Reviews with content warning for Dementia - Our Wives Under the Sea

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Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

58 reviews

looseleafellie's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

When marine biologist Leah comes home after being lost on a submarine research mission for six months, her wife Miri wonders what happened to her. But as Leah starts acting stranger and stranger, Miri wonders whether Leah is really back to stay at all.

This was a pretty short book with super lyrical prose that meant I could savor every word without it taking me forever to get through. I’m learning that I love short books with beautiful writing! I also love science, so the scientific facts about the ocean sprinkled through were super fun to read.

The mystery of what’s going to happen to Leah kept me waiting for answers, but it was never fully explained by the end — and surprisingly, I didn’t really mind. The point wasn’t why or how; the point was the what. I’m still mulling over the themes of love, loss, and the untameable power of nature, and I think I’ll be mulling for a long time.

Overall, if you’re looking for something creepy, speculative, romantic, and bittersweet — especially as a short book you can read in a day or a weekend — I highly recommend this one!

Spice level: Non-graphic.

CWs: Grief, body horror, death of a parent, dementia, suicide, mentions of homophobia.

Content Warnings

annact's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

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emotional 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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Content Warnings

mold_munchr's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

mmirjamm's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

starlit_pathways's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

aseel_reads's review against another edition

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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???

Content Warnings