I had previously come to terms with the fact that no horror novel would ever truly scare me. Then I read this book...
The story is kind of slow-burn overall but it's so atmospherically written with so mucch creepy anticipation that I was already buried deep under my blanket, cowering in fear before the really scary stuff happens in the last third or so.
Maybe it's because I'm generally very scared of the ocean or maybe because the characters just kept going back to the creepy shipwreck. Anyway, I can confidentally say that I've never read anything this scary in my life before.

Darcy coates does it again. I started reading all her books this year and ive been in love ever since. This one is a no brainer. This was just as creepy and its in the sea. And that terrified me so much because im deadly scared of water and thinking something down belle is just itches me the wrong way bur this was phenomenal in ever since of the word

This gave me the chills in a good way! The whole premise was interesting and I enjoyed the writing. None of the characters really stood out to me, but that wasn’t really the point of the book. Overall I enjoyed it. It was a quick and creepy read.

This book was so unexpectedly good. I found myself getting goosebumps every now and then, I literally couldn’t put this down, I read it in a day

I’d like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately I couldn’t get into it so I couldn’t finish it

Cove & her dive team have been granted permission to be the first people to explore the wreckage of the SS Arcadia, which sunk almost 100 years ago. But the Arcadia is not your typical ship wreck, it's sinking has been a mystery. Now the dive to get footage of the wreck & finds some answers may be Cove & her teams last dive.

The story is told in two timelines. Firstly we follow Cove who is a documentarian & with a crew of old & new divers all excited to explore the Arcadia. All the team members have reasons to be on the crew for the exploration. From the first dive you are pulled into this claustrophobic atmosphere. Darcy Coates is a queen of creepy cozy haunted houses & putting the setting underwater adds another layer to that eerie creepy feeling. I am creeped out by claustrophobic natural settings like caves & mines & now the bottom of the ocean is a part of that. You feel the restrictiveness of limited space & help & almost pitch black view of the ocean floor setting.

The second time line is set on the SS Arcadia as a count down to when the ship sank. The days became more chilling as it got closer to the day of sinking,

I loved the story telling with one set above & another set below the ocean & the escalation of creepiness as each counted down to the climax.

Another great haunted story that left me with chills.

This book is so freaking creepy it gave me nightmares. I'm a 40 year old woman who had to have all the lights on while reading this ebook. Seriously CREEEEEEEPY! And I loved it.

I’ve never had a book scare me before, but From Below left me absolutely terrified. This is one of the best paranormal horror stories I’ve ever read, and I’ve read everything Darcy Coates has ever written. The amount of detail makes everything feel so real and believable, like you’re right there on the Arcadia with Cove and her crew. It leaves you feeling claustrophobic, avoiding deep water, and maybe checking over your shoulder…

Great start to the book. You really get that super claustrophobic feeling in the dive scenes, and all of the technology feels really accurate, but the ending drags out waaaay too long. Once you realize whats going on with the sunken ship, the book is only halfway through. So everything after that is pretty much the team fighting to get off the shipwreck, and it is drawn out to a point where i just stopped reading 75% of the way through the book. It's a really long read and i think the author should have shortened the book or drawn out the mystery longer. Most likely wont be reading any more Darcy Coates books.

2.5⭐
I want to start by saying I love Darcy Coate's "The Haunting of..." Books. Those are very atmospheric, and engaging. I have noticed with her other book Hunted and this one, they do not grab my attention.
This is the story of a documentary crew who does a deep sea dive to explore a notorious shipwreck.
I, honestly, found the characters flat and the story very slow. I gave this a 2.5 rating because I did finish it. I wanted more from the writing and the story with this one.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

WHAT DID I JUST READ?

This book is probably the most terrifying piece of fiction I have read in my entire life. Yes, I have been scared before, like very scared while reading some of Stephen King’s works, but never have I ever been so bone-chilling terrified; never have I ever felt claustrophobic reading a fictional setting, nor have I had to stop and gasp for breath. I am not exaggerating! This book was eerie to the power of infinity, and even though I loved it, I will never return to it. “Not in a million years," in Cove's words. To all my horror-loving friends, you have to get your hands on this one.

This was my first time reading a book by Coates. Having seen some great reviews by my bookish friends on Instagram, I was delighted to get this ARC. Coates is a gifted writer - her characters are so well layered and multidimensional that it was hard not to feel their fear and insecurities. The writing is atmospheric and intriguing, and once you start reading it, there is no getting out of all that packaged horror.

The story is about a dive expedition to an unexplored shipwreck that happened sixty years ago. No one has been able to establish the reason behind the sinking, even though there were a couple of distress calls made by the crew right before the wreck but with no clear message. As the divers explore the shipwreck site, they come face to face with the horror contained inside. There is also an alternative storyline from the POV of the ship's crew which gives an eerie account of the last voyage. The two timelines are cleverly blended and provide a much-needed break from the bone tingling dives. However, there is no escape from the fright!

Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5/5🌟 (-0.5🌟 because we didn’t need that final dive).

TW: Claustrophobia, Death, Grief, Paranoia, Shipwreck, and Mental Illness.

This underwater thriller will leave you gasping for air and wanting more. Such an engaging read that had me engrossed from page one and didn’t let go until the last page. I was so fortunate to receive this ARC copy from #NetGalley and I will recommend it to everyone when it releases in June of 2022. Add #FromBelow to your must read summer list!

No light. No air. No escape.
Hundreds of feet beneath the ocean's surface, a graveyard waits...

Years ago, the SS Arcadia vanished without a trace during a routine voyage. Though a strange, garbled emergency message was broadcast, neither the ship nor any of its crew could be found. Sixty years later, its wreck has finally been discovered more than three hundred miles from its intended course...a silent graveyard deep beneath the ocean's surface, eagerly waiting for the first sign of life.

Cove and her dive team have been granted permission to explore the Arcadia's rusting hull. Their purpose is straightforward: examine the wreck, film everything, and, if possible, uncover how and why the supposedly unsinkable ship vanished.

But the Arcadia has not yet had its fill of death, and something dark and hungry watches from below. With limited oxygen and the ship slowly closing in around them, Cove and her team will have to fight their way free of the unspeakable horror now desperate to claim them.

Because once they're trapped beneath the ocean's waves, there's no going back

THIS. BOOK. OMG. This book was based mostly under water but while I was reading it I STILL felt the need to look behind me every time I moved around my house! Such a deliciously terrifying read with so many plot twists. I lost sleep because I couldn’t bare to go to bed without finding out how it ended. IT DIDN’T DISAPPOINT! Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone looking for a book to keep you up at night.

OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK!
There is something so so creepy about the deepest part of the ocean and any stories taking place in violent environments (where you literally have to bring your own oxygen!) intrigue me. Is it the lack of light? Or the many possibilities of unexplored territory? I do not know, but I love them.

In FROM BELOW, it's bee 60 years (1928 to be exact) since the SS Arcadia vanished without a trace. Recently the wreck has been discovered over 100 miles off course. Paired with the garbled emergency message from long ago, it is a true mystery what happened to the ship and the crew.

Cove is an experienced diver and documentary filmmaker and has gathered a dive team to explore and gather footage of the wreck for a documentary company. They are a small team, still getting to know one another and from the start, things go awry on board.

With dueling timelines from the perspective of the crew on the Arcadia, and Cove and her team exploring the wreck, Darcy Coates ratchets up the terror and the mystery. So creepy, so thrilling, I just hope now it will be a movie. If. you like horror, chilling mysteries, and love to be afraid to turn out the light at night, then #FromBelow if for you! #Poisonpenbooks #netgalley

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC.

Wow, what a truly amazing book. This being the first I have read from this author, it definitely will not be my last. Darcy Coates has a way of detailing her book that puts you right inside with the characters. This was such an eerie, haunting, claustrophobic read. I can't say enough good things about it. I've never said this about a book before but this will make the perfect movie. The only small, negative thing I can say is that I think it could have gone without the very last part, it was almost a little too much but that still won't deviate from me giving this one a full five stars. This was such a suspenseful, creepy book. I recommend this to all readers immediately.

I have read a few of Darcy Coates books in the past and From Below is by far her best yet!
It is excellently written, with a roller coaster plot that just doesn't stop until the exciting conclusion.
So intriguing and super fast paced straight from the beginning. Darcy knows how to weave a great story and she's done it again in what is hands down her best work yet!
Highly recommend for fans of psychological thrillers.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Poisoned Pen Press,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

Another completely spine tingling read from Darcy Coates. Cove and her team of divers, Roy, Aiden, Vanna and Hestie are hired to dive on a recently discovered ocean liner that went missing decades ago to film for a documentary. The trip seems cursed before they even have a chance to identify the sunken liner. The ROV’s are inoperable and the communications between the ship carrying the crew and the dive equipment is down. Now instead of the ROV’s being first to view the liner, the dive team decide to go. What they find in liner is nothing they were prepared for.

The story flips back and forth between now and when the ship was still afloat. It was scary then and terrifying now.

I loved this book. The descriptions and details of the underwater state of the inside of the rooms onboard was amazingly good. You can picture what is described. All in all a definitely 5 star book for me.

This is an incredibly creepy story. It starts at the slow build the quickly accelerates to a fast pace. I honestly loved it. The characters are easy to relate to you in the plot was excellent!