Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Our Wives Under The Sea

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

341 reviews

gia0203's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I found this book to be absolutely fascinating.

I have always found space more terrifying than the ocean. I think of the sea more curiously than fearfully, and sometimes wonder what’s beneath the surface. I went through a phase too of being obsessed with octopi (J still love them). So I actually found the story more beautiful than horrifying. Leah’s feelings about the ocean, and how she reflected on how it had shaped not just her life but everyone else’s, was wonderful to read. The ocean was always a source of comfort for her, but she also depended on it. It was an obsession, and I liked how this was a source of tension in Leah and Miri’s relationship.

I liked too how the book was a metaphor for grief. The death of the protagonist’s parents was intertwined with Leah’s narrative beautifully. The way Leah’s body changed was a reflection of slowly losing someone, and it was really well done. The ending definitely paid off because of this.

The pace moved slowly and gently like the ebb and flow of the waves. The text was littered with small details about Leah and Miri’s life and it made the reading experience really emotional. It’s hard to pull off a pace this slow without being dull, but for me this book was never boring, and instead I anticipated what was going to happen next while also enjoying being in the characters’ heads and learning about their lives. Leah was definitely a more concrete and likeable character than Miri, but by the end I loved both of them and thought their relationship was beautifully written.

I think the slow pace of the novel made me feel like I was losing my mind too. It’s easy to get lost in this book. It made me feel dreamy and not quite here. Sunken thoughts, as Miri would say.

On a final note,

I wish we could’ve found out more about the creature at the end - I was looking forward to reading the pages Leah wrote! I guess it’s left up to our imagination.

Regardless, I thought this was a wonderful and devastating book and I ordered a physical copy immediately upon finishing the digital version.

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sxndaze's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

These are all things that I know, but none of this is really important. I used to think it was vital to know things, to feel safe in the learning and recounting of facts. I used to think it was possible to know enough to escape from the panic of not know- ing, but I realise now that you can never learn enough to protect yourself, not really.

gorgeous written and hauntingly romantic

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justjaqueline's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Sadly, this did not hit it out of the park for me.
While the writing is beautiful, and the character work top notch, I was trying so hard to understand the point of it all that I couldn't lose myself in it.
So I guess my recommendation is to stop thinking while reading and just feel it.

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mangofraiche's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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biobeetle's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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peregrinwho's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

You know when you're reading and you struggle through certain pov's so you can get to your favorite characters pov? Imagine that, but there's only two pov's and your favorite only gets 2 or 3 pages per chapter. Does that make this book bad? Absolutely not. For my tastes, it just made the pacing really slow, since things only really happened in those little windows. Maybe if there had been more prose in between to keep the mind engaged more it wouldn't have felt this way. What did happen was very intriguing and thought-provoking however, and the author has a way of describing physical things that makes you feel like you can touch them. It's just too bad I cared about the mystery more than the internal conflict of the characters the mystery symbolized. Either way, it will make you tear up on the last few pages.

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