Reviews with content warning for Body horror - From Below

“In the brief moment he'd touched the metal, he'd felt the danger of the place. This ship wasn't a gem on the ocean floor, waiting to be found. It was a trap.”

I had a fantastic first experience with Darcy Coates' writing last year, and I've been meaning to read more of her books ever since. I was fascinated by the claustrophobic vibe of the blurb of From Below with the mysterious ship wreck, the dive angle and the promise of something dark lurking within... And I have to say that this story definitely delivered for me. While a tad overlong, the ominous and claustrophobic vibe of this paranormal horror slash locked room thriller made it impossible to stop turning those pages. From Below actually uses a dual timeline structure, where we switch between the present with the dive team and 1928 on board of the SS Arcadia in the days leading up to its disappearance. I wasn't expecting the historical POV, but I understand why it was added as it gave the story so much more dept as well as adding to that ominous atmosphere. The fact that you, like the characters in both timelines, don't have a clear idea what is happening added a hint of urgency, and while certain parts did feel a bit repetitive, it wasn't enough to prevent me from wanting to know more. From Below definitely classifies as paranormal/supernatural horror, so make sure you are prepared for things to get proper creepy along the way... Especially in the second half of the story where things become more intense. Honestly, I'm not sure why the dive team even returns to the Arcadia after the second dive! I would have run away screaming instead... If you are looking for a properly frightening and tense paranormal horror read with a locked room vibe and a truly claustrophobic feel with the majority of the present timeline set 300 feet under water, From Below without doubt fits the bill. It's true that the story is a bit overlong and the pace isn't always consistent, but the plot itself is intriguing enough to keep you fully on board anyway.

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melll_brisk's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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aurora16's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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lattelibrarian's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Now this was a good and freaky book!

A group of deep-sea divers sign a contract to take footage of the sunken SS Arcadia, whose reasons for sinking are still theorized about. From the get-go, it seems that everything goes wrong. Unexperienced Aiden loses air quicker than he'd like. The ROVs malfunction. And there's still bodies, frozen in time, on the ship. Not to mention all of the torn wallpaper and messages on the wall...

There's an unexperienced diver, a diver with a strikingly bizarre and threatening journal, and hot-tempered digitizer. But even more, there's a pull down to the depths of the SS Arcadia. As unsafe and haunting as it is, our beloved characters can't help but to return.

Told in alternating perspectives from modern day to a countdown of when the ship originally sunk, Coates unravels for us the mystery of this sunken ship, but it certainly wasn't what I expected--which made it all the more fun.

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afterplague's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

If you enjoy a slow burn with amazing, atmospheric tension, this is the book for you. Some elements in this novel are absolutely horrific, but many of the most disturbing moments are left to the imagination. I would’ve rated this 5 stars if not for the last 40 pages. I wish that those events had happened earlier in combination with one of the other dives, but ultimately I can’t deny that this book had me intrigued and shaking with anticipation.

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