Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

116 reviews

hellsjerome's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thoroughly enjoyable, scratches the Subnautica itch. A bit meandering at times but I thought the ending was really well done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Grief

Moderate: Suicide and Terminal illness

corabookworm's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Honestly so confused about how to feel about this book. It was beautiful and unsettling and very very depressing, less horror than I expected, more about grief and loss than anything else. And just plain weird. I loved it. But also I'm sad now. And a little disappointed that there wasn't a full plot with an end to the mystery. It was more just vibes. Which I respect. But also rahhh.

(Might write a more sensible review later we'll see.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Body horror, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Medical content

beth_farrelly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Death, Dementia, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Body horror

Minor: Gaslighting, Gore, Violence, and Suicide

thebetterstory's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is well-written, and it has moments of insight about life that are interesting to see reflected back on the page. The suspense builds over the course of the novel, as you wonder what happened in the ocean, what the Centre really is and what Leah is becoming, but the overarching mystery is never really resolved, and while the ending is fitting I left the book as a whole feeling a bit ambivalent about the whole thing.

Leah and Miri aren't badly written, but I had the same issue as I often do with modern literary fiction, which is that everyone felt a bit interchangeable. Yes, they had carefully specified quirks, and their backstories and families were developed. All those elements were there, but in the end they felt pretty much interchangeable aside from those. The same goes for the rest of the cast. Names would appear in the story, and despite how short the book was I couldn't honestly tell you who Sam or any of the rest of them were or when they'd been introduced, specifically.

Similarly, if you asked me to name a character trait for either of the leads, it would have to be "nice" for Leah, which you know mostly because the book and Miri tell you so, and...I really don't know for Miri, actually. Withdrawn, maybe, or cold. They have all those insightful human moments grafted onto them and their stories, but they never really feel like they make the narrative theirs, which also makes the romance—which does have its poignant moments—feel a touch bland as well.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, and Terminal illness

Minor: Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Ableism

mamatrauma's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Vomit, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Blood

torismazarine's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Self harm, Terminal illness, Body horror, Cursing, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Grief, Suicide, Confinement, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Chronic illness, and Eating disorder

hedsek's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Truly an amazing read. Extremely gripping and the descriptions of how things used to be are so realistic and slice of life that it becomes heartbreaking. The horror elements go really well with the emotional stuff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, and Body horror

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Death, Vomit, Eating disorder, and Terminal illness

Minor: Death of parent, Cancer, Lesbophobia, Gore, Homophobia, Chronic illness, and Emotional abuse

Eye stuff

beccaand's review

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Grief, Confinement, Terminal illness, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent and Suicide

Minor: Lesbophobia

fatfatrat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Death of parent, Grief, Body horror, and Death

Minor: Lesbophobia and Vomit

simplyabird's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

100% ready by audiobook if possible, the two narrators add so much to the experience. 
I loved the very descriptive and flowery language, and from the start Leah and Miri were so realistic and relatable that, even being aroace, I immediately fell in love with both of them and their relationship. I was never more interested in one of the POVs over the other, never felt like it was dragging or going to quick.
I was okay with the mystery not being really answered, because I knew and accepted it as an allegory and felt more involved with the relationship than the mystery, through it was still incredibly interesting. Personally, I think if you've ever dealt with grief and depression, you'll be a lot less bothered by not having gotten all of the answers to the mystery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Death