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tinyjude's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
I find myself unable to describe this book in such a manner that it deserves. The word that comes to mind most often is "haunting" in all its senses.
It is a book about grief and slowly losing someone you deeply love, either by time, death or unnatural changes. It's also a mystery in itself, it makes you question the reliability of both narrators as they are at the precipice of a mental breakdown. The best way to explain this book is by connecting it with the genre "cosmic horrors", also known as lovecraftian horrors and I quote from the wikipedia "subgenre of horror and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible" it encompases inquieries related to existentialism. Cosmic horror is about "the forbidden and dangerous knowledge, madness, non-human influences on humanity, religion and superstition, fate and inevitability, and the risks associated with scientific discoveries."
Rather than a visceral, descriptive and gorey type of horror, the author delves into this niche subgenre both in connection with the ocean and human relationships- especifically the main couple, Leah and Miri -. The writing style is gorgeous and profoundly sorrowful from the very first words. You kind of know what is going to happen but you still refuse to let your guess win, you get to know their past-selves and the shells they have become now and you weep for both their journeys.
I cannot fanthom how deeply traumatic the time underwater must have been. Sensing being watched, everyone slowly stripping away from their consciousness and memories, having erratic behaviours and witnessing the deterioration of the minds of your crewmates. The ocean in itself and its depths hold such mysteries and dangers we barely know about, so every little description or data we got from this incommensurable part of the Earth is in itself a wonder and a horror. But also the uncertainty of your partner's location, health state, anything, for six months, would certainly drive out someone mad.
In a sense, especially at the beginning, it reminded me of "The Haunting of Bly Mannor"and Dani's end, as well as Jamie's desperation, pain and longing for Dani for the rest of her life. . Which only made this book more special. I felt that I could connect with the characters' pains and fears and I was deeply immersed until the last word.
How painful must it be to find someone you knew every part of, a complete stranger. How painful must it be to watch them transform into something you barely comprehend and can't do anything about. How painful must it be to come to terms with what's best for them, even if that leaves you broken inside.
I think that simply the soft repeated words of "My Leah" in that final chapter, will haunt me for a long long time.
It is a book about grief and slowly losing someone you deeply love, either by time, death or unnatural changes. It's also a mystery in itself, it makes you question the reliability of both narrators as they are at the precipice of a mental breakdown. The best way to explain this book is by connecting it with the genre "cosmic horrors", also known as lovecraftian horrors and I quote from the wikipedia "subgenre of horror and weird fiction that emphasizes
Rather than a visceral, descriptive and gorey type of horror, the author delves into this niche subgenre both in connection with the ocean and human relationships- especifically the main couple, Leah and Miri -. The writing style is gorgeous and profoundly sorrowful from the very first words. You kind of know what is going to happen but you still refuse to let your guess win, you get to know their past-selves and the shells they have become now and you weep for both their journeys.
I cannot fanthom how deeply traumatic the time underwater must have been. Sensing being watched, everyone slowly stripping away from their consciousness and memories, having erratic behaviours and witnessing the deterioration of the minds of your crewmates. The ocean in itself and its depths hold such mysteries and dangers we barely know about, so every little description or data we got from this incommensurable part of the Earth is in itself a wonder and a horror. But also the uncertainty of your partner's location, health state, anything, for six months, would certainly drive out someone mad.
In a sense, especially at the beginning, it reminded me of "The Haunting of Bly Mannor"
How painful must it be to find someone you knew every part of, a complete stranger. How painful must it be to watch them transform into something you barely comprehend and can't do anything about. How painful must it be to come to terms with what's best for them, even if that leaves you broken inside.
I think that simply the soft repeated words of "My Leah" in that final chapter, will haunt me for a long long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Confinement
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Eating disorder
nikenacs's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
4.0
Strong portrayal of love, loss, and watching yourself grieve a love, even while it's still around. Listened to it on two rainy train rides over the North Sea, which was the perfect gloomy atmosphere. Good portrayal of depression, directly fed into my own depression tbh. All their relationship memories coming back made me think of all my loved ones and the little details I love about them, as well, I really enjoyed that. Especially when those memories start showing up in Leah's parts as well!
However, especially Miri's parts were a bit too slow-paced for my personal taste, and Miri as a protagonist increasingly irritated me with how much she was a dick to everyone around her. I know this is intentional, and I think I'd have more compassion with a real person, but as a protagonist, she was a lot at times.
However, especially Miri's parts were a bit too slow-paced for my personal taste, and Miri as a protagonist increasingly irritated me with how much she was a dick to everyone around her. I know this is intentional, and I think I'd have more compassion with a real person, but as a protagonist, she was a lot at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Death
Moderate: Terminal illness, Sexual content, Dementia, Medical content, Chronic illness, and Mental illness
Minor: Lesbophobia and Homophobia
scytheria's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Abandonment, Body horror, Terminal illness, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Confinement
Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Injury/Injury detail
Trigger warning for those with thalassophobia (fear of deep water/what is under the ocean). Also lots of metaphors involving teeth.walenchao's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
A beautiful cosmic horror story told not for scares, but for the scars a harrowing experience leaves. A love so true it can only be broken by something so of this world, yet completely unknown. Beautiful prose, only wish there was more to read of it if I’m being honest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Sexual content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
theo_retical's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Enjoyable, but a little frustrating in that things felt unexplained/ambiguous
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Abandonment and Death
noble_xoxo's review
challenging
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Interesting book. Often challenging to piece together the entire picture. Characters are highly flawed but highly human. Goes where you expect it to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Moderate: Abandonment
sonygaystation's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
I really enjoyed the writing but the plot itself left things to be desired. I wanted more spookiness, more weirdness. I felt like it ended with a lot of unanswered questions and I wish it had more of a plot rather than just two alternating perspectives basically written like journal entries. Would’ve LOVEEEED to have more fleshed out time in the ocean and maybe a little more detail into the company who put them down there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Abandonment, and Body horror
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death and Sexual content
julesadventurezone's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A story about being a hypochondriac living in a rented flat with thin walls who finds it so hard to keep up with friends, whose wife says she'll be gone for three weeks and instead stays gone for six months. And then when she comes back she comes back so wrong. How do you live with that grief? What can you even hope to do about this?
It's a love story, it's a ghost story, it's a horror story.
It's a love story, it's a ghost story, it's a horror story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Death, Violence, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Suicide, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual content, Vomit, Abandonment, Dementia, Gore, Blood, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Cursing
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia
Contains descriptions oftheirgracegrace's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.25
I read this book in a whirlwind three weeks and I cannot get it out of my head. The pastiche of character moments (especially at the end) can come across as jarring but helps to solidify the main characters Miri and Leah. Their relationship deteriorates when Leah comes back "wrong" after a routine research trip in a submarine leaves her stranded on the ocean floor for six months. The point-of-view bounces between Miri trying to make sense of her wife's strange behaviour and Leah explaining how the trip might have purposefully done for some mysterious ends. A tragic ending puts this book high on my list of recommended books. A fantastic read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Body horror, Confinement, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Animal death, Terminal illness, Cursing, Dementia, Mental illness, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Blood, Violence, Animal cruelty, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer
One of the main characters is trapped in a submarine with two other people for six months and the three of them go clinically insane.broccoli_j'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This books reads like a mix of „a lady's guide to celestial mechanics“ by Olivia Waite and „Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead“ by Emily Austin with an amazing, thrilling story within.
If you liked the writing style of „Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead“ you will definitely like the writing style of Julia Armfield!
If you liked the writing style of „Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead“ you will definitely like the writing style of Julia Armfield!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Violence, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Chronic illness, Gaslighting, and Dementia