Thank You, NetGalley for an advanced ARC of this book as an audiobook

what got me interested in this book was the description saying - **Stephen King’s _Under the Dome_ meets _The Last of Us_ in this harrowing dystopian novel about the downward spiral of a seaside town that becomes infected by a mysterious ocean-borne contagion.**

But for me I got vibes of the thing as well which is not a bad thing due to the fact I love the original film, but also the recent game that came out called Still Wakes The Deep but on land not an oil rig... This book is a very slow burn at the beginning and it goes into many POVS of the people who live in the small fishing sea town, the book starts picking up pace at around 35 to 40% showing more of the contamination & its possession of the people from the inside, changing them by making them die to rise again. In this we get allot of information about birds but they are important to the story due to the mutation being spread by them as well as other animals... we see a small population be isolated and contained by the government & the teenagers who made a trend called Deading where teens pretend to be dead (but some of them after a while thinks that what they created has taken on a life of its own creating a new urban legend & myth like bloody Mary - starting a religion in how far the delusion has taken hold - not realizing this is a creature and disease ).

This book is definitely not a book that will be for everyone due to how slow it starts and the themes it has ( but the story i thought was very well written and also very well in how it presents the atmosphere and connection to the people so you care about what's happening, as well as keeping you gripped if your like me who enjoys weird and the unusual )

First, a big thank you to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for the opportunity to read this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"The Deading" promised a thrilling ride through eco-horror and cosmic terror, set in a small coastal town where the natural world seems to turn against its inhabitants. However, despite its intriguing premise, the execution left much to be desired.

From the outset, the book tries to balance an array of elements—ranging from the ominous presence of a mysterious contagion to the overwhelming paranoia of government surveillance. The story is packed with ambitious ideas, yet it suffers from trying to do too much at once. The initial 30% of the novel is particularly challenging to get through, with frequent interruptions in the narrative flow by lengthy digressions into oyster and bird facts. While these details might have been intended to build atmosphere or contribute to the ecological horror, they end up breaking the story's momentum, making it difficult to stay engaged.

The characters, unfortunately, do not help the situation. Blas and Chango, two of the central figures, have a dynamic that shows potential, but their development is overshadowed by the constant shifts in perspective and the overwhelming focus on tangential details. The other characters fade into the background, becoming almost indistinguishable from one another, which further muddles the narrative.

Where "The Deading" does manage to shine is in its depiction of societal breakdown and the palpable sense of dread when the entity is present. These moments are genuinely terrifying and evoke the kind of horror that lingers. The disintegration of social order, the fear of the unknown, and the "us versus them" mentality are themes that resonate powerfully, and Belardes captures the eerie atmosphere of Baywood with skill.

However, the book's structure undermines its strengths. The disjointed narrative, combined with the lack of clear transitions between points of view, makes for a jarring reading experience. While some horror novels benefit from a fragmented or disorienting style, here it feels less like a deliberate choice and more like a story that lost its way.

In the end, "The Deading" is a novel brimming with potential that unfortunately falls short of delivering a cohesive and gripping tale. The elements of eco-horror, cosmic dread, and societal critique are all present but fail to coalesce into a satisfying whole. For readers who enjoy introspective, theme-heavy horror with a slow build, there may be something to appreciate here. However, those looking for a tightly woven, suspenseful narrative might find themselves disappointed.

I look forward to seeing how Nic Belardes' style evolves in future works, as there's clearly a passion for unique, thought-provoking horror. But for now, "The Deading" feels like an ambitious first draft in need of refinement.

First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an e-ARC! I greatly appreciate it!

I usually take a peek at the star rating so far for ARCS out of curiosity, and I don't think I've ever come across a book that wasn't review-bombed getting less than a three star rating, but it wasn't review bombing. That super low rating is valid here. Considering the "an edgy twelve-year-old named it" title, I probably shouldn't be surprised. This wasn't good. The concept is amazing and the cover art is absolutely incredible, but the story makes very little sense. The writing goes back and forth between dry and clinical or informal to the point where it doesn't feel like a book at all, which was really jarring. Pick a tone! Its also really repetitive. The atmosphere was nice, though, I'll give it that much. Love me a seaside horror story.

