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wrenny03's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.0
Do not go into The Caves. The Caves are alive and malicious and they want you dead. This book fucks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Drug use, Body horror, Death, and Vomit
Moderate: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Confinement
Minor: Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
danimacuk's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Death of parent
Minor: Blood and Medical content
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
smolhandsdan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
This not a story for everyone, it doesn't focus on monster and super natural, they do makw an appearance here and there in the story - enough for me to be on edge when they pop up.
The main drive for the characters in this story is grief and trauma. And the fucked up system of needing money and putting yourself in a dangerous scenario just to get what you need. I liked that reality. I liked the pull and give between the characters learning to trust each other and recognize their faults and how to move past that.
The horror of cave diving, swimming through tight places, and relying on gear was enough to get me in HELL NO, NOPE headspace anxiety for the the main character. I think at times it could be a touch repetitive in the experiences chapter by chapter. The author was good at weaving new existential dread, frustration, despair, mental trauma that kept it fresh. I was sitting here wondering if the end would be depression hell or if it might turn out alright somehow. I enjoyed the grief, I think that kinda dark place isn't something everyone understands but damn was it powerful.
I enjoyed the audiobook I'm excited to check out the other authors works!
The main drive for the characters in this story is grief and trauma. And the fucked up system of needing money and putting yourself in a dangerous scenario just to get what you need. I liked that reality. I liked the pull and give between the characters learning to trust each other and recognize their faults and how to move past that.
The horror of cave diving, swimming through tight places, and relying on gear was enough to get me in HELL NO, NOPE headspace anxiety for the the main character. I think at times it could be a touch repetitive in the experiences chapter by chapter. The author was good at weaving new existential dread, frustration, despair, mental trauma that kept it fresh. I was sitting here wondering if the end would be depression hell or if it might turn out alright somehow. I enjoyed the grief, I think that kinda dark place isn't something everyone understands but damn was it powerful.
I enjoyed the audiobook I'm excited to check out the other authors works!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
thelittlestrobot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abandonment, Gore, Grief, and Death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts 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
hzamrzla's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I loved the premise and voice of this book, but the pacing and actual plot were so hard to stick with. There is only one REAL conflict: whether or not Gyre trusts Em, and we revisit it about 8 times with no real resolution. Reluctant trust, big betrayal, insistence on doing it alone, horrible failure due to the decision to do it alone, rinse, repeat.
Specifically, I got so frustrated with Gyre by the end because of herconstantly refusing to let Em guide/medicate/STOP her, doing something stupid, and then being in a rage that Em didn’t guide/medicate/STOP her . This happening once or twice seemed reasonable, and then for it to KEEP happening, as the only source of action in the book, felt contrived.
Also, I hate“turns out it was all in your head” books.
It got old, which is sad.
Specifically, I got so frustrated with Gyre by the end because of her
Also, I hate
It got old, which is sad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, and Abandonment
iam's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
5.0
SciFi cave exploration horror featuring lesbians tied up in a web of lies, what could you possibly want more?
Content warnings include: amputation, manipulation, unconsensual administration of drugs, claustrophobia, medical failure, abandonement, gore and graphic description of corpses and causes of death; mentions of death of parents, absent parents.
I personally would have preferred the cave monster to appear more, and a lot of the plot went in circles (literally.) It didn't actively terrify me, but I think that's fine, more low-key/subtle horror more there due to the surrounding situation than what actually happens (and a lot happens!) suits me more than the outright can't sleep one.
Very atmospheric, with a great cast of two characters, and the audiobook narration is done absolutely incredibly by Adenrele Ojo.
Content warnings include: amputation, manipulation, unconsensual administration of drugs, claustrophobia, medical failure, abandonement, gore and graphic description of corpses and causes of death; mentions of death of parents, absent parents.
I personally would have preferred the cave monster to appear more, and a lot of the plot went in circles (literally.) It didn't actively terrify me, but I think that's fine, more low-key/subtle horror more there due to the surrounding situation than what actually happens (and a lot happens!) suits me more than the outright can't sleep one.
Very atmospheric, with a great cast of two characters, and the audiobook narration is done absolutely incredibly by Adenrele Ojo.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Medical content, Abandonment, and Gore
amputationhailstorm3812's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
4.0
This is not my typical read but I actually liked it. It is tense, interesting, and a little trippy. I am not entirely satisfied on how the mystery ends up but the characterization and relationships more than make up for it. I really like the main character and think everyone reacts in ridiculous but realistic ways of a person in these circumstances. I had to stop listening a few times because I was stressed out, but I still really enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Abandonment, Death of parent, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Suicidal thoughts
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