The plot was super interesting but the characters.. URGHHHHHH

I just couldn't reconcile this really solid story with the lack lustre characters.

Boring banter, boring development. The story was good enough that I did finish but the ending???

WHAT WAS THAT.

I'm still stunned. I think had the ending been different, I could have overlooked the characters but it crashed and burned right there.

2.5 stars rounded to 3

Actual rating - 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.

TW: animal cruelty, death, murder, mutilation, occult

I was given the opportunity to read this an Advanced Digital Copy from NetGalley. This is an honest review that is entirely my own.

First off. Check trigger warnings: animal cruelty, occult, mutilation

First and foremost, the name of this book is so perfect. I stewed over it for a while (the name, not the book). At first, I hated it. I kept wondering why the author settled on such a plain, boring name for such a weird, twisted, and original book. It bugged me. And for a while, I thought that would be the first thing I said about this book in my review. Something along the lines of, "Firstly, the name of this book sucks and is totally separate from the overall plot of the book."

But the more I stewed over it, the more it worked for me.

This book is written in a totally detached, unfeeling, and emotionless way. The author avoids using names in much of the book, instead referring to a very prominent character as "the diver" or "the widow" or etc. etc. And while that may seem like it would get annoying, it didn't. It was kind of perfect for the main female character's state of mind -- very representative of what was going on and how she was feeling and behaving.

And when you take that into account, the title is actually kind of brilliant. I went from completely hating it to actually really loving it.

As for the book, though, I did NOT love it. I LIKED it... kind of. It's one of those books that you finish and you're not quite sure how you feel about it. You know you didn't hate it, but beyond that, it's hard to put your feelings into words. I actually went to Goodreads to look at other reviews of this book before writing mine just to see if anything stood out to me that would help me put my thoughts into writing, and I ran across one review that said, "I didn’t like this. I didn’t hate this." And that's when I knew my feelings about this book weren't so weird after all. Ha.

So, first and foremost, what I liked:

- The title and the detached style of writing
- The ending, which took me to a place that I had no idea I was going to end up
- The overall tone of the book
- The "sneaky horror" -- the book really kept you guessing

Now, what I DIDN'T like about this book:

- The totally unnecessary animal deaths. I get it. It's the occult, but seriously? No thanks. I can watch/read about/listen to people getting murdered all day. But don't harm the animals.
- The male main character. Seriously, he's just the worst. No personality, no drive, no clear motivations, no anything. He's like a NON-person. I'm not even sure his feelings toward the female main character (I won't say whether those are negative or positive feelings to avoid spoilers) are his own feelings. Maybe they were, or maybe they spawned from someone else. (That sentence WILL make sense if you read this book.) By himself, though, he was terrible. Made me feel nothing for him at all except tedium.
- The rapid and disconnected transitions. I sometimes had to go back several minutes (listening on audio) to be sure I didn't miss something.
- A wide array of plot holes and plot points that weren't resolved by the book's end
- The ending. And yes, I realize that I put this under the "stuff I liked" category, too. As I said, it was an odd book that left me not knowing how to feel. I both enjoyed and did not enjoy the ending. It was interesting and unique, but it also left some things unresolved.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC for review purposes.

Love the opening. For those like me not used to the idiosyncrasies used to master the art of diving, this painted a picture so you could feel as if you were descending those depths. A married couple take diving lessons and then are on a longer dive alone together - and the wife realises that her and her husbands tanks are both running out of air - and in a fit of panic she takes the last of the air and knocks him away, leaving him to drown. I found the cover striking. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC/audiobook of this perfect piece of work.

*This was a DNF for me.*

I really, really loved where this book was going. I’m crushed that there had to be not only one, but TWO scenes of animal cruelty that ended in both animals dying very horrible deaths. The world is mean and brutal enough as it is, why is this necessary? It’s not anymore.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance audiobook copy of The Diver by Samsun Knight in exchange for an honest review. This was a very different book than I was expecting. There was death, rituals and even some existential philosophy. I enjoyed it.

This one started interesting, and certainly had a premise that caught my attention. Unfortunately, it devolved for me pretty quickly and lost me entirely fairly early on. I found Marta interesting enough, but Peter just couldn't keep me engaged at all. It felt meandering and random and wasn't for me.

