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evelikesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Confinement, Mental illness, Vomit, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts
afterplague's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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? Yes
3.25
The Luminous Dead was an experience I wasn't expecting. If you're looking for a heart-pounding horror novel I'm afraid that you're going to be disappointed. If you wanted zombies or alien creatures I think you'd better look elsewhere.
Fundamentally, this novel is a character driven one. If you look at the plot at a surface level you'll probably be a bit bored and little disappointed. It's not that there aren't scares or tension, there is, but most of the plot is just climbing, talking, and a nervous breakdown. By describing it like this it might seem like I don't like Luminous Dead, but I think that's not true.
It's difficult to parse out my feelings and my rating of the book. I thought for ages about whether to rate this four stars or three. Objectively versus subjectively my feelings differed. I think there's something at the center of The Luminous Dead, but I don't think that it's typical of the horror genre. I don't think I was ever really scared. I was nervous at times, and maybe tense, but more than anything I just felt this creeping despair. This is not a "scary" story. It's just depressing, and it does that very well.
I'm going to go into more depth below, so please beware of spoilers.
Like I said, this is a character driven story, and so the characters have to be good to carry it. Luckily, I think they are. Gyre is our main and perspective character and Em is her woman in the chair. And that's it. There are only two characters in this entire book, and the story is just the two of them having conversations and attempting to navigate the cave.
Gyre is an excellent climber, but she has very little experience with caving jobs. She's worked as a technician, but has never actually undergone a real cave dive. She lies about her experience for a job worth more money than multiple other caving jobs combined in an attempt to get off planet and find her mother who abandoned her years ago. I like Gyre a lot. She's tough and smart, and she has a certain arrogance that drives her character into death defying scenarios. Because of this, though, she can be hotheaded, stubborn, and dangerous. She believes in her abilities and instincts, and she's usually right, but being in the cave for weeks on end definitely tests her psyche.
Em is completely different. She's very cold and extremely secretive. Her motives for sending Gyre into the cave are a complete mystery, and she is extremely controlling towards her. Em doesn't see Gyre as a human at first, violating her bodily autonomy by controlling the suit from afar. Gyre hates this and demands that she stop, but Em still occasionally sneaks her some drugs or assistance to the suit.
Their relationship is so weird and toxic, but it grows and changes into something that is closer than I could have imagined. They build trust and share things about each other. They find common ground when Em reveals that she's not exploring the cave for resources or anything valuable, she just wants to find the bodies of her parents cave diving team from twenty years ago. It's a really human moment, but Em reveals that twenty-five previous cavers have died trying to accomplish this task, and I was torn. Em's feelings and desires are valid, but her callous disregard for anyone in her search for closure makes her a monster. Gyre does call this out.
It's an interesting dynamic, and I really enjoyed one moment especially, after a lot of relationship and trust building, Em needs to fully take control of the suit and Gyre lets her. It was a really tense scene and demonstrated that even though Em sends the cavers down to the depths, she cares about them, remembers them, and feels their losses.
The cave itself is unfortunately not a very interesting environment. There are sections that are notable and memorable, like the fungi that burst into spores or the Long Drop that takes twelve hours to climb down, but most of the cave is just grey walls. The part of cave diving that really scares me is tight, enclosed spaces, but we don't really get much of that in the novel. Instead, all of the most tense parts take place in the sumps, underwater caves. Obvious cave diving is terrifying, but it just didn't hit the scarier parts of the caves.
Tension did build throughout the story and I did feel like there were legitimate threats, but I do feel like those threats were ultimately a disappointment. The Tunnelers were a frightening concept, and when we finally saw one I do believe it was well described. I just don't understand how it was defeated by being thrown off balance? That was weird. There's also the idea that someone else is in the caves, but that doesn't really go anywhere. The cave itself is also implied to be some level of haunted or supernatural or maybe it was hallucinogenic spores? It's not explained super well.
There was also a lot of back tracking which did make the pacing slog. Gyre has to progress through six camps and once she gets to six, she treks back to four, then back to five, then back to six, then back to five, then gets swept back to six, then back to five, then back to four, then back to three, then back to four and if reading this was tedious just imagine it going on for two hundred pages. The things happening are relatively exciting, but we are literally walking in circles.
The writing and intrigue were good, though. I don't want to insinuate that they weren't. The technology was also pretty cool. It's not so far advanced that it seems like a deus ex machina, but it is distinctly futuristic. The idea of not being able to feel anything or touch your own body for weeks at a time is a horror in itself.
I feel like I could talk about this for ages, contemplating the good and the bad, but I have to stop at some point. Maybe now you can get a bit of an idea of why this book was so difficult to rate.
I did enjoy The Luminous Dead, but it is kind of a vibe more than a horror novel. I wouldn't recommend this if you're looking for action and excitement. I would recommend it if you enjoy character focused stories, ambiguous supernatural events, and a slow burn.
Fundamentally, this novel is a character driven one. If you look at the plot at a surface level you'll probably be a bit bored and little disappointed. It's not that there aren't scares or tension, there is, but most of the plot is just climbing, talking, and a nervous breakdown. By describing it like this it might seem like I don't like Luminous Dead, but I think that's not true.
It's difficult to parse out my feelings and my rating of the book. I thought for ages about whether to rate this four stars or three. Objectively versus subjectively my feelings differed. I think there's something at the center of The Luminous Dead, but I don't think that it's typical of the horror genre. I don't think I was ever really scared. I was nervous at times, and maybe tense, but more than anything I just felt this creeping despair. This is not a "scary" story. It's just depressing, and it does that very well.
