Reviews with content warning for Death - Into the Drowning Deep

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

169 reviews

dfrancis's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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librarymouse's review against another edition

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dark funny medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

Seanan McGuire as herself and as Mira Grant always has such a strong writing style, making her characters funny even in the darkest of settings and situations. I read this before I read Rolling in the Deep, and I'm glad I did for the sense of mystery that choice allowed. McGuire is very good at feeding readers bits of information that become pertinent to the plot in such a way that plot twists feel more like pieces of a puzzle finally fitting together, as opposed to the rug being pulled out from underneath the reader. I do really enjoy how competent the characters are and I loved the disability representation. Having multiple physically and socially disabled characters in a story added so much nuance to the storytelling and the interactions between characters.

Heads up: It's very gory. Remember going into the novel that mermaids originated from myths in which they lured sailors to their deaths to eat them.

I was listening to this on audiobook while driving, and when I got to my destination, I paused it and told the friend I was meeting "There's not much book left, and it's not getting better 😐," in reference to the characters' situation. The storytelling was uniformly enjoyable!
The book does finish quickly after extended suspense, but I think I may enjoy that a good part of it was left unresolved. Tori coming to tolerate and then to love(?) Olivia was good closure for the plot point of Anne's death that started the novel, offering the possibility of Tori being able to move forward from her sister's death, if not move on from it. I hope there's a sequel. There's enough still left unfinished for one, though I've seen that the publishing company may have rejected McGuire's proposal.

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inthebrineydeep's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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lady_smith's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

I read this because it was on a list of fantasy books with excellent representation, but I cannot in good faith give it a star rating.

On the one hand, it is a very well-written book with detailed science, engaging and diverse characters, vivid descriptions, and a good plot. So objectively it should get at least 4 stars for all that.

But I'm writing this review 2 years after reading it and honestly cannot reread the SYNOPSIS without starting to hyperventilate because this book was so bloody terrifying (for me). I know there are people out there who would enjoy the stress of

following worker dolphins' last thoughts before they are massacred by ~~mer~~murdermaids

but I'm not one of them. So in my heart I'd give this like -50 stars because I'll never be comfortable with mermaids again, except that it wouldn't be fair to the author, who clearly was writing this for an audience that isn't me.

So if you like mermaids, oceans, boating, or HEA... probably don't read this book.

If you like terrifying monsters attacking a bunch of characters that you're emotionally invested in... go for it??

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literarykitten's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

4.0

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asafekindofhigh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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gawdz0rz's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-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? No

4.25

absolutely loved the mermaids and the concept behind them, super unique. i really enjoyed the alternating pov, as well. and the dolphin chapter. the book was really slow at the beginning, but if you can make it to when they’re actually on the boat, it picks up.

a bit disappointing the mermaids didn’t use their mimicry to trick humans to open doors or come around corners or something similar.

also, the implosion of heather’s submersible would not have left any remains behind, and she would not have lived long enough to see water make it into the submersible at that depth.

overall a really good book and clearly written with another one in mind!

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