Nautica Western’s Reviews > Our Wives Under the Sea > Status Update

“As a hypochondriac, the typical response when I’m panicking is to acknowledge it will end. […] When something bad is actually happening, it’s easy to underreact, because a part of you is wired to assume it isn’t real. When you stop underreacting, the horror is unique because it is, unfortunately, endless.”

“I saw him many times in the direct aftermath of his death, waved whenever he appeared and never felt compelled to speak to him. There was really no unfinished business, which I think is what stopped that whole thing being frightening— that and the fact that, ghost or not, it was still only ever my father.”

“In my head, I think I’m often telling Miri stories, logging away information or things I’ve seen in order to tell her about them later. […] taking everything in with one eye on how to recount it. I think I’ve trained myself to look at things this way, as if for her as well as for me.”

“I had come to understand that somewhere at the core of sex as an activity lay the possibility not only of illness but specifically of bodily harm, and this conviction, once formed, proved difficult to shake.”

I feel like I’m always bringing a chicken to a coffee date

“I don’t know that my endless reading and rereading of the book was what specifically instilled in me the desire to explore the ocean. More likely, I simply read it so much that it fell apart and I had to go and find something else to do, like exploring the ocean.”

This is such a breath of fresh air, especially after the last dumpster fire I just read. But also, in general! Already love love love this writing style and freaky energy.