The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh is a feminist fantasy novel set in a dystopian world where women can get ill from the atmosphere. Mackintosh describes a unique world with interesting characters and a twisting plot. The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh will be published on 24 May 2018 by Penguin UK.

The Story
The Water Cure focuses on the lives of three sisters who are all teenagers or young adults, with the oldest reaching 30. Lia is the main narrative voice, with Grace and Sky having smaller narrative roles. They have lived on a protected island their entire lives, behind a veil which keeps them from harm and disease. Women come to their mum and dad, King who help them by making them undergo gruelling treatments, including the water cure. When three men show up on the island, the sisters start to question all that they know and things get turned upside down.

What I liked
Honestly, this book is quite strange, but I enjoyed its unique quality and the way that Lia talks throughout the novel. She is a strong narrator who is conflicted and spends much of the novel questioning things that have happened and things that are happening. She does not apologise or make excuses for how she feels, nor does she blame anybody else. She is a strong lead character who carries her sisters and the other characters in the book along with her. Another character I liked was their mother. She is under a spell and the character is written boldly to reflect this. I particularly enjoyed the way that the mother had no idea but to follow her husband and the beliefs she had grown up with, as this made her character seem much more mentally unstable as opposed to just cruel.
The plot itself is quite interesting; the introduction of boys to the island really stirs the pot but also lights a fire in the women’s eyes and bodies as they fight their urges, whether sexual or harmful, There is a lot of suggestion made throughout the plot, especially where Grace is concerned, and I feel like this should have been better explained. One theme in this novel is certainly trust and I enjoyed reading the differences in the women and how as well as who they chose to trust.
The writing itself makes the book smooth and nice to read; the words flow together nicely and the composition of the book means that the reader is not questioning things or turning back to figure out what they have just read. I like Mackintosh’s use of language and description to bring her work of fiction together.

What I didn’t like
Like I’ve said, this story is quite weird. And that includes the way it is told to the reader. The narrative voice certainly assumes knowledge on the part of the reader and, if you were to read this book without reading a summary, which I often do, you would be very confused as to where you were and what was wrong with these women. Mackintosh dives straight into the main bulk of the story, which can throw the reader off from the word go and, I imagine, prevent them from wanting to finish the book altogether.
I was also confused about the treatment of gender roles in this book; as a feminist commentary, I understood the ending and the roles each of the sisters played in terms of one another through their childhood. However, once the men arrived on the island, I felt these roles getting altered as they sunk back into traditional female stereotypes, especially Lia. The book takes some turns which I didn’t think were necessary and actually meant that the conclusion of the story was more difficult to reach for the reader.

Overall, I would say that The Water Cure is a solid 4* book. It has a great, interesting plot, setting, set of characters and really great imagery and use of language. The novel’s shortcomings are subjective, and I do believe that lots of people would enjoy it, however cannot come up with a set kind of person I would recommend to read this book. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin UK for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have been trying to dive into new and different things lately and I have to say that 'The Water Cure' certainly falls into that category. Its plot and the writing is just so atmospheric and almost languid. I have to admit that I haven't really read anything like this before and the author impressed me!

When I started reading the book, I was really confused. I mean, I had a rough idea of what it was supposed to be but the thing is, the book is so much more! Right from the very start, you can sense that there's something odd about the girls' life. The three sisters; Grace, Lia & Sky, live on an island sequestered away from the world. Their mother telling them that men are the literal worst, then we see the odd and rituals they have to go through in order to not be contaminated. This book felt almost like I was walking through a mist with no sense of direction and oddly enough, I liked that feeling.

Their living on the island is filled with all the amenities one could dream of but there's always that sense of something being wrong about the whole thing. As if we are just waiting to see something bad happen. Then the men come to the island and the results aren't quite pretty. When the attraction happens, it happens with some consequences. The whole thing remains mysterious and in the end, I was left with questions that I did not have any answers to! Were the men that terrible? If yes, why? What was happening outside of their little island? What sort of contamination was their mother trying to save the sisters from?

