Monthly Reading Summary – September 2023

Top Book of the Month – ‘Red, White and Royal Blue’ by Casey McQuiston

Book Club Book This Month – ‘Our Wives Under the Sea’ by Julia Armfield

Books Read This Month:

• ‘Anne of Athelhampton and the Riddle of the Apes’ by Giles Keating ★★★
• ‘Red, White and Royal Blue’ by Casey McQuiston ★★★★★
• ‘The Tudors by Numbers: The Stories and Statistics Behind England’s Most Infamous Royal Dynasty’ by Carol Ann Lloyd ★★★★★
• ‘A Perfect Cornish Christmas’ by Phillipa Ashley ★★★★
• ‘Henry VI: A Good, Simple and Innocent Man’ by James Ross ★★★★
• ‘A Secret Cornish Summer’ by Phillipa Ashley ★★★★
• ‘Our Wives Under the Sea’ by Julia Armfield ★★

Books Bought This Month:

• ‘The Roughest Draft’ by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
• ‘Red, White and Royal Blue’ by Casey McQuiston
• ‘Accidental Magic’ by Iris Beaglehole
• ‘To Swoon and to Spar’ by Martha Waters
• ‘A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting’ by Sophie Irwin
• ‘Our Wives Under the Sea’ by Julia Armfield
• ‘Roomies’ by Christina Lauren
• ‘The Christmas Murder Game’ by Alexandra Benedict
• ‘Trouble’ by Lex Croucher
• ‘The Running Grave’ by Robert Galbraith

Statistics:

• Books Read – 7
• Currently Reading – 2
• TBR – 219

• Fiction – 5 (71.43%)
• Non-Fiction – 2 (28.57%)

• Male Author – 2 (28.57%)
• Female Author – 4 (57.14%)
• Non-Binary Author – 1 (14.29%)
• Multiple Authors – 0 (0%)

• Paperback – 1 (14.29%)
• Hardback – 1 (14.29%)
• eBook – 5 (71.42%)
• Audiobook – 0 (0%)

• Total Pages Read – 1,974
• Average Pages Per Book – 282.00
• Hours Listened – 0.00

• Average Star Rating – 3.86

‘Our Wives Under the Sea’ by Julia Armfield

Genre: Adult Fiction – Horror / Thriller

Published: 2022

Format: eBook

Rating: ★★

This was our book club read for September 2023. I wasn’t really looking forward to reading it, and as I went through it, I wasn’t enjoying it at all. I’m not very good with horror / thriller novels generally, to be honest. I tried to start with an open mind but as the story went on, I just couldn’t see it picking up and I was so close to DNF’ing it several times. Given how short it was, and that it was for a book club meeting, I thought I’d try and persevere, so I did get to the end.

I found the book over the top in terms of descriptions, and it was really creepy like with the creatures in her mouth, and the eye turning to water. But generally, I was just bored throughout, waiting for something to happen and it never really did. It isn’t a slow burn, but just nothing happens at all. I had seen some really positive reviews for this book, but I couldn’t see what they saw.

I also couldn’t relate to either of the main characters, Miri and Leah, and the dual perspective didn’t really add much to the story. Leah’s sections seemed to largely be comprised of facts about the sea which didn’t add anything to the story at all and seemed largely pointless being there. I’m not sure what the book was trying to achieve as it is billed as a horror/thriller but it’s more of an emotional novel with a few creepy moments put in.

I’m glad I only got the eBook for this because it is not worth having a physical book to display on my shelves. The ending was interesting, but I don’t think I’d read anything else by this author.