Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
I love underwater horror - the ocean is scary plain and simple - but this didn't strike a chord with me. The whole time I was too worried about the dog and didn't even care about what happened with the humans. Clay is the worst, Luke's flashbacks got entirely too repetitive and the ending didn't pull enough together for me to feel satisfied. Alice and LB were the only characters I actually worried for and neither are supposed to be the focus.
Encroaching insanity is a common choice of horror when dealing with the ocean so I get why that was chosen here, I just wish it wasn't. It didn't seem like the underwater setting was used to full effect other than to isolate the characters and I didn't get enough scary watery creepiness. The ending does explain some things but I didn't really like it or buy in. It wasn't quite enough for me.
Similar to The Troop there are some squicky moments in this, particularly in relation to body horror and some not great animal moments. It wasn't too much for me, but it didn't really contribute much either other than to gross me out. I imagine this is Cutter's style so if you've read one and are fine with it, you kind of know what you're getting with his other works.
This one just wasn't for me, bottom line. I really wanted to enjoy it and I'll definitely read more by Cutter but this novel doesn't work for me.
Spoiler
hoo boy am I upset about what happened thereEncroaching insanity is a common choice of horror when dealing with the ocean so I get why that was chosen here, I just wish it wasn't. It didn't seem like the underwater setting was used to full effect other than to isolate the characters and I didn't get enough scary watery creepiness. The ending does explain some things but I didn't really like it or buy in. It wasn't quite enough for me.
Similar to The Troop there are some squicky moments in this, particularly in relation to body horror and some not great animal moments. It wasn't too much for me, but it didn't really contribute much either other than to gross me out. I imagine this is Cutter's style so if you've read one and are fine with it, you kind of know what you're getting with his other works.
This one just wasn't for me, bottom line. I really wanted to enjoy it and I'll definitely read more by Cutter but this novel doesn't work for me.
This was a bookclub pick that I fully intended on reading and just got so sick those two weeks.
In the future I definitely want to read something from NC. Would definitely re read The Saturday Night Ghost Club novel in a heartbeat.
In the future I definitely want to read something from NC. Would definitely re read The Saturday Night Ghost Club novel in a heartbeat.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The world is ravaged by a strange disease called the Gets that causes memory to break down--even the memory of things like how to breathe. And at the bottom of the ocean floor is humanity's last, questionable hope.
On the plus side - the writing is really good. The small-scale choices are all enjoyable and gripping. On the minus side - the story was predictable and felt like a "Okay, I've read some horror, what elements should I include in my story?" checklist. Fear of the dark? Mysterious plague? Messages scrawled in blood? BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! We have abusive parents, giggling evil children, fingers reaching out of sewer grates, bugs, characters with a dark past...and I'm not even hitting major plot points yet. And I found it really annoying when a tense scene was interrupted by a long flashback and having the narrator "oh!" himself back to the main plot all the time. Tension? What's that...and the ending has very little to do with the beginning. Given the concept of the book, it felt like a broken promise. The end that resulted was the end I guessed after a couple of minutes of story.
A couple of really solid creepy moments. I feel like I'll be back to the author to see what else he's doing; I get the feeling that he'll start writing work that's less "all the things!!!" and more personal pretty soon, at which point I'll probably like it a lot.
I listened to this on audio and liked the reading quite a bit.
On the plus side - the writing is really good. The small-scale choices are all enjoyable and gripping. On the minus side - the story was predictable and felt like a "Okay, I've read some horror, what elements should I include in my story?" checklist. Fear of the dark? Mysterious plague? Messages scrawled in blood? BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! We have abusive parents, giggling evil children, fingers reaching out of sewer grates, bugs, characters with a dark past...and I'm not even hitting major plot points yet. And I found it really annoying when a tense scene was interrupted by a long flashback and having the narrator "oh!" himself back to the main plot all the time. Tension? What's that...and the ending has very little to do with the beginning. Given the concept of the book, it felt like a broken promise. The end that resulted was the end I guessed after a couple of minutes of story.
A couple of really solid creepy moments. I feel like I'll be back to the author to see what else he's doing; I get the feeling that he'll start writing work that's less "all the things!!!" and more personal pretty soon, at which point I'll probably like it a lot.
I listened to this on audio and liked the reading quite a bit.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
While I enjoyed The Troop far more, there were aspects of both I had issues with. I have a hard time reading anything that contains animal cruelty, harm, etc. There is some of that in The Troop but I was able to skip over those parts. It was way more prevalent in this and harder to skip over. This was also too long for me and it wasn't as engaging as The Troop. You can definitely see the Stephen King influence in Cutter's work which may be intriguing for some, but didn't work for me.
I only cared about LB. I tried to read the Troop but found I didn’t care about any of the characters which makes anything that happens to them much less scary. Same in this book. I liked the premise of this but at times it felt drawn out and containing too much unnecessary info. I found it hard to visualize what was happening. Overall enjoyable but glad I’m done
This was pretty awful. I think Cutter wanted to write three books, but instead just smashed them all into one. A pandemic story line vs. an undersea horror--Did we really need both? Irrelevant flashbacks that didn't add to the story, just interrupted it constantly in unwieldy rather than suspenseful places--more like an unrelated novel awkwardly wedged into the gaps of a first. Unremarkable characters. Too much cheap gross-out. Not enough actual horror.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The deep reads like a horror movie that keeps jumping back into traumatic flash backs and hallucinations, weaved throughout the plot. They feel unrelated but eventually they connect the plot together. However the experience of this horror kaleidoscope, was disorienting and tiresome at times- it popped the tension bubble for me instead of increasing it.
Give me a simpler story about being trapped down the bottom the Mariana trench with the threat of an unknown entity, a fatal pandemic, untrustworthy characters and a failing structure at the bottom of the ocean that will hold my attention- I just didn’t feel like this story needed all these additions- it felt too crowded.
I get that the every character has a past and building an unsettling psychological platform for a horror story is needed but some of these tropes felt cliche to me-with strong ‘It’ vibes that didn’t marry with the theme- and the theme is totally up my alley with the deep ocean and the science.
Nick Cutter is a good writer though, his prose captures the human experience insightfully, such as the way he writes about relationships, grief and fear.
Overall, this novel started strongly for me yet tapered off as it went along. I think some who enjoy action horror and time jumps will enjoy this book but I struggled to finish it.
Give me a simpler story about being trapped down the bottom the Mariana trench with the threat of an unknown entity, a fatal pandemic, untrustworthy characters and a failing structure at the bottom of the ocean that will hold my attention- I just didn’t feel like this story needed all these additions- it felt too crowded.
I get that the every character has a past and building an unsettling psychological platform for a horror story is needed but some of these tropes felt cliche to me-with strong ‘It’ vibes that didn’t marry with the theme- and the theme is totally up my alley with the deep ocean and the science.
Nick Cutter is a good writer though, his prose captures the human experience insightfully, such as the way he writes about relationships, grief and fear.
Overall, this novel started strongly for me yet tapered off as it went along. I think some who enjoy action horror and time jumps will enjoy this book but I struggled to finish it.