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sorcery_and_stories's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
gabushkaaa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
del98's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
tanyapaquet's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
booksbybindu's review against another edition
5.0
‘Whisper of the Seals’ is an ominously dark and suspenseful slow creep of a book which thoroughly overwhelms the reader's senses. Even now I have that prickly feeling on the back of my neck as I am writing this review. From the outset, you know that something terrible is going to occur and it's just exactly when and where.
We find our beloved characters roughly five months after the event of ‘The Corpse Bride’. DS Morales is taking a holiday with Erik Lefebvre - winter ski cruise round the Gaspe peninsula. He has just completed his divorce and feels empty and heavy. Fisheries officer Simone Lord has been transferred to the Magdalen Islands for the winter and has been asked to observe a seal hunt at the last minute. The boat is the only one going out into the waters as there is a storm approaching, hence the suspicion and Simone being asked to observe throughout the trip. But the crew doesn't want her there, firstly because she is a woman and secondly because she is an official.
This is the third of the series that has been translated to English by the David Warriner and it was a welcome return to the wilds of Quebec. You can read this very easily as a standalone though. The beauty of the language and the writing completely capture the image I have of this area. Dazzling from the white of the snow but with a tinge of the danger of being in such an inhospitable environment. Roxanne just nails the location aspect of this series and it is part of why I am drawn so much to this series.
I found this to be a very uncomfortable read on many levels. Firstly, the book does revolve around a seal hunt and for many readers, this may prove to be too much. However, I want to learn about different cultures and even though I found it unnerving to read I also found it fascinating. For many in the world we only really know about this practice from campaigners videos and reports so to it see it from another perspective was illuminating in some ways. Still uncomfortable but I think it is meant to be! But that is just the first layer of the onion to be peeled away with the next being the misogynist and dangerous situation that Simone has found herself in. To me this isn't a Morales book, this is a testament and celebration of Simone. A woman who is determined to make her way in the world even if that means butting heads with long-held superstitions, battling against the immature misogyny of working in a male-dominated profession and also battling against herself in a way. Erik calls her an overachiever but as the story evolves we find that isn't the case. This is the next layer of uncomfortable as we know she is in a dangerous situation with people who want to either rape or even kill her. As each page is turned the level of tension increases incrementally until you are at a heightened level of complete and utter dread.
If anyone does read this book let me know I need to talk to someone about it, spoilers and all!! So many emotions after finishing it.
Again, a triumph from this writer!
We find our beloved characters roughly five months after the event of ‘The Corpse Bride’. DS Morales is taking a holiday with Erik Lefebvre - winter ski cruise round the Gaspe peninsula. He has just completed his divorce and feels empty and heavy. Fisheries officer Simone Lord has been transferred to the Magdalen Islands for the winter and has been asked to observe a seal hunt at the last minute. The boat is the only one going out into the waters as there is a storm approaching, hence the suspicion and Simone being asked to observe throughout the trip. But the crew doesn't want her there, firstly because she is a woman and secondly because she is an official.
This is the third of the series that has been translated to English by the David Warriner and it was a welcome return to the wilds of Quebec. You can read this very easily as a standalone though. The beauty of the language and the writing completely capture the image I have of this area. Dazzling from the white of the snow but with a tinge of the danger of being in such an inhospitable environment. Roxanne just nails the location aspect of this series and it is part of why I am drawn so much to this series.
I found this to be a very uncomfortable read on many levels. Firstly, the book does revolve around a seal hunt and for many readers, this may prove to be too much. However, I want to learn about different cultures and even though I found it unnerving to read I also found it fascinating. For many in the world we only really know about this practice from campaigners videos and reports so to it see it from another perspective was illuminating in some ways. Still uncomfortable but I think it is meant to be! But that is just the first layer of the onion to be peeled away with the next being the misogynist and dangerous situation that Simone has found herself in. To me this isn't a Morales book, this is a testament and celebration of Simone. A woman who is determined to make her way in the world even if that means butting heads with long-held superstitions, battling against the immature misogyny of working in a male-dominated profession and also battling against herself in a way. Erik calls her an overachiever but as the story evolves we find that isn't the case. This is the next layer of uncomfortable as we know she is in a dangerous situation with people who want to either rape or even kill her. As each page is turned the level of tension increases incrementally until you are at a heightened level of complete and utter dread.
If anyone does read this book let me know I need to talk to someone about it, spoilers and all!! So many emotions after finishing it.
Again, a triumph from this writer!
julydou's review against another edition
4.0
J’ai adoré.
Mais que ça finisse de même, ça me crée une grosse peine d’amour à moi!
Mais que ça finisse de même, ça me crée une grosse peine d’amour à moi!
kellyvandamme's review against another edition
5.0
As much as I love standalone books, there is something undeniably satisfying about picking up a new instalment in a beloved series, catching up with characters you already know and love. Whisper of the Seals is the third book in the Detective Moralès series, and while it will be wonderful for any and all Roxanne Bouchard fans to dive back in, I also think it’s perfectly possible to read it as a standalone if you are so inclined.
