The entire premise was very enchanting—ghosts on the Titanic and Britannic, haunting specific passengers and causing general unease?

But this book is no horror novel, or very much of a thriller, even, but a historical fiction novel with some ghosts.

I wanted to love it, but it was just okay. I didn’t hate it, either. I just have no real strong feelings about it.

The writing was good, though!

What a cover amirite!?

This sounded like a book I could really get behind, especially in the days leading up to Halloween. Spooky, creepy ghosties on the Titanic? A haunted young woman is doomed to experience a second disastrous voyage on another ocean liner? Sign me up.

Unfortunately, it was a little disappointing. I was prepared for chills and thrills. Not so much. I was hoping for fantastic clothes and settings, and I got those for the most part I suppose. It just never pulled together into a fulfilling journey. The main character, Annie’s issues over time pretty much just devolved into “bitches be crazy”. I felt the plot was missing some depth … ha … see what I did there? Depth? Titanic? Yeah … I know, I’ll stop.

The book was a little entertaining. Not spooky enough by half. It had the kind of upstairs/downstairs romances that could be expected but nothing to write home about or get excited about. Not a bad book, just not really for me I suppose.

Song for this book: Jig of Life by Kate Bush

I do love all things related to the Titanic so I was very excited to get an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed the book from beginning to end. The way the author weaved history in with a scary tale was very fun! The characters were interesting and there were plenty of twist and turns as well. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Titanic history and paranormal stories.

ARC/Netgalley

I've gone back and forth on my review of this one. On one hand this is a GREAT idea for a book. Haunted Titanic? Count me in. Linking the stories of the Titanic and Britannic tragedies? A great choice for a historical novel. The plot fell apart in the last third of the book and the ending was very abrupt with a large amount of unanswered questions. But if you are looking for a fun slightly spooky read and aren't bothered by plot holes you'll enjoy it.

3 for neutral. I think it may be my mood and if so I will update if able to read and enjoy at a later date. I didn’t think it was poorly written, just was not grabbing me.

Katsu casts her spell by weaving together the timelines of the sinking of the Titanic and the explosion of the Britannic. There are ghostly goings-on, seances, marital strife, and the clash of class on the Titanic. All of which foreshadow the tragedy. The action on the Britannic provides closure to the mysterious occurrences. Despite some unresolved plot points, this is a haunting novel with a touch of the paranormal that captures that cold, visceral feeling of impending danger and the tragedies of sinking ships.

There are some authors who end up on my automatic buy list. I don’t need to read the plot summary. Amazon tells me the author has a new book coming, and I hit buy. And Alma Katsu is now on that list!

In The Deep, Katsu takes on one of my favorite historical disasters - the fatal voyage of The Titanic.

Her in depth research shows as Katsu puts the reader right onto the ship’s deck on that fateful journey. Honestly, it’s like you were there!

But, as she did with her Donner Party book, Katsu adds an element of the otherworldly to her story – and she does it beautifully. Intertwined in the already heartbreaking true tale, the author gives us an epic story of heartbreak and horror.

I loved it.

Yes, I’m now a faithful reader and I can’t wait to see what Katsu brings us next.

Five well deserved stars!

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

History blend with a bit of the paranormal? Count me in. From the get-to I was immediately intrigued by the blurb. Like holy shit guys did you read it? The retelling of both the Titanic and Britannic tragic collapse, and used of the real life millionaires who tragically met their end on the passenger liner maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City was a refreshing concept. I was impressed but the author's writing style and in her ability to allow the reader feel apart of this historical moment. Sure not everything was peachy reading this novel. There were scenes here and there that the pace could've picked up because I zoned out more than I can count and a few plot holes that weren’t completely resolved at the end but overall it didn't defer me from this likable read.

The Deep was not only my first Alma Katsu book, it was my first Titanic novel. Having studied the ill-fated liner for over a decade, I knew the real story, but generally steered clear of any fictional renderings. This summer, I attended a session given by Katsu at the Historical Novel Society Conference and I was so impressed, I took a chance...and I'm so glad I did. The Deep had me riveted from the very beginning. Katsu is an accomplished storyteller who seamlessly weaves together the real and the surreal, the facts and the fiction, the earthly and the paranormal. The characters were richly drawn and deeply engaging, with complicated aims. Just as in real life, nothing is ever so straightforward. The sinkings provided well-matched bookends to the story and added to the suspense. Though I would hesitate to call The Deep anything close to horror, there were certainly plenty of startling moments. An excellent read from start to finish!

