I love how Matthew Metzger is setting these romances after the couple has already been created though I will admit sometimes missing the giddiness of those first days of falling in love.

This book is so much about who these two characters are in terms of age, class, status, sexuality, gender, race, and religion and yet not all about these elements of these charters in the way that life is like that as well. The slow reveal of each part of who they are is part of the magic of these book as well as all the nuances of what it really means to be the crisscross of who each of us is.

Their everyday and conflicts are sometimes shapes by all these macro structures but the intimate time together exists as deeply informed by these identities and also in that magic space of the fulling seeing of a person.

The love story is really about how two people who love each other, learn to live with each other and grow together.

The writing is lovely as always and the achey tenderness of love and risk and the outside world is so well drawn.

You will love both of the leads.


I was given this book for an honest review. So, there you go!

World, meet Ashraf. Ashraf is many things. He's mid thirties and a lecturer in history at Newcastle University. He's a very serious dude, he also happens to be a practising Muslim. Ashraf is Egyptian-Italian and accidentally speaks Italian if he gets upset and doesn't watch his words. He's estranged from his family. He also happens to be trans and asexual. He used to identifiy as aromantic too but then he met and fell for the nonbinary hurricane that is Jamie, a Scottish PHD student studying marine biology at the same university where he teaches.

In terms of plot in this book, it's very mellow and slow paced. It's Ashraf trying to overcome his fear of water. It's Ashraf fighting a racist and transphobic educational system that's giving him shit for dating Jamie because they're technically a student (albeit not his!), it's watching his and Jamie's relationship develop and grow.

To be honest, at times this book did almost bore me a little because I guess I was looking for more plot than I got? Which honestly isn't this book's fault at all. In terms of plot, there isn't a lot but at the same time I feel like the aim of this book isn't to be action packed. Rather, it's a mellow study of a relationship and two people overcoming hardships and growing stronger together, both romantically but as people too.

For me, this book was very educational. Jamie is only the second ever nonbinary character that I've read and I have never read a book that has an asexual character in it before. I feel like after reading this book, I understand these issues better than I ever have before. Extra bonus points for this book actually portraying a healthy relationship; to be honest I had my doubts before picking this book but I feel like the age gap (because there is a large one in this book!) was handled well and that didn't creep me out one bit (and I'm usually really sensitive to large age gaps). Also, I really enjoyed the way this novel was written! The writing was lovely.

I feel like if you need your books to have a lot of action in them, you're better off skipping this book but if you like slow paced, character driven novels that have good representation, this is worth checking out!

This took me a while to get into, to be honest. It started off a little slow, then picked up momentum. I definitely appreciated the representation in this book: a non binary character along with an Arab asexual transgender man in a relationship together. It was a unique pairing that worked well due to the author’s writing ability. In the book, Ashraf, one of the two main characters, deals with bigotry regarding his relationship with a slightly younger PhD student, Jamie, as well as his extreme fear of water due to a childhood trauma. We get to see what a healthy relationship might look like for an asexual character, and the interactions between Ashraf and Jamie were very sweet. I do wish we had more closure on Ashraf’s relationship with his family, and a little more closure on the bigotry he faced at work regarding his relationship. Overall a nice read.

This so was fascinating to me. I have never read a transgender book quite like this one. It gave the point of view from Jamie’s and Ashraf’s point of view. Ashraf is a sweet man who just wanted to be with Jamie and didn’t want everyone in their business. I love the fact that he stood up to everyone when it came to his relationship. I also like the fact that Jamie’s family was so understanding and accepting of their sexuality. I’m glad that can communicate with each other, and their love for each other was shown in this book. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did
Matthew Metzger always writes good books.

I just finished "Life Underwater" by Matthew J Metzger! What a fantastic read! It was completely engrossing & covered so many sensitive topics head-on. I think a lot of people will identify with the characters in one way or another - whether it's through the relationships, sexual orientation, university life, a love of the ocean or a fear of it. The book is an absolute page turner and I read it in one go! I couldn't put it down.