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horrorandmagic's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, Violence, Body horror, and Chronic illness
markedwithanm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Medical content, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Gaslighting
theliteraryhooker's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
For some reason this took me aaaages to get through, despite it being a pretty engaging story. As always, I really enjoyed Grant's writing and her ability to give each character a unique voice. Some of the deaths in this book are wonderfully gory and awful which I loved, but at the same time, I never really believed the stakes were very high for our main cast of characters. The ending also felt a bit rushed and too neatly wrapped up. Still a creepy read though I want more about the toxins and the pseudocrabs now 👀
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Confinement
danaslitlist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? No
4.0
Overall I really enjoyed Into the Drowning Deep, we're giving an amazing premise of deep sea horror and mermaid mythology with a wide net of characters ranging from ones we are meant to love, to some who toe the line of villains, to ones who are absolutely not meant to be looked upon with an ounce of favor. Add in an element of isolation horror (the ship is a tin graveyard) and you're set up perfectly for a good time. And for the most part I did!
I really, really realized how much I appreciate deep sea horror as a subgenre and this just made me want to get my hands on more. Mira Grant does a fantastic job of making the necessary science easy to understand while maintaining an appropriate level of professionalism given who the characters are. I really appreciated the descriptions of all the creatures (mermaids or not) and the way that I could vividly imagine what was happening both on the ship and below. There were many moments that had me holding my breath in real time or shaking my head like OJ Haywood walking backyard in his stable saying "Nope, nope, nope". It wasn't surprisingly to me that Grant nails the tension and descriptions because I've read enough of her other works under different names to know she thrives in these areas.
I was surprised by how many of the characters I was interested in and found myself invested in. In a book that has a larger cast (upwards of 5-10 characters that we routinely jump around to) it would be easy to get bored or find myself not caring at all about at least a few. Instead I genuinely was keen on seeing what was going to happen to everyone even the characters that were morally flawed.
I absolutely adored the horror of the sirens and the way that Grant didn't chicken out of making them true horrors of the deep. It takes some time to actually get to them in the book, but I didn't really mind the wait as I felt it was a good payoff for what we get. I loved the unraveling and unveiling of their methods, their anatomy, their "culture". I can see this version of sirens being a great in a visual media (fingers crossed one day for a tv series or movie).
This could've been rated higher had it not been for the ending, which I feel is an area of books that I've been having more and more of a problem with. As I mentioned above it takes some time to get the sirens before we get questions answered such as "what they are", "how they do what they do", etc. But it isn't until the very end, around the last five pages or so, that we get the "why" answered. And that answer is cool as hell!!! I just wish that we had gotten more of that answer, more insight into that creature at the bottom of the Marianna's Trench. More insight into the siren captured by the crew and why it did what it did.
There could be an argument made that it was intentional to leave the reader with the "what lurks beneath" mystery that we set out with at the beginning of the story. It could also be argued that the captive siren is meant to be an allegory for species who do good things for humanity only to be betrayed. But that second part just feels incredibly misplaced given what we know of the siren history and legacy.
Overall, I highly recommend this science filled mystery novel bordering the line to horror 100%. It was creepy, intense, and captivating. And most of all; it was a good time.
I really, really realized how much I appreciate deep sea horror as a subgenre and this just made me want to get my hands on more. Mira Grant does a fantastic job of making the necessary science easy to understand while maintaining an appropriate level of professionalism given who the characters are. I really appreciated the descriptions of all the creatures (mermaids or not) and the way that I could vividly imagine what was happening both on the ship and below. There were many moments that had me holding my breath in real time or shaking my head like OJ Haywood walking backyard in his stable saying "Nope, nope, nope". It wasn't surprisingly to me that Grant nails the tension and descriptions because I've read enough of her other works under different names to know she thrives in these areas.
I was surprised by how many of the characters I was interested in and found myself invested in. In a book that has a larger cast (upwards of 5-10 characters that we routinely jump around to) it would be easy to get bored or find myself not caring at all about at least a few. Instead I genuinely was keen on seeing what was going to happen to everyone even the characters that were morally flawed.
I absolutely adored the horror of the sirens and the way that Grant didn't chicken out of making them true horrors of the deep. It takes some time to actually get to them in the book, but I didn't really mind the wait as I felt it was a good payoff for what we get. I loved the unraveling and unveiling of their methods, their anatomy, their "culture". I can see this version of sirens being a great in a visual media (fingers crossed one day for a tv series or movie).
This could've been rated higher had it not been for the ending, which I feel is an area of books that I've been having more and more of a problem with. As I mentioned above it takes some time to get the sirens before we get questions answered such as "what they are", "how they do what they do", etc. But it isn't until the very end, around the last five pages or so, that we get the "why" answered. And that answer is cool as hell!!! I just wish that we had gotten more of that answer, more insight into that creature at the bottom of the Marianna's Trench. More insight into the siren captured by the crew and why it did what it did.
There could be an argument made that it was intentional to leave the reader with the "what lurks beneath" mystery that we set out with at the beginning of the story. It could also be argued that the captive siren is meant to be an allegory for species who do good things for humanity only to be betrayed. But that second part just feels incredibly misplaced given what we know of the siren history and legacy.
Overall, I highly recommend this science filled mystery novel bordering the line to horror 100%. It was creepy, intense, and captivating. And most of all; it was a good time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
Moderate: Ableism
athenarose_97's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
ches2496's review
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
3.5
A satisfying sy-fi thriller. I loved how the author did a deep-dive (pardon the pun) into mermaid biology. The author also did a good job of making even the unlikable characters sympathetic. Definitely going to look for more by this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Gore, Medical content, and Violence
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Confinement, and Biphobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, and Drug use
luciamarier's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Body horror
Moderate: Gaslighting, Medical content, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Sexism
aus10england's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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? It's complicated
4.75
Intense, mysterious, spectacularly written. Maybe just a BIT too long, but an enjoyable read noless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Confinement, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
judassilver's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
The end is wrapped up in an extremely unsatisfactory way, the writing became extremely repetitive with an overuse of rambling (parenthetical tangents that went no where), and I didn't feel that any of the characters actions had real impact. Suspension of disbelief only takes me so far when suddenly the mermaids that ate everyone else without discrimination spare you, multiple times, because you're the main character. Everything just wraps up a little too conviently for there to be real tension. How many times do you have to come to the revelation that the killer mermaids want to kill you?? I thought these people were adult scientists but they read incredibly juvenile. I also didn't need the point of view of every single character-- the dolphins? Are you serious? And the mermaid (sorry, Siren) POV completely took me out of it . Would recommend for those looking for a YA novel with horror elements and a diverse cast, otherwise, skip it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Biphobia, Drug use, Chronic illness, Animal cruelty, and Violence
sallie_ees's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Body horror, and Medical content