Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

49 reviews

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.

 

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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

renegadegrocerycart's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Beautifully devastating. Set on sea and on land, a mix of nautical mystery and doomed romance. The nonlinear storytelling is brilliant, particularly Leah’s portions “under the sea.”

Reads as a metaphor for losing someone to a degenerative illness. The final scene is hauntingly beautiful and tragic.

Suggested pairing: The Route of Ice and Salt. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Death, and Medical content

Big TW for claustrophobia, if the idea of being trapped in a submarine is upsetting to you.

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Medical content

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Sexual harassment

hanz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Loved this. A combination of a love story, a story about grief and a slightly creepy story. I found it so easy to read and compulsively readable, I didn't want to put it down. It somehow made me laugh and made me filled with dread, but in a good way. Best book I've read so far this year. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Medical content

mold_munchr'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This wasn't a gothic horror novel in the traditional sense of the word, but rather a novel about slow inevitable loss and self-destruction. The horror aspect of it was a vessel for the emotions which it held - it's not really about what's at the bottom of the sea, is it? And I guess maybe that's what ultimately makes it a gothic horror after all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Dementia, and Grief

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Blood, Medical content, Sexual content, and Medical trauma

andrewhatesham's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

I used to think there was such a thing as emptiness, that there were places in the world one could go and be alone. This, I think, is still true, but the error in my reasoning was to assume that alone was somewhere you could go, rather than somewhere you had to be left.

This one lives up to the hype.

Our Wives Under the Sea is a grotesquely beautiful exploration of grief in its many shapes and forms, both figurative and literal. The writing style is amazing and the plot is refreshingly unique. Some of the body horror did get to me, but overall the horror aspect is much more psychological and emotional. I still don't know what to make of the ending, but I think that's the way it's supposed to be. Uncertainty is scary.

Don't go into this expecting terrifying scenes and mind shattering plot twists because it's not that type of book. This is the type of book that can have you reading the same passage over and over again, lingering on certain words; a book to get comfortable in despite the discomfort. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, and Confinement

Minor: Suicide, Death, and Medical content

deetabz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Terminal illness, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Blood

Minor: Sexual content, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

aseel_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

I liked the writing style of this and I really enjoyed the first of the book, on those alone, I would have given it a 4 star rating but then the plot didn't really develop and I didn't really understand why the submarine stayed down for so long...? We got a half answer and I wish that was done better. I also don't really understand what we were suppose to get from this book???

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Grief, Body horror, Confinement, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Death, and Medical content

brianna_moye's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Confinement and Death

Minor: Medical content, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

smolren'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Dementia, Death, and Suicide

Minor: Lesbophobia, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders