I really enjoyed the concept of this book...a foreign conscious that starts to take over a whole area through snails, potentially. These people affected seem to die, then after a minute they get up and are changed but still themselves. They go to another place, and many like it there. This book is told from multiple POVs. While I can appreciate the attention to details of the birds and sea life (some of the characters are bird watchers), sometimes it got in the way of the momentum of the story. I absolutely loved this idea; however I am not sure it landed on its mark.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

WOW! What a great book! This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Great writing style! My first by this author but will not be my last!

Reminded me of the movie the happening and the mist with elements from the last of us and under the dome thrown in. Took a while to get invested in the story. There does seem to have extra things thrown in. I did enjoy it. Felt like it had an abrupt ending. It was interesting to see all the elements of body horror, zombie, and dystopian all coming together in this one.

A fascinating eco-horror book, The Deading provides a healthy dose of anxiety to the reader. I think I'll be feeling this for days to come. Nicholas Belardes is quite the storyteller, painting a picture of things that are not so far fetched. My main criticism is that we had so much beautiful description of birds at the beginning, and then they kind of disappeared. I want more of that language, it could have been beautiful to draw in more obviously throughout the book.

The Deading
Nicholas Belardes

Ok, so ...

The Deading was another book I didn't enjoy, unfortunately.

This book has a great concept. Great ideas. Nicholas Belardes is clearly a talented writer, and knows his subject matter. And this book did have some important and interesting things to say ... It just felt like the author had too many pots boiling all at once.
I personally felt the story tried to do too many things, and by doing that, didn't perfectly nail down anything, IMO. The writing felt scholarly at times. I had to read several parts a couple times, and still didn't fully understand what I'd read.
There were elements of the story that we never fully circled back to ...
And I really didn't feel it contained much horror.
It had some good moments, and the concept is horrifying ... but in a book this ... dense with information ... I would have preferred more horror to spruce up the lesson plan.
Lastly, I didn't really feel like I could get connected to the characters ... I honestly I can't say if they weren't that developed, or if my brain was just tired at that point ... and I struggled to keep up with the POV's. They switch up on you with little to no distinction as to who's who.

Although maybe you'll enjoy this book a lot more than I did!
Don't let my review sway you. If you like eco-horror (at least horror adjacent) you might really dig it.

I did enjoy the narration during my time listening to some of it audibly.
😊

2.5 / 5

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC eBook in exchange for honest feedback.

I don't know how I feel about this one. It was a bit monotone but the plot was wild.

I love books like this but it felt a little unanimated. I needed a bit more excitement in the tone. I don't think it was the narrator, it was just the tone of the book, wasn't right for me but I did love how it ended

3 stars

Overall: ⭐️
Writing: ⭐️
Plot: ⭐️
Characters: ⭐️
POV: Multiple, 1st & 3rd Person


The Praise: The premise was interesting.

The Critique: The premise was cool but the execution left A LOT to be desired. The story was confusing and just downright boring. There were too many characters and the POV kept shifting which made it hard to keep up with. The writing was almost…self-aggrandizing which made it annoying to slog through. And even after finishing the book, I don’t feel like I know what happened.

Final Thoughts: The premise of The Deading was wasted on this book.

TW/CW: Language, gore, drinking, toxic family relationships, racism, sexism

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
In a small fishing town known for its aging birding community and the local oyster farm, a hidden evil emerges from the depths of the ocean. It begins with sea snails washing ashore, attacking whatever they cling to. This mysterious infection starts transforming the wildlife, the seascapes, and finally, the people.

Once infected, residents of Baywood start “deading”: collapsing and dying, only to rise again, changed in ways both fanatical and physical. As the government cuts the town off from the rest of the world, the uninfected, including the introverted bird-loving Blas and his jaded older brother Chango, realize their town could be ground zero for a fundamental shift in all living things.

Soon, disturbing beliefs and autocratic rituals emerge, overseen by the death-worshiping Risers. People must choose how to survive, how to find home, and whether or not to betray those closest to them. Stoked by paranoia and isolation, tensions escalate until Blas, Chango, and the survivors of Baywood must make their escape or become subsumed by this terrifying new normal.
Release Date: July 23rd, 2024
Genre: Horror
Pages: 304
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Cover
2. The synopsis sounded good

What I Didn't Like:
1. Deading mentioned 121
2. Didn't care for the writing style
3. Story is all over the place

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

Take a drink everytime deading is mentioned.

