Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

42 reviews

nonesensed's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

Miri has throughout her marriage had to get used to her wife Leah going away for work for long and occasionally unpredictable spans of time. Leah mainly does her work at sea, even more often under said sea's surface, which makes scheduling tricky. But she's always come back. This is the first time she's almost didn't. After a trip of a few weeks turned into a six month disappearance, Miri now has to adjust to having Leah back home. Readjusting is made harder by Leah not quite being herself. What happened to Leah during her absence? And what will happen to her now?

A beautifully written story! To me it ended up a more melancholy experience rather than a full-blown horror one, but I'm not disappointed. The chills were lovely when they happened. The romance was bittersweet. The meeting point between the two was interesting to experience because it was handled so well. And the ending fit with the rest of the story and paid off all the things the story builds up. 

Recommended to all people who want to read a horror story about the things that lurk at the bottom of the sea combined with a soft eulogy to a loving relationship slowly suffocating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Gore

kaanda's review against another edition

slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

Super engaging throughout. Romantic in the weirdest ways while stringing along a story that was so fun to put together as the book went on. Sad, but rewarding with a ton of beautiful lines.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Dementia

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Vomit, Gore, Violence, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Confinement, and Suicide

_rowan_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Vomit, Dementia, Eating disorder, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide

beth_farrelly's review

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

rebeccadiv's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Gore

Minor: Homophobia, Chronic illness, and Death of parent

maggiekateb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

Like Samantha Hunt's The Seas but gay and sadder. I couldn't put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

hedsek's review against another edition

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

hanmccull's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

What utterly beautiful, devastating writing. I savoured every sentence. An incredible book which leaves you with lots of questions!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore

senwithers's review

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.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gore and Panic attacks/disorders

hollacalla's review

Too much body horror, not enough character or plot development. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Gore and Toxic relationship