Status Updates From Die leuchtenden Toten

Need a genre change for a book or two

Meglátjuk mennyire akaszt majd ki. Utálom azokat a helyeket, ahonnét nem tudok kijönni, szóval a barlangászat nem kedvenc dolgom.
De a setting megfogott, meg ha már úgyis tágitjuk a komfortzónánkat!

Maybe 3.5. Ultimately I enjoyed bc of the setup. Character work was clumsy but there. Was hoping for more of an explanation or mystery than there was, but the second half still rlly gripped me. An isolationist survival story done well can rlly reel u in.

—actually being a mystery at all. Still good! The yuri wasn’t totally doomed… although it was a wee bit 🫪 toxic… they’re healing guys dw 😛

—by things we don’t really see on page was a bit underwhelming, ngl. I suppose the whole mission was pointless, which the characters themselves determine & conclude the novel by trying to work on themselves (it will be a long process with lots of effort, lol). This seems like a good book for horror tension & character buildup, the mystery didn’t really unravel the way I was hoping since there ended up not—

I liked this overall; its strengths were in its atmosphere & characterization for me. Even the parts where I felt a little tired of reading about the descriptions of Gyre’s climbing/diving, I still felt invested enough in the characters of Gyre & Em. I wish the novel was condensed/edited just a bit! All of the creepy presences, the missing cache, & suit glitch (breaking battery, no comms) being explained away—

This book feels like it’s been wrapping up for a while now but it’s barely halfway finished and I have no possible clue what else could happen…

—It’s still exciting, but I would love to dive deeper (no pun intended) into some of the answers (or rather, hints at answers) to the mystery 🫣

As anticipated, this novel is keeping me on the edge of my seat 🫪 Another day of over 200 pages, thanks to Caitlin Starling!!! That being said, I do feel that the pacing could’ve been slightly tweaked in this one. It’s dragging just a hair. Not by that much; I’m still hooked & enjoying it. However, there’s not as much potential for varied action here—