Wtf?
Final Thoughts:
I am so completely sorry but I just could not get into this book. It jumps from thought to thought and you never really have a sense of what you're even reading because we're on to another person or another subject. It just seems like this book lacked focus.

There were so many times when I was reading that I would zone out because I no longer found myself caring about what I was even reading about. The characters were not interesting. It just sounded like a bunch of whiny kids going off about how adults are pretending to get the dreading. I guess back in my day we would have called them posers. I guess in these kids minds they think adults are throwing themselves into the road pretending to have it so that they could have their legs run over and get a totally different personality. I don't even know.

I got halfway into the book before I decided I could no longer carry on. I really tried I did. It just was so boring and unfocused.

IG | Blog

Thanks to Netgalley and Erewhon Books for the ebook. Thanks to Recorded Books for the audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found this book to be fairly interesting. It felt very futuristic pandemic. I did find that the timeline felt a bit jumpy, which wasn't bad, but a bit disorienting for an audiobook.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this book.

Never before in my life would I imagine bird-watching be this interesting and confusing.

The atmosphere of the unknown being very present through-out this book. Personally, I love the use of an ocean based virus being the source of the infection. It's a take that I haven't seen before when it comes to apocalyptical/end of humanity genre.

Additionally, the characters were well written and very dimentional given that it is a standalone novel.. Shorter books have a bigger struggle compared to series given that there is more time, and pages, for characters to grow. For this alone, I give props to the book.

Unfortunately, I was confused the majority of the time how this virus spread. It felt that every time I was beginning to understand how it works, I'm right back to being unsure. This could be because I didn't listen to the audiobook consistently; even though I finished this in two days. I may try to revisit this book later on as an ebook to see if I can get a better understanding because I really enjoy the premise. But for now, it would remain as a 3 star....

Let me preface with I listened to the audiobook. Thank you to Netgalley, RBmedia Recorded Books, and Erewhon Books for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Deading had great potential. The coastal town of Baywood is transformed by an evil that comes of the deep as the ocean warms. It starts in the snails that come to feast upon the oysters at the oyster farm. They infect the wildlife, and soon all of Baywood is experiencing the same phenomenon. They all find themselves "deading," falling to the ground, writhing in pain until they die, only to rise once again. The government severs the community from the rest of the world, leaving Baywood isolated besides the drones that bring supplies and food. A cult of "Risers" forms, and those few who do not "dead" must either find a way to escape or conform. A unique premise.

I don't see a lot of eco-horror, and I liked the idea that this illness - contagion? - came from rapidly warming waters. The whole concept reminded me of the "brain-hijacking" trematode that we see in snails. I thought that was the direction the book was going. It was not. The snails quickly fade from focus. There was a lot of talk about birds, but I felt like the birds were not utilized enough for the plot to warrant the amount of information we were given. Maybe the author just really enjoys birds?

Despite some very odd things happening in the town, I did not feel that this was truly a horror novel. There were some moments, but the most of the audiobook dragged and even the tense moments fell flat. I think the narrators did a decent job trying to bring more emotion to the story. Unfortunately, the writing just wasn't there. A lot of it felt like I was listening to a textbook. It was dry. I honestly really liked the idea but not the execution for this one.

I thought the premise of this one was interesting but I quickly found myself struggling to focus on the narration. I think this might work better for me as a physical book so I will try to track down a copy to read instead.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

First time reading Nicholas Belardes, Enjoyed book. Good plot, pacing, and characters. Will be reading more from Nicholas Belardes. #TheDeading #NetGalley

Oh, this one was tricky. I nearly put The Deading down permanently, but I decided to trust the process and see where it led.

The creepy aspects provided a hook that kept me invested. I kept waiting for the big reveal, as there seemed to be a lot of twisty options, but they didn’t really amount to much.

The diversity of the characters, especially in their ages, was impressively done and believable. I appreciated experiencing the town's tailspin from different generational perspectives, which was definitely my favorite aspect.

I wish some of the more burdensome areas, like the bird watching, had been edited down. If the time spent on those sections had been devoted to the storyline and spooky elements, this could have been epic. As it stands, I’m not sure I’d recommend it.

Thank you Nicholas Benares, RBmedia, and NetGalley for my advanced review audio copy!