The narrators did as good a job as they could with the source material, so don't blame them. They did fine.

Two stars out of five to the mess that is The Deading.

This book had so much potential but I feel like it fell a little flat. Under the Dome meets The Last of us is a big thing to achieve. Killer snails! Love it. But it didn’t really go anywhere. The birds! Could have came together really well but for me it didn’t. The deading started by the kids and then came across town like a plague didn’t feel very fleshed out.

The synopsis sounded so interesting...but I DNF'd this at 30%...it was SO BORING! The narrators were fine, but the story did not capture my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an Advanced Listener's Copy (ALC) in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

I really wanted to give this book a chance, but in the end I just could not focus on it. It seems like the author was more focused on writing a book about birding with a few creepy happenings going on in the background, and nothing much interesting started happening until nearly to the middle of the book. I found it incredibly hard to focus on the book when it was going back and forth between characters I had very little care in, talking about birds for very little reason, only to talk about whatever was going on with the water very briefly. By the time it got around to the government cutting off the town, I was just tired of the prose style and the way this book was going, and just felt like I had more important things I could be doing. I feel like this book had potential, but that things just went off wherever they wanted to go with little effort to investigate or start explaining what was going on with the water, aliens??, or the deading that started. It was honestly very frustrating, because just when things were starting to get good, it would go back to the damn birds.

Review of “The Deading”

By: Nicholas Belardes

Available Now

Check it Out on Goodreads!!

Disclaimer: Please note that I received an Audible ARC from NetGalley and RBmedia, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

⭐⭐⭐☆☆

“The Deading” by Nicholas Belardes offers an intriguing premise with its eerie, dystopian setting and mysterious ocean-borne contagion. The story unfolds in a small fishing town where an infection causes residents to start “deading,” leading to societal collapse and the emergence of death-worshiping Risers. While the plot is captivating, the use of terms like “deading” and “risers” felt awkward and detracts from the overall experience.

The book’s multiple points of view add depth to the narrative, although some readers might find the story disjointed. I found the audio version to help differentiate perspectives, which kept me engaged despite the shifting viewpoints. Some chapters were more interesting than others, resulting in an uneven reading experience. While I enjoyed certain aspects of the book, it’s not something I would rush to revisit. “The Deading” is an interesting read for those who enjoy dystopian tales, but it may not resonate with everyone.

Get it at…

📗 - Hard Copy -📗

Your Local Canadian Book Seller

Indigo

Amazon Canada

📱 - Digital - 📱

Kobo

Kindle

🎧 - Audio - 🎧

Audible

Libro.FM

Thank you RB Media & Nicholas Belardes for this listen!

The narration was excellent in this book. Multiple voices and perfect pacing. I felt I could see everything so vividly as the narrators made the authors words come to life.

This book was strange and unique. It was different compared to what I expected but that wasn't exactly a bad thing. Some graphic imagery and the terrifying idea of something taking over humanity was great. The author has written in alot of detail and it makes it even more realistic. Multiple POVs kept it really interesting!

I did find it talked alot about birds, which matched in with the character, however during this time i did seem to zone out. The other thing was the first 30% was pretty slow and it didn't hook me as much.

Overall this was a good read! Unique premise, with a terrifying ideas and very realistic reactions from society that I can imagine happening.

This one was weird, but I think that was the point. Honestly it would make a cool movie. Narration was good, I always enjoy multiple voices.

