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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Blood
Ah a classic. I will always love this book. However rereading now that I’m older there are parts that are poorly written, especially how the women characters are described, especially Terry. But this book will always be one of my favorites, I am not a fan of the reprinted edition though and think they could have done a better version instead of the movie poster. I just bought the second one that I’m excited to read before the movie comes out
Highly serviceable example of thrilling sci-fi. Gets 4 stars (for what it is)
Came for ridiculousness. Stayed for the shark facts.
Came for ridiculousness. Stayed for the shark facts.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While parts of it are incredibly unbelievable, its action and threat of demise to all who encounter megalodon keep you drawn in from start to finish. The Terry/Jonas relationship did seem to come out of no where for me. But maybe I missed anything leading up to hiw important they became to each other because I truly only cared about the meg.
I didn't want to put this down and hope the next book is just as worthy of my loss of sleep.
I didn't want to put this down and hope the next book is just as worthy of my loss of sleep.
Loved the scientific and factual parts along with the storyline until about halfway after that no so much.. it just became a bit to predictably cheesy 🧀. If the movie actually follows the book not sure I’ll be able to watch it because things will definitely get horrifically graphic. A tad cray-cray at the end! I might investigate Trench just to see in what direction the author is going go but I’m now off to listen to Meg: Origins.
Cheesy shark things are my thing. However, this book had some flaws. Looking back on when it was originally published, it does pretty well for itself. However, there are several glaring copy errors which I can't stand. Also, there is a "romance" in this book that makes no sense. The characters don't even spend any time in each other's presence and by the end they are in love. What? How does that work? It doesn't. The actual core of the book, the shark content, was very entertaining. But overall the book could have been better. Not bad, just not my favorite.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
If you love/loved Jaws, you'd love this book! If you love underwater/claustrophobic feeling type stories, you'd love this book! Definitely an on the edge of your seat type story! Whoa!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood
Minor: Vomit
(I read the revised and expanded edition, which included a new prequel.)
In "MEG: a novel of deep terror," the truly deep terror is Alten's abysmal writing. It was just bad, but also: I have some serious qualms about the way Alten described women and Asian American characters in this book.
In "MEG: a novel of deep terror," the truly deep terror is Alten's abysmal writing. It was just bad, but also: I have some serious qualms about the way Alten described women and Asian American characters in this book.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is horrible in so many ways, I don't know where to start.
The spelling was horrifying. The author was clearly misogynistic, given the fact that in a cast of - at least - twenty men, there were only two women, both of which were love interests, one being the devil and the other being the savior. Let's not forget the fact that Jonah and the whale have now become Jonas and the shark. In the most improbable and stupid way possible.
It was extremely predictable. The way to get through it - if you must - is making a game of guessing or betting on what will happen next. You'll be bored, but at least you'll be right. That's the only consolation you're going to get from this.
Also, the science and general knowledge on real life stuff was seriously lacking. I know some of that stuff has to be suspended because sharks - for the most part - don't really attack or eat humans but still. The stupidity of how submersibles work was completely bogus, the whole thing about how a shark hitched a ride on another shark to get through the colder layer of ocean floor and proceeded to eat her own babies - listen kids, if you're a human woman, you must save me or die, but if you're a woman shark, congratulations! You are saved! But your brothers will get eaten, one by mommy and one by Shamu! - which would explain why they're extinct if that has a real biological basis though I'm guessing it doesn't. Like everything else in this book.
I read a review somewhere on here that said it was at some point compared to Jurassic Park for sharks, which caused me to break out in hives. HORRIFYING! DON'T CALL MY DINO CHILD NAMES!
Anyway, moving on. Team Dumb wanted to capture the shark because apparently Mother Nature can't handle the inclusion of a new predator that eats its young and therefore will soon die out and hasn't sorted this out a million times before and oh! Oh!The poor fishermen, FML! And then we have Team Ahab - Moby Dick, anyone? Poor Moby Dick, having had its plotline pulled down by this - with their plan to highjack the shark saving and kill it because Ahab. I mean, because Bud 'my girlfriend that I didn't even like until she died' and Heller 'my brother that I sort of liked because I am/have no one' wanted to be the Avengers so...yeah. Avenging. Tearing shit up. Sorry, I had to swear once. This was traumatizing. Both sides were doing the same thing in the end though, just in different ways. Being equally stupid. And predictable, especially Team Ahab.
Also, their names. Sweet Jesus. Who the hell is named DJ?! Who lets a guy named DJ pilot a submarine?!?! Hellooo??? And Terry. Like, they're token Asian. And he didn't even bother to maybe give them interesting Asian names other than the dad. Just toss whatever in there and put an Asian last name at the end, make up some bullshit story about geishas and fishermen and that's Japan for you, you're good. And the one black man whose name we never know, or at any rate that I can't remember. Like, if you're going to be racist just go all out. Don't insult people by pretending you're not.
This is a super rant, I'm sorry. I'm basing most of this off of my angry reading notes. There are so many.
