Reviews with content warning for Confinement - From Below

A tense, scary underwater exploration story. Kept me guessing until the reveal, and even then the tension never let up. The best Darcy Coates I've read yet.

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lindsbal's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.5

I don't often read horror but, I love period and dual timeline books. This book was such a thrilling read and I loved how the narrative jumped between the modern day shipwreck exploration story and the days leading up to the ship sinking in the 1920s. A lot of suspense was created from knowing that the ship was going to sink but not how it was going to happen. The chapters are short and often leave you with a cliffhanger as they whip you back and fourth between the two timelines.

I'm not a diver, but the descriptions of the mechanics of a dive this deep felt plausible and it seemed like Darcy had done a lot of research into how an expedition like this would work.

My only criticism is wishing the book would have followed more than one character in the 1920s. We get to know one of the crew members but I would have loved a passenger perspective as well. (Even if it would have come at the expense of the fast pace.) There were five divers plus two people aboard the ship in the modern day timeline so it felt a bit unbalanced with the 1920's narrative where we primarily followed one person.

Overall highly recommend this one!

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seawarrior's review against another edition

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5.0

From Below is a bone-chilling and original horror novel with organic scares. I've always been fascinated by scuba-diving and underwater worlds, but Coates used our innate fears of drowning and being stranded in the sea against readers, frightening even me, who doesn't have a natural-born fear of water. The book was gripping the whole way through, and the switches between timelines and characters were the perfect length to hold suspense. I was thoroughly entertained by this haunting story and highly recommend it for other horror readers.

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aas's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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polarbearisla's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

So good. So terrifying and yet what an adventure! The tension developed gradually yet not painfully. The way the horror was written was so impressive. So scary and the characters were so real and lovable. Amazing.

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wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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svangleboyer's review

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Darcy Coates delivers another great horror that will give you chills and question whether some mysteries should stay hidden.

From Below follows our heroine Cover and her documentary team as they explore a long-lost ship the Arcadia that sunk and has been located on radar after all these years. Everything appears to be going well until the team enter the ship and then things start to go very wrong.

I am a big fan of isolation horror, and you can't get more isolated than the middle of the ocean. Darcy Coates does an amazing job creating such suspenseful and creepy moments that will keep you riveted. I really like the direction the author took with the idea of a haunted ship because I felt it was a bit unique. I also loved how the author handled writing two different timelines that flowed together so seamlessly. The pacing was very consistent throughout until you get to last 100 pages when things get really creepy.

I love all the characters because they are very interesting, and I loved the character depth of each one. I would have loved to learn a bit more about Deveraux and Roy backstory because they are still a bit of a mystery to me. It is hard to pick a favorite character for me because I related to them all in one way or another, but I would say that Vanna was my favorite. Vanna is very dedicated to doing her job and doing it well even if it could be hazardous to her.

I highly recommend From Below to any fans of the movie Ghost Ship, any fans of good ghost stories, any horror fan, and any fans of isolated locations themes.

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