Scan barcode
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Finished reading: June 7th 2024
“In the brief moment he'd touched the metal, he'd felt the danger of the place. This ship wasn't a gem on the ocean floor, waiting to be found. It was a trap.”
I had a fantastic first experience with Darcy Coates' writing last year, and I've been meaning to read more of her books ever since. I was fascinated by the claustrophobic vibe of the blurb of From Below with the mysterious ship wreck, the dive angle and the promise of something dark lurking within... And I have to say that this story definitely delivered for me. While a tad overlong, the ominous and claustrophobic vibe of this paranormal horror slash locked room thriller made it impossible to stop turning those pages. From Below actually uses a dual timeline structure, where we switch between the present with the dive team and 1928 on board of the SS Arcadia in the days leading up to its disappearance. I wasn't expecting the historical POV, but I understand why it was added as it gave the story so much more dept as well as adding to that ominous atmosphere. The fact that you, like the characters in both timelines, don't have a clear idea what is happening added a hint of urgency, and while certain parts did feel a bit repetitive, it wasn't enough to prevent me from wanting to know more. From Below definitely classifies as paranormal/supernatural horror, so make sure you are prepared for things to get proper creepy along the way... Especially in the second half of the story where things become more intense. Honestly, I'm not sure why the dive team even returns to the Arcadia after the second dive! I would have run away screaming instead... If you are looking for a properly frightening and tense paranormal horror read with a locked room vibe and a truly claustrophobic feel with the majority of the present timeline set 300 feet under water, From Below without doubt fits the bill. It's true that the story is a bit overlong and the pace isn't always consistent, but the plot itself is intriguing enough to keep you fully on board anyway.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Blood, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Body horror, Confinement, Violence, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Suicide
downtown_kb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Cove and her crew are making a documentary exploring the wreckage of a cruise liner that sunk under mysterious circumstances in 1928.
This was fantastically creepy. I think the pacing of this book was very good. A mix of nail biting moments and moments to breathe. I also appreciated the flash backs to the original events leading up to the sinking of the ship. I can't tell you how much I was freaked out by the claustrophobia that came from the deep sea diving element.
Gosh, I wish I could give this 5 stars but the last 20% for me was just too much. I felt the climax went on for just a little too long. Aiden! My gosh man what were you thinking? And while I appreciated that we got some redemption for Vanna, I think it could have been just as good left open ended. So, since the pacing got off there somewhat for me on that final dive for what felt like unbelievable reasons this lost some power with me.
Still a great horror read and I enjoyed it very, very much. My first Darcy Coates and I am excited to dive into the next one.
This was fantastically creepy. I think the pacing of this book was very good. A mix of nail biting moments and moments to breathe. I also appreciated the flash backs to the original events leading up to the sinking of the ship. I can't tell you how much I was freaked out by the claustrophobia that came from the deep sea diving element.
Gosh, I wish I could give this 5 stars but the last 20% for me was just too much. I felt the climax went on for just a little too long. Aiden! My gosh man what were you thinking? And while I appreciated that we got some redemption for Vanna, I think it could have been just as good left open ended. So, since the pacing got off there somewhat for me on that final dive for what felt like unbelievable reasons this lost some power with me.
Still a great horror read and I enjoyed it very, very much. My first Darcy Coates and I am excited to dive into the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Murder
aurora16's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Body horror, and Death
lattelibrarian's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Now this was a good and freaky book!
A group of deep-sea divers sign a contract to take footage of the sunken SS Arcadia, whose reasons for sinking are still theorized about. From the get-go, it seems that everything goes wrong. Unexperienced Aiden loses air quicker than he'd like. The ROVs malfunction. And there's still bodies, frozen in time, on the ship. Not to mention all of the torn wallpaper and messages on the wall...
There's an unexperienced diver, a diver with a strikingly bizarre and threatening journal, and hot-tempered digitizer. But even more, there's a pull down to the depths of the SS Arcadia. As unsafe and haunting as it is, our beloved characters can't help but to return.
Told in alternating perspectives from modern day to a countdown of when the ship originally sunk, Coates unravels for us the mystery of this sunken ship, but it certainly wasn't what I expected--which made it all the more fun.
A group of deep-sea divers sign a contract to take footage of the sunken SS Arcadia, whose reasons for sinking are still theorized about. From the get-go, it seems that everything goes wrong. Unexperienced Aiden loses air quicker than he'd like. The ROVs malfunction. And there's still bodies, frozen in time, on the ship. Not to mention all of the torn wallpaper and messages on the wall...
There's an unexperienced diver, a diver with a strikingly bizarre and threatening journal, and hot-tempered digitizer. But even more, there's a pull down to the depths of the SS Arcadia. As unsafe and haunting as it is, our beloved characters can't help but to return.
Told in alternating perspectives from modern day to a countdown of when the ship originally sunk, Coates unravels for us the mystery of this sunken ship, but it certainly wasn't what I expected--which made it all the more fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Confinement
zenzi2read's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Confinement
omega's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Suicide, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
silverheartbookclub's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Confinement, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Murder
jkpiowa's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A tense, scary underwater exploration story. Kept me guessing until the reveal, and even then the tension never let up. The best Darcy Coates I've read yet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Suicide
lindsbal's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I don't often read horror but, I love period and dual timeline books. This book was such a thrilling read and I loved how the narrative jumped between the modern day shipwreck exploration story and the days leading up to the ship sinking in the 1920s. A lot of suspense was created from knowing that the ship was going to sink but not how it was going to happen. The chapters are short and often leave you with a cliffhanger as they whip you back and fourth between the two timelines.
I'm not a diver, but the descriptions of the mechanics of a dive this deep felt plausible and it seemed like Darcy had done a lot of research into how an expedition like this would work.
My only criticism is wishing the book would have followed more than one character in the 1920s. We get to know one of the crew members but I would have loved a passenger perspective as well. (Even if it would have come at the expense of the fast pace.) There were five divers plus two people aboard the ship in the modern day timeline so it felt a bit unbalanced with the 1920's narrative where we primarily followed one person.
Overall highly recommend this one!
I'm not a diver, but the descriptions of the mechanics of a dive this deep felt plausible and it seemed like Darcy had done a lot of research into how an expedition like this would work.
My only criticism is wishing the book would have followed more than one character in the 1920s. We get to know one of the crew members but I would have loved a passenger perspective as well. (Even if it would have come at the expense of the fast pace.) There were five divers plus two people aboard the ship in the modern day timeline so it felt a bit unbalanced with the 1920's narrative where we primarily followed one person.
Overall highly recommend this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Body horror, and Confinement
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic and Suicide
Minor: Murder
seawarrior's review
5.0
From Below is a bone-chilling and original horror novel with organic scares. I've always been fascinated by scuba-diving and underwater worlds, but Coates used our innate fears of drowning and being stranded in the sea against readers, frightening even me, who doesn't have a natural-born fear of water. The book was gripping the whole way through, and the switches between timelines and characters were the perfect length to hold suspense. I was thoroughly entertained by this haunting story and highly recommend it for other horror readers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Confinement
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail