Enjoyed this one very much, another great horror suspense from author Tyler Jones. Never disappoints, highly recommend!

This book was definitely different than I expected it to be. There was a lot of family drama which I think might have taken over the story a little too much for my personal tastes. I think everything was discussed in an interesting way and I enjoy the kinds of horror in this book. I do wish there was a little more of that throughout instead of mostly in certain sections.

Thank you NetGalley and Tyler Jones for the chance to read!

This book was really good and was weird in a very good way. I couldn't put it down! From murder to down right weirdness that goes on! Kept me on the edge to want to keep reading!

Jaime is struggling with his first steps into fatherhood which leaves him reeling full of regret and ending up in Hawaii in the hopes that meeting up with his brother, Eric, will help. After a particularly violent encounter, the brothers find themselves on a fishing vessel along with a father and son. The group soon find themselves pulled into a strange phenomenon that threatens to change life on Earth as we know it.

When I first saw this book available on Netgalley, the cover is what caught my eye. It just stood out from the rest and the use of colour, I thought, I was fantastic. After reading the blurb again, while trying to decide what to read next, I was so sold on this. I haven't read much cosmic horror, but I felt like this one was done absolutely fantastically, to the point that I feel like I'm going to have to venture a bit more into the subgenre and see what gems I can find.

This was a quick read, which is fantastic as I'm trying to power through my backlog of egalleys, I didn't want to put this book down at all and I almost finished it in one day. The only thing that stopped me from doing just that, was that my eyes would just not stay open any longer. You better believe I was cursing myself at not being able to power through the final 20% of the book before sleep. Something about this story just gripped me from the beginning. We start at a slow roll then all of a sudden, it's full steam ahead and this ride isn't stopping for anyone. It just had me enthralled and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think one thing that I've discovered I like about cosmic horror, is that I don't have to suspend belief because there aren't any rules as to how situations would work in a cosmic horror setting. Cosmic horror is just that, it's the unbelievable, the out there wacky ideas of what COULD happen from the simplest of things. Such as what began the slow decline into out there whacko land for this book, of which I won't tell you, you'll have to read it. It was such a simple, yet for me, terrifying idea, and it just made sense. What came after the thing, made sense, in such a nonsensical way, I honestly can't even describe it so anyone would understand. You'd just have to read the book to see if you came to the same conclusion as I did.

I really enjoyed the characters in this one and I felt that Jones did such a fantastic job at being able to endear these characters to me in such a short page count. As I've said many times before, some authors can't do this in a novel that is over 400 pages, so to be able to do this in a shorter page count just makes me love the book that much more and is also a key player in what encourages me to pick up more books from the same author. I'm a very character driven reader, so while the story has to grab me, the characters do too. I really felt for Jaime, he was struggling with so many different things and to end up in the situation that he did, I felt for him so much. I really loved Matt, I don't know what it was about him, I just wanted to give him the biggest bear hug possible, I think he might have been my favourite character, and he was just a supporting role in the story. Eric interested me, learning a bit about their childhood and the things that would happen with him, really intrigued me, and I think that was a big driving point for not being able to put this book down. I needed to know. I had to find out what was going on with his sleepwalking, I had to know how it all tied together with what happens to these characters. Even though I'm still not 100% sure how it all tied together, I feel like that kinda went over my head, even though I understand what happened towards the end, I'm still not sure why it did. But I can't even be mad at it! Because it just makes sense for cosmic horror to me. Thinking about it now, it gave me Jeff Vandermeer Southern Reach vibes, that was another one that was cosmic horror, where I'm still not 100% sure what happened or why, but it just made sense.

All in all, I'm not gonna say that much about this one because I think you need to go into it with just the basics and just allow the story to take you into territory unknown. If you enjoyed some or all of the Southern Reach series, then give this one a crack. I never thought that cosmic horror was for me, until this book. Now I'm going to go on my merry way and try to find more books like this. If you want a gripping story that throws the rules out of the window, then pick this one up, it was a wild ride from start to finish.

This genre bending science fiction novel is exactly what we need to help us escape from the tortures of reality in the real world. I highly recommend this strange and unique read.

Readers who enjoy cosmic/creature horror should snag this one, but also those readers who might like a little psychedelic imagery should enjoy the narrative.
Huge thank you to NetGalley for giving me a copy to read and review! I am definitely interested in reading more from Tyler Jones!

It's rare to think (and wish, which isn't rare at all) that a book could have been longer but this was the case here. Jones does a great job describing scenery and action, so it's not any fault of the writing itself, but rather that the story lent itself to so much more.

Heavy Ocean is a crime thriller turned sci-fi horror after the main character finds himself in dark waters while trying to cover up an accident. There's some family drama in the background, which I think could have been explored more deeply or omitted for the sake of the story. The conclusion was the kind of open ending that feels unsatisfying following the richness of the mystery you just read. I liked it, but it needed more.

Bit late to the party, but here we are.
Cosmic ocean horror, interesting, atmospheric. I enjoyed the book and i thought it well paced and written.

