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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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:
Yes
3.5 stars. Audiobook.
The Deep was a creepy-crawly fever-dream of a horror novel and I certainly enjoyed myself. The physical depths of the ocean combined with the psychological depths of suffering combine to create a crushing hopelessness that you can certainly feel through the pages of this book. The imagery is also horrendous (which is a compliment) and I was quite attached to the main character so I truly cared about his trials and tribulations.
I had to DNF The Troop by Cutter due to my own triggers with animal cruelty/torture, and while there is a bit of that in here, it's not as graphic as what I had previously read, so I was able to read this one in full. However, the book felt a bit too long. The horrific images that made me exceedingly uncomfortable in the beginning unfortunately began to have less of an effect on me over the 50% mark. More of an "oh, here we go again" rather than an "oh no! here we go again".
Definitely A+ for atmosphere and phycological analysis, but could have been edited down in my personal opinion. Would still recommend!
The Deep was a creepy-crawly fever-dream of a horror novel and I certainly enjoyed myself. The physical depths of the ocean combined with the psychological depths of suffering combine to create a crushing hopelessness that you can certainly feel through the pages of this book. The imagery is also horrendous (which is a compliment) and I was quite attached to the main character so I truly cared about his trials and tribulations.
I had to DNF The Troop by Cutter due to my own triggers with animal cruelty/torture, and while there is a bit of that in here, it's not as graphic as what I had previously read, so I was able to read this one in full. However, the book felt a bit too long. The horrific images that made me exceedingly uncomfortable in the beginning unfortunately began to have less of an effect on me over the 50% mark. More of an "oh, here we go again" rather than an "oh no! here we go again".
Definitely A+ for atmosphere and phycological analysis, but could have been edited down in my personal opinion. Would still recommend!
It was oookay! There was a lot I liked. The cosmic horror aspect was fantastic. Very spooky, very claustrophobic.
I didn't really like any of the characters. They all kind of blended together, no one really stood out, and i didn't really care about their individual situations.
The ending was a bit lackluster after all that. Kinda just dumped a lot of info anti-climatically.
The writing wasn't great. A lot of short chapters. You know when in shows they're like "something is going to happen. "And then it goes to commercial and it has to recap the last bit like, something is going to happen, and it's this! Now something else is going to happen.... and it goes to commercial again? It kinda read like that. It was a bit irritating.
I'm also not huge on animal body horror, and there was a lot of that.
Not the worst horror, but I'm not going to be running out to tell everyone they gotta read it.
I didn't really like any of the characters. They all kind of blended together, no one really stood out, and i didn't really care about their individual situations.
The ending was a bit lackluster after all that. Kinda just dumped a lot of info anti-climatically.
The writing wasn't great. A lot of short chapters. You know when in shows they're like "something is going to happen. "And then it goes to commercial and it has to recap the last bit like, something is going to happen, and it's this! Now something else is going to happen.... and it goes to commercial again? It kinda read like that. It was a bit irritating.
I'm also not huge on animal body horror, and there was a lot of that.
Not the worst horror, but I'm not going to be running out to tell everyone they gotta read it.
dark
mysterious
Claustrophobic, grotesque, and deeply unsettling—in the best possible way. I held my breath so long I might need a decompression chamber.
dark
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A good premise but unable to really connect with any characters. Vivid descriptions and one heartbreaking scene that while sad gave the book a much needed emotional boost
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Torture, Violence
Minor: Child abuse
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
SPOILER FREE REVIEW
This book is disgusting and I loved it. After reading The Troop by Cutter, I obviously had to read his whole entire library starting with The Deep. A horror novel that takes place in a research station on the ocean floor while a perilous disease rampages the land above? YES PLEASE. This book was as haunting and gross as I expected.
The setting makes the world super claustrophobic. You can't run. You can't hide. You can't even see the sun or breathe fresh air. All of these elements create a perfect storm of paranoia and madness. It's a harrowing journey watching our main characters wrestle and walk the line of madness and reality. Cutters prose is dark and haunting and atmospheric inside the confined space. And the gory moments in this book made my skin crawl. There were several times where I had to walk away from the novel because I felt so gross after reading it. Nasty, nasty, nasty. What surprised me was the thread of brotherhood and fatherhood throughout the novel. While it wasn't front and center, there were many insightful moments where two brothers that seem estranged, have more in common than they think. It's a sad, bittersweet revelation.
My only qualm with The Deep was the ending. As I approached the last few chapters I found myself asking... how is this really going to end? The answer was an info dump, unfortunately. While interesting, I lost the mystery and fear surrounding who or what was pulling the strings. Sure, it tied up loose ends and answered questions, but didn't feel as satisfying as I'd hoped. That last line though? "What shambled forth was unspeakable."
Chills.
All in all, I love Nick Cutter.
This book is disgusting and I loved it. After reading The Troop by Cutter, I obviously had to read his whole entire library starting with The Deep. A horror novel that takes place in a research station on the ocean floor while a perilous disease rampages the land above? YES PLEASE. This book was as haunting and gross as I expected.
The setting makes the world super claustrophobic. You can't run. You can't hide. You can't even see the sun or breathe fresh air. All of these elements create a perfect storm of paranoia and madness. It's a harrowing journey watching our main characters wrestle and walk the line of madness and reality. Cutters prose is dark and haunting and atmospheric inside the confined space. And the gory moments in this book made my skin crawl. There were several times where I had to walk away from the novel because I felt so gross after reading it. Nasty, nasty, nasty. What surprised me was the thread of brotherhood and fatherhood throughout the novel. While it wasn't front and center, there were many insightful moments where two brothers that seem estranged, have more in common than they think. It's a sad, bittersweet revelation.
My only qualm with The Deep was the ending. As I approached the last few chapters I found myself asking... how is this really going to end? The answer was an info dump, unfortunately. While interesting, I lost the mystery and fear surrounding who or what was pulling the strings. Sure, it tied up loose ends and answered questions, but didn't feel as satisfying as I'd hoped. That last line though? "What shambled forth was unspeakable."
Chills.
All in all, I love Nick Cutter.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I haven't been a reader of horror/thriller for some time. But when I saw the lines stating that if you were a fan of Clive Barker and Stephen King that you'd like this book I was ready to read it. I was very glad I did. It definitely had an Abyss or The Sphere meets The Shining feel. I couldn't put it down. It had me very tense throughout most of the book. Which helped with the feeling of being in a lab 8 miles at the bottom of the ocean. It did leave me with a feeling that there could po tentacle be another book to follow but it's fine as a stand alone novel.
medium-paced