eve massacre reviewed Our Wives under the Sea by Julia Armfield
None
5 stars
I liked Julia Armfield‘s Salt Slow, a New Weird short stories book, a lot. So I looked forward to reading her new novel Our Wives Under the Sea: Body horror, deep sea sciency mystery and a lesbian love story – how could I resist? I wasn’t disappointed. Those who expect your average YA story might be. Or you could let it open up a world of different styles of writing to you. This novel is far closer to Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation than to Guillermo de Toro’s Shape of Water if you’re one for comparisons.
This book is rough and subtle at the same time, more sea glass than diamond, that is part of what made it such an enjoyable read to me. Julia Armfield shines in slowly describing the otherwordly (and the ocean still is pretty much an other world to us, isn’t it?) transformation of Leah, the deep sea …
I liked Julia Armfield‘s Salt Slow, a New Weird short stories book, a lot. So I looked forward to reading her new novel Our Wives Under the Sea: Body horror, deep sea sciency mystery and a lesbian love story – how could I resist? I wasn’t disappointed. Those who expect your average YA story might be. Or you could let it open up a world of different styles of writing to you. This novel is far closer to Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation than to Guillermo de Toro’s Shape of Water if you’re one for comparisons.
This book is rough and subtle at the same time, more sea glass than diamond, that is part of what made it such an enjoyable read to me. Julia Armfield shines in slowly describing the otherwordly (and the ocean still is pretty much an other world to us, isn’t it?) transformation of Leah, the deep sea diver who returns to her wife Miri after an accident that forced her to live under the sea for months. Or rather: She luring us around this transformation.
Couldn't keep it short, so I wrote about it here:
https://evemassacre.de/blog/2025/05/09/longing-to-lose-oneself-our-wives-under-the-sea-by-julia-armfield/