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abithoughtful's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Annie Hebbley boards the Titanic as a stewardess for the first class passengers. Responsible for a handful of cabins, she's handpicked by a wealthy couple to take over part of the care of their baby - but something's strange. Only a couple of days into the voyage a servant boy has a seizure and dies, and the baby seems to be wasting away. Something's haunting this ship - but who are they, and why?
Four years later, unlikely survivor Annie is called up from the mental asylum she's been housed in since the Titanic tragedy to take up a post as a nurse on its sister ship, the Britannic, now being used as a wartime hospital ship. But it's not just the echoes of the Titanic's form that dog her here - before too long she sees a familiar face - one she believed to dead.
Told in parallel timelines, the bulk of the novel feels like historical fiction, but its overall arc is horror. Katsu writes elegantly and evocatively, and I was impressed with how the various mysteries resolved satisfyingly, and a little chillingly, in the end.
Katsu weaves in the stories of real Titanic passengers alongside her characters, and we spend some chapters with pregnant American socialite Madeline Astor, fashion designer Lucy Duff-Gordon, and boxers-turned-con-men Dai Bowen and Leslie Williams. While these stories are vividly told and clearly carefully researched, their tenuous connections to the wider story arc means they generally end up falling flat, failing to matter as much as they might do if they were more integrated. This novel spans just over 400 pages, and I think a smaller page count and a tighter focus on the three central characters and their arc might have made it stronger in the telling. Overall I enjoyed this, and I think it suffered slightly from my reading it really slowly during a bout of covid, which is not its fault!
Four years later, unlikely survivor Annie is called up from the mental asylum she's been housed in since the Titanic tragedy to take up a post as a nurse on its sister ship, the Britannic, now being used as a wartime hospital ship. But it's not just the echoes of the Titanic's form that dog her here - before too long she sees a familiar face - one she believed to dead.
Told in parallel timelines, the bulk of the novel feels like historical fiction, but its overall arc is horror. Katsu writes elegantly and evocatively, and I was impressed with how the various mysteries resolved satisfyingly, and a little chillingly, in the end.
Katsu weaves in the stories of real Titanic passengers alongside her characters, and we spend some chapters with pregnant American socialite Madeline Astor, fashion designer Lucy Duff-Gordon, and boxers-turned-con-men Dai Bowen and Leslie Williams. While these stories are vividly told and clearly carefully researched, their tenuous connections to the wider story arc means they generally end up falling flat, failing to matter as much as they might do if they were more integrated. This novel spans just over 400 pages, and I think a smaller page count and a tighter focus on the three central characters and their arc might have made it stronger in the telling. Overall I enjoyed this, and I think it suffered slightly from my reading it really slowly during a bout of covid, which is not its fault!
nimbus2000's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
katiescho741's review against another edition
3.0
I read The Hunger a few years ago, and I thought it was crap, but Katsu's writing style works a lot better with something like the Titanic than it does for the Donner Party. She weaves an interesting soap opera of the upstairs/ downstairs characters, and I'm generally a sucker for "luxurious ocean liner ends in disaster" story.
I think there were a few too many POVs, I wish we had kept with just Annie and one or two others because things got a bit confusing. Also, we don't get endings for most of the POV characters, which I thought was odd. My favourite element was the creepy atmosphere of "something bad is about to happen" and how so many of the people we follow have dark secrets and desires. I think the actual supernatural stuff was the weakest part of the story, as it feels quite tacked on at the end.
I wish there had been more of the night of the sinking. It doesn't happen until the final 10% of the book and, while I enjoyed the slow burn, it was over very quickly. I wish she had utilised the horror of that night more in her story. There are a couple of Deus ex machina bits too, which felt a bit silly.
A good read if you're a fan of Alma Katsu or social dramas with a sense of dread, but there's not much here for horror fans.
I think there were a few too many POVs, I wish we had kept with just Annie and one or two others because things got a bit confusing. Also, we don't get endings for most of the POV characters, which I thought was odd. My favourite element was the creepy atmosphere of "something bad is about to happen" and how so many of the people we follow have dark secrets and desires. I think the actual supernatural stuff was the weakest part of the story, as it feels quite tacked on at the end.
