7/31/24 1:50am

hmmm... okay, what next? i have a few things lying around i need to get to, so i have options. buuut. i kinda wanna just play video games, which means we're going with an audio book. so the next book will be back to aquatic horror with Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield:

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. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has brought part of it back with her, onto dry land and into their home.

Moving through something that only resembles normal life, Miri comes to realize that the life that they had before might be gone. Though Leah is still there, Miri can feel the woman she loves slipping from her grasp.

Our Wives Under The Sea is the debut novel from Julia Armfield, the critically acclaimed author of Salt Slow. It’s a story of falling in love, loss, grief, and what life there is in the deep deep sea.

i'm not super into downer books, so given this is a book primarily about loss and grief i have no idea if i'll actually vibe with it, but people say it's good so i might as well try it and see. tag is bats reads owus

7/31/24 2:25am

here's the thing. the part of me that likes aquatic horror does not necessarily like Fine Literature™. the part of me that likes aquatic horror likes it when books have a plot, and when things happen.

"boring" is maybe a strong word for the book so far. but i am hit with this very strong sense of Nothing Is Happening. this feels like a book that is about the aftermath of Things Happening, like i've already missed the interesting parts

7/31/24 3:32am

this tangent about the husband in space roleplay board is literally the most interesting part of the book

7/31/24 4:39am

technically things are happening now, but we're in the last part and i'm so checked out.

it's just Not That Kind Of Book. which is fine. but i like That Kind Of Book.

7/31/24 5:11am

teasing us with maybe getting some insight into what's going on but keeping the reader in the dark instead. the character gets to know but we don't.

i feel like such an asshole for complaining about how boring the book is when That's Not The Point but come onnnnn

7/31/24 5:47am

yep. that sure was a book.

7/31/24 6:36am

there's a quote i didn't write down because this was the audiobook and i didn't feel like scrubbing back to get it exactly right, but it's basically like "i want to make you love her [my wife who is turning into a fish] but it's really hard. when people try to tell stories about a cute thing their partner did, it tends to fall flat on people who aren't involved in said relationship, and they just want you to skip to the end" and. yeah. that's the book in a nutshell. skip to the end.