand mentions. It appeared to be an important element but ultimately seemed useless in the grand scheme of things.

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rahrahjay's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

4.0

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thebigemmt505's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

“It’s as strong as it needs to be. It exists- it, and everything in it- at the benevolence of something far greater and more terrible than itself.”

The Deep is a a book that encapsulates the horror and mystery of the deep blue sea. We follow Luke, a veterinarian with a troubled past, as he’s called to see his brother in a base built at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

I really, really loved the atmosphere in this book. It’s consistently eerie and unforgivingly grimy and gory, which, is not for everyone. I’m personally a fan of the body horror in this book as it served a purpose to the main plot, (it showed how disgusting and powerful the ambrosia is). It was not meant to be just for shock value. The world building was really unique. I loved the description of a semi-post apocalyptic world, with a population whose collective head is barely above water against an incurable illness. Everything in The Deep kills slowly; everything is driven to madness then stamped to a pulp. The descriptions are written well and the tension is sustained well throughout the book. We feel the pressure build with those eight miles of water above. There were parts that meandered, and certain flashbacks that felt unnecessary, but overall the pacing was fine. I liked Luke as a character; he was be no means extremely profound or deeply relatable, but likeable and easy to root for. He was perfect for this plot. The plot, speaking of, is really want drew me back to this book over and over. I absolutely love horror that tackles themes of trauma and this struck a great balance for me… well… until… the end.

I was planning to give this four stars until the last part. Admittedly, the full last 50-75 pages or so I found to be a bit messy, but not so bad it impacted my enjoyment. It felt as though it couldn’t wrap up all of its themes, drive them home, so they were left scattered in a pile of gore at the bottom of the Trieste

like everyone else in this book.

The last part of this book, The Fig Men, was so, so bad. It read like a shitty villain speech, dumping unnecessary and cliché exposition to wrap up all of the parts of this story that were best left to the imagination.

I mean come on man, two alien creatures calling the character my child, ancient beings that control parts of the human experience, oOoOoOohhhhh we want to be fReE, fReE so Luke accept our GIIFFTT, everything just…

… listen I finished this book moments ago so my thoughts aren’t fully collected, but GOD that really pulled down the rating for me. I legitimately thought that whole section would be revealed as a dream, or at least a mix of dream and Luke’s mind succumbing to grief and madness. When it wasn’t, I let out such a disappointed sigh, my first breath at the surface of this ocean and I was so annoyed I couldn’t even inhale. After reading other reviews, it seems I’m not alone in that thought, at the very least.

Anyways, ending aside, I want to offer my opinion on a part of the book that is quite divisive. There’s lots of talk about the gore in this novel too, notably,

the death of LB. Usually, I would have a huge issue with this, not even because of the concept, but because dogs are so often killed off unnecessarily in horror stories purely to shock the viewer. In the case though, I can actually make a pass. LB’s death scene was written with so much care and emotion, much more so than the human deaths. It was gross, it was awful, I did shed tears, but Luke’s love for that creature was evident. I hated her death but I ended up really liking the scene. In addition, everyone else died too, so her death felt less like a sacrifice to the plot and more like a part of it.

That’s just my take, though. It was still upsetting to read.

I want to recommend this book, especially if you love aquatic horror but god the ending… you choose on this one. Maybe you’ll love it. The read was still worth it for me, but boy am I let down. Oh well! I would still recommend it more than Our Wives Under The Sea.

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randeerebecca's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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