Reviews

The Abyss Above Us by Ryan Notch

jnelson's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Death, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

ponderandwonder's review

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

This is a superb novella and truly in the vein of H. P. Lovecraft. So many passages made my heart pound as I was wrapped up in the story. I can’t wait to start part 2. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Body horror, Gore, and Blood

constantine2020's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Rating: ⭐⭐ ½

Genre: Horror + Science Fiction

Shaw, a reserved network engineer, is hired to investigate a critical situation. Via a large telescope that is turned towards specific coordinates, a signal comes, creating a strange sound and hypnotic waves. There is a siren song that causes people to commit suicide when they hear it! It is the abyss’ signal and it is moving towards earth. Something has to be done about it. 

In some ways, the story resembles several science fiction movies that try to mix the sci-fi genre with the horror genre. The concept of the book is brilliant, and that is what made me pick it up. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing about the execution. The writing is decent, but it seems while writing this story, the author has neglected the horror side of it. The horror side or precisely the lack of it was a letdown. The start of the book was quite good, but towards the middle, it felt sluggish to me. The cliffhanger at the end didn’t help either. Obviously, I'm not going to read the next book.  

jiba's review

5.0

4.5 stars

This was quite scary in an HP Lovecraft kind of way but different. I read it in one session. While it was sometimes too much technical jargon, I still enjoyed it quite a bit.