Really struggled with this book, thought it was well written but ultimately was a DNF. Perhaps I was not the target audience, as the writing and characters were quite good, but I struggled with the atmosphere.

This book was crazy good. This guy is overwhelmed with being a new father so he travels to visit an estranged brother he has that lives in Hawaii. They end up fishing one day on a boat and some creepy stuff happen. It was really good and fun to read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this novel.
Unfortunately this did not capture my attention though I have heard good things about it. I just don't think creature horror is for me, but it was nice to give it a try. I would probably recommend it to those who enjoy this genre especially because of the ocean-side of things. I know a lot of people are afraid of the ocean. and would enjoy the horror/ocean aspect of this novel.
I did DNF this around 40%.

From start to finish, you will be in the grip of the author as he takes you on a trip unlike any other! Jamie has traveled to Hawaii to visit his brother, Eric, hoping to gain some insight into his own life and their past. Suddenly, the brothers and Eric's friend, Mattie, are drawn into the horror of flaring tempers and death.

Mattie enlists his father's help in taking care of the problem and soon the four men find themselves out on the ocean at night. What happens next is by far the strangest terror filled encounter that I have read in a long time! The book is full of family dynamics, grief, and outright terror as the world is literally turned upside down. And, the ending makes the reader wonder if the world will ever be the same.

Tyler Jones is definitely an author that I will be following. This book is well-written, full of amazing details and tons of terrifying moments. I highly recommend this book to fans of cosmic horror or those wanting to begin enjoying this genre.

The perfect deep sea cosmic horror never existed...until now! If you don't already have a fear of the ocean, prepare to unlock one. This book is gripping, full of tension in all the right ways, and an all around nail biter! You will NOT want to put this down to prepare to settle in for a fast paced, terror fueled read. And for your sanity, don't put on an ocean soundtrack. It will not relax you.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all views expressed are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy in exchange for an honest opinion. Review has been posted on Amazon.

Anyone who knows me knows that I hate the ocean. There's sharks, jellyfish, and God only knows what lurking in the deep. Then Tyler gives me a massive hole in the ocean where up is down and down is up....

This book made me dizzy. As soon as Jamie looked down and saw the sky, my head was spinning. Even thinking about the ocean hanging above me and the sky below gives me anxiety. At least with the ocean, there's a bottom somewhere....not the sky, though! Tyler really ramped up the atmosphere for such a short read, and I really have to give him props for that and for the sheer emotional response across the spectrum that I got from this book.

I did wish it was a bit longer, though, so it could really lean into that cosmic aspect. It did feel a little like an afterthought to me, and I wish that element would've been explored more. Weird ocean creatures are fascinating, especially when they come with weird mouth tentacles, and I'm super curious where they come from.

Heavy Oceans was a great read, though; I'm never disappointed with a DarkLit book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This was my first time reading anything by Tyler Jones, and I was not disappointed. This book kicked off my current obsession with Lovecraftian horror/sci-fi in the best way possible. It was a bit slow in the beginning, but the ending was just WOW; the slow build is worth it for the payoff. The characters, the plot, everything was so good and detailed. Although this was my first book by the author, it certainly won't be my last.

4.5/5 Stars
8/10 WGB Score

I have never read this author before and found Jones' writing style to not only be well-written but also highly-readable. I found myself lost in the prose and zipping through pages without being aware I'd read dozens of pages in a short amount of time. This was my kind of cosmic horror with Lovecraftian vibes but set in a location (Hawaii) where I don't think i've ever read cosmic horror taking place in. This book deals with brothers who are connected through their past trauma of abuse. I could see this being turned into a film, easily.

Shout out to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and DarkLit Press for the advanced e-copy in exchange to an honest review.

I'll admit I wavered between a 3 to 4 stars until around mid book when the real horror commences. Not to say there wasn't horror in what happens before the midpoint but it was more... average human horror and I really picked the book up for the deep sea and cosmic horror aspects. And I think Tyler Jones delivered it.

This book starts with a chapter from a moment in the past with Eric and Jamie. The rest of the book follows the dreaded night the brothers, now adults and with their own personal demons, have when a tragic event led them to be in the ocean.

The story is perfectly sized for what it is and the whole main plot happens during one night. We follow Jamie's point of view, as he visits Eric in Hawaii that night, in third person present. We mostly get to see his thought process and descriptions that I would say are very straightforward and really shine through by the last third of the book.

All in all, solid read, definitely reached my deep sea cosmic horror expectations for the less than 150 pages it had.

Tyler Jones introduces a fresh voice to the cosmic horror genre, skillfully blending the incomprehensible with the mysticism of the deep sea.

Heavy Oceans" is a short, entertaining, and unsettling story that serves as a reminder of how some of the world's mysteries may also be its most profound horrors.

I've had to sit on this one for several days before I could write my review. This is a very Lovecraftian-style story, very cosmic and atmospheric. There were a few places I got confused and had to go back and reread, but overall I feel it was a decent story if you like this subgenre.