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A review by beforeviolets
Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield
What an unusual and gorgeously written story. Julia Armfield absolutely has my attention, and I can't wait to read more of her work beyond this one.
I do feel a little on the outside of this book, especially after seeing reviews from friends who clearly found themselves emotionally distraught over the narrative or in possession of a new favorite story. I think, unfortunately for me, I was expecting (and hoping for) a horror book with a literary flair, rather than a literary story with speculative and horror elements leaking in at the corners of the narrative. This disappointment and fault, of course, lies in me, because this approach is beautiful and gorgeously impactful in its own way.
At times feeling like a Doctor Who trapped-in-a-vessel episode and at other times, being a profound exploratory metaphor for grief, this book marries different worlds and genres into one unsettling and metamorphic tale. There's something sinister and nightmarish hiding in the shadows of this story, unseen, filling the reader with horrifying unknowns and uncertainty. But these narrative bogeymen are left to lurk in the margins as the pages illuminate the inner worlds and daily lives of our main characters. I found this slow, tangential approach to the narrative to serve the perspectives, properly mirroring both the creeping spiral of grief, and the maddening mundanity of fear. Though I do find this metaphor-driven, literary approach to fall short for me at times. I can't help but wish there were just a few more actual events to the story, a couple moments to arouse shivers down my spine or conjure the slightest of gasps. I needed a bit more horror. The monsters between the lines may have prompted me with questions and unease, but weren't enough to keep me up at night or make me check over my shoulder.
I would absolutely recommend this book, and can understand why this resonates so much with its readers. Maybe it'll hit me better in a period of grief and I'll find myself wanting to revisit it. But I would definitely recommend this as less of a horror and more of a haunting and unsettling allegorical literary fiction.
CW: claustrophobia, drowning, death, character death, grief, death of parents (past), fatphobia, body horror, blood & gore, death of loved one
I do feel a little on the outside of this book, especially after seeing reviews from friends who clearly found themselves emotionally distraught over the narrative or in possession of a new favorite story. I think, unfortunately for me, I was expecting (and hoping for) a horror book with a literary flair, rather than a literary story with speculative and horror elements leaking in at the corners of the narrative. This disappointment and fault, of course, lies in me, because this approach is beautiful and gorgeously impactful in its own way.
At times feeling like a Doctor Who trapped-in-a-vessel episode and at other times, being a profound exploratory metaphor for grief, this book marries different worlds and genres into one unsettling and metamorphic tale. There's something sinister and nightmarish hiding in the shadows of this story, unseen, filling the reader with horrifying unknowns and uncertainty. But these narrative bogeymen are left to lurk in the margins as the pages illuminate the inner worlds and daily lives of our main characters. I found this slow, tangential approach to the narrative to serve the perspectives, properly mirroring both the creeping spiral of grief, and the maddening mundanity of fear. Though I do find this metaphor-driven, literary approach to fall short for me at times. I can't help but wish there were just a few more actual events to the story, a couple moments to arouse shivers down my spine or conjure the slightest of gasps. I needed a bit more horror. The monsters between the lines may have prompted me with questions and unease, but weren't enough to keep me up at night or make me check over my shoulder.
I would absolutely recommend this book, and can understand why this resonates so much with its readers. Maybe it'll hit me better in a period of grief and I'll find myself wanting to revisit it. But I would definitely recommend this as less of a horror and more of a haunting and unsettling allegorical literary fiction.
CW: claustrophobia, drowning, death, character death, grief, death of parents (past), fatphobia, body horror, blood & gore, death of loved one