An engrossing, entertaining, tragic, detailed work of historical fiction with just enough of the supernatural to delight any lover of ghost stories while not depending on that aspect to tell the tale. The Deep is Alma Katsu's Magnum opus (to date) and it showcases a master of the craft hitting her stride from page one and never slowing down.
Katsu weaves the encyclopedic history of the RMS Titanic and its sister ship the HMHS Brittanic with the lives of the passengers and crew deftly and believably without falling into the antithetical trap a good bit of historical fiction succumbs to: giving too much or too little factual information In fact, The Deep walks that tightrope brilliantly while maintaining a primary focus on story and backstory.
The meticulous research evident when reading The Deep serves to make the fiction that much more realistic and the chronological shifts in the chapters seem to appear at just the right time to keep the reader eager for more. Characterizations--the whole "why is this character acting this way"--are succinct but complete; i.e., the back stories don't get in the way of what's going on and there are no unnecessary characters popping up to interfere with the flow of the story.
The supernatural element was intriguing and spooky; the reader is never certain of its source, its impact, or ultimately, its reality which is precisely why it works so well. Was there a supernatural force at work on the ships? Did spiritual and other worldly entities doom the voyages from that start? The answer is the one you want, the one you desire. Your choice.
Try to take your time with The Deep. Try to make the story last; absorb the history and the lives and the happenings. It will be worth it.

I love novels where I find something so interesting that I look something up on Google. In this case, it's about survivors of both the Titanic sinking and the Britannica sinking. I cannot imagine what that would have been like. Are you supremely lucky, or unlucky??

I loved the story and the characters. I wanted to know more.

That being said, I also found the writing to be....more factual that emotional if that makes sense, I didn't actually CARE about the people - I just found their stories to be interesting. But I wasn't emotionally drawn in.

I'm rounding my 3.5 starts to a 4 because I actually learned something from this book.

I want to thank the publisher and net galley for the advance copy. This did not affect my review.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. Another spellbinding hit by Katsu. I enjoyed every creepy moment. She really knows how to tell a story

Too bland. Too boring. Just overwhelmingly simple. I couldn't get into it, and almost from the start found it difficult to find reasons to keep going back.

Something bad is happening to the Titanic… and I’m not just referring to that whole iceberg and sinking thing ... which is totally weird to type. The Deep follows Annie Hebbley, a survivor from the Titanic as she struggles after the infamous night.

I loved The Deep! I’ve been fascinated with the story of the Titanic since before I can remember. A fascination that only grew after watching a certain blockbuster, starring a certain heartthrob. So, to me, the entire setting was the absolute coolest! The story has two familiar and eerily different locations. In the present, we are on the Britannic, twin of the Titanic, after having been gutted and turned into a wartime hospital ship. While flashbacks give us the story of the Titanic voyage, with a haunting twist.

The Deep wove historical accuracies into a literal ghost story seamlessly. The way that Katsu wrote the personalities, inner thoughts, dialogue and actions of all these people, that I had heard of but never known, made them likeable and relatable, but more importantly, at least for a historical sort of story, they were made believable. Just about everything that was said or done, seemed entirely plausible for a woman or man living in 1912. Our heroine was clearly a woman from 1912, and not a woman with modern values and views that had been plucked out of 2012 and thrown into a plot from 1912.

Another amazing thing about The Deep, was there were so many times that I was 110% sure I had it! I knew what was happening. I knew who the ‘bad guy’ was! Each time, I was proven so wrong!! If you’re not a plot twisty kind of reader, never fear. It wasn’t huge plot twists that confused me, but little subtle details that lead me astray, a look in somebody’s eyes, a tiny little comment, small things that lead me down the wrong path so subtly and for so long, that by the end, I had no idea how wrong my theories could actually be, and were!

A couple little things; the cover is amazing. It’s haunting and gorgeous. Annie’s story is incredibly sad. (Possible spoilers alert) Did anybody else find the whole newspaper in Annie’s room thing a little weird? I mean, I get that it connects the two woman, but how did it happen?!? As far as I can tell, Annie never returned to her room after entering the sea?!? Is it supposed to be like a destiny kind of thing?!

All in all, I really enjoyed The Deep and would recommend it to just about everybody!!!

