Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The author, as in the individual behind the various names, chose to put this book out under the Grant name instead of the McGuire name. Which tells the reader certain things, at least if they know the names. Grant writes horror/disaster/zombie/intelligent parasites type of stories; McGuire writes fantasies. Both might include the same ‘monsters’ but from different angles (I do not specifically recall any zombies or intelligent parasites as characters in McGuire books, but there are sentient intelligent sea hominids in McGuire books).

The point in noting this issue: I knew this going in so I went in expecting a horror/disaster type story. Not a romance. And that’s what I got (plus a romance, but eh, whatever).

As I noted in, I think, one status update, my greatest problem with this specific book was how often the author dived into needless character backstory/characterization type stuff. Somewhere along the way I could tell . . . well, no this would be spoiler-y so let’s move on ((view spoiler)[if not a main character, I could tell which character was going to die because they suddenly had POV control and rich characterization and backstory then mid-sentence, they dead. Mmphs. Heh. I do not want to spend ten pages on backstory/characterization for a character I barely knew existed, just to make their death more, what’s that word, poignant? Something like that. (that didn’t always happen, by the way, that a minor character would suddenly get backstory then die; just most of the time; occasionally they’d get backstory and . . . continue to live.) (hide spoiler)]).

Right, so – Something like seven years before this book opens, an entertainment company sent a research vessel out to ‘look for mermaids’ to make a ‘mock documentary’. The company has made numerous shows like this one – looking for bigfoot, yeti, etc.etc. They send real scientists and the like along, film them, but never actually expect to find anything. Well, seven years ago they sent a ship out to look for mermaids. No bodies were recovered, nobody made it back alive; video shows ‘monsters’ climbing up out of the sea and tearing people apart. Most people saw those leaked videos and assumed they were fake, a hoax. The company knows better, knows the truth.

This book follows a second ship sent to the same waters, seven years after the first. The company was waiting on science to advance in certain areas before they sent the second expedition.

There are a ton of characters in this book – almost too many, but just barely not too many. Many point of views. Several involving people who ‘lost’ someone on the earlier ship.

Another thing I noted in my status updates: these might be some damned smart people in their fields of expertise but . . . without exception, everyone is depicted as being super dimwitted outside their own field. TSTL characters fill the pages. *shrugs*

Oh, and two of the main characters are female and sleep together. Hence my use of ‘lesbian’ though, now that I think about it, I should change that to bisexual (changes). I forget if Olivia is lesbian or bisexual, but Tory is definitely bisexual since her ex-boyfriend is on the voyage, and she sleeps with/develops a relationship with Olivia.

Rating: 3.68

July 26 2018




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