Bodies of Water

I recently decided to start reading shorter books so I could finish a story. In 2022, finishing a story was often impossible for me. I read Bodies of Water in about a month and it's only 130 pages. I'm happy with that, and I hope I can continue to finish stories throughout the year.

This may be the first review I've done with spoilers. My issues with the story can only be addressed in that way. But before spoilers, let me explain the premise: Kirsten is living in present day and just moved into an apartment complex which was used as a hydrotherapy hospital in the 1870s. It's close to the river, and Kirsten is fascinated by the water. But then strange things start happening. Every other chapter is from Kirsten's point-of-view. The other chapters are Evelyn, who is a patient at the hydrotherapy hospital in the 1870s. In my opinion, her chapters are much more interesting with much more happening. There are more characters and action.

In general, though, the book is filled with exposition which gets very boring. The author also uses the word “water” and/or “river” in almost every single paragraph. I felt like I was getting hit over the head with something, and I just don't know what it was. The story doesn't connect any dots to really say anything. At the end, there are some lines about women being confined across centuries and needing the wide space of the river to, I'm not sure, have their own space?

SPOILER WARNING: After finishing the book, I realized my biggest issue is the lack of connection. There is nothing between Kirsten and Evelyn, other than Wakewater Hospital/Apartments. Kirsten's story ends up being about satisfying the needs of female water spirits who are murderous, and for some reason water is leaking in all over Wakewater. There is no reason given for this. On Evelyn's side, there is no mention of such water spirits until the very end, and even then they're not murderous. Evelyn just sees them in the river. Kirsten apparently is seeing the character of Milly who was Evelyn's lover, but why? Why is Milly out for an offering in the present day?

The more I write this, the more I am annoyed. I feel like the author wrote half the book and then didn't know what to do. Or maybe they wrote Evelyn's side since it was so much more interesting, and then needed something else and came up with Kirsten.

I'm giving this two stars instead of one because I really only give one star reviews to books I don't finish. I obviously do not recommend it since it falls flat. It leaves you with questions, but not the curious kind. They're the kind of questions that arise when a story doesn't make sense from beginning to end.

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