Reviews

The Seep by Chana Porter

shaydyes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense

3.75

meemzala's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

mangela_28's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

jenninicole's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

3.75

ryn_k's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

kdahlo's review against another edition

5.0

Really liked this - it's short so maybe just try it out? No real caveats, cool across several axes. Nicely straddles the prestige fiction/sci-fi border with great writing and no shortage of original ideas.

avanthiannotates's review against another edition

3.0

It's a really interesting concept but the storyline/plot just wasn't for me. 

I don't know how much I actually enjoyed the characters either. The conflict between the main character and her wife definitely made me uncomfortable and felt a little icky (because of the wife, not the main character) but maybe that was the point? 

I think I would have enjoyed this so much more if it was a longer book. I think there were too many characters and scenarios for a book this short.

But that being said, I really did love the overall concept of a benign alien invasion and the ethical/moral questions it's presence brought to light. I think exploring that way more in depth would have been a good kind of discomfort to sit in

grrrlbrarian's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

a_violentfemme's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

I sped through this one and couldn't put it down. This book ultimately does what any good sci-fi should do (in my opinion) which is explore the human experience and as such, it is a great exploration of grief and relationships.

However, I want more from this world and hope that Porter expands this series in someway. There were a lot of unanswered questions I had around the world building and felt the 'short story' at the end was key to contextualising the main narrative. I did really enjoy the concept of a 'slow' and apparently benign alien invasion but again, felt this background took a back seat to the character development.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Alcoholism

colourphoenix's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

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

2.0