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acatastrophe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
(from my personal reading journal, Jan. 12, 2024)
This was a recommendation from Cav!
The Luminous Dead is a science fiction/psychological horror piece, following a caver--Gyre Price--who advances into a dangerous cave in promise of a huge payday, which she plans to use to get off her shithole planet. Instead of the industry standard team supporting her and her high-tech suit, she gets only Em, her mysterious, reticent boss, who's sent her down for reasons unknown. As she advances through the cave, she grows progressively more and more paranoid that the previous cavers, entombed in the suits and eerily preserved, are following her through the system.
I loved the technicality behind the caving portion of this book--too often I read books with a clearly underexplored scifi hinge theme, but the real and constructed elements of the caving sections are refreshingly solid here. Additionally, the nature of Gyre's delusions remains very unclear throughout (this is a good thing). Overall, this novel kept me guessing at every plot point, which was very refreshing.
However, as Cav and I both agreed, the ending was very disappointing. The story was a no-punches-pulled, dark, psychological tale with a subplot of a deeply messed-up, imbalanced, codependent romance between Gyre and Em, and yet in the end they get to be together, happy and normal and working towards Gyre's goal of finding and showing up her mother. It feels like a misunderstanding of why someone would read this story in the first place. I wish the end was more gorey and upsetting, in keeping with the rest of the book's tone.
Overall, though, a thrilling story. Dr. Sargent saw me listening to this and took down the title, so we'll see if he can stomach the gore (or the lesbians).
This was a recommendation from Cav!
The Luminous Dead is a science fiction/psychological horror piece, following a caver--Gyre Price--who advances into a dangerous cave in promise of a huge payday, which she plans to use to get off her shithole planet. Instead of the industry standard team supporting her and her high-tech suit, she gets only Em, her mysterious, reticent boss, who's sent her down for reasons unknown. As she advances through the cave, she grows progressively more and more paranoid that the previous cavers, entombed in the suits and eerily preserved, are following her through the system.
I loved the technicality behind the caving portion of this book--too often I read books with a clearly underexplored scifi hinge theme, but the real and constructed elements of the caving sections are refreshingly solid here. Additionally, the nature of Gyre's delusions remains very unclear throughout (this is a good thing). Overall, this novel kept me guessing at every plot point, which was very refreshing.
However, as Cav and I both agreed, the ending was very disappointing. The story was a no-punches-pulled, dark, psychological tale with a subplot of a deeply messed-up, imbalanced, codependent romance between Gyre and Em, and yet in the end they get to be together, happy and normal and working towards Gyre's goal of finding and showing up her mother. It feels like a misunderstanding of why someone would read this story in the first place. I wish the end was more gorey and upsetting, in keeping with the rest of the book's tone.
Overall, though, a thrilling story. Dr. Sargent saw me listening to this and took down the title, so we'll see if he can stomach the gore (or the lesbians).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Toxic relationship
w0lfyfr3n's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
3.25
To this book's credit, I genuinely felt like I was down in the caves with Gyre, and it really delivered with the horror aspect of being trapped/isolated underground. Some of the caving equipment and terms were difficult to understand in places, but not in a way that impacted the overall story too much.
However, especially after around the 70% mark, the story was so long and sometimes frustrating that I expected somewhat more from the ending, and it fell short.
The part I had been most interested in, i.e. the walking dead folks, were never fully explained and I'm still unsure if they were ghosts, hallucinations or shroom zombies. Also, with regard to the conclusion, it feels super unnecessary for both MCs to retraumatize themselves just to confront Gyre's mom ? Did they learn nothing from this expedition ?! A similar trend is followed throughout the story, where Gyre and Em have some nice interactions but they both then make inexplicable U-turns with their character growth.
It still gets points for the creepy underground adventure but I was left unsatisfied.
However, especially after around the 70% mark, the story was so long and sometimes frustrating that I expected somewhat more from the ending, and it fell short.