If you're a fan of dynamic storytelling, dark themes, and the mysterious allure of the deep sea, this underwater audio thriller is a must-listen. From the very first moment, the tension and excitement plunge you into a world where water is both a beautiful and terrifying element.

The narrative masterfully blends suspense and horror, keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout. The underwater setting adds a unique layer of dread, making every shadow and ripple a potential threat. The characters are well-developed, their struggles and fears palpable, adding depth to the already intense atmosphere.

The production quality is top-notch, with sound design that immerses you completely in the aquatic environment. The use of ambient underwater sounds, combined with the narrator's gripping delivery, brings the story to life in a way that is both captivating and spine-tingling. Every creak of a sunken ship and echo of a distant creature adds to the chilling experience.

Overall, this audio thriller is a fantastic blend of horror and adventure, perfect for anyone who loves the mysteries of the deep sea and the thrill of a well-told dark tale. Dive in, if you dare!

Novel Concept: 5/5
Novel Execution: 4/5

Title: 2/5
Characterization: 5/5
Dialogue: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Atmosphere: 4/5
Theme: 4/5
Prose: 5/5

Does this pass the Bechdel Test: Yes

Title
The Diver references it in the most literal sense, that Marta is the diver who is at the heart of the story. What pulls me away from this title is that we don't really envelop ourselves into the world of diving beyond the first chapter, so the title itself doesn't feel all that significant.

Characterization
Everyone in this novel is a little absurd, but the absurdity of this novel feels intentional and thus, it works. All of the characters are connected by this overflowing sense of loss that is driving them straight into their own prolonged misery. Marta is desperate to prove her innocence and bring her husband back, diving deep into the occult to make this possible. Peter's mother drags Peter into the occult because she lost her son and is desperate to get closure as well. Peter is just a guy who is there, struggling with his brother's death and struggling with the ethics of his work.

Dialogue
We have three distinct narrators, one who is never confirmed but might be the brother? The Unknown's ramblings are philosophical, but as he progresses in dialogue he gets angrier and angrier before Peter's perspective unceremoniously cuts him off. This addition is quite strange and I don't know how to feel about it. It's not that it doesn't work--it's just strange that it's never really acknowledged. That we don't know anything about it.

Plot
The middle of this plot stalls out a little bit. I really did assume we'd be spending a lot of time with the crime itself but everything was revealed all at the beginning which means the novel had to talk about something else. I didn't realize that Peter would effectively be our protagonist--I really thought we were going to spend more time with Marta. I wanted to spend more time with Marta. Get inside her head and feel her insanity.

Atmosphere
The novel seems well researched. At times I wondered about the reality of a legal firm basically acting like the mob, but in thinking of this novel as rather absurdist it fit right in. I had wished there was more deadliness about Lake Michigan. There's lots of folklore about The Great Lakes that I'm surprised didn't make it into the novel. The occultism felt believable-- I've read a book where I knew the author had gone to seances for workshops and so when I think of that book and this book they give of the same vibe--so even if it was all made up it was written confidently enough that for the world state, I believed it to be real.

Theme
The book wrestles with the question as to whether to occult is real or not and I do like the decision that the book ended up going with. I feel that this is less a book about love, as the blurb claims, and more about unhinged obsession. The way that a narrowed focus can absolutely blind you from everything else. Characters often disregard others and their own safety in the name of their obsession--and this is often the character's downfall.

Prose
The prose is easy to understand and I never really felt lost reading it. I think the arrangement of Marta's POVs and Peter's POVs are pretty cool but I will be honest, I wanted more of Marta. Peter doesn't really see the crazy that lives in Marta's bones because he's obsessed with her and I can accept this but I think I wanted a more interior look into Marta so that way at the ending we're like "oh yeah I believe she'd do that." All of the action is there to support Marta's decisions at the end of the novel, but I wanted to be drowned in her insanity which I think is only possible if we heard it from here. Because I mean, the ending? That's full straight jacket prose and I loved it.

Conclusion
This is a weird book. A very weird book. But I really did enjoy it--even if I did feel like we lost the plot a little bit in the middle. The ending? Honestly the ending was worth it.

I was enjoying the story and the direction the story was taking. However, I was deeply disheartened by the inclusion of two scenes depicting animal cruelty, resulting in the tragic deaths of both animals. In a world already filled with cruelty and brutality, I fail to see the necessity of such graphic content.

I would like to express my gratitude to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read an eARC of this book.

But I couldn't finish this book.