A review by laurareads87
Out of the Drowning Deep by A.C. Wise

dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

2.0

 I really wanted to like Out of the Drowning Deep, as it has a lot of elements that I tend to like – an automaton as one of the POVs, a mix of human and non-human characters, and an interesting setting in the Bastion – but it ultimately fell flat. 

I think some of the issue here is that there are too many themes for a novella this short. It’s like the author decided to write a book that tackles religion, memory, trauma, and addiction while also being a murder mystery and the result is that none of it really worked. The mystery’s resolution feels almost like an afterthought and it’s hard to really care about when none of the characters directly involved in the murder are developed enough to feel any investment in. It was almost a locked room mystery, but some characters being able to teleport in and out took away the element of pressure that a locked room provides. Some of the relationships are described in intense terms – Angel’s feelings about Scribe IV in particular – that make zero sense given the brief duration of the characters’ knowing each other, and the characters all seem to have a single trait – Angel looks scared all the time, Quin is traumatized, the Sisters have strayed from their god – that is repeated over and over, resulting in one-dimensional characters. Of all the characters, Scribe IV the outdated automaton is absolutely the most interesting; I think that if Scribe IV had been the sole POV and the murder had been the focus (rather than so much of Quin’s backstory) this novella would’ve definitely worked much better. 

I will say, some of my disappointment is probably tied to the marketing. I definitely don’t think this novella is remotely comparable to any of the authors (Chambers, Wells, el-Mohtar and Gladstone) that the blurb compares it to, and the description emphasizes a “race to find out who really murdered the Pope” while way too much of the plot is quite disconnected from this aim. 

What I did like about this was the world-building. The Bastion is a really cool setting, and the backdrop of the Pope’s conclave is interesting context. Unfortunately, the plot and characters are a lot less interesting. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for providing an ARC. 

Content warnings: religious trauma, addiction, suicide, death, death of a parent, grief 
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