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senwithers's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
…I’m still not sure how I feel about it.
The first 65 pages had me enthralled—heartbroken and anxious. Then it got *weird*. But there was a kind of beauty in its lack of detail. Because it didn’t feel like the horrors that befell Leah were all that important anyway. It was Miri’s grief amidst her unwavering love that hooked me.
I spent 4 years caring for a loved one with dementia, who was less and less like herself as time went on. Yet we loved her fiercely anyway and did whatever we could to keep the new version of her comfortable while grieving the person she used to be.
And that’s what Miri did. Despite her fear and grief and confusion and horror, she took care of her wife.
While I don’t feel wrecked by this book, I’m left feeling a little hollow. Wanting something more, knowing it’s in there, but unable to find it.
But that seems to fit the theme.
The first 65 pages had me enthralled—heartbroken and anxious. Then it got *weird*. But there was a kind of beauty in its lack of detail. Because it didn’t feel like the horrors that befell Leah were all that important anyway. It was Miri’s grief amidst her unwavering love that hooked me.
I spent 4 years caring for a loved one with dementia, who was less and less like herself as time went on. Yet we loved her fiercely anyway and did whatever we could to keep the new version of her comfortable while grieving the person she used to be.
And that’s what Miri did. Despite her fear and grief and confusion and horror, she took care of her wife.
While I don’t feel wrecked by this book, I’m left feeling a little hollow. Wanting something more, knowing it’s in there, but unable to find it.
But that seems to fit the theme.
Content Warnings
Minor: Gore and Panic attacks/disorders
hollacalla's review against another edition
Too much body horror, not enough character or plot development.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Gore and Toxic relationship
litrallymadlad's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
I genuinely love a mystery that goes unsolved but I was given so much investment in the discovery of what happened that I cared more about the meaning of the wife’s condition than the characters themselves. I was infuriated by the inaction of the wife and was given no concrete reason for why she was inactive. It the discovery was discovered (lol) I’ll admit to more empathy for her but GIRL. IF YOU’RE GONNA BE SHOTGUNNING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF SALT WATER I JUST NEED A BIT MORE SUBSTANCE TO YOUR EXPLANATION 👏👏👏👏👏👏 Perhaps this means I missed the entire point, and that it solidifies the need for agency of the patient in medical emergencies, BUT I WAS GIVEN NO REASON TO TRUST THE WIFE’S LOGIC. WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE’S TURNING INTO A BLOB OF SALT WATER, LOOKIN LIKE A BLOATED FROG ??? AND IM JUST SUPPOSED TO ACCEPT IT ??? IM SORRY TO SAY BUT I DONT THINK YOUR SALT WATER SOLUTION (no pun intended) IS HELPING THIS SITUATION.
And has time as gone on, whenever I think about this book I just feel frustrated. The way I would have CAMPED. OUT. CALLED EVERY MEDIA COMPANY IN TOWN. And raised HELL at the company the wife worked for. I just felt helpless in the face of the characters inaction I ALSO HATE PHONE CALLS AND EMAILS?? AND I FEEL LIKE THATS ALL THAT WAS DONE ON THE WIFE’S BEHALF. WHERE ARE THE MEGAPHONES OUT FRONT OF THE BUILDING?? START THROWIN ROCKS AT THE WINDOWS OR SOMETHING I DONT CARE !!!
And has time as gone on, whenever I think about this book I just feel frustrated. The way I would have CAMPED. OUT. CALLED EVERY MEDIA COMPANY IN TOWN. And raised HELL at the company the wife worked for. I just felt helpless in the face of the characters inaction I ALSO HATE PHONE CALLS AND EMAILS?? AND I FEEL LIKE THATS ALL THAT WAS DONE ON THE WIFE’S BEHALF. WHERE ARE THE MEGAPHONES OUT FRONT OF THE BUILDING?? START THROWIN ROCKS AT THE WINDOWS OR SOMETHING I DONT CARE !!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Medical content
the_true_monroe's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This book left me with more questions than answers, yet I was satisfied with the ending enough to accept this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Confinement, Body horror, Gaslighting, Blood, Grief, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Self harm, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Dementia, Lesbophobia, and Sexual content
thebechdelbitch's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
I haven't been this affected by a book in ages. Frequently I had to put it down because I was too scared, or too sad. It freaked me out, broke my heart, stunned me with its beauty and absolutely prodded at my thalassaphobia throughout. AND it was gay. AND a beautiful exploration of grief. And like 200 pages long. So so impressive. Wow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Cancer
kathleenivy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Dementia, Terminal illness, and Death
Minor: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Lesbophobia, Eating disorder, and Gaslighting
mruds's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
It was a journey — I understand why the sections are labeled in the way that they are.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore
kirkspockreads'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Suicide attempt, Grief, and Gore
heartofhorrors's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Death, Gore, Confinement, Grief, and Body horror
maeverose's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
I’m unsure how I feel about this yet.
TL;DR: As other people have said, this isn’t so much horror as a book about grief with horror sprinkled throughout. I was interested to see what would happen the whole way through and I do tend to like books about grief, but in the end am left feeling overall ‘meh’ about the book.
A note on the horror elements for those worried about it:
If you’re especially bothered by body horror, gore, or themes of going insane I would go in prepared for that if you plan on reading it. I’m not a horror reader and I dislike reading those themes, but most of this book was fine for me (check my content warnings section for which parts to skip if you also dislike these themes but want to read anyway. You can’t really skip the ‘going insane’ stuff unless you just don’t read any of Leah’s chapters, but you’d be missing out on some parts of the story then). That being said, you know what your own limits are best. I have a moderate tolerance for gore in books and I’m rarely bothered by non-gory body horror. If you have a low tolerance overall, I’d probably skip it.
Now on to my thoughts:
(Vague/minor plot spoilers, but not really since this is not a plot-focused book)
I liked the way the Centre was depicted as this mysterious corporate entity, and wish that was explored more, as well asthe whole sea creature thing . I get that the horror and mystery elements aren’t the focus, the focus is on Miri’s grief, with the horror elements being a metaphorical parallel to losing a loved one to illness. But it’s left somewhat unclear whether or not it’s also actually happening. If it is actually happening, then that leaves me a bit frustrated with how Miri acted. She seemed so uninterested in finding answers or taking any sort of legal action against the Centre. At no point does the idea even come up to do that, and that seems so ridiculous to me given everything they kept quiet about and the entire way they acted and operated. If I were Miri I’d be pissed at them. I’d be demanding answers. She pretty much gave up after they stopped responding to her calls. I didn’t understand why she never took Leah to a doctor, especially given how much she obviously cares about her, why wasn’t she doing everything she could to help her? When Juna met up with Miri and tried to explain what she found out and Miri cut her off and left, I was so annoyed. She seemed so uninterested in what Juna had to say and I would be the exact opposite. She didn’t seem at all shocked to learn that someone died on the same trip her wife was on… In general Miri seemed much more focused on her own grief rather than being concerned for her wife who clearly went through an extremely traumatic experience. Again, if none of it is really real then it makes sense but with it being somewhat left up to interpretation, it was frustrating.
On that note, I’ll end with some quotes about grieving missing loved ones that I liked:
“-grieving was complicated by lack of certainty, that the hope inherent in a missing loved one was also a species of curse.”
“In almost every case, the sense of loss was convoluted by an ache of possibility, by the almost-but-not-quite-negligible hope of reprieve.”
“Grief is selfish: we cry for ourselves without the person we have lost far more than we cry for the person - but more than that, we cry because it helps. The grief process is also the coping process and if the grief is frozen by ambiguity, by the constant possibility of reversal, then so is the ability to cope.”
TL;DR: As other people have said, this isn’t so much horror as a book about grief with horror sprinkled throughout. I was interested to see what would happen the whole way through and I do tend to like books about grief, but in the end am left feeling overall ‘meh’ about the book.
A note on the horror elements for those worried about it:
If you’re especially bothered by body horror, gore, or themes of going insane I would go in prepared for that if you plan on reading it. I’m not a horror reader and I dislike reading those themes, but most of this book was fine for me (check my content warnings section for which parts to skip if you also dislike these themes but want to read anyway. You can’t really skip the ‘going insane’ stuff unless you just don’t read any of Leah’s chapters, but you’d be missing out on some parts of the story then). That being said, you know what your own limits are best. I have a moderate tolerance for gore in books and I’m rarely bothered by non-gory body horror. If you have a low tolerance overall, I’d probably skip it.
Now on to my thoughts:
(Vague/minor plot spoilers, but not really since this is not a plot-focused book)
I liked the way the Centre was depicted as this mysterious corporate entity, and wish that was explored more, as well as
On that note, I’ll end with some quotes about grieving missing loved ones that I liked:
“-grieving was complicated by lack of certainty, that the hope inherent in a missing loved one was also a species of curse.”
“In almost every case, the sense of loss was convoluted by an ache of possibility, by the almost-but-not-quite-negligible hope of reprieve.”
“Grief is selfish: we cry for ourselves without the person we have lost far more than we cry for the person - but more than that, we cry because it helps. The grief process is also the coping process and if the grief is frozen by ambiguity, by the constant possibility of reversal, then so is the ability to cope.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Terminal illness, Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, and Dementia
Moderate: Sexual content, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Vomit, Cancer, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Lesbophobia and Fatphobia
There are depictions of people gradually losing their mind in confinement,