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adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another haunted “house” book; this time in space. I love media like “Alien”, “Event Horizon”, and “Dead Space” so I felt like this would be right up my alley. I feel like this book had a ton of promise through the first two acts and really fell flat at the end.
I guess the first thing to note was just how much of the plot was recycled from other media which did it better. From all aspects. The protagonist, struggling with mental health issues, trauma, and survivors guilt (along with some inexplicable supernatural precognition that is never fleshed out and only used as a convenient device when the plot required) is both wickedly incompetent and prodigal when needed for conflict. The ragtag space crew we get are all just rehashes of overdone one-dimensional archetypes (new, smart, hot AND smart, jerk) that lack characterization and some of the characters literally share names with characters in “Aliens”.
Additionally, the plot felt very one-note and every twist was telegraphed from miles away, so as a result, I felt the horror and suspense element was disappointing because everything just sort of happened. The only part I would have thought interesting to explore is skipped over and amnesia is used to just hand-wave the complexity of what happens. Again, likely just to hit formulaic story beats just to make the plot go in the uninteresting direction it already went in.
Furthermore, the actual climax/exposition was mind-boggling. Like for me, I almost DNFed with 15% left because I just figured: wow THAT’S what’s going on? Late Pierce Brosnan-James Bond film level convolution just to align with the premise. It felt like the premise and the protagonist were envisioned first, and rather than explore something more interesting, a plot was forced to fit the initial idea, and leaves several gaping plot holes that just happen without explanation.
Nevertheless, I always have a soft spot for an unreliable narrator and enjoy those perspectives. Plus, I always like to read more exploration of mental health issues. Though at some points the exploration felt a little surface level and kind of cheap.
There’s an interesting novel and horror story here, however it is hiding under derivative formula, one-dimensional characters, and sophomoric plot devices.
2/5
I guess the first thing to note was just how much of the plot was recycled from other media which did it better. From all aspects. The protagonist, struggling with mental health issues, trauma, and survivors guilt (along with some inexplicable supernatural precognition that is never fleshed out and only used as a convenient device when the plot required) is both wickedly incompetent and prodigal when needed for conflict. The ragtag space crew we get are all just rehashes of overdone one-dimensional archetypes (new, smart, hot AND smart, jerk) that lack characterization and some of the characters literally share names with characters in “Aliens”.
Additionally, the plot felt very one-note and every twist was telegraphed from miles away, so as a result, I felt the horror and suspense element was disappointing because everything just sort of happened. The only part I would have thought interesting to explore is skipped over and amnesia is used to just hand-wave the complexity of what happens. Again, likely just to hit formulaic story beats just to make the plot go in the uninteresting direction it already went in.
Furthermore, the actual climax/exposition was mind-boggling. Like for me, I almost DNFed with 15% left because I just figured: wow THAT’S what’s going on? Late Pierce Brosnan-James Bond film level convolution just to align with the premise. It felt like the premise and the protagonist were envisioned first, and rather than explore something more interesting, a plot was forced to fit the initial idea, and leaves several gaping plot holes that just happen without explanation.
Nevertheless, I always have a soft spot for an unreliable narrator and enjoy those perspectives. Plus, I always like to read more exploration of mental health issues. Though at some points the exploration felt a little surface level and kind of cheap.
There’s an interesting novel and horror story here, however it is hiding under derivative formula, one-dimensional characters, and sophomoric plot devices.
2/5
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
not super memorable, but a fun, quick read for sci-fi horror fans. i loved the whole ghost ship premise!! the environment was well set up. personally thought the twist was interesting, but not my thing, i was a little disappointed by it. the romance was very meh. claire and kane are both sorta nothing characters for most of the book, and i found a lot of claire’s monologue to be overly cheesy. not bad, again, just not my thing 💥
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Pretty horrific at parts and cringe at others. At least it was short so not loving it wasn't a waste of time. Good space horror, which is rare in general.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Silence has a different quality to it when you're the only one left alive. It's thicker. Heavier somehow.”
I was very excited about the concept of this book, but it fell rather flat to me. You find out what mostly happens to the crew early on in the book which felt kind of like a disappointment to me. There was no tension or anticipation.
None of the characters were super likable. There really wasn’t any time to get to really know any of the characters and care about them at all.
I did enjoy the atmosphere and the idea of a missing ship in space finally being found. In the end, it was a bit disappointing. I was just expecting more.
I was very excited about the concept of this book, but it fell rather flat to me. You find out what mostly happens to the crew early on in the book which felt kind of like a disappointment to me. There was no tension or anticipation.
None of the characters were super likable. There really wasn’t any time to get to really know any of the characters and care about them at all.
I did enjoy the atmosphere and the idea of a missing ship in space finally being found. In the end, it was a bit disappointing. I was just expecting more.
7 out of 10
So, I'm always looking for great sci-fi horror, which is why the second I saw the words "ghost ship" in reference to a sci-fi novel I knew I was going to be reading Dead Silence as soon as I can. And to give credit where it's due, there are some great, disturbing scenes in here - I was into this for a while, and the psychological horror aspect was definitely working for me. At points it seemed like a modern thriller version of Solaris but without the philosophy and the alien sentient ocean planet (please, read Solaris, it's a masterpiece). Then things started to lose steam, but I was hoping for a strong comeback. And then it happened. The big reveal. I wish it didn't happen because I hated it, but it happened. In order to not spoil anything I'm not going to say what it is, but I am going to make the dramatic statement that this reveal kind of ruined the whole book for me. I *HATE* when horror authors take an awesome, haunting premise and do THIS. So, now I'm just annoyed because there was a lot about this book I enjoyed. I guess I'll just keep looking for that great sci-fi horror?
So, I'm always looking for great sci-fi horror, which is why the second I saw the words "ghost ship" in reference to a sci-fi novel I knew I was going to be reading Dead Silence as soon as I can. And to give credit where it's due, there are some great, disturbing scenes in here - I was into this for a while, and the psychological horror aspect was definitely working for me. At points it seemed like a modern thriller version of Solaris but without the philosophy and the alien sentient ocean planet (please, read Solaris, it's a masterpiece). Then things started to lose steam, but I was hoping for a strong comeback. And then it happened. The big reveal. I wish it didn't happen because I hated it, but it happened. In order to not spoil anything I'm not going to say what it is, but I am going to make the dramatic statement that this reveal kind of ruined the whole book for me. I *HATE* when horror authors take an awesome, haunting premise and do THIS. So, now I'm just annoyed because there was a lot about this book I enjoyed. I guess I'll just keep looking for that great sci-fi horror?