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brynawel's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Beautiful. Shocking. Important.
kait_lost_in_books's review against another edition
5.0
We’ve all heard the old tales sea monsters hiding in the great ocean trenches and we’ve seen some of the weird-looking fish pulled from the twilight zone but so very few actually study The Deep, that every year we discover something new and fascinating in the earth’s last refuge for the unknown. In this book Helen Scales not only takes us on a journey down to the abyssal seas, describing some of many animals and behaviours only witnessed at this depth - vampire squid making snowballs, an amazing variety of sea cucumbers and sea slugs which potentially hold secrets to massively advance human medicine- but she also explains, in an accessible and digestible way, the dangers of mining and exploiting these areas. Ending with a call to arms for all those who love the oceans to act on behalf of all those on the planet who cannot.
I absolutely loved this book. It’s scientific enough without being overloaded with terminology which excludes non-scientists. Helen writes with passion and knowledge and is a fantastic storyteller. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone with an interest.
I absolutely loved this book. It’s scientific enough without being overloaded with terminology which excludes non-scientists. Helen writes with passion and knowledge and is a fantastic storyteller. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone with an interest.
iszys's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Reading a pop sci book about a topic you love runs the risk of being really boring because it's just repetitive information. I was so happy to not feel that way about this book! I have always been fascinated with the deep sea. My favorite animal was the gulper eel for a good portion of my childhood! I still felt like I learned a lot from this book and it reinforced my love of the abyss. Listening to the author read it was really nice because I could tell how passionate she was about the topic.
My only issue is that in the end, the author seemed afraid to say "stop eating fish", and instead opted for the moderate cop out of just buying "sustainably" caught fish (although many "sustainable" labels are often meaningless).
My only issue is that in the end, the author seemed afraid to say "stop eating fish", and instead opted for the moderate cop out of just buying "sustainably" caught fish (although many "sustainable" labels are often meaningless).
bigbeardedbookseller's review against another edition
4.0
Though my main reading genre at the moment is speculative fiction I really love reading well-written books on science and aspects of the planet, especially nature writing.
This is a well-written book, covering one of the most unexplored areas of the planet, The Deep Abyss.
In the first part of the book we explore various habitats with Dr. Helen Scales, revealing some truly wondrous examples of animals such as the Scaly-foot snail with a shell made from iron, jelly creatures of all shapes and function, lantern fish, and so much more. Detailing intricate webs of dependency and extremely localised habitats with unique species, but also expanding the view on how much actually lives in the abyss.
The detailed explanations revealed a passion about the abyss which then transferred to the next sections where Dr. Scales described the possible consequences of mass exploitation of this habitat and how it would most likely be wiped out due to the type of species that lived there (slow growing and eveloping), but also gave solutions to stop this.
I really enjoyed the writing style which was in depth enough to give detail without being too brief to fit a lot in, Dr. Scales obvious passion shines throughout. Lots of new information (to me) kept me riveted from start to finish.
I was given this for an honest review by NetGalley.
This is a well-written book, covering one of the most unexplored areas of the planet, The Deep Abyss.
In the first part of the book we explore various habitats with Dr. Helen Scales, revealing some truly wondrous examples of animals such as the Scaly-foot snail with a shell made from iron, jelly creatures of all shapes and function, lantern fish, and so much more. Detailing intricate webs of dependency and extremely localised habitats with unique species, but also expanding the view on how much actually lives in the abyss.
The detailed explanations revealed a passion about the abyss which then transferred to the next sections where Dr. Scales described the possible consequences of mass exploitation of this habitat and how it would most likely be wiped out due to the type of species that lived there (slow growing and eveloping), but also gave solutions to stop this.
I really enjoyed the writing style which was in depth enough to give detail without being too brief to fit a lot in, Dr. Scales obvious passion shines throughout. Lots of new information (to me) kept me riveted from start to finish.
I was given this for an honest review by NetGalley.
ldewan's review against another edition
4.0
A thrilling way to see part of our world that, to most of us, is invisible yet vital to our survival. I loved the engaging storytelling, mind-blowing information and stirring call to action. You will finish this book with a new sense of wonder about our planet, and a deep commitment to preserve the deep ocean before it is too late.
kiramke's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Yeah, it counts as a spooky fall read because the deep sea is hella creepy. I enjoyed this, both seriously and because I have that creepy-fascination. That said, it is very depressing when we get to the global actions perpetrated by a small number of countries taking advantage of economic situations elsewhere, which is what you get when you talk about the pacific. Sigh. The 20% of this book that is just a treatise against seabed mining is, I mean, well-written and necessary but very long and bleak and hard to get through. If it were structured differently it might be a bit easier to digest.
Counterpoint: this is the second book I read recently about a difficult topic and then complained a bit that it was difficult, so maybe I'm just in a mood.