Plot - 2
Writing and Editing - 2
Character Development - 4
Narration - 4
Personal Bias - 2
Final Score - 2.8

Overall, the story was interesting, but I felt by the end of the book it meandered. The concept was interesting and was the main reason kept reading. The characters never seemed to really evolve much,

This one wasn’t for me. There were so many different overlapping plot lines with different characters that we very quickly lost sight of the actual plot. I was definitely interested in the ecological ramifications of the oyster farm, the chemicals dumped into the water as a last-ditch effort to kill the snails, the warmer than average water, and the changes in bird migratory patterns - but most of the characters distracted (and detracted) from that larger impact

<b>2.5 stars</b>


There were some really interesting sci-fi ideas and some genuinely scary scenes in this book, but ultimately it was told too fragmentedly for me to get engrossed in the story. I didn't care about what happened in the end.

Some parts are really introspective. Sometimes, these sections provide interesting insights into the characters and situations, but other times they feel like overwritten, pointless rambling.

e-ARC from NetGalley.

This book was on my TBR as soon as I read the synopsis. I put in a request at my library months ago. To say i was hyped when i received the audio ARC would be an understatement. So please know how disappointed I am that I didn't like this.

The premise is intriguing. We're promised The Last of Us meets Stephen King's Under the Dome. I'll admit it's been nearly a decade since I played that game, and I've never read that book, but I'm not sure I agree with those comparisons. What I will give it is the last 100 pages of King's IT - which was what prevented that book from being a 5 star read for me.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with Belardes' writing. I found it evocative and, at times, delightfully, disturbingly detailed. What I struggled with was the story itself: It felt like we started off with one thing, then went in an entirely different direction only to end up doing a few loops on a roundabout and dizzily taking off down a random side road.

The beginning started off as climate/environmental horror. We have these rare snails poisoning people, which leads to some strange sort of mutated humanoid under a hive mind, going into members of this community randomly dropping dead and coming back to life.

I was into it.

Until we found ourselves somehow engaged in a teenage-run reenactment of the Salem Witch Trials? We opened on these teenagers pretending to be dead on social media, supposedly to bring awareness to Black Lives Matter and school shootings. Then the deading began, which made the kids mad that they were being "copied." So they were like, "Hey. Check my SnapChat. I did it first. Adults should do as we say." And the adults were like, "For sure." And the teenagers (who only ever faked it on Facebook or Instagram or whatever) are now like, "As the creator of this, we declare that Bloody Mary is real & we must identify and murder all those people who are not randomly dropping dead every day." And the townsfolk were like, "Yeah. Totally."

I would have been good with zombies or people coming back "different" or some sort of slow, dread-inducing infection. But the inexplicable hivemind fanaticism just didn't work for me. The utter lack of resistance to this new regime. The fact that the town's people sided with a murder hobo from a nearby ditch over members of their community whom they'd known for years. The internet was down, and there was no TV or radio, but a random birdwatching website was still operational.

I really appreciated the symbolism of it all. The opposition to the hivemind and mob mentality. The importance placed on individual thought. The significance of whistleblowers in a corrupt society. Loyalty to family. The ultimate decision between nature and the government.

I just didn't love the execution.

Firstly I’d like to thank rbmedia and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this arc for my honest review.
I didn’t hate this book but I didn’t enjoy it either. It started off interesting but that’s where it ended for me. I didn’t find any of the characters to be interesting which made it hard for me to get into the story. I felt the horror aspect was lacking for me. I also felt like it was a bit all over the place. Wasn’t for me.

when I read the summary of this book, I thought it had a lot of potential for what it could be and how it could play out. I am a fan of both Stephen King and the video game The Last of Us, so I was interested in seeing how a book could capture some of the dystopian horror and mystery encapsulated by those.

I wasn't able to find as many of the eerie vibes as I was hoping to as i worked my way through this audiobook. I thought the narrator did a great job but the story itself fell a bit flat for me. Or, perhaps not flat so much as forcing the eeriness. I like books that make me think and books that also have alternating points of view, all which this book offers the reader. However, it doesn't do it in the most coherence and clear way.

The beginning portions where people are imitating dying and "deading" just reminded me of the phase of when people were "planking" on random surfaces a few years ago. I had a hard time picturing it coming across as horrific, it just seemed like a bunch of people kid of playing dead until people actually started dying.

The book has ups and down and some fast and slow points but I didn't really understand much about the bird chapters either and why we needed to go into such depth about bird watching.

I really wish I could have liked this book more.