cathepsut's review
Creature feature. Modern day, with an inept guy trying to be a treasure hunters, tying to find loot in the ocean. Officially he is on his honeymoon, which he uses as an excuse to travel to Madgascar for his treasure hunting scheme. There are pirates as well. Something lurks in the depths. Has potential for a fun romp with monster fish and a high body count, right? Unfortunately the writing is pretty bad and the plot is ridiculous. I can‘t finish this thing. DNF after 140 pages and about 46%.
The mouth of the monster makes a brief appearance after 50+ pages and the head of the monster shows up again at 120+ pages. Sadly, the description of the fish is so vague that it is nonexistent. Hello, creature feature, the characters of the book get to see the monster, shouldn’t the reader?
And don‘t get me started on the writing in general…
“A long piece of driftwood rocked atop the ocean a few hundred kilometers away. Underneath the blazing sun, Mosi could only see a silhouette lift up onto its forearms and wave a hand around. “Please!” The voice was male. Possibly American. His hand reached out, stretching toward Mosi.“ (page 23)
A few hundred kilometers? Wow, that‘s some eye sight and a really loud voice.
And then on page 51:
“Zane balanced himself on the rail and dropped toward the water. The moonlight reached down a few kilometers so dark blue became a gradient of deeper blacks. Soon he was paddling through impenetrable onyx.“
Someone needs to explain to the author what a kilometer is and tell him to drop the „kilo“.
And the descriptions and word choices…
“His eyes were like fried eggs.“
Round? White and yellow?
“She would’ve shot this down with the quickness, because who believed in buried treasure anymore?“
With the quickness, huh? Well, ok then.
“They ran toward it with raised knees, Sara getting out in front of Blake who was bogged down by their luggage, …“
Running with raised knees… Why am I thinking of Monty Python and the Holy Grail all of a sudden?
“She moved with molasses and…“
I‘m picturing her creeping along next to a blob of molasses…
“I’ll gladly take might after all this.”
Huh?
And what‘s with the thin passageways and thin corridors? Is that really a thing?
“The blonde slipped inside the standup shower where the curves of her outline were perfectly amplified by patterned glass.“
As opposed to a sitdown shower? And I wish he would stop describing her as „the blonde“.
The research into scuba diving didn‘t go terribly smoothly either.
“Flippered feet wobbled against the edge and Zane took a deep pull on his valve, swallowing a burst of bottled air before dropping through the gloom like a brick.“
Nope, that is not how it works. More air in the body, more buoyancy. No chance of „dropping like a brick“ that way.
“His body bounced around, scuba tank scraping the cavern’s ceiling as panic bubbles erupted around his breather.“
I have never heard anybody call the regulator a breather.
“His mind ran to a dozen defeated corners, projecting possible fatalities. How he’d rip his wet suit and drown.“
Wetsuits are wet inside, hence the name. They are for thermal insulation. It is unlikely to rip neoprene, but even if you did, it would make absolutely no difference. Well, ok, a part of you would be colder than the rest. Has the author done no research whatsoever before writing this book?
Another gem:
“Imani was a former despot, ousted from Zimbabwe during a revolt where the citizens tired of election rigging and forced the prime minister’s resignation.“
Hm, unlikely scenario. Zimbabwe has had all of 2 prime minsters since its independence. Probably should have picked a different country, not one that was run by the same guy for 30 years.
I don‘t know how I managed to read 140 pages of this. On top of the lack of any meaningful descriptions, any character development whatsoever or a logical succession of events, this whole thing just makes no sense and is utterly ridiculous. I don‘t understand how reviewers can give this 4 and 5 stars?
I skimmed to find out what monster we are dealing with. Found it. I‘m not telling, just in case you do want to read this one here after all. My recommendation: Read Steve Alteninstead.
The mouth of the monster makes a brief appearance after 50+ pages and the head of the monster shows up again at 120+ pages. Sadly, the description of the fish is so vague that it is nonexistent. Hello, creature feature, the characters of the book get to see the monster, shouldn’t the reader?
And don‘t get me started on the writing in general…
“A long piece of driftwood rocked atop the ocean a few hundred kilometers away. Underneath the blazing sun, Mosi could only see a silhouette lift up onto its forearms and wave a hand around. “Please!” The voice was male. Possibly American. His hand reached out, stretching toward Mosi.“ (page 23)
A few hundred kilometers? Wow, that‘s some eye sight and a really loud voice.
