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melliedm's review
dark
mysterious
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
5.0
Holy shit. Holy shit holy shit holy shit. Look, if you like Alien and think the ocean is messed up, this is going to slap for you. Just read it already.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Blood, Violence, Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, and Misogyny
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Sexual content and Drug use
wyabook234's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Sexual content, Cursing, and Homophobia
kingcrookback's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I can't quite put my finger on exactly why, but even though the story felt pretty decidedly medium-paced, this book felt long. Maybe it's the amount of exposition and introspection that's included. It's kind of an odd feeling, especially since I feel like this story could be pretty neatly (and entertainingly) encapsulated within the time constraints of a feature-length film.
First, the positives. With all the exposition, the premise feels sufficiently grounded in modern-day science and technology, even though this is very clearly science fiction. (Warning, though: if you have any climate anxiety, this book might exacerbate that.) Grant's pretty good at building tension, especially via dramatic irony. While the story is generally told in third person limited POV, sometimes the perspective will "zoom out" at the end of a passage and you'll get a glimpse just outside of the characters' perspectives. It feels very cinematic. I also appreciated that Grant wrote ethnic, queer, and disabled diversity directly into the story--and my appreciation for this is twofold. On the one hand, as a woman of color, I liked that some of the diversity had absolutely nothing to do with the plot. People in real life aren't non-white/queer for "a reason," and for too long creators have hidden behind narrative relevance as an excuse for not being diverse in their depictions. And on the other hand, as a disabled person, I also enjoyed that some of that diversity served a narrative function.
...however. There are some things about this book that I didn't enjoy, the pacing being one of them. The semi-epistolary introductions for each of the "acts" of the novel were interesting...for maybe the first half. After that, they didn't have much of an impact. I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters--which is not to say that I didn't like them. I just didn't care enough about them to form any feelings for them either way. (Except for Jacques Abney. His self-aggrandizing internal dialogue grated on my nerves. Points to Grant for that one, I guess.)
There were also some scenes/character actions that strained my credulity to the point of annoyance. I don't mean the suspension of disbelief necessary that allowed me to buy into the story's basic premise: sirens in the Mariana Trench; that part's fine. But some of the characters' internal dialogues and interactions just struck me as kind of weird. For example, sure, conventionally attractive people are generally aware that they're conventionally attractive and that there are both privileges and expectations associated with that, especially if they're women. It signals a sense of both self-awareness and social wariness for a character to be aware of that--but it felt so weird for characters to think and say it so explicitly and in such a blasé way. It doesn't hit the ear as natural-sounding dialogue or natural-feeling social interaction. Some of the minor characters' logic is also completely opaque to me. Specifically,when Daryl, the younger engineer, somehow came to the conclusion that the sirens had "someone on the inside" helping them with the hunt/slaughter. Try as I might, I can't fathom what path of logic would have led him to that assumption. Even hysterical panic, which he did not seem to be in, doesn't explain it, in my opinion.
This is one of the few books I'm actually giving a star rating, and that's because I didn't really enjoy it all that much. With most of my other reads, while I can detect their flaws, I can usually find some kind of value in them (ex: it speaks to the times, the social climate, etc.). The flaws in this book just got on my nerves.
First, the positives. With all the exposition, the premise feels sufficiently grounded in modern-day science and technology, even though this is very clearly science fiction. (Warning, though: if you have any climate anxiety, this book might exacerbate that.) Grant's pretty good at building tension, especially via dramatic irony. While the story is generally told in third person limited POV, sometimes the perspective will "zoom out" at the end of a passage and you'll get a glimpse just outside of the characters' perspectives. It feels very cinematic. I also appreciated that Grant wrote ethnic, queer, and disabled diversity directly into the story--and my appreciation for this is twofold. On the one hand, as a woman of color, I liked that some of the diversity had absolutely nothing to do with the plot. People in real life aren't non-white/queer for "a reason," and for too long creators have hidden behind narrative relevance as an excuse for not being diverse in their depictions. And on the other hand, as a disabled person, I also enjoyed that some of that diversity served a narrative function.
...however. There are some things about this book that I didn't enjoy, the pacing being one of them. The semi-epistolary introductions for each of the "acts" of the novel were interesting...for maybe the first half. After that, they didn't have much of an impact. I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters--which is not to say that I didn't like them. I just didn't care enough about them to form any feelings for them either way. (Except for Jacques Abney. His self-aggrandizing internal dialogue grated on my nerves. Points to Grant for that one, I guess.)
