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acorny's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? No
5.0
Absolutely incredible book, exploring love, grief, trauma and relationships changing through all these things. depicted so beautifully through the lens of a science fiction/horror novel. It felt appropriately suspenseful and the ending was heartbreaking despite my anticipating its ending awhile before. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Confinement, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Grief, Suicide, and Homophobia
stripeyworm's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Vomit
honigmelone43's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Vomit
Mentions ofcassbarker's review against another edition
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I cannot begin to express how much this book moved me - Will note though that it is definitely not horror, more psychological thriller with some eeriness. So much left unanswered that simultaneously frustrates me so much and makes me love the book even more. Leaving the reader to draw their own conclusion was the perfect way for this book to go. So beautifully heartbreaking, Armfield is incredible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Vomit
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
olive_lol's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.25
The main draw of this book is its atmophere: unsettling, contemplative, and unique in use of the ocean, showcased in its lyrical and haunting prose. I can't get over the writing in this book—it fits the flowing, unnerving nature of the ocean so well.
The novel's horror is eerie and slowburn, so much so that at times, it may not really feel like horror at all, just a lingering unease. The horror aspects, I'd say, are most effective if a reader comes into the story already afraid of the ocean.
Seeing Leah's perspective from the past contrasted alongside her in the present creates a certain disconnect that leaves the reader questioning how, exactly, she could have changed so much. That said, the ending left a few more open questions than I would have liked, and some parts of it felt half-heartedly set up.
An eerie, unsettling read with haunting prose whose characters and storyline mirror the ocean it centers around.
The novel's horror is eerie and slowburn, so much so that at times, it may not really feel like horror at all, just a lingering unease. The horror aspects, I'd say, are most effective if a reader comes into the story already afraid of the ocean.
Seeing Leah's perspective from the past contrasted alongside her in the present creates a certain disconnect that leaves the reader questioning how, exactly, she could have changed so much. That said, the ending left a few more open questions than I would have liked, and some parts of it felt half-heartedly set up.
An eerie, unsettling read with haunting prose whose characters and storyline mirror the ocean it centers around.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Cursing, and Death
Minor: Blood and Vomit
hxppyhxt's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
- 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
5.0
If you enjoyed the TV series The Haunting of Bly Manor, this is the book for you.
Our Wives Under the Sea is a haunting and heart wrenching read that explores the fear of the unknown depths and changes in relationship dynamics.
Though the story is haunting, I don’t think I would call it horror in the modern sense of the genre. There are absolutely elements of body horror and psychological horror, though a large portion of the conflict is seen through the eyes of Miri, whose life is irreversibly changed when her wife, Leah, returns months late from a subsea expedition, who must grieve the life of a person who is technically still alive while adapting life around the echoes of her partner's traumatic experience.
One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen about this book is that there is no full explanation for why the initial change in Leah occurs. Where many readers find this to be a weak spot, I think it is one of the book’s strengths. Armfield relays enough information about the event for the reader to get a general idea about what is going on, but not enough to provide an exact explanation. Instead, she leaves room for the reader to fill in the horrific details. Though I enjoyed this aspect of the book, I know that this, paired with the slow paced and relationship-focused nature of the story, may not appeal to many audiences. However, if you are a part of Armfield's niche intended audience, you will be reflecting on Our Wives Under the Sea for weeks after completing it.
Our Wives Under the Sea is a haunting and heart wrenching read that explores the fear of the unknown depths and changes in relationship dynamics.
Though the story is haunting, I don’t think I would call it horror in the modern sense of the genre. There are absolutely elements of body horror and psychological horror, though a large portion of the conflict is seen through the eyes of Miri, whose life is irreversibly changed when her wife, Leah, returns months late from a subsea expedition, who must grieve the life of a person who is technically still alive while adapting life around the echoes of her partner's traumatic experience.
One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen about this book is that there is no full explanation for why the initial change in Leah occurs. Where many readers find this to be a weak spot, I think it is one of the book’s strengths. Armfield relays enough information about the event for the reader to get a general idea about what is going on, but not enough to provide an exact explanation. Instead, she leaves room for the reader to fill in the horrific details. Though I enjoyed this aspect of the book, I know that this, paired with the slow paced and relationship-focused nature of the story, may not appeal to many audiences. However, if you are a part of Armfield's niche intended audience, you will be reflecting on Our Wives Under the Sea for weeks after completing it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Grief
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Confinement and Death
kearneth's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book filled me with a dread I found to be almost comforting in its suffocating intensity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Vomit
znvisser's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
This was a beautiful, short story that was both very real and human, and very weird, and I loved it for both. Armfield did a great job of showing all the small pieces of a close relationship, from the gestures and memories to how togetherness evolves. I loved how you get to know Leah and Miri through their accumulation of experiences; how after meeting, they weave together into a new, shared entity (whether physically together or not) which is lost again when Leah returns, for which reason you really live through Miri’s loss. Meanwhile, Leah’s backstory strangely made me wonder whether her experience under the sea changed her that much or that it somehow helped her finally becoming what she was meant to be all along. (Also brilliant book cover)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Grief, and Suicide
Moderate: Death, Vomit, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Terminal illness
axel_p's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
relaxing
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Eating disorder, Grief, Confinement, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Suicide, Terminal illness, Body horror, Chronic illness, and Vomit