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homebodywitch's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Nearly perfect. Haunting and beautiful with outstanding prose.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, and Blood
cocoanatomical's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
An absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking exploration of queer love, the uncanny, loss and grief.
Our Wives Under the See uses motifs and elements that can be associated with Lovecraft’s work (Cthulhu, is that you?) and Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy but this novel is so unique in its own way and the prose is *chefs kiss* incredibly captivating.
I especially love the use of spatiality and temporality and thought the structure of the chapters added so much to the story - the changing POV of each chapter essentially allowing us to see 2 different timelines.
Miri, for the most part, exists within the present. She’s very much trying as best she can to cope with the consequences of what has happened to her wife, while Leah is continuously slipping away.
Leah on the other hand seems to still be very much stuck in the past, re-experiencing the incident as we readers learn about it for the first time.
This structure immediately reminded me of something we see in people struggling with PTSD.
When triggered, patients suffering from this mental condition often experience what had happened to them again and again. Their body and brain reacting as if it would happened in the present.
This sort of temporal discontinuity is a very effective way to structure this story and highlights what these characters (very much isolated from each other) are going through.
Our Wives Under the See uses motifs and elements that can be associated with Lovecraft’s work (Cthulhu, is that you?) and Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy but this novel is so unique in its own way and the prose is *chefs kiss* incredibly captivating.
I especially love the use of spatiality and temporality and thought the structure of the chapters added so much to the story - the changing POV of each chapter essentially allowing us to see 2 different timelines.
Leah on the other hand seems to still be very much stuck in the past, re-experiencing the incident as we readers learn about it for the first time.
This structure immediately reminded me of something we see in people struggling with PTSD.
When triggered, patients suffering from this mental condition often experience what had happened to them again and again. Their body and brain reacting as if it would happened in the present.
This sort of temporal discontinuity is a very effective way to structure this story and highlights what these characters (very much isolated from each other) are going through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Body horror
bi_n_large's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Lesbophobia, Violence, Sexual content, and Biphobia
aliyachaudhry's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal death and Homophobia
reganphelps's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
I adore this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Medical content and Blood
kurumipanda'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Body horror, Mental illness, Chronic illness, and Grief
Moderate: Medical content, Death, and Abandonment
Minor: Violence and Suicide
molly_cains's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Body horror, Death of parent, Grief, and Blood
veliana's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Terminal illness, Grief, Mental illness, Blood, Vomit, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Medical content
Minor: Lesbophobia and Alcohol
abrdoodle's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
This was a beautiful book with compelling themes of love, grief, and learning to let your loved ones go. I saw a strong parallel to learning to accept a loved one who has developed dementia for who they are now and coming to terms with the fact that the person you once knew is gone. The author wrote lyrically and used some excellent sea/water imagery and metaphors throughout the book that really helped shroud the story in its shadowy, ocean-y atmosphere. For example: "There is nothing of the previous night, when she dipped her head into my shoulder. Something has crested the surface between us and sunk again, the water closing over its head." Great language and imagery! Also, although the ending was weird as hell, I still enjoyed it for its beauty and sadness. I can't imagine a different ending being more satisfying than the one she wrote.
I expected this book, in short story style, to have some open ends and things to make you think, and I was prepared for that and totally fine with it. I liked the ambiguity left with multiple plot points, such aswhether the Centre intentionally sunk the sub for 6 months, what the hell that Lovecraftian creature was, and even whether Leah turned into water or a fish..? (I'm pretty sure she became water but I'm not 100% certain). However, I wasn't satisfied with how Leah's submarine escapades connected to the bizarre things going on with her back home. Like I said, I'm definitely okay with some mystery and ambiguity, but I just don't think there was enough reason for why just seeing a monster would cause her to turn into the ocean (Leah's arc concluded the way it did). There's not enough correlation there for me to convincingly connect those dots. Sorry to the people not reading spoilers; it's good, read it anyway!
I also think this book could have benefited from the voices of the two main characters, Miri and Leah, being more distinctly different. Each chapter alternated back and forth between the first person perspective of the two characters, and their voices were so similar that they could have been just one character. Additionally, and this is a small point because I understand that Miri was feeling very removed from the events occurring, I can't believe that they did not once go to a hospital! There was some crazy stuff going down, and that's one of the first things that I would have done, or at least once shit really started hitting the fan.
One more thing that I enjoyed was that Miri grew a lot over the course of the story; she accepted the caretaker role for Leah that she had hoped Leah would do for her when they became old, a role reversal that she didn't expect, and navigated through her resentment to that end. I appreciate when a character becomes a different person by the end of the story than they were when it started.
I couldn't put this book down and read it very quickly over just two days. I don't think this book will be for everyone, as I'm sure many people will find it slow-paced with not much plot happening. This book is much more about the characters and the vibes than it is about a plot. However, that works for me, and I found it engrossing and definitely moving. I would say to go into this book with expectations of a quiet, understated story about life and love that happens to contain horror and magical realism. If this sounds like your cup of tea, I think you'll really enjoy it.
"Problem is that ultimately you're really the one who has to kill them. Or not them but the idea of them–you have to make a choice to let it end."
4 stars
I expected this book, in short story style, to have some open ends and things to make you think, and I was prepared for that and totally fine with it. I liked the ambiguity left with multiple plot points, such as
I also think this book could have benefited from the voices of the two main characters, Miri and Leah, being more distinctly different. Each chapter alternated back and forth between the first person perspective of the two characters, and their voices were so similar that they could have been just one character. Additionally, and this is a small point because I understand that Miri was feeling very removed from the events occurring, I can't believe that they did not once go to a hospital! There was some crazy stuff going down, and that's one of the first things that I would have done, or at least once shit really started hitting the fan.
One more thing that I enjoyed was that Miri grew a lot over the course of the story; she accepted the caretaker role for Leah that she had hoped Leah would do for her when they became old, a role reversal that she didn't expect, and navigated through her resentment to that end. I appreciate when a character becomes a different person by the end of the story than they were when it started.
I couldn't put this book down and read it very quickly over just two days. I don't think this book will be for everyone, as I'm sure many people will find it slow-paced with not much plot happening. This book is much more about the characters and the vibes than it is about a plot. However, that works for me, and I found it engrossing and definitely moving. I would say to go into this book with expectations of a quiet, understated story about life and love that happens to contain horror and magical realism. If this sounds like your cup of tea, I think you'll really enjoy it.
"Problem is that ultimately you're really the one who has to kill them. Or not them but the idea of them–you have to make a choice to let it end."
4 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Body horror
Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Lesbophobia
mirireads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Body horror, Blood, and Confinement
Moderate: Death of parent and Death
Minor: Suicide