Our Wives Under the Sea

 Book 94 of my 2025 Reading Challenge

read from December 22 - 25

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

published 2022

Summary (via the book jacket)

Leah is changed. A marine biologist, she left for a routine expedition months earlier, only this time her submarine sank to the seafloor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife, Miri, knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was the crew was supposed to be studying before they were stranded, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.

My Opinion

2 stars

This book was listed on a Pride bookmark from my local library.  I guess technically it fits since the main characters are two women married to each other but it's presented as matter of fact (which is a good thing) and not really a plot point at all.

Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me.  Since Miri seemed disconnected from Leah from the very beginning, there was no tension.  It really felt like, "welp, she's bleeding from her mouth...welp, her skin is changing...welp, she's in the bathtub all the time...welp, [the ending I won't spoil]."  Even at the end it didn't feel like there was any emotion in the decision.  And there was nothing during Leah's POVs that showed how she felt about anything that was changing in her since the return.

Either a short story format or a more gradual change (like they reconnected as soon as she returned and then Miri felt like she was slowly losing her again) might've helped.