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katfrenn_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping
caityporter's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Dementia, Kidnapping, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Child death
my_ducks_read_books's review against another edition
DNFed at 42%.
My husband and I were listening to the audiobook on a roadtrip and it kept us awake for about for a good amount of time.
The good: The author is very good at making you feel grossed out or horrified with the main character as situations happen or are revealed in a flashback or dream. Pretty immersive in that regard.
The bad: The book really drags on and on. At one point I dosed off and then asked my husband what I missed and he said “not much, just more weird animal cruelty”. Which was another thing that I didn’t care for, so much animal cruelty.
Then a Labrador retriever is introduced as a character I looked up whether the dog dies and the general consensus on what happens to the dog is described as “overly horrific”. That sealed the deal for me and I did not finish the book. Personally I think when any author kills off the dog it’s just a cheap shot at people’s emotions. Lazy writing imo. But that’s just me, maybe other people will still enjoy the book :)
My husband and I were listening to the audiobook on a roadtrip and it kept us awake for about for a good amount of time.
The good: The author is very good at making you feel grossed out or horrified with the main character as situations happen or are revealed in a flashback or dream. Pretty immersive in that regard.
The bad: The book really drags on and on. At one point I dosed off and then asked my husband what I missed and he said “not much, just more weird animal cruelty”. Which was another thing that I didn’t care for, so much animal cruelty.
Then a Labrador retriever is introduced as a character I looked up whether the dog dies and the general consensus on what happens to the dog is described as “overly horrific”. That sealed the deal for me and I did not finish the book. Personally I think when any author kills off the dog it’s just a cheap shot at people’s emotions. Lazy writing imo. But that’s just me, maybe other people will still enjoy the book :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, and Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse
unlivinh's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book did a phenomenal job of instilling a sense of dread in the reader. I didn’t think it was possible for a book to make me feel claustrophobic, but The Deep did so. It was a great read and has a lot of potential for a reread. My only gripe is that female characters were not fully developed and did not get the same complexity and writing quality as the male characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body horror
Moderate: Fatphobia and Terminal illness
Minor: Eating disorder, Incest, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic
youngloveleroy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
5.0
I HAVE CHILLS, OK. This book does so many things and does them incredibly well. 5 stars, though I'd give more if I could. Probably the best horror book I've read in a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body horror
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault
Minor: Incest and Kidnapping
vyralvyris's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Cutter has such a captivating writing style, but the story feels disjointed and tacked together in a rush, especially at the end. With such a fascinating concept, I can't believe I was bored through the first 7 hours of the audiobook.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Stalking
_readerfromtheblacklagoon_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Excrement, Medical content, and Dementia
jmason9's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping
Minor: Terminal illness
keiraonyxraven's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
TW: Extreme animal cruelty, suffering and death
TW: Child abuse
The Deep really had promise. I enjoyed the general concept along with the claustrophobic atmosphere and unnerving events. I loved the eeriness of the setting and I can’t think of many other books that have had such a unique narrative. I found myself rooting for certain characters and despising others, so I also cannot fault Cutter for his ability to write complex and interesting characters. Unfortunately, there were just a few, not so small, aspects of The Deep that significantly lowered my overall enjoyment of the book.
Firstly, I found myself extremely disappointed with the ending. The suspense, build up and the first three quarters of the book had such promise, I was enthralled by the story and was desperate to find out how it concluded. However, I personally felt the ending bordered on laughable. Without including spoilers, I cannot fully explain my reasoning, however, the explanations given for certain events really fell flat for me.
However, the primary reason for my reduced star rating and what mostly quashed my enjoyment of The Deep was the unnecessarily graphic and incessant animal cruelty and suffering. I am painfully aware that The Deep is not alone in this graphic use of animals for nothing more than an easy shock factor, however, Cutter in-particular takes this to a distressing level, and not in a good way. This theme occurred so often that I took it upon myself to create a list of page numbers to avoid for readers who, like myself, are particularly sensitive to this sort of content but are still interested in reading this novel.
Please see below but beware of minor spoilers:
Key:
💚 Mentioned in passing and/or not overly upsetting
💛 Suffering/death described with more detail, somewhat upsetting
🧡 Detailed description of suffering/death, overtly upsetting
❤️ Extremely detailed description with very upsetting and disturbing content
Page 31-34 🧡
Mouse experimentation, suffering & death
Detailed & upsetting
Page 44-46 💛
Mouse experimentation & minor suffering
Page 127 💚
Insect death
Page 145
Bee death 💛
Lizard death 💚
Page 168-172 🧡
Guinea pig experimentation
Guinea pig suffering & harm
Page 179-181 🧡
Guinea pig experimentation, suffering & death
Page 223 💛
Raccoon suffering & death
Page 243 💛
Squirrel corpse description
Page 248-249 & 251 💚
Mention of bee deaths
Page 254 💛
Bee killed
Page 260-261 💛
Bee deaths
Page 262-264 & 266 🧡
Bee suffering & death
Page 315-316 🧡
Dog injury & cruelty
Page 322 🧡
Guinea pig cruelty & death
Page 336 💛
Detailed description of using maggots as fishing bait
Page 341-350 ❤️
Dog cruelty & experimentation
Dog on dog injury & suffering
Detailed description of the pain and sadness of euthanising stray dogs
Long and detailed description of a very upsetting and graphic dog death with suffering and extremely emotional descriptions
DO NOT READ IF YOU’RE AN ANIMAL LOVER: this destroyed me.