And then on page 51:
“Zane balanced himself on the rail and dropped toward the water. The moonlight reached down a few kilometers so dark blue became a gradient of deeper blacks. Soon he was paddling through impenetrable onyx.“
Someone needs to explain to the author what a kilometer is and tell him to drop the „kilo“.
And the descriptions and word choices…
“His eyes were like fried eggs.“
Round? White and yellow?
“She would’ve shot this down with the quickness, because who believed in buried treasure anymore?“
With the quickness, huh? Well, ok then.
“They ran toward it with raised knees, Sara getting out in front of Blake who was bogged down by their luggage, …“
Running with raised knees… Why am I thinking of Monty Python and the Holy Grail all of a sudden?
“She moved with molasses and…“
I‘m picturing her creeping along next to a blob of molasses…
“I’ll gladly take might after all this.”
Huh?
And what‘s with the thin passageways and thin corridors? Is that really a thing?
“The blonde slipped inside the standup shower where the curves of her outline were perfectly amplified by patterned glass.“
As opposed to a sitdown shower? And I wish he would stop describing her as „the blonde“.
The research into scuba diving didn‘t go terribly smoothly either.
“Flippered feet wobbled against the edge and Zane took a deep pull on his valve, swallowing a burst of bottled air before dropping through the gloom like a brick.“
Nope, that is not how it works. More air in the body, more buoyancy. No chance of „dropping like a brick“ that way.
“His body bounced around, scuba tank scraping the cavern’s ceiling as panic bubbles erupted around his breather.“
I have never heard anybody call the regulator a breather.
“His mind ran to a dozen defeated corners, projecting possible fatalities. How he’d rip his wet suit and drown.“
Wetsuits are wet inside, hence the name. They are for thermal insulation. It is unlikely to rip neoprene, but even if you did, it would make absolutely no difference. Well, ok, a part of you would be colder than the rest. Has the author done no research whatsoever before writing this book?
Another gem:
“Imani was a former despot, ousted from Zimbabwe during a revolt where the citizens tired of election rigging and forced the prime minister’s resignation.“
Hm, unlikely scenario. Zimbabwe has had all of 2 prime minsters since its independence. Probably should have picked a different country, not one that was run by the same guy for 30 years.
I don‘t know how I managed to read 140 pages of this. On top of the lack of any meaningful descriptions, any character development whatsoever or a logical succession of events, this whole thing just makes no sense and is utterly ridiculous. I don‘t understand how reviewers can give this 4 and 5 stars?
I skimmed to find out what monster we are dealing with. Found it. I‘m not telling, just in case you do want to read this one here after all. My recommendation: Read Steve Alteninstead.
johnlynchbooks's review
4.0
I went into Ocean Grave by Matt Serafini, with no prior knowledge of the authors work. I assumed the book would be something akin to Jaws, based solely on the terrifying cover art. I’m quite pleased to say that what we have here is a fun, ocean monster summer read.
I want to start this off by saying, this isn’t strictly a horror novel. While reading this, it felt to me like I was reading a cross between an Indiana Jones movie and The Meg. I don’t say that as a knock. This novel was a blast to read. Serafini switches back and forth between a few different characters, with the main character being Sarah, a newlywed whose honeymoon turns out to be much more than expected. Prehistoric terror isn’t the only danger, as this Madagascar vacation quickly turns into an adventure filled with pirates, government agents, mercenaries and pirate treasure. Serafini keeps things entertaining and he keeps things moving. This book benefits from the fast pace and the characters are written just well enough to keep you invested. The conclusion also takes an unexpected turn, which helped to keep interest in what’s going on.
Overall, I enjoyed Ocean Grave. I found it to be an entertaining Deep-Sea creature novel. Much of the book read like an adventure, with the creature aspect of it playing second to the characters and their quest. If you’re looking for an excellent summer creature read, look no further.
4/5 for Ocean Grave, By Matt Serafini
I want to start this off by saying, this isn’t strictly a horror novel. While reading this, it felt to me like I was reading a cross between an Indiana Jones movie and The Meg. I don’t say that as a knock. This novel was a blast to read. Serafini switches back and forth between a few different characters, with the main character being Sarah, a newlywed whose honeymoon turns out to be much more than expected. Prehistoric terror isn’t the only danger, as this Madagascar vacation quickly turns into an adventure filled with pirates, government agents, mercenaries and pirate treasure. Serafini keeps things entertaining and he keeps things moving. This book benefits from the fast pace and the characters are written just well enough to keep you invested. The conclusion also takes an unexpected turn, which helped to keep interest in what’s going on.
