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esslesmcgee's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Incest, Fatphobia, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Blood, Grief, and Confinement
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Cursing, Medical content, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping
Minor: Body shaming and Bullying
lovelydeadgirl's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Blood, Gore, Grief, and Incest
marthadude's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Torture, Confinement, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Violence
Minor: Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Pedophilia, and Cannibalism
Heavy triggers for animal cruelty and fatphobia.aparker89'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? It's complicated
4.25
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!
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
trippyotter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Also, while reading the book, I felt it could have easily been 50-100 pages shorter, but come to find out all the excessive trips down memory road and the journey entries was actually critical to the ending.
After several memory flashbacks, I was about ready to close the book when Luke was reading the journal. It just went on forever. Then what happened to LB angered me so much that I was basically emotionally numb (maybe that was the intent?) that I just finished the book.
I'm not sure if I'd truly recommend this to anyone, but if you decide to take the plug, beware of the various triggers.
Triggers: missing child, child abuse, child sexual assault, emotional abuse, toxic relationships, death, gore, grief, animal abuse, animal testing, animal death
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Death of parent
dezaraemd's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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
- 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
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
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. 😬
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
hannahfaith25's review against another edition
Graphic: Gore, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Grief, and Blood
If you’re claustrophobic or have issues with animals (mice, bees, lizards, dogs) being used for science experiments I’d stay awaygssll_lpz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Medical content, Animal cruelty, Gore, Animal death, Body horror, and Grief
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Incest, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail