Our Wives Under the Sea is a beautifully written book that gives the reader an immersive experience at times. At other times, the novel focuses on the minutiae of every day life. This creates a sense of anxiety and dread that makes this book almost feel like a horror novel, while also being a commentary on marriage and the way that we change within it.

This book was not for me. The pace was very slow and I had a hard time caring for the characters. Maybe I would have liked it better if I didn’t listen too it.

When Leah returned to Miri from her exploration of the bottom of the ocean, she didn't return completely the same.

While I really enjoyed this story and never found myself bored while reading it, I do think it's miss categorized. There really aren't any scary or horrifying moments. And yes it does have some themes that horror books can have, I found it to be much more about melancholy lesbian growth than fear of a monster one of them was turning into. And while that story was told in a very interesting way, it was not the one I thought I was getting from the summary.

Like I said, the book never has a boring moment, which I found shocking when I looked back on the story because not much happens. Julia Armfield is just such a good writer that she keeps you interested even when it's mostly a slice of life about two very sad women. You really feel both of their struggles and how they are failing to adapt after the return.

The story is told in two POVs with two timelines. You get Miri after Leah has returned from the sea, and Leah right when she first leaves for the sea. Miri was mostly about acceptance and dealing with the change in a loved one, while Leah's story was where the horror themes came into the story. She's stuck in a failing submarine at the bottom of the ocean with two other people, and weird things start to happen.

If you enjoy slower books focused on the reactions of characters dealing with grief this is a great one to pick up!

Thanks for Netgally and Dreamscape Media for giving me a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I was gifted the audiobook version of this novel by Netgalley and Dreamscape Media and thought it would make a great listen for me and my wife as we were going on a long car trip. Unfortunately, though the writing was beautiful and we were both initially intrigued and emotionally engaged as Miri tried to figure out what was happening to her wife, my wife found the story hopelessly dragged out and couldn't pay attention after a while, so I listened to the second half on my own.

It is a testament to Armfield's elegiac, tender writing that I was willing to hang in there to find out what had happened to Leah, the deep-sea explorer who Miri initially thought dead, then welcomed home only to see the same woman had not been returned to her.

The story alternates between Leah recounting what happened on the mission and Miri recounting what is happening now in their home as Leah slowly morphs, spends hours and hours in the bath, and barely communicates.

I love that the fact that this is a lesbian love story barely merited a mention. None of the characters had traumatic coming-out tales and their romance was described in gorgeous prose without drawing any attention to the fact that it was about gay people. (I feel I am not saying this well, but my point is that I love that the characters' queerness was just one quality, like Leah's love of the ocean, not a central plot point.)

I had to read spoilers after I was done to fully understand the ending. Also I felt the title was misleading; it should have been My Wife Under the Sea, as we never really encounter any other spouses whose wives are under the sea...

The true horror of this novel is watching a character spend days trying to get a hold of an actual person when calling an agency.

I'm not a fan of horror and was intrigued by the premise enough to give it a go, and I was left wanting for more horror. I wanted to be at the bottom of the sea for those six months and watch the deterioration of the crew beyond the snapshots we got. I loved watching Leah turn into a sea creature and just wanted more.

Overall, the book moves very slowly, too slow for many if you read the reviews. Very little happens and our characters repeat their actions over and over. Armfield wrote the book like she's playing high stakes poker, keeping her cards very close, and not letting me look at my own.

Audiobook was good with dual narrators, but I felt their voices were too similar and if not for the chapter headings with their names I would have been lost as to who was speaking.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of the audiobook. The following is my honest feedback.

I think this story is best told in audiobook form. It was amazing to listen to the narrator, they did a great job providing the right atmosphere to go along with the subtle horror occurring. The narrator really made the story spooky for me.

The plot was incredibly original and I loved the creeping horror. Well done to the author. I liked how she made the characters really relatable in their frustrations and relationship dynamic.

There has been issues publishing to goodreads for audiobooks, so here is my goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4861123757

I listened to about 66% of this audiobook but it was too slow paced for me and I found the characters to be uninteresting and boring. The narrator didn’t help much. The premise sounded so good but it fell flat for me. I ended up DNFing it.

🌊Book Review: Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield 🎧

3/5 ⭐️

Trigger Warnings: body horror, confinement, grief, death of a parent

Thank you @netgalley for this audiobook.


This book was interesting, thought provoking and powerful. I really enjoyed Miri and Leah’s relationship and learning about their love for each other. I was a bit confused at times when it came to the sea part and why Leah was under water with her team. I did also like how this book flipped back and forth between Leah and Miri’s perspective.

I would try reading another one of Julia Armfields book. I’m eager to chat about this with my book club at the end of the month.

I'm not sure what I just listened to, but I liked it. The vibes were there but I had trouble following the plot and have SO MANY questions after having finished. A lot of this may be because I struggle to focus on audiobooks and historically don't find them to be the best vehicle for literary fiction (which this is). I'm eager to pick up a paper copy of this one and maybe re-read some sections. Would recommend if you're in the mood for something mysterious, reflective, and a little weird. It kind of reminded me of The Pisces, but less funny/sardonic and more cryptic/suspenseful. Thanks to Dreamscape Media for the early review audiobook!

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books / Dreamscape Media for access to the audiobook of Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield in exchange for an honest review.

CW: body horror, confinement, grief, death, medical content, terminal illness, mental illness, ableism, sexism, see full list on StoryGraph.

"Did you know that until very recently, more people had been to the moon than have dived beyond the depths of 6000 meters? I think about this often, the inhospitableness of certain places."

Miri and her wife Leah are recovering from time apart in this sapphic fiction full of magical realism. Miri's perspective tells the story of today; the one in which she finds herself caring for her wife who "CBW" - "came back wrong", an abbreviation used by the social media forum for astronauts' wives that Miri finds herself reading for some sense of empathy - from an expedition of the deep sea. Leah's perspective takes us to the past; the six months when she and her crew dwelled at the bottom of the sea in complete darkness. Presumed dead and without a way back to the surface, their vessel becomes at once a home and a grave. Upon her return, Leah barely eats or sleeps, and her body begins to endure strange changes. As Miri searches for answers about what happened on the sea floor, she watches her wife slip away.

This was strange and eerie and I loved it! I really don't want to say too much more about it because I think this is a book that would be best experienced by going into it blind. The prose is absolutely gorgeous. The way the author describes the ocean is both technical and loving. Armfield depicts Miri's love for Leah is desperate and aching. This was beautiful, and I would love to reread it in the future to glean even more from it!

Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep-sea mission that ended in catastrophe. It soon becomes clear, though, that Leah is not the same.
A beautiful, lyrical, narrative. A haunting, confusing story. What a gorgeous book. I love this speculative fiction, this weird weird story not knowing what the heck was going on. I absolutely loved this

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield is a weird little book, and a mash-up of a few genres: Part literary fiction meditation on grief, memory, and changing relationships, part mysterious horror tale. I felt as if I had whiplash reading this novel, moving back and forth between the two different styles, and I don't think it ultimately came together all that effectively. However, the writing here is gorgeous and the sentiments are moving. Armfield is able to fill us with a sense of yearning and dread so that we begin to question our own relationships--because is anything truly lasting? Are others truly knowable by us? Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this audio ARC!

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book missed the mark for me in so many ways. First of all, I feel like it should have been written as a horror/sci fi and not literary fiction. Throwing the dramatic parts about grief and loss just ruined the story for me. I didn't understand half of what was going on. It was too drawn out and gave very few answers. This could have been great. I was so excited to read it. I'm really disappointed.

Two stars. The audio was great. I liked the duel narrators. I just didn't like the story. Correction, I liked the brief glimpses of horror/sci fi, but not the way it played out.

I listened to this book on audio and I really enjoyed the two narrators. The book took about 70% before it got weird, which was very shocking. I really loved the dual narrators, as it gave insight into the women's relationship and how each processed things. Beautiful writing, especially about being deep in the ocean. 4.5 stars!

Did I just get Rickrolled by a very unsuspecting novel? Pretty much. It reads like a dual POV literary fiction but uhh suddenly… a moment of sci-fi/horror?!

