Review: This Gilded Abyss, by Rebecca Thorne

Sergeant Nix Marr is a damn good soldier. She’s also desperate to leave her haunted past deep in the bioluminescent ocean, buried alongside her best friend, Quian. So, when Subarch Kessandra, Valkesh’s favorite royal–and Nix’s loathed ex–requests Nix’s help investigating a massacre in the abyssal city of Fall, Nix refuses. Vehemently. She should have known Kessandra would fight back.
Consigned as Kessandra’s bodyguard, Nix grudgingly boards the Luminosity, a luxurious submersible that offers the only transportation to Fall. But Kessandra wasn’t truthful–surprise, surprise–and her “investigation” isn’t about the massacre, but rather what caused it: an illness that incites its victims into a violent craze. When another royal is brutally murdered, Nix and Kess realize the disease has spread–and no one on the Luminosity is safe. If they’re going to survive until Fall, they’ll have to trust each other… but considering Kessandra is responsible for Quian’s death, that won’t be easy.

"I’m a Lumos-damned knight, and I’m not killing my queen". Rebecca Thorne's This Gilded Abyss is a closed-quarters fantasy thriller with a horror twist and a lovers-to-exes background that works very well to heighten the atmosphere of suspicion. We begin the adventure on dry land, but most of the action takes place on a haunting submarine where shadows seem to have eyes and you can hear whispers in your ears, where you seem to be tailed by a monstrous creature that lurks in the abyss. Something's waiting on the ocean floor, something that might be connected to the mining operations that gave the country their most used material.

The conspiracy doesn't end there, and the main characters are forced to rush against time in an effort to find out the truth and save themselves. The world-building is limited but rich, teasing more to come. There's a war in the background, with a nearby nation, and they seem to be just faceless enemies at first, but then it all becomes much more nuanced, with a plot twist that was adequately foreshadowed. The horror aspect hits well, with a number of gorey descriptions; the book start with a list of trigger warnings, and that was certainly appreciated.

The conflict between the two main characters, with their shared past and the complex, tangled web of motives, works well in this context. There's tension and betrayal, broken trust and pain, and it's all the more delicious when some matters are lain to rest. Revelations and the high-risk situation help the two get close again, but that might not be enough to fix things. The cliffhanger really leaves you quite hanging, especially because I didn't know this was part of a series.

There were also some fealty scenes, which is definitely a plus in my opinion.

This Gilded Abyss is an intriguing find for fantasy lovers who don't mind a little horror (just a smidge though!).

✨ 4 stars

📚📚📚 IF YOU LOVE THIS, YOU MIGHT LIKE:

* The Oleander Sword, by Tasha Suri

for: complicated relationship, fealty