And it's extra disappointing, because there were times when it seemed like Maggie - the stereotypical supermodel journalist - and Terry - the seemingly un-stereotypical pilot that got sidelined so our little b**** Jonah sorry not sorry Jonas, if you switch out one letter he's not our whale guy you know! could go back and face his fears even though he caved right away I digress I digress! - were going to be amazing.
Like when Maggie was chasing down her stories knowing what she wanted and when Terry was putting Jonah in his place - I'm just gonna call him Jonah because I hate him and that's one of the best ways to show someone you don't like them - but all of that never went anywhere, because in the next paragraph he - the author or Jonah, take your pick, they seem to be nearly one and the same - belittled them by making fun of their intensity (Terry, when she tells Jon-nah she's perfectly capable of piloting and he just rolls his eyes and tells her to chill) or comments on their bodies (Maggie, when she first appears with a description of her legs, or later, when she turns to walk away and gets a description of her butt because of course it's a man looking at her because. there. are. no. women. here!) which is just rant inducing.
The spelling never improves. I thought at first it was a fluke but it happened throughout the entire book and seemed to get worse as it went, which makes no sense to me. I hope the print version isn't like this.
I have run out of notes. I'm so glad to be done with this book.
Please don't read it. Just Go Read Jaws.
The spelling was horrifying. The author was clearly misogynistic, given the fact that in a cast of - at least - twenty men, there were only two women, both of which were love interests, one being the devil and the other being the savior. Let's not forget the fact that Jonah and the whale have now become Jonas and the shark. In the most improbable and stupid way possible.
It was extremely predictable. The way to get through it - if you must - is making a game of guessing or betting on what will happen next. You'll be bored, but at least you'll be right. That's the only consolation you're going to get from this.
Also, the science and general knowledge on real life stuff was seriously lacking. I know some of that stuff has to be suspended because sharks - for the most part - don't really attack or eat humans but still. The stupidity of how submersibles work was completely bogus, the whole thing about how a shark hitched a ride on another shark to get through the colder layer of ocean floor and proceeded to eat her own babies - listen kids, if you're a human woman, you must save me or die, but if you're a woman shark, congratulations! You are saved! But your brothers will get eaten, one by mommy and one by Shamu! - which would explain why they're extinct if that has a real biological basis though I'm guessing it doesn't. Like everything else in this book.
I read a review somewhere on here that said it was at some point compared to Jurassic Park for sharks, which caused me to break out in hives. HORRIFYING! DON'T CALL MY DINO CHILD NAMES!
Anyway, moving on. Team Dumb wanted to capture the shark because apparently Mother Nature can't handle the inclusion of a new predator that eats its young and therefore will soon die out and hasn't sorted this out a million times before and oh! Oh!The poor fishermen, FML! And then we have Team Ahab - Moby Dick, anyone? Poor Moby Dick, having had its plotline pulled down by this - with their plan to highjack the shark saving and kill it because Ahab. I mean, because Bud 'my girlfriend that I didn't even like until she died' and Heller 'my brother that I sort of liked because I am/have no one' wanted to be the Avengers so...yeah. Avenging. Tearing shit up. Sorry, I had to swear once. This was traumatizing. Both sides were doing the same thing in the end though, just in different ways. Being equally stupid. And predictable, especially Team Ahab.
Also, their names. Sweet Jesus. Who the hell is named DJ?! Who lets a guy named DJ pilot a submarine?!?! Hellooo??? And Terry. Like, they're token Asian. And he didn't even bother to maybe give them interesting Asian names other than the dad. Just toss whatever in there and put an Asian last name at the end, make up some bullshit story about geishas and fishermen and that's Japan for you, you're good. And the one black man whose name we never know, or at any rate that I can't remember. Like, if you're going to be racist just go all out. Don't insult people by pretending you're not.
This is a super rant, I'm sorry. I'm basing most of this off of my angry reading notes. There are so many.
And it's extra disappointing, because there were times when it seemed like Maggie - the stereotypical supermodel journalist - and Terry - the seemingly un-stereotypical pilot that got sidelined so our little b**** Jonah sorry not sorry Jonas, if you switch out one letter he's not our whale guy you know! could go back and face his fears even though he caved right away I digress I digress! - were going to be amazing.
Like when Maggie was chasing down her stories knowing what she wanted and when Terry was putting Jonah in his place - I'm just gonna call him Jonah because I hate him and that's one of the best ways to show someone you don't like them - but all of that never went anywhere, because in the next paragraph he - the author or Jonah, take your pick, they seem to be nearly one and the same - belittled them by making fun of their intensity (Terry, when she tells Jon-nah she's perfectly capable of piloting and he just rolls his eyes and tells her to chill) or comments on their bodies (Maggie, when she first appears with a description of her legs, or later, when she turns to walk away and gets a description of her butt because of course it's a man looking at her because. there. are. no. women. here!) which is just rant inducing.
The spelling never improves. I thought at first it was a fluke but it happened throughout the entire book and seemed to get worse as it went, which makes no sense to me. I hope the print version isn't like this.
I have run out of notes. I'm so glad to be done with this book.
Please don't read it. Just Go Read Jaws.