Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

48 reviews

chaos_and_chapters's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Mental illness, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Confinement, Gore, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness

Minor: Sexual content and Medical content

ashwaar's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

I’m still unsure if this novel falls into the horror genre or the this-is-unlike-anything-I’ve-ever-read genre, but it likely straddles both. Our Wives Under The Sea is a haunting, beautiful, bleak novel about Miri, whose wife has been missing for six months on a clandestine deep-sea research trip. When Leah returns, Miri is overjoyed. However, it soon becomes clear that this Leah is not the same woman she married.

The novel changes perspectives from Miri to Leah with alternating chapters. Miri is dealing with the new Leah that has returned to her, who is bleeding from the skin and submerging herself in salt water baths. Back in the past, we see Leah and her research team stuck in a submarine at fathomless depths, waiting for what they might find at the very bottom of the ocean.

The book is rich with deep-sea metaphors and descriptions, allowing the reader to question just how much we’ve really discovered when 70% of the earth's surface is water and only 5% of this has been explored. At the same time, the writing is incredibly poignant and human, allowing us the see the weight that both Miri and Leah are struggling under.

At the end of it all, this book is at both times a love letter and a horror story to the ocean. Leah and Miri can both feel detached from the reader, and their circumstances are almost alien, but the ending retains such a deep connection to them both that it left me reeling. I would wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who doesn’t get freaked out by submarines or the ocean, it’s such a fascinating story that will stay with you long after finishing.

Read more on Wordpress at Bookmarked by Ash: https://book990337086.wordpress.com/

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Confinement, and Body horror

Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, Death, and Terminal illness

blacksphinx's review against another edition

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

2.0

I feel like, since I loved Annihilation, I should have loved this too? But I didn't. They have a lot of elements in common - a female scientist encounters something unexplainable while doing research for an mysterious organization - but I don't think the dual PoVs worked for me. It felt less like a horror novel or weird fiction than an exploration of the grief you feel to having a loved one die of a degenerative disease and/or dementia. 

If you have issues with body horror (especially eye injuries) DO NOT read this book - it made me physically ill. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Confinement

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Suicide, Dementia, and Mental illness

Minor: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Eating disorder

emmiej's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Body horror, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, and Vomit

reganphelps's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

I adore this book.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Medical content and Blood

kurumipanda's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Medical content, Death, and Abandonment

Minor: Violence and Suicide

rtthalia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Medical trauma, Medical content, Body horror, Death of parent, Eating disorder, and Grief

veliana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Medical content

Minor: Lesbophobia and Alcohol

melliedm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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 dive deep into the waters of love, loss, grief, and illness. Heart wrenching and nerve wracking. Incredible.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Grief, Confinement, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, and Sexual content

Minor: Lesbophobia

sea_sea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I really loved this book. It has lesbians and the ocean >o<!!!! 
It is, I think more of a metaphor and things do not get explained. 
I still really enjoyed reading it. Especially the submarine chapters were super interesting yet also kind of scary and haunting. The end made me cry though >^<.

I found the ending as beautiful as it was sad. It reminded me of the original ending of the little mermaid and, in a way, it fits in a sad and beautiful way.

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Confinement, Terminal illness, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, and Medical content