killer mermaids and girls kissing — Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant / Seanan McGuire — ★★★★★ — Nov 2017 release

“It was beautiful, in its own terrible way. So many monsters are.”

Well, this was terrifying. Into the Drowning Deep is all the best of the horror genre – tense atmosphere, creative horror, interesting characters, fantastic writing, and something going on beneath the surface. I had this book marketed to me as bi mermaid horror, and I’d definitely call that accurate.

Perhaps the biggest strength of this book is how tense it is.I’ve seen one or two reviewers complain about the slow pace or about nothing happening until the end, but to be honest, I found this book the opposite of slow. Between flashbacks and ominous quotes and the tone, there’s sense of terror pervading Into the Drowning Deep from page one. You knowsomething is going to happen. You just don’t know exactly what.

And then you wish you didn’t know. Trigger warnings for a couple of really terrifying scenes and minor body / eye horror.

The plot feels all the more compelling due to our attachment to the cast of characters. With so many interesting leads and so much fantastic character development, I found it hard to even pick a favorite. My original draft of this review had “icon” written next to literally four different characters.
🍁Tory Stewart, sister of one of the dead and an icon for bi scientists everywhere
🍃Luis Martines, her nerdy, rich, and freaking adorable assistant
🍁Jillian Toth, our resident badass half-Hawaiian scientist, post production problem child, and overall icon
🍃Theo Blackwell, Jillian’s physically disabled and tiniest-bit-morally-grey ex-husband
🍁Olivia, the bi and autistic camera operator and maybe my favorite character
🍃Ray Marino, Olivia’s assistant and camera operator
🍁The Wilson sisters, including older sister Hallie, the freaking awesome sign language translator and possible mermaid contactor, and deaf twins Holly and Hannah, an underwater explorer and a data analyzer
🍃Jacques and Michi Abney, a possibly-murderous hunter power couple
And speaking of character casts, if you’re looking at this list, you’ve probably noticed: this book is super diverse. I’m really shocked more people aren’t flocking towards authors like Grant / McGuire for diverse rep; she strikes a great balance between exploration of oppression and marginalization and not making the entire plot based on the fact that these characters are queer. Their marginalization is integral to their character arcs, but alsodoesn’t form their entire characters. Which hi, hello, is that not the perfect balance?

And while this book is super low on romance, the one major romance plot is basically my new favorite sapphic ship. If anyone’s participating in December’s #SapphicAThon, definitely add this to your list.

“When someone kills an American citizen, we don’t say, ‘Oh well, we killed one of theirs last week; we’re calling it even,’” she said. “We declare war. We sweep civilizations off the face of the globe. They won’t care that they started it. They’re only going to care who finishes it, and to be honest, I’m not sure it’s going to be us.”

And the thematic work is so good. With an exploration of reality shows, environmentalism, generational conflict, and around twenty different social issues, this book feels from the heart. And it’s also a horror book. It’s as if Mira Grant woke up one morning thinking to herself “what does this random blogger named Elise on goodreads want to read?” and then wrote that exact thing. oh my god I loved my experience reading this book so much.

“They were still miles from home, adrift on an uncaring sea, and the worst was yet to come. The worst was always yet to come.”

My one possible quibble would be the ending. While Grant offers a conclusion for our characters, and even a few reveals as to what exactly is going on, not everything is so tight – a lot of loose ends as to the science are left behind, and I’m guessing there’s going to be a sequel. Which is the littlest bit terrifying. Not that I don’t worship Mira Grant’s writing but she, as a person, scares me.

VERDICT: I mean, if constant terror, a huge diverse character cast, sapphic girls, killer mermaids, and some environmentalism thrown in doesn’t sound amazing you, then you probably shouldn’t even be following my blog. Into the Drowning Deep is maybe one of my faves of the year and I’m considering raising my rating to a five every second I spend typing this. spoiler: I did. Give this a try. I’m begging.