The-water-cure-book-review-iamsandrine - 1.jpg

Imagine a novel that combines The Virgin Suicides and The Handmaid’s Tale. Well as a result, you’ve got The Water Cure, a debut novel by Sophie Mackintosh. The story is quite ambiguous from the beginning, it’s hard to tell what’s really happening. It’s about three sisters living on an island, who were raised to think the rest of the world, but mostly men, were dangerous. Their mom was quite abusive and they had to take part in different water rituals to ‘cure’ themselves when they were beginning to deviate. The writing is quite evocative and brings a very strong atmosphere that you rarely see in other novels. The relationship of the sisters is quite extraordinary, they really have a push and pull dynamic. The book also explores difficult topics such as misogyny and reproductive rights, which is ideal for the time we live in.

I loved the feeling of the book and the style of writing, but I must say I was a bit confused at times. I still enjoyed reading it and I’m sure if you love feminist dystopian fiction, you will absolutely love this. It was a relaxing read, I can imaging reading this in the bath is just pure joy. It was also a fast read with multiple chapters and different point of views. All and all, it was a good book to start my year in readings!

What’s a book you’ve been reading recently?


2 Comments