Water Cure

I've never quite read a book like this one before.. It reminded me of tension of The Beguiled meets the bleakness, the "oh geez please let everyone turn out okay at the end" of [b:The Book of the Unnamed Midwife|29806086|The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (The Road to Nowhere #1)|Meg Elison|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1465976614s/29806086.jpg|41858562] with the super duper weird family vibes of Dogtooth.

I started this book and I couldn't put it down. I read 80 pages in the first night I borrowed it and sat on the couch, brow furrowed, or staring off into the distance until my partner asked me, "so.. how's that book?" and I was snapped back into the reality of, "well, I don't really know how to answer that.. it's good but, man it makes me feel awful." I switched off between the audiobook and the narrators were cast perfectly for their chapters.

Mackintosh's writing style is incredible- her poetic language when talking about nature reminds me of Mary Oliver's reverence and Sara Eliza Johnson's harshness, all blended into vivid descriptions that echo the overall themes of tension, disaster, violence, and dread.

BIG BIG BIG CW/TW: sexual assault, rape, child death, violence

This is a very poetic book in prose form.

The style is flowy, especially throughout the first half of the book; it’s divided into three parts.

One month after we lose our father, King, I am standing at the edge of the swimming pool, in the lavender light that comes up where the border hits the sky. Our pool is the sea made safe, salt water filtered through unseen pipes and sluices, blue and white tiles surrounding it and a marble counter where drinks were once served. Thick rivets of salt are laid down on the tiles immediately bordering the water, guarding against toxins brought in on the wind. King explained to us that the salt drew out badness like damp, his hands quick and busy as he scattered it, tanned a deep, dry brown.

The contents of the book are not as interesting as the style of the book—to myself, at least. Having stated that, the contents are interesting; there’s a constant tension through the book, mainly due to how the daughters of an overpowering matriarch react to the world around them.

This book strangely reminded me lot of Yorgos Lathimos’s film “Dogtooth“.

A powerful read, with phrases still singing in my head. It’s a story of gender, family, power, freedom, the everyday, the insane, the good; what it is to be human. Veer off simplistic TV series like “Sharp Objects” and get into this instead.

This is a very poetic book in prose form.

The style is flowy, especially throughout the first half of the book; it’s divided into three parts.

One month after we lose our father, King, I am standing at the edge of the swimming pool, in the lavender light that comes up where the border hits the sky. Our pool is the sea made safe, salt water filtered through unseen pipes and sluices, blue and white tiles surrounding it and a marble counter where drinks were once served. Thick rivets of salt are laid down on the tiles immediately bordering the water, guarding against toxins brought in on the wind. King explained to us that the salt drew out badness like damp, his hands quick and busy as he scattered it, tanned a deep, dry brown.

The contents of the book are not as interesting as the style of the book—to myself, at least. Having stated that, the contents are interesting; there’s a constant tension through the book, mainly due to how the daughters of an overpowering matriarch react to the world around them.

This book strangely reminded me lot of Yorgos Lathimos’s film “Dogtooth“.

A powerful read, with phrases still singing in my head. It’s a story of gender, family, power, freedom, the everyday, the insane, the good; what it is to be human. Veer off simplistic TV series like “Sharp Objects” and get into this instead.

This is a very poetic book in prose form.

The style is flowy, especially throughout the first half of the book; it’s divided into three parts.

One month after we lose our father, King, I am standing at the edge of the swimming pool, in the lavender light that comes up where the border hits the sky. Our pool is the sea made safe, salt water filtered through unseen pipes and sluices, blue and white tiles surrounding it and a marble counter where drinks were once served. Thick rivets of salt are laid down on the tiles immediately bordering the water, guarding against toxins brought in on the wind. King explained to us that the salt drew out badness like damp, his hands quick and busy as he scattered it, tanned a deep, dry brown.

The contents of the book are not as interesting as the style of the book—to myself, at least. Having stated that, the contents are interesting; there’s a constant tension through the book, mainly due to how the daughters of an overpowering matriarch react to the world around them.

This book strangely reminded me lot of Yorgos Lathimos’s film “Dogtooth“.

A powerful read, with phrases still singing in my head. It’s a story of gender, family, power, freedom, the everyday, the insane, the good; what it is to be human. Veer off simplistic TV series like “Sharp Objects” and get into this instead.

This is a book of gaps and lacunae, of mysteries and words left unspoken, of unnamed catastrophes and painful redemptions. It is a book that explores the damage we do to each other—both to those who mean us harm and those we love. It is a book that tries to understand the unrelenting insistence of men that they take their place in the world.

Three sisters and their mother live away from the mainland. Two men and a young boy arrive. What follows is a story of attraction and repulsion. It is traumatic, but strangely compelling.

The atmosphere created by this meeting—a strange mix of distrust, uncertainty and curiosity—is unlike anything I’ve read. It is close to some of Angela Carter’s work, but has a quality all its own.

It’s trite to say that "I couldn’t put this book down.” In this case, though, it’s true. But not for the reasons that you’d usually say it. It was not to see a mystery solved that I kept reading, but to see a mystery deepen.