There were also some scenes/character actions that strained my credulity to the point of annoyance. I don't mean the suspension of disbelief necessary that allowed me to buy into the story's basic premise: sirens in the Mariana Trench; that part's fine. But some of the characters' internal dialogues and interactions just struck me as kind of weird. For example, sure, conventionally attractive people are generally aware that they're conventionally attractive and that there are both privileges and expectations associated with that, especially if they're women. It signals a sense of both self-awareness and social wariness for a character to be aware of that--but it felt so weird for characters to think and say it so explicitly and in such a blasé way. It doesn't hit the ear as natural-sounding dialogue or natural-feeling social interaction. Some of the minor characters' logic is also completely opaque to me. Specifically,
This is one of the few books I'm actually giving a star rating, and that's because I didn't really enjoy it all that much. With most of my other reads, while I can detect their flaws, I can usually find some kind of value in them (ex: it speaks to the times, the social climate, etc.). The flaws in this book just got on my nerves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Gun violence, Grief, and Medical content
Minor: Ableism, Biphobia, Misogyny, and Sexual content
some sections might trigger fear of drowning; much of the book, especially the first half, might aggravate climate anxietysuneaters's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
A really new and creative take on an old favorite—mermaids! I loved the thought McGuire (Mira Grant is Seanan McGuire's pen name) put into mermaid biology. The uniqueness of her concepts really sold it for me and entertained me into enjoying this book. When the book focuses on the mermaids and the Tory-Olivia dynamic, it's really good. I was on the edge of my seat through the action. There's some mildly homophobic and overall extremely idiotic politically-charged statements because McGuire thinks her terrible takes are so important to this mermaid story—"She just was pickier about personalities than
she was about genders", okay gay people are shallow genital fetishists take number 500, lesbians are mean and nasty (especially to bisexuals even though in this book bisexual Victoria Stewart is mean to lesbian Olivia Sanderson for no reason at first so...lol), dolphins are philosophical geniuses, and sex-segregated facilities are "gender essentialist" because fuck women apparently—, but it's mostly able to be ignored. I enjoyed the characters as well overall. Victoria/Tory is kind of annoying sometimes and she randomly get plot armor that nobody else has. Olivia is great and I liked her the best overall. Hallie Wilson's little sisters Holly and Heather were fun, but overall sort of forgettable. Jason Rothman, Tory's ex-boyfriend, is also forgettable. Like, I forgot about him and the rich kid cryptozoologist writing this review. Jacques and Michi Abney are cartoon characters. Jillian Toth and Theodore Blackwell are less forgettable, but just scream wasted potential to me. What does Dr. Toth hope to achieve? Couldn't we see disabled Blackwell's need for things to go well out of concern for his wife Jillian and the crew? , but the ending felt rushed. Obviously, the onemermaid that the people still have sets up a potential sequel, but I didn't feel like everything really wrapped up in a satisfactory way. The dolphins bit was also a bit out there and didn't really work for me. I was still really sad when they died though.
she was about genders", okay gay people are shallow genital fetishists take number 500, lesbians are mean and nasty (especially to bisexuals even though in this book bisexual Victoria Stewart is mean to lesbian Olivia Sanderson for no reason at first so...lol), dolphins are philosophical geniuses, and sex-segregated facilities are "gender essentialist" because fuck women apparently—, but it's mostly able to be ignored. I enjoyed the characters as well overall. Victoria/Tory is kind of annoying sometimes and she randomly get plot armor that nobody else has. Olivia is great and I liked her the best overall. Hallie Wilson's little sisters Holly and Heather were fun, but overall sort of forgettable. Jason Rothman, Tory's ex-boyfriend, is also forgettable. Like, I forgot about him and the rich kid cryptozoologist writing this review. Jacques and Michi Abney are cartoon characters. Jillian Toth and Theodore Blackwell are less forgettable, but just scream wasted potential to me. What does Dr. Toth hope to achieve? Couldn't we see disabled Blackwell's need for things to go well out of concern for his wife Jillian and the crew? , but the ending felt rushed. Obviously, the one
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Violence, and Blood
owenblacker's review
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
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
5.0
Mira Grant is the horror nom-de-plume of Seanan McGuire — 3× Hugo-winner (and 20 more noms), 2× Locus-winner (7 more noms), 1× Nebula-winner, 2× Tiptree honouree, John W Campbell-winner, Philip K Dick finallist, 3× WFA nom’d, 2× Endeavour nom’d, 1× Sidewise nom’d, 1x BFA nom’d, 1× Shirley Jackson nom’d.
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.
In the best of cryptid horror traditions, the Drowning Deep tales feature mermaids who dispense with the conventional beauty bullshit and concentrate on luring sailors to their deaths. To be clear, the luring is very much optional; they’ll absolutely come to you. Seven years after a reality TV network sent a mockumentary crew to the Mariana Trench to “prove whether mermaids are real” and the ship was lost with all hands, the sister of one of the crew joins a return to the Trench, aiming to prove that the loss of the Atargatis was not a hoax — and hoping not only to prove the existence of mermaids but to be able to study one.
Obviously, they discover that mermaids do exist — and that they are in no way friendly, as chai ♡ put it in their review, “the so-called lovely ladies of the sea exist, and they are out for slaughter” — because otherwise it would be a pretty dull horror story but, as with every Mira Grant tale that I’ve read, she excels at pacing the tension and slow-reveal of the details, so that you end the book not only having enjoyed the journey but also feeling like you’ve learned something, not just about the fictional world she’s created, but at the real world too. Freya Marske put it well in her Goodreads review:
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.
Grant identifies as bi or pansexual and as demisexual; our main protagonist in Into the Drowning Deep is a bisexual woman and there is a romance with an autistic gay woman on-ship. Also, there are people of colour, most of the scientists are women and 2 of them are Deaf — accompanied by their also-PhD-qualified sister, who Sign-interprets for them — as well as a there being a wheelchair-using corporate rep in charge. (And there are some dolphins as PoV characters.) Seanan McGuire makes a point of writing very diverse fiction and it’s one of the many things I love about her work. I really must prioritise reading some of her fantasy works, which are published under her legal name.
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 😉
Content Warnings
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 😉orcamagicka's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Terminal illness
Minor: Homophobia, Ableism, Lesbophobia, and Vomit
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