Overall, I enjoyed Ocean Grave. I found it to be an entertaining Deep-Sea creature novel. Much of the book read like an adventure, with the creature aspect of it playing second to the characters and their quest. If you’re looking for an excellent summer creature read, look no further.
4/5 for Ocean Grave, By Matt Serafini
booksdogsandjess's review
1.0
This has a lot of glowing reviews on goodreads and I love a good monster story! Monster movies are my favourites and this cover looks so cool! So all these 4 star reviews I am excited but ....
This was kind of trash y'all. The monster is a gigantic prehistoric fish seemingly made of rock that is known to locals as "Death's Head" is it the best name? No, but whatever, you're not going to get a lot of "best" in this one.
The locals have known about Death's Head for years, but no one else has I guess, but the main industries on the island are beach tourism and fishing, so like it should come up?
The dialogue was not great, there were 1000 characters all in different areas of Madagascar, sexist to the hilt (I will not even get in to that) and similes for days that were so unnecessary. I will paraphrase here because I did not jot down the exact quote, but someone has been eaten by the monster while diving, blood is everywhere
"The oceans water lapped at the boat like the family dog at it's owner's hand making amends after destroying a couch cushion"
Legit halfway through I was rooting for the monster, eat them all.
This was kind of trash y'all. The monster is a gigantic prehistoric fish seemingly made of rock that is known to locals as "Death's Head" is it the best name? No, but whatever, you're not going to get a lot of "best" in this one.
The locals have known about Death's Head for years, but no one else has I guess, but the main industries on the island are beach tourism and fishing, so like it should come up?
The dialogue was not great, there were 1000 characters all in different areas of Madagascar, sexist to the hilt (I will not even get in to that) and similes for days that were so unnecessary. I will paraphrase here because I did not jot down the exact quote, but someone has been eaten by the monster while diving, blood is everywhere
"The oceans water lapped at the boat like the family dog at it's owner's hand making amends after destroying a couch cushion"
Legit halfway through I was rooting for the monster, eat them all.
darkmark's review
adventurous
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.75
I am a big fan of Under the Blade, so I picked this book up as well. I don't know if it's because of a personal bias (I'm not a big fan of the ocean) but I often felt my mind drifting during this one, even during some of the action scenes. Overall still a fun book, just wish it would have grabbed me a bit more.
armand_rosamilia's review
5.0
Wow. So much for my initial thought of thinking this was yet another mindless giant shark-monster attacking stupid people book. This was so much more, with intricate characters, settings, motivations and action galore. Loved it!
tracyreads's review
4.0
“The world moves too fast...we do not even have time to forget things anymore. That to me is all the more reason to remember. To celebrate the world as it once was, lost treasures as valuable as the one we hunt” (61).
OCEAN GRAVE is a great summer read. International treasure hunters, a sea beast, mercenaries, and a honeymoon gone wrong. Oh and some great female lead characters. I loved Sara and Carly. I saw another review mention Raiders of the Lost Ark, and there is a definite nod to the movie here; I loved it.
Serafini, quite simply, writes wonderfully. The quote above is just one part that made immediately made me break out the post-it notes to mark it down for later. There is a large-ish cast of characters, but it’s done well. After all, for maximum chomping fun there needs to be plenty of fodder.
It’s clear the author has also done his homework in regards to legends, the history of Madagascar, and other technical aspects of the book’s setting, characters, and more. I appreciate that. Nothing pulls me out of a book more than something obviously wrong in regards to simple facts.
I’ll definitely be reading more from Serafini. I recently read Rites of Extinction and loved it as well.
OCEAN GRAVE is a great summer read. International treasure hunters, a sea beast, mercenaries, and a honeymoon gone wrong. Oh and some great female lead characters. I loved Sara and Carly. I saw another review mention Raiders of the Lost Ark, and there is a definite nod to the movie here; I loved it.
Serafini, quite simply, writes wonderfully. The quote above is just one part that made immediately made me break out the post-it notes to mark it down for later. There is a large-ish cast of characters, but it’s done well. After all, for maximum chomping fun there needs to be plenty of fodder.
It’s clear the author has also done his homework in regards to legends, the history of Madagascar, and other technical aspects of the book’s setting, characters, and more. I appreciate that. Nothing pulls me out of a book more than something obviously wrong in regards to simple facts.
I’ll definitely be reading more from Serafini. I recently read Rites of Extinction and loved it as well.
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