I LOVED THIS BOOK. If you're into science, love a slow-burn style of writing, are a huge nerd, and lean Left in your view of the world, you'll love it too.

The author is clearly a huge nerd, diving into deep scientific detail about nearly every aspect of this book. It was a beautiful surprise to find out that many of the things we're taught along the way come back somewhere later, like the book was unveiling a scientific mystery not just for the characters but for us. There are also culturally nerdy characters who provide the opportunity to drop nerdy references about DnD, video games, and other things that I deeply appreciated.

The book takes lots of time setting up the pins in order to knock them down, so don't jump into this in a rush. It wants you to get to know it before it starts murdering everyone.

The writing also leans heavily to the left, featuring a very progressive cast for the publishing industry. Off the top of my head, the diverse cast includes deaf, neurodivergent, autistic, and disabled characters. ASL (American Sign Language) appears as a primary language among the cast and is important to the plot. The author yells at the reader about marine conservation, capitalism, and exploitation. If you hate the above, you'll hate this book, but I LOVED this aspect.

I didn't find this book Scary, but I find very few horror novels scary. It's definitely weird and gory and off-putting at times, but that's not what sticks out about this book.

The very best part about it is how every single action taken by the characters is motivated by greed, science, lust for knowledge, and other common human sins. There are many horror movies where you think "come on why would they do that??" But the actions taken here made so much sense to me.

ANYWAY I have to go listen to the prequel now, this has been long enough BYEEEE