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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-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
Such an interesting cover and a plot that had me curious. But I did this as an audio book and, somehow, this one just did not work for me. I didn't like the MC and found it hard to believe she would act the way she did during the time she lived. I found the supporting cast equally awful and it was hard to feel drawn into the story. I wish I'd liked it more.
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Chapters 2-13 focus on a tedious and inept investigation to solve a mystery that is already fairly well explained in chapter 1, ruining any any sense of mystery or tension and making it all the more tedious and frustrating. Later chapters veer between reasonably interesting backstory to explain more of the town’s mystery and really repetitive and tiring filler to stretch out the plot.
The side characters and antagonist are more interesting than the mains. Writing is okay if you ignore the bad plotting choices. Concept not original enough to be worth it.
If you’re determined to read this book, I recommend you maybe read the first page or two of chapter 1 to set the stage and then skip to chapter 2 to avoid ruining half the book. You can read chapter 1 after the big reveal in chapter 13, but I honestly don’t think it adds much anyway.
The side characters and antagonist are more interesting than the mains. Writing is okay if you ignore the bad plotting choices. Concept not original enough to be worth it.
If you’re determined to read this book, I recommend you maybe read the first page or two of chapter 1 to set the stage and then skip to chapter 2 to avoid ruining half the book. You can read chapter 1 after the big reveal in chapter 13, but I honestly don’t think it adds much anyway.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence
Moderate: Suicide attempt
Minor: Pregnancy
adventurous
challenging
dark
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:
No
This is the first book I've read that's been Lovecraftian-inspired - very much enjoyed it and very much appreciated it's a fast read! I also found how Wilson crafted the last few chapters to be very interesting in an innovative sort of way. It's almost like the denouement was stretched out for several chapters instead of being squeezed in just one or two, but the way she did it made sense with the story and didn't feel forced. Great writing!
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This had a promising beginning, but it became clear quite early that it lacked everything it needed to shine.
I pretty much had a problem with everything in here except the premise. There wasn’t enough atmosphere, besides the many mentions of salt water and fishy air. I had a hard time picturing anything in the story besides a general idea of Tidepool, and it didn’t feel that historical either. The pacing was fast with rather short chapters. If the story slowed down a bit, I think it would’ve improved tenfold and potentially would've helped balance the repetitiveness of the storyline. I really wish the main goal of the story was something other than leaving Tidepool. With the premise being what it is, I feel like there could’ve been a lot more engrossing ones.
I wasn’t fond of a single character in here, and any that had potential (Ada and Quentin) weren’t polished or given enough time to make me really like them.
I had a hard time believing Sorrow wasn’t a teenager judging by her actions. How many times she put herself in the presence of someone she was scared of was very questionable, not to mention the times she did so alone. It just made no sense for her to say how scared she was of this person and then in the next sentence or two, decide to go see them. It’s clear the author struggled to move the story naturally and believably, as I found every event that moved it along to feel forced.
Charlie was one of the worst characters, and the very minor romance was just pointless.
Ada’s past chapters were probably the most interesting parts, and they gave some insight into the complexity of her character which was nice. But unfortunately, the complexity that made her compelling was barely used in the present time, and she seemed very much a shell. She could’ve been a really cool morally grey character, but that just didn’t happen unfortunately.
The length of the epilogue was rather strange to me. It honestly felt like we got an extra short story due to the difference in the writing style as well. I don’t think it was really necessary, but at least we got to see more of Quentin.
This gets two stars for being an easy read. With a bit more attention to the smaller details this could’ve been a great story.
I pretty much had a problem with everything in here except the premise. There wasn’t enough atmosphere, besides the many mentions of salt water and fishy air. I had a hard time picturing anything in the story besides a general idea of Tidepool, and it didn’t feel that historical either. The pacing was fast with rather short chapters. If the story slowed down a bit, I think it would’ve improved tenfold and potentially would've helped balance the repetitiveness of the storyline. I really wish the main goal of the story was something other than leaving Tidepool. With the premise being what it is, I feel like there could’ve been a lot more engrossing ones.
I wasn’t fond of a single character in here, and any that had potential (Ada and Quentin) weren’t polished or given enough time to make me really like them.
I had a hard time believing Sorrow wasn’t a teenager judging by her actions. How many times she put herself in the presence of someone she was scared of was very questionable, not to mention the times she did so alone. It just made no sense for her to say how scared she was of this person and then in the next sentence or two, decide to go see them. It’s clear the author struggled to move the story naturally and believably, as I found every event that moved it along to feel forced.
Charlie was one of the worst characters, and the very minor romance was just pointless.
Ada’s past chapters were probably the most interesting parts, and they gave some insight into the complexity of her character which was nice. But unfortunately, the complexity that made her compelling was barely used in the present time, and she seemed very much a shell. She could’ve been a really cool morally grey character, but that just didn’t happen unfortunately.
The length of the epilogue was rather strange to me. It honestly felt like we got an extra short story due to the difference in the writing style as well. I don’t think it was really necessary, but at least we got to see more of Quentin.
This gets two stars for being an easy read. With a bit more attention to the smaller details this could’ve been a great story.
This book had atmosphere out the wazoo! The characters were fantastic, all of them, heroes, villains and in between. This was a fun, slow burn horror story that wasn’t too scary but satisfyingly creepy and twisted. I would definitely recommend!
Creepy and entertaining creature feature type historical horror. A great atmospheric read for spooky season.