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bookishdvm 's review for:
The Deep
by Nick Cutter
I have wanted to read this book for years but my overwhelming thalassophobia prevented me from doing so. I finally tackled this fear and thoroughly enjoyed this creepy book, which is perfect for Halloween. Here are my thoughts:
Review of The Deep
What I liked:
- atmosphere - made me feel trapped at the bottom of the ocean. Had multiple instances where I had to set the book down and walk away because I could feel the start of a panic attack.
- Suspense: every chapter is so short and action packed. You jump to the next one with little to no fluff and you can feel the tension build inside your chest. The author is great at formatting a horror book.
- There is a pandemic going on that causes people to forget themselves. The MC is slowly seeing creepy and unexplainable things. Is our main character getting sick? Is he actually going mad? Is he actually seeing what he is seeing?
- Made me fall in love with a dog
What I didn’t like
- made me fall in love with a dog - though this chapter was probably the best written in the book IMO.
- For a horror novel about the bottom of the ocean, very little was about the bottom of the ocean. It was more about a descent into madness with an unreliable narrator (which is very cool and has its place but not when you’ve marketed a book about being about the bottom of the ocean).
- More about the ocean - the body horror with the bees?? Of all the creatures that you could have picked. Unsure if this is suppose to be something from revelations or not (which could tie into the idea the author presented that the monsters were beings that god had sent to the bottom of the ocean).
- The main characters kept splitting up and it was like ??? That is so unbelievable in this scenario and it’s so frustrating. It’s a common horror trope but it’s exhausted and I wish authors didn’t use it as much as they did.
- The goal of the mission was to grab ambrosia, a substance at the bottom of the ocean. This substances will cure the pandemic. However, the author planted a seed of doubt about it from the very beginning . If that’s the case, why are they going down? The author should have committed to it being the miracle cure and that it would change the world to make the stakes of going to the bottom of the ocean more justifiable. Felt like this wasn’t utilized enough.
- There was no character arcs. No one wins in any way or even attempts to get to their arc.
- You want me to believe that our main character went 8 miles under the ocean for a brother who he has said multiple times he didn’t love, was a monster, never met his wife and child, never reached out when his son died, etc. Huge sticking point for me that made everything unbelievable. When he finally acknowledges his brother is awful, it was almost comical. Like THAT’S what finally made you see him for a monster.
- Made the mom morbidly and disgusting obese - this had nothing to do with the story, simple body horror that is already played out enough in horror books
- Made mother molest children explicitly - this had nothing to further the plot other than shock factor. Already insinuated it was happening. There was no need to write a chapter about jt.
- The tickle box - really? What was this?
- Dr Toy’s death was unbelievable and pulled me out of the book.
- Al’s death was rush and it was not a satisfying conclusion. She deserved a more descriptive chapter of how she went. Her death was used to torment Lucas and felt almost not even about her.
- Either give me a well written, creepy and descriptive monster or shut the fuck up. Be lovecraftian about it. Give me a horror beyond human comprehension. Or don’t and let my imagination take the reins. The “monster” he gave was lame and such a let down.
Review of The Deep
What I liked:
- atmosphere - made me feel trapped at the bottom of the ocean. Had multiple instances where I had to set the book down and walk away because I could feel the start of a panic attack.
- Suspense: every chapter is so short and action packed. You jump to the next one with little to no fluff and you can feel the tension build inside your chest. The author is great at formatting a horror book.
- There is a pandemic going on that causes people to forget themselves. The MC is slowly seeing creepy and unexplainable things. Is our main character getting sick? Is he actually going mad? Is he actually seeing what he is seeing?
- Made me fall in love with a dog
What I didn’t like
- made me fall in love with a dog - though this chapter was probably the best written in the book IMO.
- For a horror novel about the bottom of the ocean, very little was about the bottom of the ocean. It was more about a descent into madness with an unreliable narrator (which is very cool and has its place but not when you’ve marketed a book about being about the bottom of the ocean).
- More about the ocean - the body horror with the bees?? Of all the creatures that you could have picked. Unsure if this is suppose to be something from revelations or not (which could tie into the idea the author presented that the monsters were beings that god had sent to the bottom of the ocean).
- The main characters kept splitting up and it was like ??? That is so unbelievable in this scenario and it’s so frustrating. It’s a common horror trope but it’s exhausted and I wish authors didn’t use it as much as they did.
- The goal of the mission was to grab ambrosia, a substance at the bottom of the ocean. This substances will cure the pandemic. However, the author planted a seed of doubt about it from the very beginning . If that’s the case, why are they going down? The author should have committed to it being the miracle cure and that it would change the world to make the stakes of going to the bottom of the ocean more justifiable. Felt like this wasn’t utilized enough.
- There was no character arcs. No one wins in any way or even attempts to get to their arc.
- You want me to believe that our main character went 8 miles under the ocean for a brother who he has said multiple times he didn’t love, was a monster, never met his wife and child, never reached out when his son died, etc. Huge sticking point for me that made everything unbelievable. When he finally acknowledges his brother is awful, it was almost comical. Like THAT’S what finally made you see him for a monster.
- Made the mom morbidly and disgusting obese - this had nothing to do with the story, simple body horror that is already played out enough in horror books
- Made mother molest children explicitly - this had nothing to further the plot other than shock factor. Already insinuated it was happening. There was no need to write a chapter about jt.
- The tickle box - really? What was this?
- Dr Toy’s death was unbelievable and pulled me out of the book.
- Al’s death was rush and it was not a satisfying conclusion. She deserved a more descriptive chapter of how she went. Her death was used to torment Lucas and felt almost not even about her.
- Either give me a well written, creepy and descriptive monster or shut the fuck up. Be lovecraftian about it. Give me a horror beyond human comprehension. Or don’t and let my imagination take the reins. The “monster” he gave was lame and such a let down.