I'm going to go into more depth below, so please beware of spoilers.
Like I said, this is a character driven story, and so the characters have to be good to carry it. Luckily, I think they are. Gyre is our main and perspective character and Em is her woman in the chair. And that's it. There are only two characters in this entire book, and the story is just the two of them having conversations and attempting to navigate the cave.
Gyre is an excellent climber, but she has very little experience with caving jobs. She's worked as a technician, but has never actually undergone a real cave dive. She lies about her experience for a job worth more money than multiple other caving jobs combined in an attempt to get off planet and find her mother who abandoned her years ago. I like Gyre a lot. She's tough and smart, and she has a certain arrogance that drives her character into death defying scenarios. Because of this, though, she can be hotheaded, stubborn, and dangerous. She believes in her abilities and instincts, and she's usually right, but being in the cave for weeks on end definitely tests her psyche.
Em is completely different. She's very cold and extremely secretive. Her motives for sending Gyre into the cave are a complete mystery, and she is extremely controlling towards her. Em doesn't see Gyre as a human at first, violating her bodily autonomy by controlling the suit from afar. Gyre hates this and demands that she stop, but Em still occasionally sneaks her some drugs or assistance to the suit.
Their relationship is so weird and toxic, but it grows and changes into something that is closer than I could have imagined. They build trust and share things about each other. They find common ground when Em reveals that she's not exploring the cave for resources or anything valuable, she just wants to find the bodies of her parents cave diving team from twenty years ago. It's a really human moment, but Em reveals that twenty-five previous cavers have died trying to accomplish this task, and I was torn. Em's feelings and desires are valid, but her callous disregard for anyone in her search for closure makes her a monster. Gyre does call this out.
It's an interesting dynamic, and I really enjoyed one moment especially, after a lot of relationship and trust building, Em needs to fully take control of the suit and Gyre lets her. It was a really tense scene and demonstrated that even though Em sends the cavers down to the depths, she cares about them, remembers them, and feels their losses.
The cave itself is unfortunately not a very interesting environment. There are sections that are notable and memorable, like the fungi that burst into spores or the Long Drop that takes twelve hours to climb down, but most of the cave is just grey walls. The part of cave diving that really scares me is tight, enclosed spaces, but we don't really get much of that in the novel. Instead, all of the most tense parts take place in the sumps, underwater caves. Obvious cave diving is terrifying, but it just didn't hit the scarier parts of the caves.
Tension did build throughout the story and I did feel like there were legitimate threats, but I do feel like those threats were ultimately a disappointment. The Tunnelers were a frightening concept, and when we finally saw one I do believe it was well described. I just don't understand how it was defeated by being thrown off balance? That was weird. There's also the idea that someone else is in the caves, but that doesn't really go anywhere. The cave itself is also implied to be some level of haunted or supernatural or maybe it was hallucinogenic spores? It's not explained super well.
There was also a lot of back tracking which did make the pacing slog. Gyre has to progress through six camps and once she gets to six, she treks back to four, then back to five, then back to six, then back to five, then gets swept back to six, then back to five, then back to four, then back to three, then back to four and if reading this was tedious just imagine it going on for two hundred pages. The things happening are relatively exciting, but we are literally walking in circles.
The writing and intrigue were good, though. I don't want to insinuate that they weren't. The technology was also pretty cool. It's not so far advanced that it seems like a deus ex machina, but it is distinctly futuristic. The idea of not being able to feel anything or touch your own body for weeks at a time is a horror in itself.
I feel like I could talk about this for ages, contemplating the good and the bad, but I have to stop at some point. Maybe now you can get a bit of an idea of why this book was so difficult to rate.
I did enjoy The Luminous Dead, but it is kind of a vibe more than a horror novel. I wouldn't recommend this if you're looking for action and excitement. I would recommend it if you enjoy character focused stories, ambiguous supernatural events, and a slow burn.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Abandonment, and Death of parent
celina246's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I had high hopes for this book but I’m a bit disappointed. It was by no means awful; it’s what I call a “quiet” horror, which means not a lot is necessarily happening but the atmosphere is kind of creepy and tense. But it teetered on boring too many times, and all the climbing jargon and descriptions of the cave routes made my eyes glaze over.
I wish CS had done a bit more with it, plot-wise, but it was character-centric and the characters were very annoying and unlikeable. Still, I feel like it could be a good movie.
I wish CS had done a bit more with it, plot-wise, but it was character-centric and the characters were very annoying and unlikeable. Still, I feel like it could be a good movie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Moderate: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Mental illness and Toxic relationship
smarzipan's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death of parent, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Drug use, Medical trauma, Vomit, Death, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Gaslighting, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Excrement, and Grief
yuyuv's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Confinement, and Death of parent
Moderate: Abandonment
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death, Confinement, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, Cursing, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
j_squaredd's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Gore, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Grief, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Abandonment and Blood
lira_the_recluse's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
World building was interesting, characters were okay. I liked that there was a very limited cast of characters (effectively two). I did not like how it seemed like Gyre had few decisions pan out. She bounced from one crisis to the next and later in the book this just lands her in the right place at the right time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
haleybre's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Death, Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
eldritch_archivist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Gave me real life anxiety reading this, absolutely shitting myself during the back half. I'm now much more afraid to read more books by this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Gaslighting, Suicide, Classism, and Cursing