A review by emmadthompson
Our Wives Under the Sea, by Julia Armfield
3.0
I blame my expectations on my lukewarm response towards this novel. I picked this up not knowing the hype, simply starting it because a friend had found it and said "I think this is a horror book set in the deep sea." I definitely wouldn't call this a horror, although there was potential throughout the story and is what kept me reading. This is a novel about grieving a relationship that hasn't ended yet, to put it simply. The writing is gorgeous- dreamy and sad in a cold, distant way.
I love anything to do with the ocean, so I appreciated all the long, drawn out bits about ocean creatures or tides or salt water. If this is not your thing, however, I can imagine this could get dull very fast. This story is completely character driven. The plot is fairly straight forward: a woman returns after a botched submarine research expedition and is clearly not herself anymore, while her wife reels with her return and her absence, both from the six-month expedition and also her current sate of being.
Very interesting premise, lesbian representation, and beautiful writing, but overall it left me wanting more. The shadowy agency in charge of the mission, the sounds heard in the depths, the way the submarine just stops although nothing appears to be wrong with any of the machines, and Leah's slow transition into something...else are too interesting for me to ignore.
If you go in knowing what I didn't, I imagine you'd enjoy it immensely more than I did.
I love anything to do with the ocean, so I appreciated all the long, drawn out bits about ocean creatures or tides or salt water. If this is not your thing, however, I can imagine this could get dull very fast. This story is completely character driven. The plot is fairly straight forward: a woman returns after a botched submarine research expedition and is clearly not herself anymore, while her wife reels with her return and her absence, both from the six-month expedition and also her current sate of being.
Very interesting premise, lesbian representation, and beautiful writing, but overall it left me wanting more. The shadowy agency in charge of the mission, the sounds heard in the depths, the way the submarine just stops although nothing appears to be wrong with any of the machines, and Leah's slow transition into something...else are too interesting for me to ignore.
If you go in knowing what I didn't, I imagine you'd enjoy it immensely more than I did.