Sometimes, I love it when I don't have all the answers by the end of the book and this is one of those times. However, I have to admit that I would have loved to have answers to at least some of the questions. I wouldn't say it left me unsatisfied but I was very hungry for more. I think, in making everything vague, the author just fueled the fire for curiosity which is totally awesome.

All in all, this was a very beautifully written, almost haunting book. I loved that, it isn't often I get to say that. I would absolutely recommend it to people who want to read something different, something new. However, be prepared to get sucked into this odd, little world of mysteries.

This is an intriguing tale about young sisters who, along with their parents, live on an island. The girls are taught that the mainland is contaminated, and only their father goes there for supplies. They are also taught that men are evil, and they go through many ‘therapies’ and ceremonies to rid them of any contamination.

The story is beautifully written, however I would have liked to find out just a little more about the outside world and what was really happening, but the ambiguity of it is what the author wants, to keep you in the dark as much as the girls.

A family live on a deserted island, far from a disease that is spread from men to women. Three sisters have grown up with a very sheltered upbringing to the outside world. Only hearing about it from their father, mother and the odd patient who has visited them for the water cure.

We have the point of view of the sisters the whole way through, their upbringing had been so sheltered that their nativity became frustrating to me as a reader. Right up to the end I didn't know if I'd enjoy this book, but the conclusion is satisfying and makes the book worth finishing.

At it's best the book made me question how men related to women at it's worst it felt as claustrophobic and naive as the character's situation. But for the majority of the book, I was just desperate for something to happen.

The water cure is a deeply unsettling (in a good way!) debut novel. Set in a world just to the side of ours, i felt the shadow of MeToo fall heavily over the narrative. With a trio of sisters on an island kept away from an undisclosed event that has tainted the mainland, and references back to women who were escaping the terrible, undisclosed actions of men, there are many parallels to draw. This makes the book sound worthy and dry - it’s anything but. It can be elliptical, and you are left to draw your own conclusions of what’s really happening, but pieces drop into place with a horrible inevitability. Essential reading.

This is not an easy book to read. I think I made a mistake in rushing to finish it. It is better savoured in small sips rather than devoured whole.

I was drawn to this book because of the narrative voice it starts off with. First person plural - the collective voice of three sisters - Grace, Lia, Sky - who belong to a strange, dysfunctional family, living in a dystopian world. The voices switches to the individual perspectives of each of the sisters. Grace's voice talks to "you" - the father who has [died (hide spoiler)].

The land they live on is bordered by the sea on one side, and barbed wire on the other. The father is the only male on the island and is called King. The mother administers the "Water Cure" to broken, damaged women who come to their land. It is made clear what is happening on the mainland, only that it is a dangerous world for women. Men are held responsible for the damage to women. There are headphones and other technology on the mainland, so it's definitely set in a modern world.

The daughters/sisters are kept protected from this outside world, but they must also undergo therapies and cures that are reminiscent of Wilhelm Reich and other weird child psychologists. I don't know. It's bad enough that I know the name of this one guy.

Anyway, I loved the first half of the book where everything was being set up. I hated the second half where things happened. I did not particularly like the resolution. Things got a bit TOO intense and weird for my taste, and I was genuinely enjoying the weirdness and intensity.

Not sure how many stars this deserves. 3.7?

If I had to describe this book in three words – Otherworldly, Dystopian and Nightmarish.

It’s not that this book is graphic or scary, it’s what Mackintosh has left to the reader to decide. Given that this is her first novel, she has shown incredible confidence in her readers to fill in some of the narrative and allow us to make our own minds up. We are led to believe that there has been some sort of “event” off the mainland which has led to the girls being isolated, women used to come to the Island for “The Cure” but no longer arrive, for some of these questions we never get the full picture as to what has taken place. Some readers may find this a little frustrating but I really enjoyed having to make my own mind up about things. I look forward to others reading it, so that I can share my thoughts.

I will admit that I initially struggled with the opening couple of pages, but after around page ten I found it a compulsive read. “The Water Cure” has been getting a lot of comparison to Deborah Levy’s ‘Hot Milk’, I feel that this is the better novel – but that is just my opinion, I much prefer Mackintosh’s writing style and the narrative of this novel.