Page 353 & 356 💛
Bee death
Page 375 🧡
Description of dead dog & suffering
In conclusion, The Deep was by no means a bad read, and there were many things that I really liked about the story and the writing, but it certainly isn’t without its pitfalls. I advise proceeding with caution if animal cruelty/suffering and themes of child abuse are particularly triggering for you, but I also wouldn’t entirely steer others away from giving The Deep a chance, especially if you are an avid horror fan and love creepy and claustrophobic settings.
TW: Child abuse
The Deep really had promise. I enjoyed the general concept along with the claustrophobic atmosphere and unnerving events. I loved the eeriness of the setting and I can’t think of many other books that have had such a unique narrative. I found myself rooting for certain characters and despising others, so I also cannot fault Cutter for his ability to write complex and interesting characters. Unfortunately, there were just a few, not so small, aspects of The Deep that significantly lowered my overall enjoyment of the book.
Firstly, I found myself extremely disappointed with the ending. The suspense, build up and the first three quarters of the book had such promise, I was enthralled by the story and was desperate to find out how it concluded. However, I personally felt the ending bordered on laughable. Without including spoilers, I cannot fully explain my reasoning, however, the explanations given for certain events really fell flat for me.
However, the primary reason for my reduced star rating and what mostly quashed my enjoyment of The Deep was the unnecessarily graphic and incessant animal cruelty and suffering. I am painfully aware that The Deep is not alone in this graphic use of animals for nothing more than an easy shock factor, however, Cutter in-particular takes this to a distressing level, and not in a good way. This theme occurred so often that I took it upon myself to create a list of page numbers to avoid for readers who, like myself, are particularly sensitive to this sort of content but are still interested in reading this novel.
Please see below but beware of minor spoilers:
Key:
💚 Mentioned in passing and/or not overly upsetting
💛 Suffering/death described with more detail, somewhat upsetting
🧡 Detailed description of suffering/death, overtly upsetting
❤️ Extremely detailed description with very upsetting and disturbing content
Page 31-34 🧡
Mouse experimentation, suffering & death
Detailed & upsetting
Page 44-46 💛
Mouse experimentation & minor suffering
Page 127 💚
Insect death
Page 145
Bee death 💛
Lizard death 💚
Page 168-172 🧡
Guinea pig experimentation
Guinea pig suffering & harm
Page 179-181 🧡
Guinea pig experimentation, suffering & death
Page 223 💛
Raccoon suffering & death
Page 243 💛
Squirrel corpse description
Page 248-249 & 251 💚
Mention of bee deaths
Page 254 💛
Bee killed
Page 260-261 💛
Bee deaths
Page 262-264 & 266 🧡
Bee suffering & death
Page 315-316 🧡
Dog injury & cruelty
Page 322 🧡
Guinea pig cruelty & death
Page 336 💛
Detailed description of using maggots as fishing bait
Page 341-350 ❤️
Dog cruelty & experimentation
Dog on dog injury & suffering
Detailed description of the pain and sadness of euthanising stray dogs
Long and detailed description of a very upsetting and graphic dog death with suffering and extremely emotional descriptions
DO NOT READ IF YOU’RE AN ANIMAL LOVER: this destroyed me.
Page 353 & 356 💛
Bee death
Page 375 🧡
Description of dead dog & suffering
In conclusion, The Deep was by no means a bad read, and there were many things that I really liked about the story and the writing, but it certainly isn’t without its pitfalls. I advise proceeding with caution if animal cruelty/suffering and themes of child abuse are particularly triggering for you, but I also wouldn’t entirely steer others away from giving The Deep a chance, especially if you are an avid horror fan and love creepy and claustrophobic settings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
lacisrambo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I bought this book simply because it was by Nick Cutter. All I know is that The Troop messed me up, so I had high expectations for The Deep. This is a Sci-Fi, Body Horror, Mad Scientist type of book, and I’m here for it. The plot and characters are built very well, but some of the descriptions of things (such as the tubes in the Trieste) were done poorly (or maybe they’re just hard to grasp for me) and the “sound effects” were also horrible. lol The author did a great job at describing getting ready to descend and the actual descent in the submarine though and that process was terrifying and my favorite actually because I hate water, small spaces, and not being in control. It really freaked me out. There’s some body horror in here and it’s brutal, so beware. DO NOT read this book if animal deaths get to you. I was literally in tears because the last 15% is the hardest to get through emotionally and it’s going to give me nightmares for sure. I regret reading the last bit before bed because there was no good stopping point, it’s all fucked up at that point. The ending (Pt.6 The Fig Men) wasn’t that great sadly. I don’t even know what really happened to be honest, it was just weird and made no sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, and Kidnapping