Reviews with content warning for Death - From Below

From Below by Darcy Coates is a thrilling and captivating read that had me hooked from start to finish. At nearly 500 pages, it’s one of Coates’ longer books, and while some parts felt like they dragged on a bit, the overall experience was still fantastic! The characters are well-developed, with intriguing backstories that made them feel real and relatable.

The central mystery surrounding the Arcadia’s mysterious sinking in 1928 immediately drew me in, and Coates masterfully weaves suspense and eerie tension throughout the story. It’s a perfect blend of mystery, horror, and character-driven storytelling that kept me turning pages late into the night.

If you enjoy a slow-building but deeply immersive horror story with a strong sense of atmosphere and a gripping mystery, From Below is a must-read. I’m so glad I picked this one up!

Content Warnings

rayedelvego's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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drsa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense

3.0

Lost a star rating because it was too long —could have lost at least 100 pages and been better.

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ravynlily's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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jujuthenerd's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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spaghettii's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I like horror set in confined spaces and expeditions, so that part was fun. I do have a few things that pissed me off:
1.

why the actual fuck did Aidan go back for the ring?? And lie about his oxygen every dive?? Mans should not have been there. I think I might have preferred if he died, actually.

2. A lot of coincidental things saved a lot of people a lot of times,,,
3.

I don't love the cloth explanation, but I don't really know of one that I would have liked. I was wondering if they were hallucinating during the last couple dives or something like that.

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eed8's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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gilexia's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Here we go with another highlight of 2024! I've already read Voices in the Snow by her and loved it. And yes, this book was that good too! I loved every page of it. The characters were so loveable and I really empathized with Aidan. He was my favorite character because I connected with him more than any other character in ALL the books I've read this year.

Also, the story was really cool. Great ideas, well executed. Compared to Voices in the Snow, it was a little quieter, less surprising twists, but it had such a creepy atmosphere the whole time. Also the narrative with the past and the present was really cool. Both timelines were special on their own, but they also worked really well together. Plus the ending was quite emotional for me. Really good ending.

Honestly, it's now one of my favorite books and it was just fun to read this book. Anytime again.

The moment Cove entered the water, the storm's lashing rain vanished as though someone had put it on mute. Bubbles raced past her as they fought to escape the folds of her suit and return to the surface. Her throat closed over, unwilling to let her breathe when the ocean flooded over her face, and her first breath of oxygen whistled as she forced it down.

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