The Water Cure ~ Sophie Mackintosh

★★★☆☆

I received this digital copy from Doubleday Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way. All quotes are taken from the uncorrected proof and are subject to change.

Obligatory Summary

Three sisters live alone with only their father and mother, cordoned off by the sea and by the rusting fence and the forest. Once, long ago, their home was a restorative retreat for ailing women seeking their special therapy--the water cure--that claimed to heal them of the wearies of a dying world. Now, they are all alone, with only each other as company, performing their water rituals in solitude.

But their father, King disappears, seemingly dead and taken by the sea. And then, worst of all, three men emerge from the sea, and everything changes.

The Writing and Worldbuilding

Every time I think I am very lonely, it becomes bleaker and more true. You can think things into being. You can dwell them up from the ground.

I loved the writing and the story. It felt like The Handmaid's Tale merged with an adult version of Delirium and it utterly captivated me. I read it all in one sitting, barely able to put it down. The imagery and atmosphere was excellent. I liked the vagueness of the world beyond--whether this is set in some dystopic future or modern day in the quiet places of the world. It really added to the ambiguous atmosphere.

I was not a huge fan of the random interludes from random women. They were sometimes pretty good and were not altogether bad, but often distracted from the plot.

The heart must be willing. The heart must be a traitor. But we are all traitors in some way.

I have, however, some mixed feelings about the themes. As a whole, I loved this. I would have given it 5 stars if not for what I consider its fatal flaw: I don't like this particular brand of feminism, and think that it's ultimate and final message might be damaging rather than helpful.

To avoid spoilers, I will only speak in vague terms, but there is in general a great lack of nuance regarding the place of men in this story. As this is written, all men are evil, opportunistic brutes. Even those who are not so bad are worthless, despicable monsters in their own way. And yet so are the women in this. But they are shown to have some redeeming qualities, which the men are not quite allowed. To me, this is problematic. Yes, women suffer at the hand of men, and often other women, but that doesn't mean it is evil to be male, no more than it is evil to be female.

Once it was clear, as the story started winding down, that this was the message I was to take from it all, I felt ill and angry. I finished it not to see how it all ends, but simply to be done with it. I hate this kind of feminism. It ruins the progress women have made, in my opinion. I suppose I should have known when it was advertised as a "feminist revenge fantasy" but I thought, based on the majority of the story, that it would be more than that. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The rest of the feminist themes were fantastic and I loved them. It was only that men-hating part that bothered me.

The Characters

What must it be like, to live in a world that wants to kill you? Where every breath is an affront?

Lia: She was my favorite character, by far. Most of the book is in her perspective, as she falls in love and lust with Llew. Her strangeness and familiar aspects were so well done and intriguing. I really loved reading about her.

Grace: She was good at first, but she kind of ruined things at the end with her sanctimoniousness.

Llew: He was fascinating and I really liked him as a character. His son Gwil was mostly background, but I did like him enough.

Sky: There really wasn't much to this third sister, as she didn't get a perspective of her own and kinda just hovered through the story, not doing much, but she did act as a good balance between the other two sisters.

James: I liked him. Kind of gave me Uncle Iroh vibes, so the way things ended with him made me kinda mad tbh

Mother: She was also fascinating, and I loved and hated her. Such an interesting character.

King: We never actually got to see him, but I did like the way he was written through other's eyes, and how my opinion of him changes as the story goes on and I learn more about him (or have my suspicions confirmed, as the case may be)

Conclusion

I liked it, and my heart says 4 stars, but the bitterness it made me feel deserves a 3 stars.

It also taught me that loss is a thing that builds around you. That what feels like safety is often just absence of current harm, and those two things are not the same.

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