May 2018 Group Read #1 Into the Drowning Deep

[Lena]

67% Into The Deep - there was a lot of research done to make it feel real and thus extra scary!

[Lena]

Is it petty that I’m hoping Tory gets eaten?

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Lena wrote: "Is it petty that I’m hoping Tory gets eaten?"

If it is, then I am also so very petty a great deal and often, too.

[Lena]

Cool.
This is a monster book with intelligent conversation but the characters... 🤔 hmm flat, weak, prone to 180s... they read like characters not people.
Or maybe I just don’t like them.

[Jamie]

Shout-out to the author for the fantastic representation of ethnicity/disability/sexual orientation, etc.!

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Since I finished the book and know what happens, maybe not liking the characters is best, Lena, considering what happens. Stock footage one-dimensional characters are sometimes more fun to me, given how books end sometimes.

In this case, for instance, I liked this book a lot, myself, and I keep hoping there is a sequel.

I enjoy my petty murderous feelings thoroughly when I read fun books about monsters, if I am liking the book anyway despite the, well, cheesiness. I cheer during a lot of Saturday Syfy movies, too - go Sharknado! Love you, Godzilla! Go, Transformers! I often know I am being manipulated to boo the stock bad guy characters and to adore the good guys, and I even enjoy the book, even if the story is not exactly, well, 'quality'.

Of course, there have been books with stock footage characters that I just can't enjoy at all, and I just cannot suspend disbelief enough to have fun.

[Lena]

April, let me assure you I’m loving these monsters and all the science and even some of the moral debates. Maybe they are dislikable characters so we cheer ever harder when they die. I felt that way throughout most of The Terror.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

In The Terror, I only liked Lady Silence, but I felt bad about (view spoiler)[Goodsir. (hide spoiler)].

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Jamie wrote: "Shout-out to the author for the fantastic representation of ethnicity/disability/sexual orientation, etc.!"

Agreed!

[Lena]

I think it was John Irving I liked a little because he was kind to Silence.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Lena wrote: "I think it was John Irving I liked a little because he was kind to Silence."

Yes! I liked him, too.

[Lena]

Just finished. Not the ending I wanted.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Kelly B]

Lena wrote: "Cool.
This is a monster book with intelligent conversation but the characters... 🤔 hmm flat, weak, prone to 180s... they read like characters not people.
Or maybe I just don’t like them."

A few of the characters definitely come across as stereotypes, in particular (view spoiler)[ the hunting couple. At least, as far as I've read they've certainly been stereotypical. (hide spoiler)].

[Lena]

Certainly extreme.

[Kelly B]

I'm half-ways through the book now. At this point, I LIKE the book, but I don't LOVE it.

It reads as more of a thriller to me than actual horror, similar to the type of story Michael Chrichton would write. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's just not what I was expecting.

I could do without the flirting and relationship drama. Just give me the monsters, please;-).

One part had me rolling my eyes : (view spoiler)[ the dolphins possibly being used to communicate with the mermaids. Granted, this is fiction, but there was something about that scenario I find so far fetched. (hide spoiler)].

I do love the setting of the book :-).

[Alan]

Kelly B wrote: "I'm half-ways through the book now. At this point, I LIKE the book, but I don't LOVE it.

It reads as more of a thriller to me than actual horror, similar to the type of story Michael Chrichton wou..."

Although I mostly loved the book, I agree that the flirting BS was out of place in the story. The good news is, if you haven't reached further on your spoiler yet, that element is resolved quickly.

[Richard]

I'm at the halfway point. I went into it expecting a horror, and I loved the prologue. But, it's def more of a thriller, and I'm still digging the hell out of it. The characters are a bit flat, but the plot moves swiftly.

[Jamie]

I'm on Chapter 15 (ish) and so far so good. I like the impending sense of doom for what's to come and I feel like it's going to escalate very quickly soon.

[Kimberly]

Chapter 8--so far, mostly set up for the coming trip.

[Kelly B]

I finished the book tonight, and for me it was somewhat of a "meh" read. I ended up rating it 2 stars.

I loved the premise, but somehow the story just never fully came together for me. It could be because I'm not a big fan of this type of action thriller. I also think a lot more could of been done with the characters. They felt very flat to me.

I was not a fan of this aspect of the ending: (view spoiler)[ The chapter ends on a huge cliff hanger, with that huge monster coming up from the bottom of the ocean. Then, in the next chapter it's two days later??!! I felt like what could have been potentially the most intense part of the book is totally skimmed over. (hide spoiler)].

[Kimberly]

I'm about 1/2 way through. Love the developments, but the characters are still largely forgettable.

[Richard]

I’m with you Kimberly. I’m having fun with this book. But the characters are forgettable. I actually got Olivia and Tori confused on several occasions.

[Savanah]

Finished this - was able to get a copy from my library. I wanted horror and I didn’t get horror, but I did finish it. That is saying something since I will DNF something I can’t get into without hesitation. Honestly though, deep sea monsters are one of my greatest fears, so the fact that this didn’t exactly deliver was surprising to me.

