Who doesn't love a claustrophobic cruise ship mystery centering on fictional ancient Greek mystery cults, I ask you? Well, obviously I love them. Those We Drown is captivating, centering on Liv as she boards the Eos, a ship bound for New York from England and then further afield for SeaMester. But when she boards she finds nothing is what she envisioned. Everyone in SeaMester is drunk, for one thing, encouraged on by Justin, their chaperone/faculty member/literally the only person who seems to be in charge around here. And all the other passengers are elderly except for three influencers who are famously called the Sirens on social. Liv is on the outs almost immediately--the only scholarship student in a tiny cohort of rich kids and her ex-best friend Will, who she's kind of in love with but knows nothing can ever come of it because Will shut that down and has been a jerk ever since.

Then he disappears. Liv is alarmed, but everyone says not to worry--he's just been moved to quarantine. But things don't add up and continue to not add up. Another boy disappears, but no one seems to care or writes off his absence. Never mind that this is SeaMester and no one is doing anything resembling school work. That should have been a clue in itself. But Liv has questions and no one is willing to answer them or puts her off. The staff are rude to her, her chaperone/faculty member thinks she's crazy, the other students think she's into conspiracy theories. Everything. Is. Fine. God, Liv. Get a life, they say! Will was a jerk. He deserves quarantine. No one cares.

So, okay! Fine! There was a lot I enjoyed about this set up and I really truly wanted to see how it was all going to play out. There is so much that's compelling about using Greek mythology the way Those We Drown is using it in a world that is mostly rote Greek myth retellings. This felt fresh and interesting. I even felt the deep dread and anxiety that Liv went through as the horror became quite psychological--is she crazy? Or obsessed? Or are things really wrong? Are they about to be sacrificed to a cult? All cool! I just wish the execution had been less sloppy.

The writing leaves a lot to be desired in that it was so consistently off putting that it pulled me out of the story. I would say this book can't be a five-star read for me because it was so vague on important details, repetitive in Liv's narrative process (what is happening, am I crazy, I'll tell someone who doesn't believe me, I'll insist we're in danger, they won't believe me, maybe I am crazy, what is happening), and shaky motivation on the part of the Sirens (what do they get in this bargain? Unclear). This book is about 90% gaslighting. And characters, primarily Con, don't make a lot of sense in how they are processing the information they have. Does he believe Liv? Does he not believe her? Once you think he's figuring it out he suddenly backslides and insists he never understood anything at all, which is maddening from a character perspective. It's a bit of a case of characters acting for the sake of the plot rather than characters shaping the plot. Then everyone has vague conversations that are packed with filler words that make everyone sound like octogenarians living in the 1800s, but then spout the popular phrases (cringe, FOMO, etc).

So don't know! It's a compelling, fresh read. I actually liked this application of Greek myth. If the writing had been stronger, the characters better drawn, and the narrative about 50% less gaslighting, this would be a five-star read.

“The sea provides.”

Ocean horror will always make my brain vibrate inside my skull and Those We Drown is the creepy, eerie, monster infused book that showcases everything I love about the subgenre. Its slippery and striking and very, very good.

I love every single pages of it. All the mystery and horror and suspense, the nagging feeling that something is wrong wrong wrong (but what?), and the underlying tone of romance and angst.

The whole setting reminds me of the movie Ghost Ship, but make it young adult and add cult and investigation to it. I love Liv and her determination, also Con being suave and mysterious. I have my suspicion from the start, but I really enjoyed reading through the pages and feeling the thrill of investigating rooms and passengers and people's past. It was a great read!