This will be my last dalliance with Yuknavitch. I passionately hated the Book of Joan and intensely disliked this. I only picked it up because I mistook the name for Yelena Moskovich (sorry, Yelena). I hate Yuknavitch's writing that markets itself as real and uninhibited but reads as sloppy and lazy. There are brilliant moments where you can see what her writing could be of she dropped her juvenile, give-no-f*cks attitude that often reads like a stroppy teenager. I also find some of her attitudes to sex and sexual partners, actual and potential, unsavoury and sometimes predatory. It wouldn't be okay if a heterosexual man wrote it and it's not okay for a bisexual woman. It's brutal honesty is commendable in it's way but some of the attitudes are not and honesty doesn't wipe them away.

I've been desperate to read this book ever since I reviewed 'The Book of Joan' and searched for more of the authors work. When I saw that it was being offered on Netgalley in advance of publication in the UK I was overjoyed. I *knew* that, for me at least, this memoir would be something very special. It was. It is. I've taken so much longer to read this for review than I expected, than I wanted. I've read this book with a urge to sob at the end of almost every chapter (and actual sobs at the end of quite a few). I've had to pause in my reading, take a break from how intensely I was feeling and relating to this incredible writing, the raw emotions, the burning fires that could only be soothed by immersion in water. Some sections I've read again immediately, before I could move on, and had the same reaction a second time, had to sob, needed to breathe. I adore this book, while not sharing all of the authors experiences I have felt the words, the sentiments and power behind them, in my core as I read. I've related directly and felt intensely. To some extent this book destroyed me, but also began to heal me and make me feel stronger. Thank you Lidia Yuknavitch.

The Chronology of Water is the raw, heartfelt autobiography of a survivor; not a victim. Yuknavitch takes us on her journey through life with prose that sings from the page. It's a powerful, thought-provoking memoir and explores topical themes of abuse, addiction, love, self-destruction. This is a hard-hitting read in which the author is not afraid to acknowledge her past and lays everything out for readers to take in. It reminds me very much of Roxanne Gays emotionally-charged works.

Many thanks to Canongate for an ARC.

I loved this book. It’s beautiful and raw, with prose that is alternately rhythmically flowing and spiky. An autobiography with the running theme throughout of water and swimming, it deals with dark subjects - abuse, grief, addiction - unflinchingly and boldly. She’s a fantastic writer and this packs a hell of a punch.