Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant follows a research vessel and the many characters upon it as they go out to investigate the disappearance of another entertainment vessel whose crew was… well… eaten by mermaids.

And I really enjoyed the first third of this book. The characters are varied and interesting, and as they’re battling their demons and beginning to set off it really gives off Jaws like vibes. We are going to hunt a monster… and we are both excited and kind of scared, but it’s okay because we’re prepared for anything, right? …right?!?

Should’ve brought a bigger boat.

But as stuff starts going down, people are dying and blood is washing the deck, I didn’t feel the rise in tension that I felt like I should have. Mostly because the characters are surprisingly …okay with it? They’re kind of like “oh well, we knew people would die, but we have TO DO THE SCIENCE!” I really felt like there would be more people storming the cockpit to get them turned around.
So, I felt like the middle got a little mushy for me and the reveal/climax at the end felt a little underwhelming.

This book had all the capacity to read as a stand-alone (while still part of a larger series), but rather, it feels like it got stretched a little too thin and then just kind of ended.
Still! While I don’t think I’ll be picking up the sequel, if you like mermaids that eat people and interesting characters, I recommend giving this a look (or a listen because the audiobook narration is fantastic.)

⭐⭐⭐¾

Thanks for reading!