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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.
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. 😬
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
tormlen's review against another edition
dark
tense
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
I have lots of mixed feelings on this one. First, READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE YOU READ THIS IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE. I will say that the trigger warnings prepared me for much, but not how borderline hatefully this author writes fat people. I hated the character of the mother, Bethany. She felt evil and two dimensional, a monster, not a flawed human. It does not help that the author uses her size to illustrate her monstrosity every chance he gets. I got so sick of hearing about "her bulk." We get it; she's fat! It doesn't make her any more or less of a monster. That's all in her actions. The story of how she gains her weight also doesn't feel believable to me, and I feel like the choice of porridge was intended to just make it feel even grosser. It would have been nice to have a foil for her, a fat person who is actually likable. Granted, that would mean having more than one likable human character in the book.
That aside, parts of this book moved fast, and I couldn't put it down. I loved the setting. The story was engaging. I actually don't mind that the 'gets is abandoned once they board the Trieste. The disease is part of the bait. Some of the imagery in this book is very creepy and strong. However, be prepared as they can also be pretty disturbing.
The weakest part of this book is probably the characters. Other than Luke, everyone feels pretty flat. Despite this flatness, Al is actually the only human character I liked. Of course, the dog is also endearing, but that's kind of a cop out. What happens to the dog was horribly sad. I almost cried.
I know a lot of people love this book, and I can partially understand why. The scare factor is really high, the writing (when not fat-shaming) is decent, and the story was really engaging. I actually did not guess the ending, so that's cool. I would be willing to read more by this author, especially if he can actually write diverse body types in a way that does not feel demonizing.
That aside, parts of this book moved fast, and I couldn't put it down. I loved the setting. The story was engaging. I actually don't mind that the 'gets is abandoned once they board the Trieste. The disease is part of the bait. Some of the imagery in this book is very creepy and strong. However, be prepared as they can also be pretty disturbing.
The weakest part of this book is probably the characters. Other than Luke, everyone feels pretty flat. Despite this flatness, Al is actually the only human character I liked. Of course, the dog is also endearing, but that's kind of a cop out. What happens to the dog was horribly sad. I almost cried.
I know a lot of people love this book, and I can partially understand why. The scare factor is really high, the writing (when not fat-shaming) is decent, and the story was really engaging. I actually did not guess the ending, so that's cool. I would be willing to read more by this author, especially if he can actually write diverse body types in a way that does not feel demonizing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Fatphobia, Incest, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death
Minor: Eating disorder
The eating disorder is implied and horribly written. While the character's behavior pattern could be symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder, it's never explicitly said and feels extremely unrealistic. I would be shocked if the author actually researched Binge Eating Disorder much at all.finleyfrogreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Confinement, Death, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
Moderate: Blood, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Murder, Sexual assault, and Vomit
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