Mackintosh uses the climate and the claustrophobic nature of the relationships between the sisters to create an atmosphere which can only be described as stifling and at times really uncomfortable. This worked really well and it made the tension build through the novel. There was a general sense of foreboding that left me feeling really uncomfortable whilst reading this, like something very bad could happen at the turn of a page.

On the whole I really enjoyed this novel. I feel that it would make a great book club book, as it will provide a lot of discussion around feminism, society and how other readers may have interpreted some of the more ambiguous themes and plot lines.

Mackintosh will definitely be on my book radar and I am keen to see what she will do in the future.

A Copy of my review can also be found here -
https://theliteraryaddictblog.wordpress.com/2018/03/10/review-the-water-cure-by-sophie-mackintosh/

I received a copy of The Water Cure from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This review can also be seen on my blog at www.readteacheatrepeat.wordpress.com After looking back at this story, I can't help to think of this more as a love-hate relationship.

Without giving away too many spoilers, I find the story to be ironic. What the girls think of as saving them ultimately leads to be their demise, or at least what I think is their traditional thought's demise. Transformation does come to play here but the book ends abruptly in that you never see that full transformation. I have to say that the read was very thought-provoking in more than one way. First, the themes and plot in itself is thought-provoking. Some of the rituals and things that are occurring really make you wonder what is so dangerous or what is thought to be so dangerous that this family has secluded themselves so intensely. The other way that the book is so thought provoking is because the author leaves so much of these answers out of the book. It must be purposeful that the reader can fill in the blanks as to why this family's lives have led to be this way but in the same time, it is almost annoying. I want more concrete reasons as to why their lives are this way.  I also have so many questions about the women's cult itself. It once seemed to be thriving. What really happened? And where did these rituals to cure the body really come from? I have so many questions that I want answered beyond my imagination. With all the flaws I had for the story, I still was interested in it. I wanted to keep reading because the information we do get is still odd. I have to be honest, this book is not something that I usually would have thought I would like. I am in the minority of not being a fan of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. This novel somewhat reminded me of it being there are so many questions as to why things are that way. I enjoy story lines that are more concrete and have more of a plot. This isn't to say that many others enjoy thought-provoking stories such as this; stories that make you think of its possibilities. This is a story that I will keep thinking about so all in all, the author did succeed in that way.

The Water Cure tells the story of three sisters; Lia, Grace and Sky as they live a reclusive island life with Mother and the 'King'. Here they learn that the outside world will harm them, although what that is never known. But then things begin to unravel in a way that the sisters can't control. Is everything, and everyone, really as it seems?

This was deeply atmospheric and strange. It's apparent from the start that something just isn't 'right' with how the girls live. This house is beautiful and grand, yet festers decay. Their days are filled with odd rituals designed to protect them, but they never know what it is they're being protected from. The prose are also odd and jarring, sometimes making the text hard to read and flow - but it fits perfectly with the tone of the novel, and helps to build an overall sense of unease.

The plot is also deliberately evasive, and there's no world building beyond the island the women live on. Normally this would annoy me, but I felt that just as the three women know little about the reasons behind their forced protection, and the outside world, so we know little too. The author takes us on a journey down which we must determine for ourselves what is happening, and I enjoyed that. The narrators are unreliable at best, and we must decide for ourselves what's really happening. I liked that nothing is spoon fed or dumbed down. We come to our own conclusions. Im not going to deny that at times however, especially in the beginning, I found this very confusing and difficult to get past.

The pace soon picks up when three men appear to disrupt the otherwise harmonious life. What happens next is obvious, yet still haunting to read. I felt for them. However, I also felt that by this point something more was going to happen. The plot is built up to such a point that I thought we'd see more of the outside world at least, or other moments of peril. But we didn't.

A short and beautiful read, yet strangely annoying at times.

The quality of the writing was not enough for me enjoy this one. It was simply not my 'kind of thing'. The vagueness of the scenario irritated rather than intrigued and I was unsure what message was being conveyed. Furthermore, I found little in the narrative that spoke to me from which I could form my own. I'm sure something deep and meaningful was going on, it just happened to utterly pass me by.

