A review by lilacs_book_bower
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

The more I reflect on this, the less I like it.  The characters were for the most part barely sketched out and flat.  There was one character that felt real and interesting, but no one else.  I also genuinely didn't care about any of the characters.  Grant tries to give people depth and different issues, like deafness or having autism, so I appreciate that, but again, I didn't care about these people that were selfish and made idiotic choice after idiotic choice.  There is also SO MUCH info dumping.  Characters will be having a conversation and then we pause in the middle of it to have two or three pages of back story and exposition.  It completely brings the narrative and pacing to a halt.  A few things, like the actual layout of the boat and how the shutters were supposed to work was also confusing.  At one point, a character had to go only twenty feet, and they were acting like it was 200 yards.  Lots of things just felt off, or not thought through, and yet the book dragged on and on and on because of the constant exposition.  The ending is also abrupt and disappointing, and leaves things open for a sequel that never came (tbs, likely out of Grant's hands).  This is the second Grant/McGuire book I have read, and despite wanting to love them both so much, I have just been disappointed unfortunately. 
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