Absolutely eerie! The setting, already full of danger, becomes terrifying in this tale of a lost ship. Too often, differing timelines disrupt the flow and suspense. Not the case here….both storylines equally built the tension, making for one chilling read

I keep trying this author and I think she's just not for me. I felt like the story reads like YA and the pacing was too slow

4.5 stars rounded up.
If you are looking for a legit scary read that will give you serious anxiety, check this one out! Made for the movies!! Such a talented author! It was an impressive, well thought out concept. I'm usually pretty good with predicting twists or how a book will end. Not the case here. I don't know that I got one thing right at all, which is a great surprise. As an added plus, the language was pretty clean, which is something I always appreciate. The only cons are it didn't get to the good stuff until about half way through and it is very detail focused, which can drag it out, and added a bunch of extra pages to the book. It's a pretty long one. But definitely worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this eARC.

Maybe I was pampered by Nick Cutter's The Deep, but this deep sea exploration horror novel did not hit for me. I struggled to get through this and didn't get the pulse pounding I was hoping for.

I received this book for free from netgalley for an honest review.

Really well thought-out book with amazing characters and excellent setting. Love the cover

Great book for fans of horror, ship wrecks, and the unknown. Darcy does a great job of creating a tense atmosphere both in the past and present stories of this book. I never knew what was coming next and I enjoyed the building suspense of the past events. Great read

I absolutely devoured this book. Just the right amount of suspense and creepy eerie vibes. I loved how spooky it was and I was hooked from the very beginning. I am looking forward to more titles by Darcy Coates. I have read and loved all of her books that I have read.

I am so thankful that NetGalley introduced me to Darcy Coates! Her books actually have the ability to give me the creeps! This one really got me because of the whole being under water thing. I was glued to this book once I started reading and it really is a difficult one to put down.

A great read by this author. I definitely recommend checking this one out!
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Coates is a must read author for me. She does great ghost stories. I also LOVE underwater horror/adventure. So this one was a no brainer for me. 5 stars.
The story was interesting and I enjoyed the back and forth between the sunken ship expedition and the last days of the doomed ship.
The descriptions were vivid. I could almost feel the pressure bearing down on me. I actually felt like I was exploring the ship with them. The sense of dread of both the present day explorers and the ship's past doomed occupants was palpable.
This novel was one of my top 5 of 2022.

Thank you to #NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVE THIS BOOK! From Below is one of my absolute top books of 2022. I am a huge fan of Darcy’s work and this novel did not disappoint.

Cove and her dive team, are ready to dive. They are going to be the first team to ever see the SS Arcadia sank 60 years ago. No one knows what happened be the garbled emergency message didn’t help. Ready to discover what really happened, Cove and her team travel into the depths of the ocean. When things start going wrong, everyone is questioning what happened to the SS Arcadia.

The underwater horror was executed perfectly. The atmosphere was chilling and creepy. I absolutely would recommend this to anyone who loves the ocean and enjoys a creepy, unsettling novel.

Darcy Coates is now an auto-ready author for me. I was fully invested in the story, Truly creepy and dark and creative.

This was a very engrossing ghost story. I t was very atmospheric and haunting. The characters were likable. The story itself was beautifully written and very lyrical. There were a few flaws in the story. It had some slow moments. There were also many mysteries that were not explained. Still, I recommend this for fans of Simone St. James!

This is my second Darcy book, as Darcy came highly recommended by several independent bookstore sellers for that go to spooky cozy night in. My first Darcy was Ashburn House and I thought it was memorable although the ending derailed into madness. Now, in From Below, I was hooked from the start. There's just something uncanny about the deep atmospheric expanse of the sea that makes you anxious and picking at your nails in full nervousness. The tension created in this was beyond my expectations. The setting was sublime, but that being said I felt like a lot was lacking in terms of plot, character dynamic and dialogues in particular. I felt that there was a lot in terms of plot that could have been improved to match with all the sensationalized horror/creepy scenes. By the end of the book I was left rather unsatisfied, and overall wasn't a fan of the pacing and writing in this one.

This review is biased because I had just read “Into the Drowning Deep” and “Blood Cruise” last month which this book is a perfect mix off.

The beginning half of this book is pretty much the same plot of “Into the Drowning Deep” so I wasn’t as interested in the plot and I was annoyed that the books could be SO similar

The last half of the book dragged on and I really couldn’t get invested because there was no final explanation.

This is my first Darcy Coates book but I hope to read more and maybe not be as biased in the next review

Immersive and claustrophobic, From Below dives into deep-sea fears. Taking place in the ocean in two timelines, the book shows a crew of documentary makers exploring the wreck of a ship, as well as scenes on the boat back when it was still sailing. I thought the characters in the present crew were interesting, with their own secrets and motivations. The characters from the past were less deep but nonetheless still effective.

