The Dark Beneath the Ice

by Amelinda Berube

Marianne is about to discover if nightmares are real.
Something is wrong with Marianne. It's not just that her dad has finally left, or that her life hasn't been the same since she quit dancing. Or even that her mother has checked herself into a hospital.
She's losing time. Doing things she'd never do. And the face in the mirror doesn't look like her own. Marianne's not sure what to believe. Is something after her, or is she following in her mother's footsteps?
Marianne doesn't trust herself, but she does trust the only person in town who's willing to try to help, the daughter of the local physic. But the more the two dig into what's wrong, the more the line between nightmare and reality is blurred. And Marianne has to figure out what's real before she loses everything.

• ISBN10: 1492678783
• ISBN13: 9781492678786
• Publish Date: 2 July 2019 (first published 7 August 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Sourcebooks Fire
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

Thank you to NetGalley and SourcebooksFire for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.


This book was far creepier than I was expecting it to be. Just wow.

Marianne's life is drastically changing due to her parents. This life change starts making strange things happen, first Marianne starts losing things, and then she starts losing pieces of her memory as well. The more time goes on the more things start getting strange and the less she remembers about certain situations. She doesn't start putting things together until her mom leaves her with her aunt while she goes and checks herself into the hospital. With this happening Marianne is now convinced that she is the problem and that she is the one going crazy as she is having more and more trouble focusing on school and finals. With a little help from her new friend Ron though she is able to start figuring out what is happening and it appears to not be human.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I needed to know what was going to happen next and what in the world was happening to Marianne. I loved how her new friend Ron stuck by her side through most of it, and helped her figure things out the more scary things got for Marianne. Another thing I liked was how even though Marianne's parents were going through things they still made sure she was okay, and they tried to work together through the aunt to make sure that she stayed safe with all of this strange things happening.

One thing that I found really frustrating was the exam portion of this book, I know it was a little thing, but for some reason the fact that she was still taking them even though all this other stuff was going on and we never saw her studying bothered me for some reason. Another thing that bothered me was how clueless the aunt seemed to be about certain things that were happening in her own house. Like really, come on now, we all know you're smarter than this you've lived alone for years you know certain things don't just happen.

Dark Beneath The Ice kept me on my toes throughout the book with the need to know what happened next, and I can't wait to read Berube's next book!

[Quirky Cat]

3 1/2 Kitties

I received a copy of The Dark Beneath the Ice through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Dark Beneath the Ice is a paranormal thriller that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. It’s described as being Black Swan meets Paranormal Activity. Admittedly I haven’t seen either of those, so I can’t really comment too much; but I will say that based on the trailers alone that’s a pretty decent description of the feeling and mode of this novel. It’s dark, eerie, and chaotic at times (as only a paranormal event can be), but it’s also full of raw emotion, determination, and perseverance. In short, it’s a wonderful blend and a fascinating story.


Warnings first: I’d say that this novel is pretty safe on the whole. There are a couple of characters that question their mental stability throughout the book (which will make sense when you start reading it, I promise) and they seek various levels of care.
I’ll be honest with you here, I went into this novel expecting one thing, and I ended up getting something completely different. I don’t know if I absolutely loved what I got, but I really did enjoy all the twists and surprises throughout.
I devoured this book. Once I got started the plot just grabbed me and I absolutely had to know what was happening and what the cause was behind everything. I just couldn’t get to the ending fast enough. I sincerely think I may have finished this book in one sitting. Actually, I know I did. And then once I finished I sat there staring at it for a good fifteen minutes, trying to process the emotional roller coaster this book just threw me aboard.
I’ll admit that I was a little disappointed with the revelation at the end. I think there’s more she could have done with it, some smoothing over or something to make it feel less…sudden. Still, getting us from point a to point b will extremely interesting, so I’m happy with having put aside the time to read this one.
This is Amelinda Berube’s first novel (that I can see listed on Goodreads at least) and I have to say that I’m exceptionally impressed. She came out of the gate swinging, so to speak. And she certainly made an impression on me. I do know that her next novel is titled Here There Are Monsters, which already sounds fantastic. I can’t wait to get my hands on it!


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[kalventure]

My initial thoughts when seeing this blurb was "Black Swan meets Paranormal Activity? Don't mind if I do!" Despite being a paranormal skeptic, I cannot get enough of ghost stories; however, The Dark Beneath the Ice missed the mark for me. Drawn in by the premise of missing time and paranormal activity, these elements are very much there but to me that wasn't the main focus of the story. It is as much of a family drama about the breakdown of a family and the struggles of divorce on a family as it is a supernatural story.

The silence still clings to me. If I close my eyes it's there waiting for me, filling my mouth, heavy as water. Ready to swallow me again.

The opening lines captivated me straight away, and it is clear that Bérubé is a talented writer who has a poetic way with words. Unfortunately the initial hook of the book loosened its grip on me and I found the prose almost distracting at times. I found the narrative stilted in a way and slow to get started, full of a lot of back history that I honestly didn't care about.

There is something about the writing style that didn't work for me that I am not able to put my finger on. Typically I love a first-person narrative in thrillers/paranormal books, but it just didn't work for me here. Perhaps because of the family drama? Or the fact that the spooky bits I was looking forward to didn't really get started until much later in the book? I think the blurb had me expecting more of a psychological thriller than a family drama with spooky elements. The ending left me a bit unfulfilled, but I did appreciate the LGBT+ rep present in this book.

This book just wasn't for me but I think that those who enjoy family centered drama with supernatural elements could enjoy this book.

Electronic ARC provided by Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

[tweetybugshouse]

I not a typical creepy story reader i tend to read more fantasy or middle grade fanatsy but every once in a while ya need a good creepy story. The epic creepy events that happen to Marianne through out this story hit on all the right levels. Floating, objects, doors slamming, evil voices belonging to who knows what. I was on the edge the entire ride until we got to the end where all is revealed and to be honest it was a let down. Not what i was expecting to be the mysterious force or being. It had a great solid story tell the final last bit of the story. My major failing for me was this book is suppose to echo black swan and i never seen it so that might be part of the downfall for the story. It ended up just being so so. Great on the scary side just not so great on the final conclusion.