4.5 stars rounded up

“The Deep” by Alma Katsu is a haunting tale of madness, obsession, devotion, and betrayal aboard the ill-fated unsinkable ship, the Titanic, and her lesser known yet tragedy-wreathed sister ship, the Britannic. The novel unfolds in two alternating timelines, April 1912 and November 1916. In 1912, Annie is a stewardess aboard the Titanic’s maiden voyage, running away from her own ruinous past and immediately embroiled in the drama of her first class passengers as she finds herself drawn to a gorgeous baby with a captivating father and luminous mother. In 1916, after spending the last 4 years in an asylum, Annie reluctantly finds herself joining the nursing crew of luxury-liner-turned-floating-hospital-ward, the Britannic where a shocking reunion stuns her to her core.

“The Deep” does an excellent job of providing a wide cast of complicated characters, from the steerage class boxer duo Les and Dai seeking a new life in America to child bride Madeleine Astor and her wealthy husband, John Jacob IV. Each character brings something new to the table and doesn’t overstay their welcome. There’s LGBT representation, but it unfortunately falls into the “Bury Your Gays” trope.

There’s a good use of atmosphere in “The Deep,” and watching each of the characters slowly descend into paranoia and hysteria is riveting. The pacing starts off slow but gains its momentum in the second act and keeps it to the last page. “The Deep” would translate very well to a limited series tv show (pretty please?) without issue.

Overall, I would recommend “The Deep” to anyone interested in Edwardian era occult and the Titanic.

So, I am all for a good titanic book. This one was interesting because it had a twist. Was the Titanic haunted?
It kept me engaged and was well written but it was hard to follow at times and confusing at times as well. I did find it to be an interesting story despite this. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

This book was incredible. My biggest issue is that I found myself frequently getting the names of the rich confused. Madeline and Caroline were frequently swapped. I loved the flashbacks to present day back and forth, and i LOVED the addition of a paranormal antagonist. I don't normally take the time to read historical fiction, but The Deep is so worth it.

Is something sinister haunting the Titanic? Four passengers (Madeline Astor, Benjamin Guggenheim, Mark Fletcher and Annie Hebbley) believe something is haunting the ship. A series of strange events/occurrences and deaths have occurred since the Titanic set sail. Then of course there is the sinking of that great magnificent ship.

Annie Hebbley has survived the sinking of the Titanic and after receiving correspondence from Violet Jessop, another survivor of the Titanic, she agrees to work as a nurse on board the Britannic (the Titanic's sister ship). The Britannic is a hospital ship and during her duties, Annie recognizes a man. A man she thought had died on the Titanic. A man she feels drawn to, a man she has been thinking about...

Alma Katsu excels at blending history with the paranormal. If you have read her book, The Hunger, you will know what I mean. In this book she takes the sinking of both the Titanic and the Britannic to tell her story. She uses real life millionaires who died during the sinking of the Titanic (John Jacob Astor, Benjamin Guggenheim, W.T. Stead) and a woman who survived both the sinking of the Titanic and Britannic (Violet Jessop). She utilizes their stories to tell her own story about someone or something which is haunting the Titanic.

This was a carefully crafted tale of a haunting that plagued both ships. I enjoy books that use real life events in their telling. I found myself looking to Wikipedia to learn more and was shocked to learn that one-woman, Violet Jessop not only survived the sinking of both ships, but before that working on a ship which collided with another. Bad luck or one hell of a lucky woman. After the sinking of the Titanic, I would not have set foot on a ship again, but she did repeatedly. But enough about history....

In this book she is but a minor character who serves to connect Annie to both ships. This book is told in multiple timelines, giving various characters perspectives and back/current stories. The paranormal element is seamless and not overbearing. There are little clues along the way that I didn't really connect until I completed the book and looking back had "aha, that was a clue" realizations.

Alms Katsu has proven once again that she is a wonderful storyteller who can take tragic historical events and beautifully blend them with paranormal elements. Everything comes out in the end (as it often does) and I enjoyed this seaworthy tale. As the synopsis says, Katsu utilizes this book to show "how are choices can lead us inexorably toward our doom." It didn't quite have the bite for me that the Hunger did, but it was still satisfying.

I received a copy of this book from Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I had a hard time getting into this one, but it did finally suck me in. Loved the historical back drop. Anything Titanic related, or Brittanic for that matter, usually grabs my attention and that is what made me want to read this to begin with. It was a chilling story told in a very intriguing manner. Katsu really held my attention once we got past that beginning portion.

I had one heck of a time getting into this novel. Katsu’s The Hunger was one of my very favorite books of last year and I assumed The Deep would be an equal to that. I thought this book was interesting and well written, but it lacked whatever I needed to connect with it and ultimately did not finish it, although I almost got there. I did not enjoy the back and fourth between years and I found that there were too many characters. I love this author’s style of writing and the historical aspects of her work. I look forward to what she puts out next.