I wanted to read all of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. But I DNF’d this women’s fiction novel about a bitter woman who’s a shitty friend, mentally absent and resentful mother, obnoxious daughter-in-law, and iffy wife. Oh, yeah, she’s also an alcoholic.
I could easily go on a ten-page rant about all the things that bothered me about this book. But, I’m going to keep this review concise. Kinda.
What’s Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea about?
Leah O’Connor is the main character in Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. She’s a wife, freelance artist, and mother of three kids who originally never wanted to have kids. Her freelance art career has stalled due to her demands as a housewife and full-time mom, and she’s convinced that her mother-in-law has it in for her.
Leah’s only solace comes in the form of her co-dependent friendship with her sister-in-law, Amy, and the many glasses of wine she uses to numb her daily misery. It’s not long before Leah’s drinking endangers those she loves most, including her children, and her world starts to implode.
What I didn’t like about Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Leah sober…
Leah is the reason I didn’t like Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. She’s narcissistic and self-absorbed. She’s loud and doesn’t really have a filter. And she comes across as very whiny and woe-is-me.
And that’s when she’s not drunk.
Leah has a lot of regrets about the life she feels she left behind – one of art, surfing, and personal freedom from family obligations of all kinds – and she voices them repeatedly to the reader. And, to just about anyone else who will listen. Rather than celebrate other people’s wins, Leah envies them and constantly sabotages her own chances at happiness.
And Leah drunk…
Just when you think Leah can’t get any worse, she starts drinking. A lot. And she becomes even more obnoxious.
The way she treats people throughout the novel is appalling. Her interactions with her sister-in-law, Amy, struck me as incredibly tone-deaf and co-dependent, with poor Amy getting the shitty end of the stick every time.
And Leah comes across as downright delusional every time she moans about how “horrible” her mother-in-law Christine is to her. Leah complains a lot about Christine, but the reader never actually experiences anything aggressive or nasty toward Leah. It’s all hearsay from Leah’s POV. After awhile, I started to wonder if we’re dealing with an unreliable narrator.
I wanted to shove copies of Finding the Gift and Grateful as F*ck at Leah the entire time I was reading. Because this girl needs therapy in so many ways.
Tackling alcoholism and Wine Mom Culture
I’m pretty sure I’m not the target audience for Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. While this book will certainly appeal to those who don’t have kids, I see this novel about motherhood, depression, and alcoholism resonating most with the “Wine Mom Culture” crowd.
I’ve always had an issue with using alcohol to get through the hardships of parenting. Like, that can’t be healthy, and popular culture seems to make light of it. (Cue slogans like “Mommy’s Sippy Cup.”) So, I’m glad that author Jessica Guerrieri wrote a novel that tackles such a disturbing “trend” head-on.
I admire the honesty with which Guerrieri depicts Leah’s descent into alcoholism in Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. She doesn’t sugar coat things, nor should she. I think we should be furious with Leah. However, I also think that Guerrieri wants us to sympathize with her a bit, and that’s just somewhere I couldn’t get to no matter how hard I tried.
Leah’s complaints about Mom Life track with what my mom-friends have shared with me about their own parenting experiences. I think Guerreri does an excellent job of portraying how so many women feel mothering steals away their identity and makes them into nothing more than “mothering machines.”
In turn, this all helps the reader understand why Leah drinks. About why she’s depressed. You feel the sadness, the bitterness, the envy, the loss of self that drives Leah further into the dark. It’s raw and honest, and it makes you understand why Leah has a hard time staying sober, even when you’re angry with her.
Should you read Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea?
It may surprise you to hear that I think Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a great read… for a certain audience. It will resonate with many moms, as well as with people looking for stories dealing with substance abuse. Lots of readers on Goodreads love this book, so I’m definitely in the minority here.
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea will also be a great book club read (think Liane Moriarty-type drama) since so many people will have different opinions about Leah and her life choices.
However, this book triggered me beyond belief. Here some (spoiler-free) trigger warnings that popped up for me in Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea:
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- people who are miserable with parenting yet keep having more children
- co-dependency
- adults who refuse to seek mental health help even though their friends and family are begging them to
- married people flirting with infidelity – see Broken Country book review
- alcoholic parents
- alcoholism in general
- narcissism
What’s the book-inspired recipes for Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea?
Despite not liking the book, I came up with a book-inspired recipe for this one: One Pot Red Wine Pasta.
Although I received a complimentary advance copy of this book from Wunderkind PR, all opinions expressed in this review are my own, and I was not compensated in any way for this review or for any other promotion/publicity I’ve done related to this book.
