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greylangford's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Body shaming, Gore, Animal death, Body horror, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Death, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Sexual assault
c_h_arl_ie's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Fatphobia, Body horror, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Suicide, Eating disorder, and Domestic abuse
jesssicawho's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Incest, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Child abuse
mand_al_orian's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Incest, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Death, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Confinement, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
_marjolaine_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gore, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Child abuse
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Grief, Suicide, Self harm, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Incest and Rape
aparker89's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Find yourself stuck in a loop of endless and increasingly terrifying nightmares with Luke who just wants to help save mankind... don't look to hard at the shadows, they might be looking back!
Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Fatphobia, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Physical abuse, and Incest
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pandemic/Epidemic
dezaraemd's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal cruelty, Death, Body horror, Gore, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Animal death, and Cursing
Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Blood, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Sexual content, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Incest, and Kidnapping
jesshorn10's review
5.0
Check content warnings though!
Graphic: Physical abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Violence, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Blood, Child death, and Eating disorder
hannanni41's review against another edition
- 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
Unfortunately the story has absolutely zero slow burn and cranks up to an 11 almost immediately (and stays insane the whole time with no regard for pacing) and it felt like it was mostly just flashbacks and rarely creepy underwater lab.
There are a few genuinely good moments that unnerved me, like
Also, there is so much description and talk about a millipede incident. It goes on for so long that it stops being scary and is just really gross. Please stop talking about the millipede.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Eating disorder, Incest, Child death, and Domestic abuse
papercrowns's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Well, I don't remember too many specifics about The Troop (my memory's fault, not the book's), but I do recall thinking it was awesome and gross, but not super disturbing per se. Well, The Deep was certainly disturbing. But, I understand why The Troop is the Nick Cutter book people talk about most, because while The Deep does what it says on the tin in terms of the horror, it's got its problems.
- An overuse of onomatopoeia to the point of distraction.
- The story touches on a lot of serious, uncomfortable topics, and they certainly gave me the ick but for the most part, these serve the story and felt intentional. However, there was some fatphobia that didn't quite feel necessary or serve the story that I could have done without. It was very like
"Ooh, she got fat, gross! We know she's gonna be a baddie!" - The general dialogue was fine, but when it came to banter, it felt a bit forced and unintentionally cringe, particularly between the main character and his brother.
- The 'Gets, the worldwide pandemic that instigates the whole narrative, was super interesting but is largely forgotten once we get to the underwater lab in the Challenger Deep. It was such an interesting concept that it would have been great to see it have more impact to the story rather than being a throwaway plot device.
These things brought it down to a 4-star read for me, but none of them derailed the story. It's a real wild ride and intensely unsettling; exactly what I want from a horror book. Nick Cutter excels in describing horrifying, uncomfortable, and balls-to-the-wall cuckoo-bananas situations.
His descriptions of the characters' psychological trauma as they grapple with desperate situations are so intense and unnerving; I often found myself wanting to put the book down to give myself a break but also being absolutely unable to tear my eyes from the page. There was one claustrophobic sequence in particular where Cutter describes
And frankly, that's some chef's-kiss horror writing if you ask me.
I can't wait to read more Nick Cutter, cuz I know it'll be a grand creep-fest that does exactly what it says on the tin. However, I will say that I'd love to see a bit more character diversity, particularly more women.
Worth checking the trigger warnings before reading if you have triggers. Definitely do not read if bad things happening to animals in your reading is a dealbreaker. 😬
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Blood, Animal cruelty, Gore, Grief, Self harm, Body horror, Confinement, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Incest, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Eating disorder
Minor: Death of parent and Sexual assault