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awatkins's review
challenging
dark
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
3.5
I’ll go with the bad first: it’s way overwritten. There are just too many words, too much info dumping, too much exposition. You could cut the book by a third and it would have no impact on the plot’s development.
Despite that I don’t actually want to discourage people from reading this book because as far as eco-body-horror stories go, it’s bit of a banger. The story structure itself is somewhat experimental; there are multiple POVs, including third person, first person, and a Greek chorus of sorts. The author explores the way Baywood is stratified by age, class, and race and the impact the isolation and deading phenomenon have on this structure very well. In addition, the horror is actually horrifying.
nerdmuffin's review
1.0
I found the narrator in the "before" absolutely insufferable. Following that, the disregard Bernhard has for the health of the ocean seems unbelievable, considering he makes his living from it. The sections consisting of supposed climate/ecological reports are simultaneously boring and implausibly unprofessional. Finally, Chango's concern that old people are, worst of all, undateable and his subsequent unironic use of the word pecker and then later "borb" made it pretty clear this book wasn't for me. I made 11%.
serinas's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It had a good start, and the concept was amazing. Bernhard was such an interesting character, and I wish I learned more about him. The different POVs are well-written, and since the writing style changes it feels like a different person. It's obvious when the POV changes, and I love that. I saw some reviews that disagreed on this, so beware of that.
But the damn birds... There were so much talk about birds, and I don't understand why? If you have a big interest in birds it probably won't affect you, but I saw many other reviews that agreed there were too much stuff about birds. It would've been fine if I came prepared for that, but there is no mention of birds being such a big part of the book, and the birds give no meaning or sense to the story.
But the damn birds... There were so much talk about birds, and I don't understand why? If you have a big interest in birds it probably won't affect you, but I saw many other reviews that agreed there were too much stuff about birds. It would've been fine if I came prepared for that, but there is no mention of birds being such a big part of the book, and the birds give no meaning or sense to the story.
darkpidge's review
3.0
Thank you Kensington Books, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I am giving The Deading by Nicholas Belardes 3 stars.
The Deading showcases many different perspectives as an ocean-borne contagion infects a small town, and as someone who prefers less POV’s I did actually love how Belardes exposes each persons fears and struggles while trying to navigate their new lives. The only thing I struggled with was sometimes I wouldn’t know whose perspective it was until halfway through the chapter, because it is not shown at the chapter head and many internal dialogues sound very similar until later on.
I enjoyed how Belardes went into deeper topics like grief, loss, loneliness, and communication. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing itself, it was very very well done.
The reason I am only giving 3 stars is due to how much unnecessary information is packed into it, the vivid descriptors of birds through the book made my brain hurt, I can not justify the need for knowing all of these birds color’s, calls, and behaviours. And sadly I could not retain any of that information. I really wish he went more into details about the actually Deading instead of birds, because that it what I found the most interesting about this book.
I am giving The Deading by Nicholas Belardes 3 stars.
The Deading showcases many different perspectives as an ocean-borne contagion infects a small town, and as someone who prefers less POV’s I did actually love how Belardes exposes each persons fears and struggles while trying to navigate their new lives. The only thing I struggled with was sometimes I wouldn’t know whose perspective it was until halfway through the chapter, because it is not shown at the chapter head and many internal dialogues sound very similar until later on.
I enjoyed how Belardes went into deeper topics like grief, loss, loneliness, and communication. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing itself, it was very very well done.
The reason I am only giving 3 stars is due to how much unnecessary information is packed into it, the vivid descriptors of birds through the book made my brain hurt, I can not justify the need for knowing all of these birds color’s, calls, and behaviours. And sadly I could not retain any of that information. I really wish he went more into details about the actually Deading instead of birds, because that it what I found the most interesting about this book.
woodsybookworm's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The Deading begins with body horror - a truly terrifying experience with snails that has made me a little fearful of the slimy creatures, but after the first few chapters the story took a complete turn.
The cover and blurb for the book sucked me in, thinking this would be science fiction body horror a combination of Annihilation and The Birds. Instead the book focused mainly on birding and the scientific descriptions of birds and aquatic animals. I'd hoped the book would go into more detail on the body horror it teased from the first chapter but we never really got back to it.
With six different perspectives - four in third person and two in first person (with one of those perspectives being an unnamed character) - it was hard to keep up with what was happening in the story. I wanted to learn more about Bernhard and Chango's transformations and the entity but we barely got any time with the most interesting characters.