I wish there had been more of the night of the sinking. It doesn't happen until the final 10% of the book and, while I enjoyed the slow burn, it was over very quickly. I wish she had utilised the horror of that night more in her story. There are a couple of Deus ex machina bits too, which felt a bit silly.
A good read if you're a fan of Alma Katsu or social dramas with a sense of dread, but there's not much here for horror fans.
kathryn_is_reading's review against another edition
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
emily_gaynier's review against another edition
2.0
This might be more like a 2.5 star read, but I'm rounding up to make myself feel better
I should've left this book in the car when I went on vacation. It was fine. Just fine.
I honestly couldn't stand Annie and Mark wasn't much better. I was okay with having Caroline, Maddie Astor, and Dai Bowen's perspectives. But I loved Les and Lady Duff-Gordon!
Missed opportunity to have a dress making queer woman of steel and a queer boxer/conman as the stars of a story surrounding the Titanic.
Also this book felt very cramped and the setting wasn't used to it's advantage. The Titanic in first class was this insanely beautiful and luxurious thing and it felt like the author didn't take advantage of that.
Fuck the actual plot of this book. I was 250 pages into this book and I still could not have explained it to anyone. It's about the Titanic without the atmosphere and boring characters and maybe a ghost
I should've left this book in the car when I went on vacation. It was fine. Just fine.
I honestly couldn't stand Annie and Mark wasn't much better. I was okay with having Caroline, Maddie Astor, and Dai Bowen's perspectives. But I loved Les and Lady Duff-Gordon!
Missed opportunity to have a dress making queer woman of steel and a queer boxer/conman as the stars of a story surrounding the Titanic.
Also this book felt very cramped and the setting wasn't used to it's advantage. The Titanic in first class was this insanely beautiful and luxurious thing and it felt like the author didn't take advantage of that.
Fuck the actual plot of this book. I was 250 pages into this book and I still could not have explained it to anyone. It's about the Titanic without the atmosphere and boring characters and maybe a ghost
kelbel_reads's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
anniejmelody's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
ihateprozac's review against another edition
3.0
This was just... fine.
For me it lacked richness and vibrancy on the historical side, and it wasn't nearly as creepy or fleshed out on the paranormal side as it needed to be. It paled in comparison to something like Libba Bray's [b:The Diviners|7728889|The Diviners (The Diviners, #1)|Libba Bray|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1555345561l/7728889._SY75_.jpg|10501517] world.
I found myself more interested in all the passengers rather than the paranormal elements, but even so it was lacking - I wished we could've spent more time getting to know these characters before they boarded the ship, whether the story started earlier or were revealed via flashbacks. There are some interesting characters here, but the ensemble is so huge that I was forever trying to untangle them all in my head.
I enjoyed the Titanic side more than the Britannic side - though perhaps if the paranormal element were stronger I would've been more interested in what was happening with Annie and a returning character.
I can't help but think this might've been stronger were it a duology with more time to explore everything.
For me it lacked richness and vibrancy on the historical side, and it wasn't nearly as creepy or fleshed out on the paranormal side as it needed to be. It paled in comparison to something like Libba Bray's [b:The Diviners|7728889|The Diviners (The Diviners, #1)|Libba Bray|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1555345561l/7728889._SY75_.jpg|10501517] world.
I found myself more interested in all the passengers rather than the paranormal elements, but even so it was lacking - I wished we could've spent more time getting to know these characters before they boarded the ship, whether the story started earlier or were revealed via flashbacks. There are some interesting characters here, but the ensemble is so huge that I was forever trying to untangle them all in my head.
I enjoyed the Titanic side more than the Britannic side - though perhaps if the paranormal element were stronger I would've been more interested in what was happening with Annie and a returning character.
I can't help but think this might've been stronger were it a duology with more time to explore everything.
drewchebaggery's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
4.0