justinecm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Violence, Blood, Gore, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Confinement, and Suicidal thoughts
lefthandlou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Gore, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Vomit, and Torture
Minor: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, and Animal death
standingtreereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
When we meet Claire, she’s already known her crew for over two years. Despite the story being written from Claire’s perspective, I think Barnes nails keeping their interactions authentic to the amount of time they’ve known each other while still introducing us to each of the crew and their respective, distinct personalities.
| Atmosphere « 10/10 »
What is piece of horror media if it isn’t atmospheric? I think the use of the first-person perspective coupled with Barnes’ excellent descriptions definitely helped up the spook factor when necessary. The discovery and searching of the Aurora raised the hairs, for sure!
| Writing « 9.5/10 »
Not much to add here that I haven’t already brought up above. Normally, I’m not a fan of first-person written stories, but it worked out remarkably well for this. And the switching between “then” and “now” really tied the story together.
| Plot « 9/10 »
Lots of reviews amend the “Titanic meets The Shining” blurb to “Titanic meets Event Horizon“. I’d like to add to that. “Titanic meets Event Horizon meets Fallout (the video game franchise)”. If anyone who is familiar with the Fallout series reads/has read this, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
While perhaps not having the most mind-blowing twists (to me at least), I still thoroughly enjoyed the entire ride anyways.
| Intrigue « 10/10 »
One night last week, I already couldn’t sleep because of all the mom anxiety that comes with having a sick kid. So I started reading this and got absolutely hooked. I read probably about 50% of it then. Maybe the circumstances make me biased since just about anything is more enjoyable than the unpredictability of toddlers and their ailments, but oh well.
| Logic « 10/10 »
I have absolutely no idea about the science that goes into space exploration and colonization, but it was convincing enough that it made sense. HA. Nothing felt out of place in terms of plot, characterization, and all that. Overall, very solid to me.
| Enjoyment « 9.5/10 »
I couldn’t put this down. I needed to know what happened. Which was rather unfortunate because much of this was read in pitch black darkness. So just…read this in the daylight if you’re easily spooked.
Graphic: Cursing, Violence, Blood, Gore, Murder, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
arcticoctopus123's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Mental illness
Moderate: Body horror
roses_posy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Vomit, Violence, Mental illness, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Classism, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
hauntthetale's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Body horror, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic and Vomit
skylarkblue1's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Claire Kovalik is on her last space mission of her employment. After she goes back to earth, this is it for her dream life - floating in space away from people surrounded by the vast emptiness of space. But right as they’re about to meet up with the ship to go home, a distress signal comes through on the old emergency line - it’s the first (and last) luxury cruise liner that mysteriously vanished over 20 years ago.
This book was so masterfully written, I’m shocked to learn it’s the author’s debut in horror! The tension and mystery were gripping and somehow even managed to write jumpscares, something I didn’t think was even possible in books!
The characters were really good, the MC’s confusion and unreliableness was interesting and despite the narrative being all over the place from them it was coherent enough to understand and follow along just fine. The other characters were actually quite well rounded despite how many there are and how short of a time some of them had.
If you like Alien, Dead Space or horror/sci-fi in general, this is a must read. It’s honestly the best in the sci-fi horror genre I’ve seen out of any game/movie/book so far!
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, Mental illness, and Blood
Moderate: Classism and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
2pro2know's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Suicide, and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, and Alcoholism
priscillarobock's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Self harm, Child death, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Alcohol and Gun violence
juksu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Claire is painfully NOT genre savvy and has few redeeming qualities that make up for the secondhand embarrassment of her getting duped by every clue that says, "Hey, you have something on your shirt." She's totally believable! I know people like her! But I don't think I'd read a book about them.
Pacing was a bit weird, because there's the first half of the book where Things Happened, and then the second half where the Things Happen Again except with Answers (that some keen readers may have worked out already). And with gratuitous gore, of course, which I'm neutral on.
It's a decent romp, and maybe if you don't read much horror you'll be more surprised by the twists. But I feel like my view of everything was obscured by the narrator.
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Gore, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Cannibalism