Social Media Icons

Thursday, January 4, 2018

REVIEW: Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant #CJSReads @seananmcguire @miragrant @orbitbooks

Into the Drowning Deep
by Mira Grant

🛥 AVAILABLE NOW 🛥

Holy Mermaids!  This is a fascinating tale about what lives deep down in the dark below of the ocean.  Mermaids are real, and they're killers.  I read the prequel, Rolling in the Deep, earlier this month - see my review HERE. Check out what the other members of #CJSReads thought of this amazing book as well below!

Thank you to Orbit Books for this copy. I LOVED IT.



Publisher:  Orbit Books
Published:  November 14, 2017
Kindle Edition
448 Pages
Genres:  Sci-fi, Horror, Fantasy
Prequel:  Rolling in the Deep

Goodreads Synopsis:

New York Times bestselling author Mira Grant, author of the renowned Newsflesh series, returns with a novel that takes us to a new world of ancient mysteries and mythological dangers come to life. Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a "mockumentary" bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.

Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they're not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life's work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.

Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves.

But the secrets of the deep come with a price.

My Review:

“The trouble with discovery is that it goes two ways. For you to find something, that thing must also find you.”

I read the prequel to this book, Rolling in the Deep, earlier this month and I'm so glad that I did.  What a perfect set up to this book.  Now, you don't need to read it to enjoy this one, but it does help to put some things into perspective as they do reference it quite a bit.  This also works perfectly as a stand alone and I highly, HIGHLY recommend it.  I've never read a book like this and my science and biology loving ass absolutely was FASCINATED with each page.

Another crew goes back out into the sea in search of mermaids.  There's been footage from the first crew that proves mermaids are real.  But there were no survivors.  We have a sister of one of the deceased who believes in them - she's a sirenologist and knows some of the dangers.  She just wants some answers... and knows she'll probably die trying to get them.  The crew is on a new ship that supposedly will have all the defenses necessary functions to shut down and protect everyone of any impending danger.  Ha!  We all know these things never work out the way they're supposed to - especially when it comes to the unknown.  

What we get from this book is plausibility.  I love it when they bring in the science and biology and for something from the ocean - I mean, there are still thousands upon thousands of species out there that we know nothing about it.  Who is to say that what the possibilities entail!  Why COULDN'T this happen??  And to take something like mermaids, that people usually associate with beautiful women and change them into something more horrific.  Ahhhh!  The author doesn't get overly scientific, but where she goes makes sense.  At least it did to me.  

The characters introduced in this book engaged me.  Every single one of them.  Even the crazy hunter ones.  Bringing in such a diverse crew onto a ship, that while large can seem infinitely small, and then giving them egos on top of scientific curiosity?  Disaster!  And I loved every part of it.

I could go on and on and on and I'm sure I'm missing a lot of things that I wanted to touch on in this review.  Basically, I highly recommend this very unique read.  


★★★★★

Jessica's Review:


I'm not usually drawn to science fiction books, but when I hear there's a book about killer mermaids, then I need to read it. INTO THE DROWNING DEEP by Mira Grant was more than I could hope for! It was still a thriller - which I love - and was written in a way that made it feel possible and real.I had read the prequel - ROLLING IN THE DEEP - and flew through that one. INTO THE DROWNING DEEP takes place seven years after the events in the prequel. The Atargatis sets off on a voyage to Mariana Trench. They are filming a "mockumentary" and are trying to bring ancient sea creatures to life. All were lost at sea, never to be seen again. Many think it's a hoax for their "mockumentary" and others call it a tragedy. Fast forward seven years, and a new crew is preparing to set sail.Part of the crew is the sister of one of the crew lost at sea in the first voyage. When footage from that first crew surfaces and shows mermaids, Victoria, a sirenologist, is determined to get the truth.  I don't want to go into too much more detail, but of course, nothing ever seems to go as planned and the crew will find out secrets from the depths of the ocean.This book had me pulled in from the start. The science aspects of this novel intrigued me and the potential of mermaids existing kept me flipping the pages. We will never truly know all the secrets that the ocean is keeping hidden from us - one reason I will not swim in the ocean! How do we know mermaids aren't real? Grant took on a unique perspective on these mystical creatures. We all grew up with Ariel - a beautiful half woman half fish with an incredible singing voice - well, these mermaids are from that.The characters were all fantastic. Each unique and brought something new to the table. The scientists, the hunters, and all were so diverse. I feel like that can be a daunting task to develop such different characters, but Grant did this flawlessly.Overall, if you want a unique thriller-meets-science fiction novel, then look no further! This reads perfectly as a standalone, but I'd highly recommend reading the prequel. I know it's not a true retelling of any kind of fairytale, but I'd still consider this a retelling of the mermaids we all know and loved growing up. 

I give this 5/5 stars!

Sam's Review:

I am a creature of habit, what can I say? I am continuously drawn to the same types of books with the same types of antagonists. I read serial killer thrillers and psychological thrillers by the bagful and relish in their twisty plots and realistic horror. So, imagine my surprise when one of the knockout books of the year for me came from Mira Grant and featured killer mermaids.

That’s right people. Killer. Mermaids.

Who knew?!

Chelsea (from The Suspense Is Thrilling Me) actually recommended this book and, I have to admit, I was a little hesitant to pick it up. I don’t generally read a lot of fantasy or science fiction and the premise of the book sort of seemed like a happy marriage of the two. As per Chelsea’s suggestions, I started with the novella prequel, Rolling in the Deep (am I the only one who reads this book title and instantly starts singing the song by Adele?) and, after a crazy time, I was finally able to obtain a copy (Thanks, Chandra!).

The prequel, Rolling in the Deep, opens with the introduction of Imagine Film Company, known for their “mockumentary” style films, as they head out into the great blue sea to create a film about mermaids.   As the ship sets out to create their “found footage” and “eyewitness accounts” for their film, the cast and crew find themselves in grave danger when they actually do discover something in the water. This only took me about an hour to read and I was completely hooked, I continuously messaged Chelsea as I was reading to comment on how REAL it felt. Although I knew I was reading a work of fiction, Grant does an amazing job with her narrative style of making you question your own logic. By the time I was finished, I was more than ready to jump into the first, full novel in the series.

Enter, Into the Drowning Deep. This novel can absolutely be read without having read the prequel (but I do think the prequel does an amazing job at setting the tone). The story opens seven years after the Atargatis was lost at sea and a new crew has been assembled to head back to the Marianas Trench to get to the bottom of the maritime tragedy (or hoax, to others).  This book was just as brilliant as its prequel. Fast-paced, intricately written and filled with chilling prose, I was on the edge of my seat and recommending this book to everyone who would listen!

I will not go into any true details because I do feel like you’d have to read it to appreciate it, but, I am pleased with the open-ended finale that leads me to believe that Grant will be providing me with another book in the series (please!!).

If you are looking for something different to add to your TBR pile, do not be turned off by the randomness of the plot, just trust Mira Grant and dive on it. You will not be disappointed.

5/5 stars.



No comments

Leave a Comment