Lovers of literary fiction: I think this will be right up your alley. As the reader, we are very much involved in the thought processes or “in the heads” of both Miri and Leah. When I’m feeling moody and speculative, this vibe is just the ticket.

🎧 The audiobook performance is 10/10!

I was bored.

I requested the read from NetGalley and forced myself to the end of what should have been 6 hours. Following my second attempt at understanding the point of words being read out loud, I reread the synopsis and forged on. In my opinion, a synopsis is necessary for genre, storyline, subject matter, etc. Once I've selected a book, the synopsis is moot. The book is on my shelf, now a good writer can draw me in. I shouldn't have to force words into a story.

Our Wives Under the Sea, now that I've finished, reads like science fiction, and I would have passed. I will research literary fiction to understand the classification. Not only was I surprised by the science fiction, there is the female female married couple and could be another that I didn't quite piece together and I was not starting over a third time. There is also profanity, F words, that were placed because they could be.

The narrators were good, both of them, and I'm grateful. They made going forward easier.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to read and review Our Wives Under Sea.

***3.5 Stars On My Instagram Account***

"There's a difference between understanding and forgiving."

Our Wives Under The Sea by lyrically poignant author Julia Armfield broke my heart while confusing my mind. Just like the dual POVs I felt like I was reading (and hearing) two different versions of the same story.

Mira and Leah are barely holding on as a married couple, let alone their own sanity, when we meet them. Through Mira we learn how the couple met and fell in love and how when Leah left for a three person research mission in a submarine for a month she became overwhelmed with grief when Leah is gone for six months and presumes her to be dead.

Through Leah we learn about the claustrophobic horror of being trapped in a submarine at the bottom of the totally black lifeless sea hearing haunting sounds and seeing disfiguring bodies. Her mind must be slipping from reality because what she hears and sees can't be real.

When Leah is rescued Mira sees Leah is different and seems to be slipping away from her. She spends all her time with the tap water on, in the bath or listening to a sound machine's unworldly noises. There is no more talking, love making or connection.

I was blown away with the intense performances by narrators Robyn Holdaway and Annabel Baldwin. I felt the fears, grief and loss of these characters.

There is so much left open to interpretation and it is definitely perfect for book club discussions. I wasn't sure at times if it was a horror thriller, literary fiction, or an atmospheric gothic tale of losing oneself. The author wrote with such lilting beautiful prose and I was swept away by her imagination and her ability to tell a poignant love story while giving me creepy scary goosebumps. Definitely an original body of work.

I received a free copy of this book and audiobook from the publishers via #netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for access to this amazing audiobook!

I LOVED this story. I love that it's creepy and ominous. I love that the protagonists are a married couple of women (eerie sapphic story?? sign me up!).
I think the consistent use of ocean imagery and information (for reasons that are quite obvious in the book) was deftly woven into the narrative, and I loved the application of dual narration here. I find myself more and more critical with multiple POV stories these days, but this was done beautifully!
The audiobook narrators were both so talented, and really distinct, I found. They had recognizable voices, but they both were so easy to listen to, that you got immediately re-absorbed with a chapter/narrator change.
Absolutely loved this! Would recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of a mindfuck, but also something that feels (oddly) grounded and genuine.

Our Wives Under the Sea is a haunting and gothic story about love and losing love. It depicts a relationship starting and then eventually falling apart it the most beautiful and unique way. I absolutely loved this books. The writing is incredible, the perfect amount of lyrical and poetic while being direct and cutting at times. I also love all the questions this book left me with and the different interpretations I could take from it.

Our Wives fascinated me from the first page and carried me through a surreal experience with Miri and Leah, who have been separated by an undersea voyage gone wrong. Miri waits six months for Leah to return, and when she does come back, she’s taken too much of the sea inside her. When we love people, we expect they’ll never change. What happens when we cannot control everything that happens to us, when we have to relinquish our will and let go of the ones we love? This novel is at times a moody contemplation of love, and a gorgeous exercise in absolutely exquisite writing. I loved it and I’ll be sure to recommend it to discerning readers.