Similar in theme to last year's Gather The Daughters, but less gratuitous and crass. The shifting of the narrative is compelling, though I felt we stayed far too long with Lia. I would have liked more of Grace's perspective, and feel like Sky almost disappeared at points, not given a voice of her own.

Mt heart was in my mouth! The fear, the tension, the panic. This novel had me on page one, until the end. An eerie story with Grace, Lia and Sky...these women will hold your hearts as the battle through the journey of love and the dangers that come alongside it. A true reflection of sisterhood at its finest.

I could not get into this book at all. I read it the whole way through and still did not feel I enjoyed any of it.

Sophie Mackintosh is now firmly on ‘Must Read Authors List’.

This book definitely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea and it reminds me very much of Margaret Atwood’s novels.

Haunting, intriguing, atmospheric and a little disturbing. Grace, Lia and Sky are sisters who are kept away from the outside world as it is toxic and makes them sick. Men are not to be trusted, however when a group of men arrive at their secluded island, things begin to change. Very well written with well-developed characters (although none I found particularly likeable!) and steady plot development.

The only downside was perhaps the lack of backstory and background which I feel would have only added more to the story and given deeper understanding to the characters.

Stunning. Heartbreaking. Searing. A gift.

I live for books like this. It’s beautifully written, deeply uncomfortable in parts and weird af. But all the great stuff is weird and confounding, right? You don't need to understand it all for it to resonate.

Something bad has happened on the mainland but we don't know what. Three sisters live on what seems to be an island, adrift with their abusive mother and father and the women who come to them to be 'cured'. It's sinister, febrile and ripe with calamity. And that's even before the men arrive. Men are a threat and a danger to their lives and their humanity, or at least that is what they have been taught to believe.

So much of girlhood and womanhood is made up of tales we are told to 'protect' ourselves, to be spared, to give ourselves over. And of course all the tales we tell ourselves to protect ourselves, hide ourselves, know ourselves. The girls do harm/are encouraged to do harm to themselves and each other under the guise of this protection, like spells. But always pain has been power. Pain means being alive. Pain very often also means control.

Ugh, it is so fantastic as it unfurls. I want to read more Sophie Mackintosh and I really hope a book of short stories is coming next.

Strange, uncomfortable, haunting, disturbing - I am raiding my thesaurus to find the right word to describe this book.

The three girls live with their parents away from society. It is unclear if they are being protected from a society that has broken down or if the parents are mad, sadist fantasists.

Maybe this book is a response the the current state of the news with the developments following the Harvey Weinstein revelations joined with the discovery of a large family in America who had been chained to the floor for decades by their parents.

The book does not resolve most of the questions it raises, and although I don't want to be spoonfed by a book it would be more satisfying to know a bit more about how and why they were in that position.

I started the year well by reading The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh, a gloriously written coming-of-age literary debut which explores power, survival and sisterhood.

Grace, Lia and Sky are sisters who are kept away from the outside world. This is for their own protection according to their mother and father, King. The world makes women physically sick and men are not to be trusted, but as long as the sisters do things their parent’s way everything will be alright. However, the arrival of a group of men will change their lives forever.

Mackintosh doesn’t shy away from expecting the reader to do some work; not everything is explained and there are deliberate gaps in the narrative making for a reading experience that is as challenging as it is enjoyable. Go read it!

This book is odd.

There are a lot of things I like about it. The way the story is told is poetic and really feels lyrical as the book goes. How the story is told through the narration of three sisters makes for an unreliable (which I quite enjoy) narrative and it makes for a haunting read. You as the reader are involved in the process as you try to fill in the holes of the story the three tell you.

It is however a tiny bit predictable when it comes to the plot and how the characters are impacted by the changes they see to their lives, however it is not a typical ending to a book when it comes to stories like these and it makes for a budding tension that keeps on growing throughout the story.

I've not read a story like this before but it makes me want to read more.

Beautiful book. I loved how unspecific the background to the story was; I formed my own personal ‘backstory’ but I think it could be imagined in so many ways! A very clever feat. The writing was beautiful and lyrical and almost poetic at times. Although some parts of the story were harrowing I liked the overall optimistic ending.