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ash_ton's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
SO much better than into the drowning deep. why couldn't that have been written like this???
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism
laurareads87's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Rolling in the Deep follows a crew of scientists, camerapeople, sailors, and professional mermaids on an expedition to the Mariana Trench to film a 'documentary' about mermaids for a television network. Needless to say, the expedition does not go as planned.
What worked for me here: the concept is fun, the writing of the scariest scenes was well done, the slow build worked for me (some reviews criticize this but I prefer slower and suspenseful and thought it worked here), and the interspersing of statements from the network afterward were effective in giving the book itself the feel of a documentary. What didn't work for me: with this many characters and a page count this short, no characters stood out or felt multi-dimensional; I felt like the captain and first mate were most interesting but there just wasn't room in the story to let their relationship really unfold on the page. Even though I found this novella just okay, I do think I'll end up reading the novel that follows it in hopes that with a longer work, Grant can give the characters more depth.
Content warnings: blood, gore, violence, murder, injury detail, body horror, death
What worked for me here: the concept is fun, the writing of the scariest scenes was well done, the slow build worked for me (some reviews criticize this but I prefer slower and suspenseful and thought it worked here), and the interspersing of statements from the network afterward were effective in giving the book itself the feel of a documentary. What didn't work for me: with this many characters and a page count this short, no characters stood out or felt multi-dimensional; I felt like the captain and first mate were most interesting but there just wasn't room in the story to let their relationship really unfold on the page. Even though I found this novella just okay, I do think I'll end up reading the novel that follows it in hopes that with a longer work, Grant can give the characters more depth.
Content warnings: blood, gore, violence, murder, injury detail, body horror, death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Blood, Death, Murder, Gore, and Violence
harpoonholly's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
A great example of deep sea horror and Mira Grant (pseudonym for Seanan McGuire) is a phenomenal storyteller
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Body horror
nicole_cob_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence
hendrixpants's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
roksyreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is the story of the Atargatis, lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax – others a maritime tragedy – but the truth can only be found below the bathypelagic zone in the Mariana Trench, and those dark depths are very good at keeping secrets.
Rolling in the Deep is a prequel to the excellent horror novel Into the Drowning Deep, which I have now read twice. After finishing this novella, I had to dive straight into that one (just like I dove straight into that pun - sorry!).
Although I could anticipate what was going to happen in this story, having read Into the Drowning Deep first, the knowledge I had didn’t diminish my enjoyment. I actually appreciated further insight into the fate of the Atargatis and the crew from their perspective, and I enjoyed re-reading Into the Drowning Deep even more as a result. Whilst I don’t believe in the existence of mermaids and the like, this whole story-line has still reinforced my feelings about cruises and being stuck over deep water in general; I am a land mammal, and I am quite happy to stay on solid ground as much as possible, thank you very much.
Rolling in the Deep is a prequel to the excellent horror novel Into the Drowning Deep, which I have now read twice. After finishing this novella, I had to dive straight into that one (just like I dove straight into that pun - sorry!).
Although I could anticipate what was going to happen in this story, having read Into the Drowning Deep first, the knowledge I had didn’t diminish my enjoyment. I actually appreciated further insight into the fate of the Atargatis and the crew from their perspective, and I enjoyed re-reading Into the Drowning Deep even more as a result. Whilst I don’t believe in the existence of mermaids and the like, this whole story-line has still reinforced my feelings about cruises and being stuck over deep water in general; I am a land mammal, and I am quite happy to stay on solid ground as much as possible, thank you very much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Blood and Violence
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ROLLING THE DEEP is the story of the cruise ship Atargatis, sent to find mermaids or fake it well enough to make an entertaining documentary that played fast and loose with the truth. Originally published before its better-known full-length follow-up, INTO THE DROWNING DEEP, ROLLING IN THE DEEP is a bloody horror story of curiosity and corporate greed driving a whole ship of people into a bloodbath at the hands of "mermaids" which evolved to be our predators.
It doesn't seem like it's specifically trying to leave something for later. Even knowing that a sequel eventually was made, this is a complete story that can be enjoyed on its own. The cast is pretty large for a novella but stays focused on a subset of named characters to make it manageable.
I like it, I just wish I'd been able to get a hold of it before reading INTO THE DROWNING DEEP, but this is harder to find copies of.
It doesn't seem like it's specifically trying to leave something for later. Even knowing that a sequel eventually was made, this is a complete story that can be enjoyed on its own. The cast is pretty large for a novella but stays focused on a subset of named characters to make it manageable.
I like it, I just wish I'd been able to get a hold of it before reading INTO THE DROWNING DEEP, but this is harder to find copies of.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing and Ableism
Minor: Racism
haylzno's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Disclaimer: I read this book after I finished Into the Drowning Deep, and because of that I think I ended up liking it a lot more than if I had read it before ITDD
Unlike it's sequel, Into the Drowning Deep, this one was about 100 too short!! I could have easily kept reading about the Artargatis' fate.
This book did feel very rushed (it is only 79 pages sooo, that's to be expected I guess). With the monster of a cliffhanger that ended ITDD, I was hoping maybe in this prequel we got a tad more info on Mommy Mermaid, and we did (kind of), but I wanted sooooo much more! Especially since Grant was giving us mermaid POVs in this story and in ITDD, I thought that might mean we'd get more mermaid time.
I again, enjoyed all the science talk! It was a little more manageable in this prequel (again, only 79 pages long so that's expected) and I didn't find it to be as repetitive.
Overall I enjoyed what the book added to my reading experience. I do think this, as a stand alone novel, falls a tad short
Unlike it's sequel, Into the Drowning Deep, this one was about 100 too short!! I could have easily kept reading about the Artargatis' fate.
This book did feel very rushed (it is only 79 pages sooo, that's to be expected I guess). With the monster of a cliffhanger that ended ITDD, I was hoping maybe in this prequel we got a tad more info on Mommy Mermaid, and we did (kind of), but I wanted sooooo much more! Especially since Grant was giving us mermaid POVs in this story and in ITDD, I thought that might mean we'd get more mermaid time.
I again, enjoyed all the science talk! It was a little more manageable in this prequel (again, only 79 pages long so that's expected) and I didn't find it to be as repetitive.
Overall I enjoyed what the book added to my reading experience. I do think this, as a stand alone novel, falls a tad short
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
marnienicole's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Such a good prequel novella! Can’t wait to read the next book. This immediately got me into the world. And gave background to all that’s going to take place in the next book. Glad I read this first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
devynvictoria's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
The disability rep in this is great! Deaf/hard of hearing rep, ASL rep, and wheelchair rep. I hope the full novel continues this. I loved the way the ship actually required it’s crew to learn ASL in their contract. I would love to read more about David and Jovanni’s adventures. I just wish there was more, but this is a novella so that’s expected.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Ableism and Sexism