While I enjoyed the story, I found I was more compelled by the flashbacks. The dawning horror as they realised something is wrong, the horrible way they reacted, and the devastating aftermath all pulled me. The present storyline is fascinating but I felt it was bogged down with too many details and certain situations started to become repetitive. Still, this is a haunting tale that makes me want to stay away from the ocean!

Unfortunately, I have been locked out of my netgalley account for a few months and was not able to see which books I had on my list, in order to properly read and review. I do apologize and am doing a 3 for neutral. Will update once I’m able to obtain a copy and read!

This is a story about the drowning deep.

I love a good ghost story, and I’m partial to horror set in remote places. The duel exploration of something horrifying & the inherent horror of isolation feels like it augments both concepts. This one was a solid example of how well these things can be done, and I loved the sense of dread. The documentary aspect made this feel like it was written to be adapted- so cool! If you enjoyed the film ghost ship, I think this is a book for you.

Thank you so much @netgalley & @poisonedpenpress for the eArc, this was a delightful read.

Not my favorite Darcy Coates book, but still very enjoyable. We get to see modern time and 1928 leading up to the event, I am not a fan of time jumping or duel perspectives, Darcy Coates did very well in her transitions. If you enjoy suspenseful atmosphere and a story building into inevitable end, definitely recommend this book.

Darcy Coates is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors and a must-read one during Spooky Season – as is evidenced by her appearing twice on this list! From Below is one of two books she has released in 2022 and puts a very unique spin on two very different spooky genres.

In 1928, the SS Arcadia vanished without a trace while en route from the United States to Great Britain. Now, more than ninety years later, the wreck of the ship has been discovered lying on the seabed between Sweden and Finland, hundreds of miles from its intended route, and Cove Waimarie, a Maori documentary producer, is leading a team to explore it. Over the course of several dives, her team – brusque cameraman Roy, shy marine biologist Hestie, nervous assistant Aidan, and experienced dive leader Vanna – will explore the wreck and gather as much footage as they can for the company behind the documentary.

However, the Arcadia hasn’t yet claimed all the lives it wants. As the team moves around through its narrow passageways, the ship seems to close in around them. Doors close, corridors are blocked, and their dive lines work loose, causing the team to lose their way in the pitch-black depths as their oxygen slowly runs out. Even worse, something seems to be watching them. Shapes drift by in the distance and the team begins to realize that perhaps not everybody who went down with the ship ever really left it.

As someone with a strong fear of drowning and deep water, From Below was a truly terrifying prospect for a book. The author does a fantastic job of conveying the oppressive nature of the dive site. The utter blackness of swimming in deep water where no sunlight penetrates and you are reliant on tiny beams of light from headlamps, the unimaginable pressure of the water above you, and the knowledge that you can’t even swim quickly up to escape, instead, needing regular decompression breaks to avoid having your body torn apart from the inside by nitrogen bubbles. Add to that the twisting claustrophobia of the wreck and how easy it is to become disorientated and get lost, and this is already a horrifying story before the more fantastical elements of the storytelling even begin to take hold.

Scattered amongst the chapters taking place at the shipwreck in the present day are other chapters from the perspective of a crewman named Hardland aboard the Arcadia in the days leading up to the sinking. These chapters were equally as disturbing but for entirely different reasons. The ship becomes mired in an oppressive fog that seeps into every part of the doomed vessel and slowly sends those aboard mad. These chapters can be deeply upsetting with some graphic depictions of suicide and self-harm, but manage to avoid feeling overly gratuitous, instead, you’ll find yourself beginning to experience the same creeping sense of dread, terror, and hopelessness that Harland comes to face in the days approaching the sinking.

My biggest issue with From Below was some of the decisions made by the characters, one in particular who seemed determined to get themselves (and others) killed. The present-day characters repeatedly make stupid decisions, such as refusing to use a known exit route because of something unpleasant in the room and instead choosing to dive down new corridors in hopes of finding an alternate route when their oxygen levels are already low. These moments somewhat spoiled the book by making me feel much less sympathy toward the characters, especially the decision made by one person in the closing chapters – if you’re stupid enough to do THAT then honestly, you deserve everything coming to you! I also would have appreciated some more resolution regarding what really happened to the ship. One possible theory is presented but never fully substantiated and things are left somewhat open to interpretation.

From Below is a terrifying and tragic story that will get under your skin, particularly for those who suffer from claustrophobia or are afraid of deep water. The setting makes it one of the most unique horror novels I have ever read and has increased my certainty that I never want to take up deep sea or cave diving! The book is a perfect choice to read during Spooky Season and if you could do so while sitting by a window overlooking the ocean (or, even better, while on board a cruise ship) even better, but don’t come crying to me when you start having nightmares about being trapped underwater in the infinite dark…