It still gets points for the creepy underground adventure but I was left unsatisfied.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
ghosthermione's review against another edition
3.75
I enjoyed it, but not as much as the first time around. I thought the audio format would make it spookier and really bring out the huis-clos effect, but it didn't really. It was more impressive when I was reading it on paper and imagining the atmosphere for myself. Also, I have a lot more complicated feelings about the ending than I did the first time around.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
raisinreads's review against another edition
3.5
absolutely one of the most horrifying concepts for a horror novel for me, so kudos for that alone, the book was executed decently
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
not_another_ana's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
She'd heard somewhere before that pride came before the fall. But she wasn't going to fall. She was going to climb.
Gyre Price is a liar. She's not an experienced caver and she's never been down on her own but for such huge payout? Well, she's willing to do anything. Sounds simple at first, and with a state of the art suit she expects to be working with a big seasoned surface team. Instead, there's only one person monitoring her, cold and analytic Em who is aware of Gyre's lies and is ready to deceive, blackmail, and drug her in order to get what she wants. As Gyre goes deeper and deeper into the cave, she comes across unexplained situations, like missing equipment, that combined with the harsh geography of the cave and its challenges makes the trek a harrowing experience that might prove deadly.
This was a page-turner that got me out of a mild reading slump. The stakes felt high all the time, I think the author's writing is so atmospheric in a way that really sets the reader in the place of the action. The descriptions of Gyre in the suit, of the cave and the sump, the small crevices, etc., it all worked for me. It felt claustrophobic but also wonderful and new, like we were discovering the cave alongside Gyre and feeling that fascination turn into disgust and terror. However, it was too long and got repetitive at points, this could have easily been 100 pages shorter.
The excess of pages was clear in the relationship and conversations between the two main (and only really) characters. They rehashed discussions over and over again, Gyre changed her mind on Em multiple times, and yet this didn't make their feelings for each other believable. I liked that, due to the circumstances, Gyre has to rely on someone she wasn't sure she could trust and that even with all the suspicions and outright evil actions taken by Em she was a lifeline and connection to the outside world making everything more complicated. But,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Vomit
leweylibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
Ngl I'm shocked I finished this one đ
I think I really just wanted to know for sure whether Em's mom was actually down in the cave or not. Basically, it was just way too slow with too little of consequence happening to keep me interested, especially since the WHOLE BOOK except the very last chapter are in this cave. I kept losing track of where the MC was in the cave and why because it all just felt the same?
AND CAN WE TALK ABOUTTHE ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP?? NO. Just no. On so many levels wtf. I kind of want to recommend this book to someone just so I have someone to hate on this part with đ
it makes absolutely no sense for the characters and feels incredibly forced on top of being toxic AF.
AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical trauma
rain02's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Death
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
bespokecompost's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Now thatâs what i call toxic yuri!!!!!! Jokes aside this was incredibly effective for me. It was the definition of a page turner, i love a slow burn suspense filled âdid i really see thatâ horror narrative mixed with some sudden terrifying moments and boy did this deliver. I also love the character introspection and the whole grappling with the nature of the one person you have to trust with your life even as they prove over and over again that you canât really trust them. Ough i love it, i love the horrible yearning and forced trust and betrayal and devotion and i love it when those things are also gay. I saw some complaints about the ending feeling rushed but to me thatâs the point: once theyâre out of the cave the story is over. They can move on in whatever way the reader wants to imagine, but the cave still looms fresh in the mind. Iâm now very excited to read her other books because if theyâre anything like this (her first book!!??!!) Iâm going to love them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Abandonment
librarymouse's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Luminous Dead calls into question the reliability of its characters' perception and creates such a thick fog of paranoia and confusion that it remains tangible even after the end of the novel. Both characters are terrible people who are terrible to each other.
