Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

66 reviews

niyou's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

Our Wives under the Sea takes soft horror and uses it to tell a poignant love story. At the beginning, Miri announces her intent to make us not just understand – but feel. This definitely succeeded with me. I felt Miri and Leah’s love for each other, and their panic and grief at its impending loss. The horror shifts between the eerie mystery at the heart of Leah’s story and the soft body horror we see through Miri’s eyes. At first, I did not care for the body horror as it didn’t have the same emotional impact. Then I realized that this disconnect is as much part of the story as Leah’s mystery. It’s so sad that they never got to experience each other’s narratives, the way you do as a reader. I expect that I’ll return to this story often to explore its hidden depths (pun intended).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content and Body horror

Minor: Homophobia

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This book is definitely not for everyone - it's a slow, almost meditative book and it doesn't exactly tie up neatly at the end - but I really enjoyed it. Miri's wife Leah was missing for months after her submarine mission for a mysterious oceanography centre went awry (or did it??), and upon her miraculous return, she's changed in some pretty fundamental ways. The book is divided into sections where Miri is dealing with her grief and frustration in the present, and where Leah is telling the story of what happened on the mission in the past.

I do wish that Leah had gotten a POV chapter in the present, and a few of Miri's chapters had some weird biphobia for no real reason, but other than that I loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Medical content, Terminal illness, Blood, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicide, Biphobia, Vomit, Animal death, and Eating disorder

aquariusisms's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Blood, Sexual content, Grief, Mental illness, Confinement, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Vomit, and Medical content

linguaphile412's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death, Body horror, Death of parent, Suicide, Blood, Confinement, and Vomit

Moderate: Sexual content

breadwitchery's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, and Death

Minor: Gore, Death of parent, Cursing, and Self harm

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Death, and Grief

Minor: Sexual content