As much as I hoped to like The Deading, it wasn't for me. Received as an ARC from NetGalley and Kensington/Erewhon Books.
The cover and blurb for the book sucked me in, thinking this would be science fiction body horror a combination of Annihilation and The Birds. Instead the book focused mainly on birding and the scientific descriptions of birds and aquatic animals. I'd hoped the book would go into more detail on the body horror it teased from the first chapter but we never really got back to it.
With six different perspectives - four in third person and two in first person (with one of those perspectives being an unnamed character) - it was hard to keep up with what was happening in the story. I wanted to learn more about Bernhard and Chango's transformations and the entity but we barely got any time with the most interesting characters.
As much as I hoped to like The Deading, it wasn't for me. Received as an ARC from NetGalley and Kensington/Erewhon Books.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Torture, Animal death, Murder, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Violence, Death, and Self harm
saucytoad's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
literaryland_livin's review
3.0
ARC by NetGalley and the publisher.
In a small seaside fishing town an evil has emerged deep from the oceans trenchs. A mysterious and strange infection is spreading, seeping its way into the local wildlife and the towns people. The newly infected being coined as “deading” for as soon as they perish they then rise again forever changed. The towns remaining residents must adapt and survive in this new environment filled with fear, isolation, and paranoia.
I was immediately intrigued just by seeing the cover of this book which is both haunting and beautiful at the same time. The premise of The Deading is a suspenseful creature feature with dystopian elements. The atmosphere, horror elements, and overall creepy factors kept me reading till the end however it was a struggle to get there. This for me is mainly due to the creative writing choices that are done. The POV constantly shifted from third person, to first person, and to multiple characters. This was done so frequently that it was even in the same chapter without any warning of this happening. This made the writing feel disjointed and ultimately harder to comprehend. While reading it is clearly apparent that the author has a wealth of knowledge about the wildlife that is used in this book and I do appreciate an author who takes the time to do their homework. However, it did become at times too wordy for me and ventured into info dumping territory. Overall while this book did take me longer to get thru then normal due to stylistic writing choices it did still manage to keep me interested and up at night thinking about the plots impending dread of quarantine and the unknowns of who you can trust and not in your community.
The Deading comes out July 23rd, 2024.
Thank you NetGalley and Erewhon Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
In a small seaside fishing town an evil has emerged deep from the oceans trenchs. A mysterious and strange infection is spreading, seeping its way into the local wildlife and the towns people. The newly infected being coined as “deading” for as soon as they perish they then rise again forever changed. The towns remaining residents must adapt and survive in this new environment filled with fear, isolation, and paranoia.
I was immediately intrigued just by seeing the cover of this book which is both haunting and beautiful at the same time. The premise of The Deading is a suspenseful creature feature with dystopian elements. The atmosphere, horror elements, and overall creepy factors kept me reading till the end however it was a struggle to get there. This for me is mainly due to the creative writing choices that are done. The POV constantly shifted from third person, to first person, and to multiple characters. This was done so frequently that it was even in the same chapter without any warning of this happening. This made the writing feel disjointed and ultimately harder to comprehend. While reading it is clearly apparent that the author has a wealth of knowledge about the wildlife that is used in this book and I do appreciate an author who takes the time to do their homework. However, it did become at times too wordy for me and ventured into info dumping territory. Overall while this book did take me longer to get thru then normal due to stylistic writing choices it did still manage to keep me interested and up at night thinking about the plots impending dread of quarantine and the unknowns of who you can trust and not in your community.
The Deading comes out July 23rd, 2024.
Thank you NetGalley and Erewhon Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
charlotte112's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Without giving too much away, a small coastal town gets quaratined after an infestation plagues the inhabitants. It is my first time dipping my toes into the eco-horror genre and I am still undecided if it is really my thing. I did not feel captivated by any of the characters and found many parts hard to follow and keep me engaged. However I love a dystopian book and this definitely had that edge to it. There were some pretty grim scenes and some emotional parts too. The ending did not really surprise me but I think it was fitting for the story. Some of it felt a bit unrealistic (like how quickly people turned to cult like behaviour) and sparse on some of the details (about the drones/ government) but it was interesting to read something different to my usual tastes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
tifftastic87's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I received an e-ARC of the Deading from NetGalley and Kensington books in exchange for a fair review.
An unusual snail discovered at an oyster farm causes a whole town to be quarantined by the US government as a weird behavior strikes the majority of the population. A young man who is very interested in birding stands strong against "the deading" that many others in the town succumb to and fights to save his family and friends.