I don't really know that this was the case, but my interpretation of events is that the tunneler was using the likenesses of those who died in the tunnel's depths to lure victims to reveal themselves. However, Gyre's fever, the spores, and the general paranoia of her time in the tunnels makes it unprovable. Gyre feeling herself be dragged by the sporified corpse of Jenny reinforces that uncertainty of reality. Especially with the pull of the depths like the call of the void made manifest. Em is a terrible person. Sympathetic, but still terrible. She killed so many people in the search of corpses she wasn't sure would still be there, and ran when Gyre found them. They're so toxic for each other - Gyre holding the kill switch to Em's livelihood and future and Em having broken Gyre's body and mind. Not to mention Gyre's willingness to mutilate herself for the sake of getting a job for the money to get off planet and find the mother who abandoned her and whom she grows to hate, and Em's willingness to desecrate her mother's memory by sending caver after caver down into the depths that swallowed her parents, only to turn away and leave Gyer alone in the dark when her father's body is found. They're terrible people and terrible for each other, but in this sort of off world horror, you kind of have to root for them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content
archaicrobin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
After finishing this book Iâm not really sure how I feel. I donât hate it but I honestly donât feel it was a good time.
Gyre is underground in a cave on another planet fulfilling a very expensive, well paid, secretive caving job for her abrasive employer Em. As Gyre gets deeps into the cave things start going worse and worse. Soon sheâs struggling to not just survive, but to make it back to the surface in one piece.
This book had so much potential! I love survival horror, space horror, and caving stories because I find them so terrifying! This one had ghosts, weird alien worms called tunnelers, and an antagonist that is complicated and Gyreâs key to survival. All the pieces were there but the execution was not.
While Gyre was a great character it was hard to relate to the other main character Em who is responsible for Gyreâs plight and her reasons for it are dumb and pretty nonsensical. The author tries to make it sound like her motives have a meaning but honestly they donât and it makes her incredibly unlikeable and impossible to relate to.
Also, the forced romance between Gyre and Em I found really gross. Stockholm syndrome does not equal love, and the fact that this unnecessary abusive and toxic relationship was even a thing, just sat very wrong with me. Gyre would be in a horrific situation and thinking about Em and how she cares for her despite all the abuse Em dishes out. I donât like novels that glorify toxic or abusive relationships, and this one was so off the rails and really not necessary.
In addition, this book is so long and slow with nothing really sci fi going on beyond the suit and these tunnelers that we donât see until the end of the book and only for a page. The pacing is far too slow, with a majority of the book being climbing and traversal of the cave intermixed with Em and Gyreâs interactions, and Gyreâs slowly unraveling sanity which made this a hard one to get through for me. In the end it wasnât even worth it because the ending was so anti climactic and again just kinda gross due to the toxic relationship here.
This one had so much potential and was honestly a big disappointment.
Gyre is underground in a cave on another planet fulfilling a very expensive, well paid, secretive caving job for her abrasive employer Em. As Gyre gets deeps into the cave things start going worse and worse. Soon sheâs struggling to not just survive, but to make it back to the surface in one piece.
This book had so much potential! I love survival horror, space horror, and caving stories because I find them so terrifying! This one had ghosts, weird alien worms called tunnelers, and an antagonist that is complicated and Gyreâs key to survival. All the pieces were there but the execution was not.
While Gyre was a great character it was hard to relate to the other main character Em who is responsible for Gyreâs plight and her reasons for it are dumb and pretty nonsensical. The author tries to make it sound like her motives have a meaning but honestly they donât and it makes her incredibly unlikeable and impossible to relate to.
Also, the forced romance between Gyre and Em I found really gross. Stockholm syndrome does not equal love, and the fact that this unnecessary abusive and toxic relationship was even a thing, just sat very wrong with me. Gyre would be in a horrific situation and thinking about Em and how she cares for her despite all the abuse Em dishes out. I donât like novels that glorify toxic or abusive relationships, and this one was so off the rails and really not necessary.
In addition, this book is so long and slow with nothing really sci fi going on beyond the suit and these tunnelers that we donât see until the end of the book and only for a page. The pacing is far too slow, with a majority of the book being climbing and traversal of the cave intermixed with Em and Gyreâs interactions, and Gyreâs slowly unraveling sanity which made this a hard one to get through for me. In the end it wasnât even worth it because the ending was so anti climactic and again just kinda gross due to the toxic relationship here.
This one had so much potential and was honestly a big disappointment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail