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mand_al_orian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Incest, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Death, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Confinement, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
changelingreader_adrian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death, Fatphobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Dementia, Body horror, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Emotional abuse
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
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
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
lithoerary_atria'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
lemme break it down for ya:
parts 1, 2 & 3? utterly boring and mind-numbing and the whole writing down the sounds made didn't help. also i DIDN'T appreciate the numerous flashbacks that went on for pages. they could've been done away with.
parts 4 & 5? HELL YEAH, that's my stuff!! horrors beyond human comprehension & feeling helpless? fuck yes!! the writing was still meh tho especially with those internal voices inside luke's mind. it was silly & brought you out of the story lol.
part 6? i- we don't speak about it lol.
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Child death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Suicide
Moderate: Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Sexual content
apolloniablooms'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
2.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Grief, Torture, Stalking, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Terminal illness, Animal death, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, and Body horror
mcwinks667'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
sunnyjreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic relationship