Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Deep by Nick Cutter

36 reviews

aparker89's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.25

A titillating journey into the Mariana Trench and the mind. Be prepared for the monsters in your closet to come put to visit as you dive deep into the realm of horror! A well written story that leaves much to the tortures of your imagination! 
Find yourself stuck in a loop of endless and increasingly terrifying nightmares with Luke who just wants to help save mankind... don't look to hard at the shadows, they might be looking back!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Fatphobia, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Physical abuse, and Incest

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pandemic/Epidemic

duckleberryferry's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

What WAS that? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Body horror, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Fatphobia, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and Self harm

unviincible's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.0

 A high note of dread sang through Luke’s veins—a mocking aria that sent a shiver through his bones.
 What are you so afraid of? said that same voice inside Luke’s head.
Everything, another voice answered.

 
well that was a mind fuck and a half. I was unable to put this down—the tension was unparalleled and the prose was excellent without being overwrought, enough to describe stuff concisely and viscerally in a way that suits body horror. but I feel like I gotta dock points for the weird fatphobia, it was hard to tell if it was the MC or author who was repulsed or what purpose that served

not a book I'd easily recommend? it's probably the first time I've read something with a trigger warning list the length of my arm. you're like "that was amazing! but did I like it? I have no idea!" I don't mind open endings, either, and I'm still processing how I felt, but I do wish we'd gotten a bit more out of that as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, and Gore

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide

szyca's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Gore, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Violence, Gaslighting, Incest, Mental illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic

dezaraemd's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This was the most gripping, intense, horrifying book I have ever read. Well done, Nick Cutter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal cruelty, Death, Body horror, Gore, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Animal death, and Cursing

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Blood, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Sexual content, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Incest, and Kidnapping

jalecd's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

Atmospheric and horrifying with visceral descriptions that will often leave you feeling sick and asking yourself “why?!”. I enjoyed the book but mainly was let down by the ending which  felt unsatisfying and sudden. I felt as though there were a number of loose ends that were never tied up, and though likely a narrative choice, I was just left frustrated and wanting answers.

The ‘Gets could have pretty much been completely removed from this book and would have made no impact on the plot or otherwise, it very much feels like a wasted aspect of the plot 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Animal death, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Confinement, Incest, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

papercrowns's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed The Troop—I gave it five stars—and I remember picking that one up because of the praise it received and how many of my fave booktubers said it was super disturbing. 

Well, I don't remember too many specifics about The Troop (my memory's fault, not the book's), but I do recall thinking it was awesome and gross, but not super disturbing per se. Well, The Deep was certainly disturbing. But, I understand why The Troop is the Nick Cutter book people talk about most, because while The Deep does what it says on the tin in terms of the horror, it's got its problems. 

• An overuse of onomatopoeia to the point of distraction.
• The story touches on a lot of serious, uncomfortable topics, and they certainly gave me the ick but for the most part, these serve the story and felt intentional. However, there was some fatphobia that didn't quite feel necessary or serve the story that I could have done without. It was very like
  "Ooh, she got fat, gross! We know she's gonna be a baddie!"
• The general dialogue was fine, but when it came to banter, it felt a bit forced and unintentionally cringe, particularly between the main character and his brother. 
• The 'Gets, the worldwide pandemic that instigates the whole narrative, was super interesting but is largely forgotten once we get to the underwater lab in the Challenger Deep. It was such an interesting concept that it would have been great to see it have more impact to the story rather than being a throwaway plot device. 

These things brought it down to a 4-star read for me, but none of them derailed the story. It's a real wild ride and intensely unsettling; exactly what I want from a horror book. Nick Cutter excels in describing horrifying, uncomfortable, and balls-to-the-wall cuckoo-bananas situations. 

His descriptions of the characters' psychological trauma as they grapple with desperate situations are so intense and unnerving; I often found myself wanting to put the book down to give myself a break but also being absolutely unable to tear my eyes from the page. There was one claustrophobic sequence in particular where Cutter describes

the main characters crawling through an access tunnel that gets narrower and narrower with no guarantee that they'll be able to get out at the other end

. Ooof, my skin was crawling, my heart was racing, and I almost threw the book across the room in vicarious panic. 

And frankly, that's some chef's-kiss horror writing if you ask me. 

I can't wait to read more Nick Cutter, cuz I know it'll be a grand creep-fest that does exactly what it says on the tin. However, I will say that I'd love to see a bit more character diversity, particularly more women.

Worth checking the trigger warnings before reading if you have triggers. Definitely do not read if bad things happening to animals in your reading is a dealbreaker. 😬

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Blood, Animal cruelty, Gore, Grief, Self harm, Body horror, Confinement, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content, Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Incest, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Eating disorder

Minor: Death of parent and Sexual assault

grave_liminal's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Animal death, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Minor: Death of parent

juliaaa02's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book actually made me gag. I’ve never read anything quite as graphically unnerving. I almost didn’t finish because of the physical reaction I had to the book. I honestly am still confused about the ending. I had a hard time rating this book, since I was confused for a lot of it. I gave it a 4 due to the physical reactions I had and how genuinely scared I felt for a while after reading 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pedophilia, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Self harm, Torture, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Incest, Pregnancy, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

wharah's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm