Read This Book . . .

When Leah returns from her expedition to one of the deepest parts of the ocean, she’s different. Miri, Leah’s wife, watches as Leah barely eats and spends far too much time in the bath. Miri can’t put her finger on it, but somehow, Leah has completely changed.

As we learn more about Leah and Miri in the present, we get flashbacks of Leah and her crew getting stuck under the sea for months, unable to resurface due to a malfunction on their submarine. The crew is isolated, and soon, they begin seeing things in the darkness of the ocean. We also get flashbacks of Miri and Leah’s love story, learning about how they met and some of their most intimate moments. It’s a beautiful portrait of a marriage that may not have a happy ending.

It’s difficult to describe the sinister feeling that Armfield evokes with her prose. It’s somehow both creepy and romantic. As we learn more about Miri and Leah’s relationship, we also get moments of bodily horror as Leah’s body changes from her time down in the depths of the ocean. Armfield’s strength is the depth of character she’s able to achieve with both Leah and Miri. They each are such vibrant characters; we, as readers, fall in love with them too.

Armfield’s prose is gorgeous, incredibly intimate. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think about beautiful writing when I think about horror writing. Armfield subverts expectations, turning our expectations on their heads as she gives us glimpses into these characters’ lives.

If you love audiobooks, I have to recommend Annabel Baldwin’s and Robyn Holdaway’s performances on the audio editions. It made me feel like they were doing a two-woman show, taking turns performing monologues from Leah’s and Miri’s perspectives.