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dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
I loved Our Wives Under the Sea. It's unique, very well written, has creepy vibes, hints of sci-fi monsters, and some body horror, but it's ultimately a tragic love story and an exploration of grief and loss.
Miri's timeline varies a lot, with some parts far back in the past, some just a few months before, when her wife Leah was missing, and some in present day, when Leah has returned but is different and strange. Leah's POV is usually in the past, never once she returned after those months gone. It does also go back to memories from various times, like Miri's.
The voice actors were great, and this way of storytelling really worked for this book. The story isn't really about the details of what happened to Leah during her months gone, but about Leah and Miri's relationship and struggling to deal with everything changing and the grief and loss of it all. Experiencing different memories of each character really let me feel the loss of their relationship in the present day.
Reminds me a bit of This Is How You Lose the Time War, not in the subject matter at all, but in the sense that you don't always get the whole picture, or a full understanding of the world, or all the answers. That and the writing is just beautiful in both books, even if not exactly the same way. In this book, you get an emotional close up view of someone desperately clinging to a relationship despite mysterious and tragic circumstances tearing them apart, and only bits and pieces of what actually happened that changed everything. Even though you don't fully understand everything that happened to the characters, you feel the weight of what they experienced, and you understand how difficult it is for them to try and hold onto how things used to be.
This story is going to stay with me for a while, and even if I will wonder about exactly what happened at the bottom of the ocean, I'm okay with the focus of the book being on the characters. Our Wives Under the Sea slowly squeezed my heart until it broke. I knew it was coming, and the journey toward the inevitable end made it hurt all the more. 5/5 stars, highly recommend for a unique read.
Miri's timeline varies a lot, with some parts far back in the past, some just a few months before, when her wife Leah was missing, and some in present day, when Leah has returned but is different and strange. Leah's POV is usually in the past, never once she returned after those months gone. It does also go back to memories from various times, like Miri's.
The voice actors were great, and this way of storytelling really worked for this book. The story isn't really about the details of what happened to Leah during her months gone, but about Leah and Miri's relationship and struggling to deal with everything changing and the grief and loss of it all. Experiencing different memories of each character really let me feel the loss of their relationship in the present day.
Reminds me a bit of This Is How You Lose the Time War, not in the subject matter at all, but in the sense that you don't always get the whole picture, or a full understanding of the world, or all the answers. That and the writing is just beautiful in both books, even if not exactly the same way. In this book, you get an emotional close up view of someone desperately clinging to a relationship despite mysterious and tragic circumstances tearing them apart, and only bits and pieces of what actually happened that changed everything. Even though you don't fully understand everything that happened to the characters, you feel the weight of what they experienced, and you understand how difficult it is for them to try and hold onto how things used to be.
This story is going to stay with me for a while, and even if I will wonder about exactly what happened at the bottom of the ocean, I'm okay with the focus of the book being on the characters. Our Wives Under the Sea slowly squeezed my heart until it broke. I knew it was coming, and the journey toward the inevitable end made it hurt all the more. 5/5 stars, highly recommend for a unique read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Grief
Moderate: Confinement, Suicide
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Usually even when I'm really enjoying a book, I look forward to finishing it and starting a new one. But when I realised I only had a few pages left of this book, I got really sad and started dragging it out.
There's so much to this book despite its short length, I think it would actually benefit from a re-read. The mystery and emotional journey are equally compelling. I love reading good books.
There's so much to this book despite its short length, I think it would actually benefit from a re-read. The mystery and emotional journey are equally compelling. I love reading good books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Terminal illness
Moderate: Death
I know tagging terminal illness might be debatable but I think anyone seeking to avoid that subject would benefit from the tag
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I found the prose of this book very beautiful. It lulled me into this melancholic trance that settled over my mood like mist for hours after reading. Despite the aching sadness of the words I didn’t connect emotionally with the story or the characters. On the whole I felt stranded in the emptiness most frequently inhabited in the aftermath of an unsatisfactory cry.
Edit to add:
Speculating about plot points and the “what really happened” of it all has increased my enjoyment of the book. Mood comments still stand though.
Edit to add:
Speculating about plot points and the “what really happened” of it all has increased my enjoyment of the book. Mood comments still stand though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Suicide, Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment
Minor: Lesbophobia
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The horror elements were left primarily off page or very vaguely described. It was like HP Lovecraft without all the racism. The creature(s) were barely described and were just some Other figure in the depths. I liked the potential of the split POVS but we were constantly flipping between them so we didn't really get to feel the unwinding of those in the submarine alongside the wife on shore.
The pace of the story is so slow that for most of it, the journey felt like "learning to love the spouse that came back wrong" but if the 'came back wrong' was a physical disability. This felt much more grief than horror and I'd been hoping for more horror than grief.
It's a grief metaphor! The whole thing is just Miri learning to let go! Leah might as well have never actually returned because then it would have been an interesting glimpse of a grief-stricken psychosis paired alongside the Husband in Space forum tangent.
The pace of the story is so slow that for most of it, the journey felt like "learning to love the spouse that came back wrong" but if the 'came back wrong' was a physical disability. This felt much more grief than horror and I'd been hoping for more horror than grief.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Grief
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, Lesbophobia
dark
mysterious
tense
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I knew this book was not going to be what I expected, and yet somehow I was still surprised. I think this book was so well written, and so encompassing of not only love, but also the loss and confusion of losing the loved one that you once knew. About 90% of the way through this book I suddenly realized I didn't know if I could actually describe the plot of the book up to this point, but not in a bad way. By the end of the book, I still can barely tell you what happened - I may be pissed about it but again, I don't know why I expected anything different.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror