Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

50 reviews

cady_sass's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

I don’t know what I was expecting but it certainly wasn’t what I got. What a weird, eerie piece of writing. Yet also beautiful and elegant. But I need to stress on the weird - this definitely won’t be for everyone and has an ending that some/most may find maddening. It’s not quite horror, but it’s not quite anything else either, and I’m not sure how to quantify it. I would love to see an indie film adaptation of this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Dysphoria, Body horror, Death of parent, Abandonment, Grief, Sexual content, and Death

tallhousecookies's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Death of parent

raelinton's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Haunting and sad. I didn't find myself as satisfied as I had hoped to be, but I was moved.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Abandonment, Body horror, Death of parent, Death, and Confinement

michaelion's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it. White people can't write magical realism! An overgeneralization, I know. I don't fully mean it of course, not 100%, maybe just 90-something%, but the elements of it were there and there was still something missing.

I like the book. It's nice. It's pretty slow. The thing you think is happening is, but it isn't revealed until you're closer to 3/4ths of the way done as opposed to halfway, which also makes it feels slow. That could've been fine, except the backstory showing what their relationship used to be is kind of a drag and doesn't really add anything. Most of those stories didn't feel charming or sweet or fun. Just boring. But I guess that's the point? Falling in love with the mundanity, with the little moments here and there. Remembering things you didn't think in the moment you'd need to remember later. Either way, it didn't work for me, personally.

I also liked the nerdy bits.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Body horror, Confinement, and Grief

Moderate: Gaslighting, Death, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Blood, Vomit, and Abandonment

chris_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

I genuinely don't know what to feel about this. Somehow really good and meh simultaneously. I loved the prose and themes and atmosphere, but I also felt like I was missing something? It ends in a somewhat inconclusive way in which I'm not really sure what the author was trying to say. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, and Mental illness

Moderate: Body horror, Dysphoria, and Medical content

Minor: Dementia and Eating disorder

lily_peach's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, Fatphobia, and Eating disorder

Minor: Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Dementia, and Homophobia

mzynda's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Confinement

iliveinletters's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Grief

Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Abandonment

Minor: Blood and Body horror

bad_bookworm_h's review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The vibes were immaculate. Loved this so much. Maybe I do like horror afterall... 👏😚👌

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, and Confinement

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Lesbophobia and Animal death

charleshasalibrary's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail