Reviews

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

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librarymouse's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Seanan McGuire as herself and as Mira Grant always has such a strong writing style, making her characters funny even in the darkest of settings and situations. I read this before I read Rolling in the Deep, and I'm glad I did for the sense of mystery that choice allowed. McGuire is very good at feeding readers bits of information that become pertinent to the plot in such a way that plot twists feel more like pieces of a puzzle finally fitting together, as opposed to the rug being pulled out from underneath the reader. I do really enjoy how competent the characters are and I loved the disability representation. Having multiple physically and socially disabled characters in a story added so much nuance to the storytelling and the interactions between characters.

Heads up: It's very gory. Remember going into the novel that mermaids originated from myths in which they lured sailors to their deaths to eat them.

I was listening to this on audiobook while driving, and when I got to my destination, I paused it and told the friend I was meeting "There's not much book left, and it's not getting better 😐," in reference to the characters' situation. The storytelling was uniformly enjoyable!
The book does finish quickly after extended suspense, but I think I may enjoy that a good part of it was left unresolved. Tori coming to tolerate and then to love(?) Olivia was good closure for the plot point of Anne's death that started the novel, offering the possibility of Tori being able to move forward from her sister's death, if not move on from it. I hope there's a sequel. There's enough still left unfinished for one, though I've seen that the publishing company may have rejected McGuire's proposal.

Content Warnings

weisstars's review against another edition

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1.0

i have a hard time fathoming why people like this book. the writing style is painfully simplistic, lacking any detail at all. it's also impossible to connect or attach myself to any of the characters: not only does the pov switch every single chapter, jumping back and forth into random places and times, but it also makes everyone incredibly one-dimensional. no one has any character development, no flaws, and no strengths. all of the women in this book also talk in the same exact tone of voice, with no differentiation for voices and speaking cadence.

the pacing of the book is agonizingly slow. nothing regarding the actual 'threat' or 'mystery' that brings this book the 'horror' tag happens until basically the mid-to-end of the book. this could've easily been reduced by at LEAST 100 pages, and still get everything it needed to say. but it was insistent on rambling it's way through the plot.

i found the representation of WLW and autism/neurodivergency to be incredibly shallow. i have a hunch that people give this book high praises simply for that, or for how 'sciencey' it is. the 'sciencey' aspects of this seem to gravely miss the mark, and i noticed some inconsistencies with real research and what the supposedly scientist characters were saying. i didn't feel any sense of 'creep' or 'horror' factor except in the introduction showing anne's announced death. it fell off after that.

i feel that the book also is marketed as to be heavily about mermaids, but the mermaids are essentially just... there. i feel like that they were not focused on nearly enough, and that our main character has no strong tie to them enough beyond a dead sister for the story to feel substantial. essentially, they are nothing but a plot device and a 'big scary'.