Reviews

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

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krussek's review against another edition

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4.0

I love lesbians and submarines and allegories

oxnard_montalvo's review against another edition

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Creepy body horror with some deep sea cthulhu inspired eldritch cosmic insanity thrown in for good measure. With snippets of Leah and Miri's relationship lovingly sprinkled throughout. An oddly disconnected relationship at that: you certainly get the sense of their love when they speak of one another, and in the individual memories, but it comes across as exactly that; a memory, even when the other person is there. Granted, pretty much all their interactions are when Leah has 'changed' so... fair reason why they're a little distant with each other.
It could have maybe gotten to the point a little quicker, but ultimately, it was a satisfying ending.

celinbean's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

this book might have gone a little over my head or im simply not the target audience. I watched a pretty good youtube review/ derp dive on it to better understand why people loved it so much and that did help.

If you look at it as a combination of a gothic novel and a modern romance novel it does make more sense. I think i just went into it expecting a lesbian horror novel when it really wasn’t.

Miri is a little unlikeable in the way she’s infuriatingly unable to take care of someone else. Its shown in flashbacks in how she handled her mothers sickness and then in the present in how she’s unable to do anything to help leah. Her inaction was annoying me so much but i guess that was the whole point.

The flashbacks tell us who leah was before she was lost under the sea and who they were as a couple before it as well. Which made it even more heartbreaking to see the contrast between the before and the after leah.

Ultimately it’s a good book it’s dark and atmospheric and it feels claustrophobic, all good aspects for a gothic novel. Im afraid im simply not a gothic lit girly and it was advertised to me as a queer horror novel. But again if you are into gothic novels you’ll probably like this one!