Title: This Gilded Abyss
Author: Rebecca Thorne
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Horror
Publisher: Tor Books
Date published: November 11, 2025
A complimentary physical copy was kindly provided by Tor Books in exchange for an honest review.
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.
⤖ My Review ⬻
Imagine the email title starting with “Arcane meets Bioshock in action packed horror-fantasy” and my eyes lighting up with excitement, haha. This Gilded Abyss was also described as Titanic meets Arcane and all of these combos sounded so fun! I had to say “yes”! Diving into the book, I was intrigued by the hierarchy and setting of the world and worked at getting my footing. That didn’t take long though, and then the mysteries of this story pulled me in.
What really happened with Nix and Kessandra? What’s really going on with this illness? This Gilded Abyss was such a combination of elements. I definitely had fun reading it. I experienced most of This Gilded Abyss via audiobook, and appreciated the narrator’s talent in changing voices between characters as well as emoting the different vibes throughout the book. This story really kept me guessing and on my toes, and let me tell you…I didn’t expect a lot of the things that happened. I’ll definitely be reading the next book, This Crimson Ruin, expected December 1!
⤖ Get Your Copy ⬻
⤖ Let's Chat ⬻
Thank you for reading my review! Have you read this book? What did you think? And if you haven’t read it yet, do you plan to? Let me know in the comments!
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