Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant

⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Magdalene)

I've just started dipping my toes into the horror genre recently, so I'm pretty new to it, but this was the exact kind of horror novel that works for me. There's a real feeling of tension, not a huge amount of gore, and an acceptable amount of main character death - enough to make the threat feel very real, but not so much I couldn't finish the book.

This is a horror story about mermaids! Except definitely not the Little Mermaid kind. A few years ago a ship went out to look for mermaids and make a documentary about it, but mostly for a gimmick. Buuuuut everyone on that boat died, and they only left a bit of creepy footage that many think is fake. Now the entertainment company has set up another boat to go back into the Marianas Trench with a bunch of scientists to see if they can find out what really happened. On the boat is a scientist whose sister died on the first boat, a sirenologist trying to prove her life's work is real, some big-game hunters, and more. And of course, things start to go really wrong really fast.

This book was actually quite long (over 17 hours on audio), but it never felt like it, and it managed to be fast-paced pretty much the whole time. There's a lot of science involved, enough to make everything seem actually plausible, but not so much I got lost. A lot of it was really fascinating, since the mermaids are sentient, but unlike any other creatures they've seen before. So there's lots of biology involved, but also figuring out their language and culture. The length of the book also allows us to get to know quite a few characters and their personalities and backgrounds, and what got them onto this boat, hunting for mermaids. It also explores lots of ethics questions, surrounding the treatment of animals and hunting and things like that. There was a lot to enjoy and appreciate, and I felt like the horror aspects of it were there for a reason, and not just gratuitous blood and violence. I think this is a good book for anyone interested in trying the genre.