The Deading is a horror dystopian following a handful of characters living in Baywood; a small fishing town in California. Baywood has a passionate bird watching community and a successful oyster farm. The story starts when a horrific epidemic emerges through snails. This epidemic causes people to ‘dead’, in which they collapse and essentially show all symptoms of death, but then rise again almost like before. The small fishing town is then cut off from the rest of civilization by the government and the community has to figure out how to live in this ground zero. Things play out very similarly to what everyone, myself included, experienced during the real life pandemic of Covid-19. Hysteria, paranoia, isolation, rituals, beliefs, and people changing overnight, as well as lots of confusion on what to do and where to go to get information. Our main character Blas navigates the world as a high schooler the only way he knows, through birds. His mom and brother are infected and become ‘risers’, leaving him alone, and afraid. Blas eventually has to plan how to escape this infected town with other immune folks like him.

I liked this audiobook, the body horror starts off instantly in the beginning of the book. Snails are described in a way that I’m not sure if I will ever find them cute again. The beginning part of the story follows the overtaking and infection of the owner of the local oyster farm. I do wish there was more from this perspective, and more of the up close part of body/eco horror in the book. However, the horror feeling follows through the book.

The main person that the story follows is Blas, who has to grapple with the epidemic in his town and in his brother Chango, and mother Miriam. Blas has a huge passion as a bird watcher; this personality trait of Blas isn’t very beloved by his brother Chango and many other residents of this small fishing town.
The other character we follow is a friend of Blas, Kumi. Kumi is a fellow bird watcher and is more mature and thoughtful of her perspective. She also has to experience the horrors of the rituals of the ‘risers’, as she infiltrates their grotesque ceremony.

I do think that The Deading does talk about birds a little too much for my own taste of a horror book (especially when birds are not the source of horror). It was understandable as the characters the story most closely follows are bird watchers. Their escapism is birds, and who wouldn’t need an escapism in an epidemic. The story can be a bit confusing, but it did not bother me too much. I thought it was an apt portrayal considering the characters are cut off from all means of communication other than face to face. It would be very confusing to be isolated from the outside world by the government with absolutely 0 answers.

The audio part of the book was fantastic and had a pretty large cast with spot on voices for the characters. I really enjoyed it and it was quite immersive. My only critique would be that the enunciation of names was a little unclear, making it a little harder to follow along the POV’s.

I enjoyed this book, I thought it was a fantastic commentary on pollution, isolation, and how quickly a cult can form. The horror was skin crawling, with an unearthly and creepy atmosphere and a diversely flawed character cast. 4.25 stars

The Deading
Nicholas Belardes
I had great hopes for this tale, but it fell short of my expectations.
The Deading begins with sea snails attacking a local oyster farm. The snails attack anything beginning with wildlife, seascapes and people. The people collapse; they die. They come back to life, but they aren’t the same. The government isolates the town from the world.
The characters lack depth. The point of view is erratic. The plot doesn’t flow smoothly. This tale has too many characters. This is an eco-thriller but mostly it is confusing. The plot is confusing it jumps from here to here. In my opinion the author wanted to share his eco opinion and attempted to use this book as a means of educating the world. It just didn’t work.
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy for review.

Fantastic premise, mediocre execution. I came close to not finishing this twice. I appreciate the full cast of narrators but they did not help me to connect to any of the characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of the audiobook "The Deading" by Nicholas Belardes.

Unfortunately, this absolutely was not the book for me. I'm giving it two stars, and frankly, that's generous.

The cover of the book was really cool, and the synopsis was interesting enough to make me think it'd be pretty good. And maybe, for some folks, it will be. But I'm not one of those folks.

As mentioned, I listened to this book in audio format, and I'll be honest. By the end of the book, I had absolutely no fracking idea what was happening. I can't even tell you how the book ended. Like, if you came up to me with a gun to my head and said, "Tell me how this book ended, or I'll blow your brains out!"

Well, I'd either have to tell a lie and hope it was convincing, or you'd have to blow my brains out. Because I have no clue what happened. I don't know if the "good guys" won in the end or if it went against the grain and had a non-happy ending.

Why?

Because I had completely zoned out.

There were far too many characters to keep up with, and aside from the little old Asian lady (whose name I still don't know), not a single one of them was interesting enough for me to invest any real anything into.

