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romiress's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Biphobia
rachaeldamms's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Grief, Death, Body horror, Biphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
laurajones's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, Death, Gore, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement and Medical content
Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Drug use, and Sexual content
words_and_dreams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Official synopsis: 'Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a “mockumentary” bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.
Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.
Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price.'
The tension builds beautifully after a brutal opening chapter. There is a wide range of diverse characters and everyones got their own baggage and their own reason to be on the voyage. The story really does play on how scary the ocean is and how we don't have a full understanding of what is down there.
I loved the few brief moments that the POV switched to the creatures and we get to see their world view. I would have liked more of that. I also really enjoyed the scenes between Hallie and the captured individual and thought that might be explored further.
There was gore throughout but not overly so but enough to give you an idea of the horror. There is also a lot of science talk, this did not feel too much to me and swamp the story, instead it grounded the story in reality making it even scarier.
The only down side for me is that I felt that it finished too quickly especially after a significant event near the end of the book. I am really hoping we get a sequel! I neeeeed a sequel.
Great read
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, and Animal death
Minor: Sexual content and Biphobia
owenblacker's review against another edition
- 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
Normally, Mira Grant is someone who I buy the moment I see her work available for pre-order, since having discovered her work with her “political conspiracy theories with zombies and bloggers” novel Feed. That said, a lot of her work gets published through Subterranean Press, who make beautiful books but which are expensive in print and not always available as UK ebooks. That is pretty much the only reason I can think that it took me until now to read her 2017 novel Into the Drowning Deep, which follows on from her 2015 novella Rolling in the Deep, which I have also yet to read.
This book has my gratitude for managing to perfectly capture the way it feels to watch a Jurassic Park movie: you know from the opening moments there’s gonna be lots of science and musings on the hubris of humanity and also like 60% of the cast is gonna die bloodily.
I cannot recommend Mira Grant highly enough; if you are even slightly interested in intelligent horror stories, you should seek out and devour her every word. It had been far too long since I’d read any of her work and, while knowing she’s an absolute favourite author, I had forgotten quite how much starting one of her books was like falling into the arms of a friend for a reassuring hug. Albeit a hug with an alarmingly high body count and a lot of mortal terror.
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Ableism, Biphobia, and Homophobia
CN: *Lots* of death: of humans and animals, with a healthy dose of mortal peril and injury detail on the way. Some ableism and sexism (and maybe also queerphobia, but I forget) from unsympathetic characters. And you might not be too keen on seagoing for a little while afterwards 😉queergoth_reads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I would say that the ending wasn't as strong as the rest of the book. The book really peaked for my in the middle. There is one specific scene that I loved and honestly I've never got that feeling of terror from a book before but sadly I didn't really get it again anywhere on in the book.
This book has a lot of representation with queer characters, disabled characters and people of colour. However, to me personally some it didn't sit quite right or felt a little forced. That is just my interpretation of it though. A majority of it was very good, it was just one or two incidences that I wasn't sure on.
Overall if you love science and horror I would definitely recommend.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Biphobia
offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Biphobia
morevna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Grief, and Gun violence
Moderate: Biphobia
kadtide's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Biphobia
keenanmaree's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, and Ableism
Minor: Biphobia, Chronic illness, Drug use, and Toxic relationship