I had some gripes with the writing. I’m not a writer, but if I can pick out that the style is bothering me, there’s definitely something off. The characters often wandered off into a long thought right in the middle of a conversation and took so long to circle back that she had lost me and I had to retrace the dialogue, taking me way out of the story.

The monsters were cool, although not as horrifying as I had hoped and for some reason her descriptions of them left me confused about how to picture them, which isn’t something I normally have trouble with (are they horrific OR sorta beautiful? The descriptions didn’t leave a lot of room for “both”, which is the message the author kept trying to convey).

Hated most of the characters and didn’t care about the rest.

It really hooked me somewhere in the middle during the first “event”, but lost me toward the end. I think I realized that I wasn’t going to get the horror that I went in for and got sort of bored with the “massacre”. The ending was alright - the twist I saw coming from a mile away but I think that was the author’s intention (?) given how she wrote the hints from the characters. Or maybe I watched too much Animal Planet as a kid... *shrugs*

Overall, I give it a solid 3 stars. Wouldn’t pay money for a copy of it or give it shelf space, but I’m not mad that I read it.

[Lena]

Savanah the prequel was so much better. Still weak in characters though.

[Richard]

This book is more like a Michael Chrichton esque thriller than it is a horror novel. It’s a fun read though.

[Savanah]

Lena, I’ll see if my library has a copy of it. I’m interested enough to give it a chance :)

[Lena]

Cool. I’m a fan of monster horror stories where everyone dies. Nice and tidy. Easy to remember for the next book.

[Alabama]

Started this last night am at about 15%, Liking the set up but not gripped

[Andrew “The Weirdling”]

I am 75% through and these folks are in serious big time T.R.O.U.B.L.E. lol

[Kimberly]

Just finished tonight! (view spoiler)[ I'm glad the action finally picked up, but I really had trouble connecting to any of the characters. That, and the ending brought the story down a few notches in my opinion. (hide spoiler)]

[Lena]

Kimberly wrote: "Just finished tonight! [spoilers removed]"

Agreed. The excellent monsters created deserved better than this book!

[Kimberly]

Lena wrote: "Kimberly wrote: "Just finished tonight! [spoilers removed]"

Agreed. The excellent monsters created deserved better than this book!"

Yes! And the (view spoiler)[end.... a little too "happily ever after" for too many characters, in my opinion. That detracted from the thrill of the unique creatures. (hide spoiler)]

[Lena]

(view spoiler)[it should have ended with no survivors, big mamma well fed, and a mating frenzy! (hide spoiler)]

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

I REALLY like your ending, Lena!

[Kimberly]

Lena wrote: "[spoilers removed]"

Yes! I agree with Lena and April!!

[Lena]

I’m here to better lives.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

: D

[Kimberly]

LOL! Great tastes in (view spoiler)[ "better" endings!! (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly B]

Yes, Lena's ending would be much better :-).

[Alan]

I'm pretty sure the ending was intentional to begin a franchise, like the Meg series. Has Mira Grant written a stand-alone book? I only know of series she's penned.

[Kimberly]

Alan wrote: "I'm pretty sure the ending was intentional to begin a franchise, like the Meg series. Has Mira Grant written a stand-alone book? I only know of series she's penned."

Good question. I saw that she had a series under another name, and heard of the "Prequel" to this one.

[Ami]

I am only about 10 chapters in so far. Loved the BANG! of a start the book had, but then it kind of dropped off for a couple of chapters. I'm hoping that the hook grabs me again when the characters finally get on the boat and get going to the trench.

Trying not to read too many posts here yet because I don't want to have any preconceived ideas going in to the rest of the book... but I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone has been saying about it.

And, yes, I think this is supposed to be the start of a series.

[Alabama]

Loving the monsters but most of the characters are really annoying

[Kimberly]

Alabama wrote: "Loving the monsters but most of the characters are really annoying"

That's how I felt, mainly...

[Richard]

I just finished this book. It was a solid 3/5. The plot was fun, the monsters were fun, the characters were flat. I was expecting more of a horror novel (as I think we all were). And we got a Michael Chrichton Jurassic Park esque thriller. It was a lot of fun and I would read the sequel.

[Tyler]

I am now starting Rolling in the Deep! Once i've finished Rolling in the Deep i'll go onto Into the Drowning Deep :)

[Nancy]

I just started this yesterday. I am enjoying the slow build up.

[Nancy]

Kelly B wrote: "I'm just a few chapters in, but enjoying it so far. The brief descriptions we've gotten of the [spoilers removed] are frightening."

Yes and hust enough to let us anticipate what’s going to happen later. That build up of anticipation.

[Richard]

I love the foreshadowing the author uses in the build up about the shudder. It helps build up the dread and anticipation.

[Kimberly]

Richard wrote: "I love the foreshadowing the author uses in the build up about the shudder. It helps build up the dread and anticipation."

And the way she left it stated in a simple, almost offhand manner really made you "think" about the ramifications!