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mar'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
space ghosts huh
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Child death, and Sexism
inkdrinkers's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Let me start off by saying all the comparisons to Alien this book is getting are flat out wrong. The book features a woman captain in space and that is where the similarities end.
A more accurate comparison would be the horror and dread of Dead Space (the video game) mixed with the very real tragedy of the Titanic. These two marry the plot pretty well and make up Dead Silence, which is focused, not only, on the horror of the unknown and inevitable in space, but navigating it.
I had a hard time deciding what to rate this book. It's a lot slower than I anticipated, and the focus is far more on Claire, our main character, and her severe survivor's guilt. But I DO think it's a very strong story, albeit a little bogged down with a lot of character work and internal dialogue with Claire. Do I think her personality could have been reduced and still had the same effect? Yes. But I also feel like it's an incredibly well done representation about trauma, anxiety, and survivor's guilt.
All in all this story is about survival, again featuring one of my favorite tropes that humanity will always survive. The ending third really felt like a movie to me, as entertaining as the movie Life (also space centered) and as heart wrenching as the concept of Passengers. The story hangs around a 3 or 4 star for me because I did see the end coming, but the characters and the setting were so strong I think overall this book is a 4. That might be my love of space and science fiction though.
A more accurate comparison would be the horror and dread of Dead Space (the video game) mixed with the very real tragedy of the Titanic. These two marry the plot pretty well and make up Dead Silence, which is focused, not only, on the horror of the unknown and inevitable in space, but navigating it.
I had a hard time deciding what to rate this book. It's a lot slower than I anticipated, and the focus is far more on Claire, our main character, and her severe survivor's guilt. But I DO think it's a very strong story, albeit a little bogged down with a lot of character work and internal dialogue with Claire. Do I think her personality could have been reduced and still had the same effect? Yes. But I also feel like it's an incredibly well done representation about trauma, anxiety, and survivor's guilt.
All in all this story is about survival, again featuring one of my favorite tropes that humanity will always survive. The ending third really felt like a movie to me, as entertaining as the movie Life (also space centered) and as heart wrenching as the concept of Passengers. The story hangs around a 3 or 4 star for me because I did see the end coming, but the characters and the setting were so strong I think overall this book is a 4. That might be my love of space and science fiction though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
All gore/body horror/injury tags are for explicit scenes in text. Characters harm themselves and others in varying forms of detail. There are scenes where characters eyes are gouged out or injured. Multiple deaths and wounds are described in various details. The main character struggles with trauma, panic attacks, and grief after the death of a parent. She has PTSD and survivor's guilt. There is mild sexism throughout the book, culminating in multiple male characters assuming they are better than the main character because of their sex. There is, however, no sexual violence.
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