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night_shift's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Cursing and Alcoholism
ghostthereader'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
3.0
Moderate: Animal death
buttercupsobsession's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Minor: Animal death
stuckinthestacks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death and Body horror
thesaltiestlibrarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Let's clear something up before I go into this. I didn't think the book was *bad.* Did it drag? Yeah. Could it have been a novella without losing anything? Absolutely. Was the kid at all needed as a character? No.
Was it bad? Also no.
So we have your standard alien invasion: bad signs in the sky just before hell breaks loose, stuff falling from space(?), then creatures showing up and our heroes figuring out how to take them down. The "tide" part of the title is a bit deceptive, as the book takes place on a beach but has little to do with the actual water. Which was pretty disappointing to me. Stuff from space is scary, sure, but what about the things that live just below us? Where they're naturally a part of our world in the first place, then just decide, "You know what? F those people on land. I'mma kill 'em."
The aliens themselves had biological factors that didn't make much sense. There was a lot going on with them that seemed contradictory, but it's an invasion book. I suspended my disbelief long enough to get through and not hate it. It kind of felt like a movie you'd watch on the SyFy network, along the lines of "Lavalantula" or "Piranhaconda." (I have watched both with popcorn in a bowl and a cold soda at my side.) The alien origin also was unclear, and if Beth's dream in the beginning of the book had actually proven true--some kind of weird dimensional overlap--that would have been neat. I wouldn't have expected it to be explainable right away if at all. However, the invaders were rather typical overall.
As for the characters, they were average at best. I didn't like Beth much at the beginning, but by the end she'd grown on me. That said, Mike's voice was definitely the least distinctive. I constantly mixed up his narration with Beth's if her name wasn't in a dialogue tag so often. Natalia was a useless last-act addition, and Jake was my favorite. The little golden good dog who derped his way right into my squishy canine-loving heart. And then K.C. Jones killed him, and the rest of the book was pointless to me.
YES. The dog dies. Sure, it happens off-page technically, but I don't care. You gave me a dog who was fantastic, made him fluffy and beautiful, and then he died. That's such a dick move as an author.
Honestly, Jake's death knocked off a whole star for me. The aliens and Mike did the rest of the damage. If someone needs a popcorn read that's quick and doesn't take much thought, this is a good remedy.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Chronic illness, Alcohol, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Minor: Sexual content
booksthatburn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Early on I realized what it's horror novel treatment of, and I don't really want to spoil it except to say that any of my fellow exvangelicals might find something you recognize. You don’t need to figure it out to understand the book, however, since it’s using that sequence of events as the bones in a wonderfully horrific creation. It's from the perspective of two characters who aren’t already familiar with the shape of what’s to come, who have no way to guess the truly twisted shit that’s going down.
The characters have the kind of communication errors which completely fit people who met yesterday and have very little emotional energy to navigate interpersonal dynamics in addition to trying to stay alive. It's just enough to feel real but doesn't bog down the story. The worldbuilding is very good, with the characters slowly figuring out what's happening and some strategies to deal with immediate dangers, but lacking any ability to fix things more broadly. This is a very good horror novel and I'm quite pleased overall.
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Cursing, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Violence, Gun violence, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, and Sexual content
laurainthevoid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
From then on, Jones spins a tale of cosmic horror that's both reminiscent of Stephen King's Cujo and The Mist that feels claustrophobic and helpless, even frustrasting at times, but I was really invested in the characters (Jake joins the gallery of best fictional dogs of all time, honestly) with the lulls in the story providing for some good insight from the protagonists- I was pretty hooked from beginning to end, and sci-fi and horror elements were quite good.
There's a certain moment that made me scratch my head towards the end which is why I'm giving this four stars but overall, this is a pretty good little horror book.
Moderate: Animal death
enchantressreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"The darkness is coming for me after all. And it has teeth."
Black Tide is unlike any kind of apocalypse novel I've ever read before. Some of them really sound the same at this point--a disease, zombies, warfare. What about perfectly circular meteorites that grow vines, invisible monsters with mouths full of razors, and jellyfish clouds?
Beth is currently house sitting at a beach in Oregon, where she meets the next door neighbor, Mike. After a quick affair, she has a strange dream. Mike, wanting to end it all after losing his wife, sees meteors start to fall from the sky. Beth believes she's had too much to drink, until Mike comes to the house with a perfectly round ball. It burns his hands, so he drops it. They think nothing of it, until they decide to go to the beach, where they see a group of people desperately trying to leave the island. Something strange is happening at Strawberry Dunes.
This book had me hooked from the beginning, lost me a bit in the middle, and got me back at the end. I enjoyed learning more about Beth and Mike, while also watching them try to figure out how to survive this weird event. Both people seem to be notorious for fucking things up, and they don't want this to be their last fuck-up. They both lean on each other to try to survive.
I'd love to see more of this world, or possibly a different location. Is it happening world-wide? How are other people handling it? How is the government handling it? I don't believe this is a series, but I would love to see a spinoff book.
Graphic: Blood and Gore
Moderate: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Suicide attempt