I really wanted to like this story a lot. The premise is really good, but I think the execution was rather rough. The book starts off with a collective third person, a Greek Chorus as described by the author, which I think made for an eerie start and if it had just stuck to the prologue and epilogue I think would have worked better, rather than including the random chapters in the middle using this pov. Unfortunately, the point of view switches nearly every chapter with some in first, some in collective third, some in limited third, one in second, and some switching within the chapter. This style was very hard to follow and made for a confusing lens to view the events. I could see this working if the flow was better but they felt a little disjointed and getting pov chapters from six characters was a bit much. I still don't understand why Kumi's chapters were in first person.
The second issue with the execution was the sheer number of science info dumps. The first chapter focused heavily on climate change and warming waters and a lot of, what felt like, unnecessary detail for something that isn't really relied on in the narrative later. Very shortly after that we started with the intricate details of identifying birds to species and the names of parts of their anatomy, I'll be honest I started skimming those. It really slowed the story down in those places, changed the tone and made it feel like Belardes just wanted to flex his bird knowledge muscles. I understand this is a passion of his, but it felt really forced just for the sake of being there.
In terms of the horror elements, honestly the snails and their role felt really played down and I wanted more of it. I didn't understand how Bernhard continued to play a role even though we went back to him a couple of times. It felt like nothing was really explained. Some of the best scenes for the horror element were with the Risers, which I still don't understand, in the church. I got really invested and then it fell away again. Everything felt like disjointed ideas and I wanted them to connect and I couldn't find the connection.
I enjoy horror with weird vibey elements, I don't always need it explained, Our Wives Under the Sea is a great example where the reason, the why, is never explained but we get an explanation of the events is happening. We are shown in clear fashion the events that unfold and it is very tense and atmospheric but light on the gore. This could have been a very atmospheric horror with a fair amount of gore that would have worked really well for me, but I think Belardes tried to do too much all at once.
I will still likely pick up a final copy on release and see how things have changed and am very appreciative of the chance to read something early that I really thought would be for me. It is unfortunate that it wasn't.
An unusual snail discovered at an oyster farm causes a whole town to be quarantined by the US government as a weird behavior strikes the majority of the population. A young man who is very interested in birding stands strong against "the deading" that many others in the town succumb to and fights to save his family and friends.
I really wanted to like this story a lot. The premise is really good, but I think the execution was rather rough. The book starts off with a collective third person, a Greek Chorus as described by the author, which I think made for an eerie start and if it had just stuck to the prologue and epilogue I think would have worked better, rather than including the random chapters in the middle using this pov. Unfortunately, the point of view switches nearly every chapter with some in first, some in collective third, some in limited third, one in second, and some switching within the chapter. This style was very hard to follow and made for a confusing lens to view the events. I could see this working if the flow was better but they felt a little disjointed and getting pov chapters from six characters was a bit much. I still don't understand why Kumi's chapters were in first person.
The second issue with the execution was the sheer number of science info dumps. The first chapter focused heavily on climate change and warming waters and a lot of, what felt like, unnecessary detail for something that isn't really relied on in the narrative later. Very shortly after that we started with the intricate details of identifying birds to species and the names of parts of their anatomy, I'll be honest I started skimming those. It really slowed the story down in those places, changed the tone and made it feel like Belardes just wanted to flex his bird knowledge muscles. I understand this is a passion of his, but it felt really forced just for the sake of being there.
In terms of the horror elements, honestly the snails and their role felt really played down and I wanted more of it. I didn't understand how Bernhard continued to play a role even though we went back to him a couple of times. It felt like nothing was really explained. Some of the best scenes for the horror element were with the Risers, which I still don't understand, in the church. I got really invested and then it fell away again. Everything felt like disjointed ideas and I wanted them to connect and I couldn't find the connection.
I enjoy horror with weird vibey elements, I don't always need it explained, Our Wives Under the Sea is a great example where the reason, the why, is never explained but we get an explanation of the events is happening. We are shown in clear fashion the events that unfold and it is very tense and atmospheric but light on the gore. This could have been a very atmospheric horror with a fair amount of gore that would have worked really well for me, but I think Belardes tried to do too much all at once.
I will still likely pick up a final copy on release and see how things have changed and am very appreciative of the chance to read something early that I really thought would be for me. It is unfortunate that it wasn't.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Classism, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Self harm, and Racism
Moderate: Murder, Drug use, and Cursing