And besides the overwhelming number of characters, the book was just boring. And I hate to say that (especially after the publisher was so kind as to grant me a FREE review copy), but my understanding is they really want our honest opinions, even when those opinions are bad.

And honestly, the book was hellaciously boring. A large part of it centered around (who I think was) the main character's hobby of bird-watching. And yes. It's just as dull as it sounds.

Now, I'm sure this is because I was completely zoned out and had no idea what was going on, but I never could figure out how the intense focus on birds and bird watching tied in with the devastating, apocalyptic event that was happening in the book. Just from how often they talked about it, I'm sure it was supposed to be some kind of allegory or parallelism with what was going on in the world, but I never could understand it.

The only reason I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 1 is because the narrator did an excellent job.

Beyond that, though, there's nothing about this book that led me to recommend it to anyone.

My apologies to the author and the publishers for not being able to give a more favorable review.

This is definitely a strange book! A small town is cut off from the rest of the world and super odd things start to happen. The people start to become infected and turn into “deaders”. There’s a lot of creepiness in this story! I did find some parts of the book confusing at times with the different point of views and characters. I listened to the audio version, so I’m not sure if that made it a bit more confusing?
Theres a lot happening with birds in this story, which I think was maybe a bit too much.
Overall there were some very interesting and entertaining parts, but it wasn’t one of my top reads.

Thank you to NetGalley for an audio copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and RBmedia for an ALC in exchange for my honest review!

The quiet coastal town of Baywood has something sinister wash upon its shores, and soon after some of its population exhibits strange symptoms. The quarantined locals quickly become divided between those infected and those who are not, as social hierarchies crumble and a new death obsessed cult takes over.

The premise and so many elements of this book should have made a great eco-cosmic-horror story, but ultimately fell flat. The characters are not really distinct or memorable. Three of the main characters are bird watchers, which leads to too much time spent on talking about birds. The perspective changes become disorienting at times, making it hard to fully immerse in the story. At times I almost forgot that this was supposed to be a horror story.

Ultimately, I feel like this book tried to do/say too much in a short amount of time, causing its message to become garbled in the chaos.

The Deading by Nicholas Belardes was a unique book but it didn't quite work for me. I'd like to start with what I did like though. The narration for the audiobook was wonderful. This book had multiple narrators and each one did a great job at bringing their character to life. I picked this book expecting a horror story but it ended up being more about conspiracy theories and bird watching. There were several bizarre and creepy moments but it really lacked what I wanted in a horror novel. I think the endless bird watching and bird facts really slowed the plot down.
I wouldn't recommend this if you're looking for horror but I'd definitely recommend trying it if you're looking for a creepy story with a focus on government conspiracies, small communities, and a lot of bird watching.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this alc in exchange for an honest review.

Well...
I dont know about this.
This book didn't hook me, at all, the only reason why i finished listening is because it was on 2x speed and i was playing Stardew Valley on the side.
And before anyone says that that's the reason I didn't like it, I do this with pretty much every Audiobook and i've loved plenty of them.

But this one...
I'll get into it deeper when i've finished my exams...

DNF at 42%. I really tried to make this one work, but I just couldn’t get into it. I realized when I started skipping one character’s chapters, I should just call it, because skipping them didn’t seem to impact the story at all. I couldn’t even remember any of the characters’ names, other than Blas, who was the only character who I was interested in. The chapters I skipped were the ones with the entitled teenager. Again, I can’t remember his name, but those chapters were like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. I think this book could have been done really well were it only done from Blas’ perspective, or even his perspective and a third person view of the victims. I don’t know. I just know it really wasn’t for me.

Huge thanks to RBmedia and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for the ALC.
This wasn't for me. I wanted to like it,hoping it would get better but it didn't.

This was a really unique horror. It starts out a bit slow but that really allows the terror to build and build as parasite spreads. Also the multiple povs really adds to the ambiance of the story. Everything feels very real and very creepy.