I feel very conflicted about this read.
On the positive side, of which there is many, this is a really brilliantly crafted story about sapphic love and complicated grief. It perfectly captures the awful feeling of not knowing, the trying to make meaning, the helplessness. It also captures the effort it takes to be the one that reaches out, to seek the help that is needed when all you want to do is hide.. The story captures all these complex feelings in really subtle and highly specific ways.
The story also posits this interesting concept of a lovecraftian horror under the sea and a nefarious organization. Unfortunately, this is where it falls apart. Obviously the grief is the main focus, but it does feel that these concepts were underdeveloped in comparison. The author created a hard balance, and did not quite reach it.

Beautiful. Weird. Haunting. Perfectly strange and ardently romantic.

What a vehicle for commentary on relationships, love, loss, grief, time…

This was my favorite book of last year. It was so weird, and so ominous, and yet so full of love and wonder. I couldn't figure out how Armfield was going to end it in a satisfying way and I've come around to liking the ending. It was also BEAUTIFULLY written and I would read anything by her for the rest of time.

haunting, eloquent horror novel with a light touch on the body horror aspects (i thank you for that, julia, i am just a girl who gets queasy). one of the best novels of 2002, in my opinion. definitely worth your time, even if you're a queasy girl like me who likes horror but can't stand gory stuff. (it's not that bad i promise)

This title immediately drew me in and the story delivered. I thoroughly enjoy gothic tales written by women, (I.e. anything Shirley Jackson) and this is an inventive and modern twist on the genre. The house as the scary monster becomes the submarine under the sea. The author goes back and forth between what happened and what results in a dance leading up to a final moment of palpable tension.

This is a story of falling in love, loss, grief, and what life there is in the deep sea. There were a lot of good things about this book. The characters were complex. I love Miri and Leah. The story was haunting and had almost a horror aspect. My issues were the pace. I found it to be slow and boring at times. Other times I couldn't look away. I wish there was more of a conclusion to the story. I do recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Flatiron Books for the gifted e-book! ❤️

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield defies characterization in some ways. It's a sapphic love story meets surrealist horror mash up. With that billing, you can imagine that this book won't be for all readers. It's a bit of a slower burn read with some ambiguity within the storylines. I can't honestly say I loved it, but it did make me think.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

Did not love this one, tried to read several times and ultimately was not drawn in.. #bookstagram. #lovetoread

This book just didn't really draw me in. I found the premise intriguing, but the way the story was told was too abstract and left me with too many questions.

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield is a sapphic love, loss and grief story with gothic undertones and I am here for it! I thought it was beautifully written, though strange and unsettling at times. Leah has returned home after a failed deep sea mission and it's changed her dramatically. Miri, her wife, is trying to navigate life now with the changed Leah. I've never read anything like this book, but I am definitely going to seek out more from Ms. Armfield.

I hated this book. I know a lot of friends who loved it, but I simply couldn't get into it. The plot was vague and hard to follow, and I found a lot of the spooky happenings too subtle to be scary.

Wow!! I did not expect to love this as much as I did. What can only be described as an ODD plot was delivered in such a beautifully paced, nuanced way that I was totally swept away in the world of this novel. I would recommend it to anyone.

I wanted so badly to love this book and I did like it - but I struggled too much with the pacing and characterization to love it. The creeping horror and buildup to the big reveal was done well, but Miri's inaction until the last chapter was so frustrating to me and I felt like there was such an unbalanced power dynamic in Miri and Leah's relationship that I just couldn't root for them to be together. Coupling this with Miri's one-sided relationships with the rest of her friends meant I rushed through her POV chapters to get back to Leah's.

Weird but compelling. It is dreamlike and imaginary, but I wouldn't categorize it as fantasy, science fiction or magical realism. It is itself.

I debated the rating because writing-wise it was a good solid 4 star book. However, the long passages made it harder for me to stay as interested in the story as I would have liked. Personally, I would rate it a 3 based on my own liking.

The book covered topics of grief and loss well, however it was a strange book and will not be for every reader.

I would be willing to read more by this author, but now I at least have mord of an idea what I would be diving in to.

A stunningly heartbreaking portrayal of grief, loss, and choosing hard decisions because you know it's best for someone you love. I'll be the first to admit I assumed this would be a horror book from what little I had read about the premise; this is almost certainly my own error but luckily I am a fan of literary fiction as well. Both characters' points of view are incredibly compelling, and help tell the unfolding plot that Armfield deftly weaves together. A lovely book that I will be thinking about for a long time.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! A journey into a world of loss and waiting tinted with surreal elements. The relationship dimensions were very truthful and real. A gripping undersea world with surface world results. Dark, disturbing, moving. A book I couldn't put down, yet predicted the inevitable conclusion. high recommend. Thanks netgalley!

What a strange but utterly compelling book! Leah is a scientist chosen for a deep sea mission that nearly ended in tragedy, leaving her stranded on the ocean floor for months. When she returns, her wife Miri is overjoyed, only to find that the Leah who has returned is a far different Leah than the one she fell in love with. This book is short (only 224 pages), but packs a huge emotional punch! If you’re looking for something that’s eerie and chilling without being too spooky, then I highly recommend this one! The writing is incredible (very literary at times, so if that’s not your thing, then I’d probably skip). It’s a quiet novel, but it’s so compelling. I had a really hard time putting it down, so I personally think it read pretty quickly, but others have said they found it slow, so take that with a grain of salt. A really good and super unique read that I really enjoyed!

So interesting. It’s a consistent slow burn from start to finish, but is also haunting and beautiful. Quietly horrifying - lots of Astronaut’s Wife vibes but totally low key. I was a bit unsatisfied with the ending and felt a little underwhelmed and uninformed, but I honestly feel like it matched the book’s vibe so I’m not even that mad at it. I definitely recommend this one for a great spooky season read for folks who don’t like the super spooky. Plus, it’s an easy one-sitting story.

Spooky and atmospheric. I expected this one to be open ended - but I do wish we had a little more insight into what exactly was happening. This is definitely a book for readers who don't mind some ambiguity in their stories. I particularly wish the conspiracy aspect had been fleshed out more - that was one of the most intriguing parts of the book for me and it just kind of fell flat when it came to that.