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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
Sure, the writing wasn't great, and the author in the preface really seems to believe in the feasibility of the story, and the motivations of the characters were just all over the place, and the only thing that partially excuses the terrible female characters was that the author wasn't great at writing male ones either, and the occasional bits of scientific language to describe body parts that the author dropped in felt clunky and like they were just there to prove that he'd done his research.
However, counterpoint: I like big shark.
It's a fun concept, and beyond having already seen the film I think I've read some other books or seen some other films which may have been partly inspired by this? Obviously Meg is itself heavily inspired by Jaws - with the author seeming most surprisingly to have thought thatan affair subplot was a critical part of the shark story as it is focused on pretty heavily in both books.
As mentioned above, the two women in the story felt poorly written,with one being a sort of heartless greedy fame-hungry adulterer and the other flipping from bratty and defiant to spirit of vengeance to sudden bond-girl level adulation of the main character over the course of the book, but with all character development kinda happening off-screen . On the other hand, none of the characters wanting revenge on the Meg at all costs vs wanting to keep it in SeaWorld vs switching between the two felt that credible. How you can make both sides of a diametric choice feel implausible is a bit of a feat. Then we have Bud suddenly becoming all murderlicious towards the end despite having apparently planned to shoot at the shark for a bit and then kill himself within a page or two and of course our protagonist being too traumatised to go in the sea at all for the best part of a decade, until someone suggested going for a dip in the spot which traumatised him and where he believed the megalodon was and he was not only on board but after his initial reservations just gung ho whack me in the water just put me as close to any seamonster as possible please for the rest of the book.
There is a lot to complain about, but on the other hand, big shark.
However, counterpoint: I like big shark.
It's a fun concept, and beyond having already seen the film I think I've read some other books or seen some other films which may have been partly inspired by this? Obviously Meg is itself heavily inspired by Jaws - with the author seeming most surprisingly to have thought that
As mentioned above, the two women in the story felt poorly written,
There is a lot to complain about, but on the other hand, big shark.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Well, I think I'd give it 2.5 stars. It wasn't all that great, but it wasn't so bad either. I enjoyed it a tiny bit more than an "ok" rating. Steve Alten does tell a good shark attack tale. This one was perhaps a little better than the syfy channel B movies you won't admit you've actually seen. It's no Jaws though.
The ending sequence is quite a bit beyond belief, but still had me turning pages to get to the end. (To be fair, Mythbusters have disproved the notion that a bullet fired into a scuba tank would explode with enough force to destroy a full grown great white - Thus rendering the climactic ending to Spielburg's 1975 classic improbable at best.) It's imagination, let's just go with it. Hahaha
I'll likely pick up another of Alten's books in the future.
The ending sequence is quite a bit beyond belief, but still had me turning pages to get to the end. (To be fair, Mythbusters have disproved the notion that a bullet fired into a scuba tank would explode with enough force to destroy a full grown great white - Thus rendering the climactic ending to Spielburg's 1975 classic improbable at best.) It's imagination, let's just go with it. Hahaha
I'll likely pick up another of Alten's books in the future.
I loved this book. Was the dialogue awkward and cringy? Occasionally. Were some of the plot points absolutely ridiculous and quite possibly impossible? Sure. Did I care? Not a bit. This was such a fun ride it was easy to see why it was made into a movie. Not everything has to be high literature. Sometimes you just want to read about bad people being eaten alive by a shark. I can't wait to continue with the series.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Racism, Sexism
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I had not realized this was also a book, so obviously, I had to read. I will absolutely keep reading the rest of the series as it has enough excitement to keep me hooked. That said, the author's depictions of women are pretty awful and made me make an "eww" face every time. If the author gets his act together, then hopefully, the rest of the series will be as exciting, if not I may have to stop. We'll see if it happens.