I had been looking forward to heading back to Canada to find out how and what Moralès was doing and I fell head over heels in love with that cover as soon as I saw it, but I have to admit I also found it a bit scary. I mean, seal hunt? We’ve all seen the images of baby seals beaten to death, it’s not something I can stomach, and I’m pretty averse to any kind of animal being hurt in any kind of way in any book I read, so I did feel some trepidation.
For the first part of the book, Moralès is on holiday, involving himself in a case his old team is working on, taking a bit of a backseat as we follow fisheries officer Simone Lord on a trawler out on a seal hunt. A woman in what is basically considered a man’s job, especially one on board a trawler with a crew of manly men who don’t like fisheries officers nor women on board, let alone a combination of both, it’s obvious from the start this won’t be a walk in the park for Simone.
Before long, the announced seal hunts I was dreading are carried out and I do admire how the author tackles this subject. It was not the easiest read, but it was not by any means the vicious bloodbath I feared it might be. I learnt a lot about how seal hunts are organised and regulated. I was happy to learn that hunters need the necessary permits and that the authorities are coming down hard on poachers. I also didn’t know that seal hunting is allowed as a kind of culling system, like with certain forest animals, and that the manner in which the animals are killed is also highly regulated so as to prevent them from suffering.
Still, for the highly sensitive reader I must mention that a seal pup does get hurt inadvertently and that will hurt any animal-loving heart. However, if it didn’t mar my reading experience, I’m pretty sure it won’t spoil yours either so don’t let it stop you from picking up this book. For me, I think it helped that Simone is there, she loves the animals too and she’s very clear-headed and sober about the hunt so that did help me see beyond the emotional aspect.
Roxanne Bouchard, through David Warriner who is clearly an accomplished language magician, never fails to blow me away. She always manages to transport me to Canada, introducing me to a part of the country, be it geographical, historical or cultural, that I was previously unaware of. Her writing always oozes atmosphere, so much so that I actually felt like I was there on the ice in Canada despite my reading this on a warm summer’s day in Belgium.
Whisper of the Seals is another fantastic addition to a series I love first and foremost for its atmosphere, its setting and the fact that the ocean feels like a character in its own right. Add Roxanne Bouchard’s and David Warriner’s beautiful prose, simple yet powerful, and a boatload of suspense in the final chapters (no, you practically bit off the hubby’s head when he dared disturb you just as you were about to find out something vital!) and I don’t need to tell you this was an absolute winner for me.
Whisper of the Seals is out on 18 August in digital formats and paperback. Preorder it directly from Orenda Books here. In the meantime, do keep an eye out for the Random Things Tour next month and be sure to come back to FromBelgiumWithBookLove on the 30th, I’ll have an excerpt up for you.
Massive thanks to Orenda Books for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
I had been looking forward to heading back to Canada to find out how and what Moralès was doing and I fell head over heels in love with that cover as soon as I saw it, but I have to admit I also found it a bit scary. I mean, seal hunt? We’ve all seen the images of baby seals beaten to death, it’s not something I can stomach, and I’m pretty averse to any kind of animal being hurt in any kind of way in any book I read, so I did feel some trepidation.
For the first part of the book, Moralès is on holiday, involving himself in a case his old team is working on, taking a bit of a backseat as we follow fisheries officer Simone Lord on a trawler out on a seal hunt. A woman in what is basically considered a man’s job, especially one on board a trawler with a crew of manly men who don’t like fisheries officers nor women on board, let alone a combination of both, it’s obvious from the start this won’t be a walk in the park for Simone.
Before long, the announced seal hunts I was dreading are carried out and I do admire how the author tackles this subject. It was not the easiest read, but it was not by any means the vicious bloodbath I feared it might be. I learnt a lot about how seal hunts are organised and regulated. I was happy to learn that hunters need the necessary permits and that the authorities are coming down hard on poachers. I also didn’t know that seal hunting is allowed as a kind of culling system, like with certain forest animals, and that the manner in which the animals are killed is also highly regulated so as to prevent them from suffering.
Still, for the highly sensitive reader I must mention that a seal pup does get hurt inadvertently and that will hurt any animal-loving heart. However, if it didn’t mar my reading experience, I’m pretty sure it won’t spoil yours either so don’t let it stop you from picking up this book. For me, I think it helped that Simone is there, she loves the animals too and she’s very clear-headed and sober about the hunt so that did help me see beyond the emotional aspect.
Roxanne Bouchard, through David Warriner who is clearly an accomplished language magician, never fails to blow me away. She always manages to transport me to Canada, introducing me to a part of the country, be it geographical, historical or cultural, that I was previously unaware of. Her writing always oozes atmosphere, so much so that I actually felt like I was there on the ice in Canada despite my reading this on a warm summer’s day in Belgium.
Whisper of the Seals is another fantastic addition to a series I love first and foremost for its atmosphere, its setting and the fact that the ocean feels like a character in its own right. Add Roxanne Bouchard’s and David Warriner’s beautiful prose, simple yet powerful, and a boatload of suspense in the final chapters (no, you practically bit off the hubby’s head when he dared disturb you just as you were about to find out something vital!) and I don’t need to tell you this was an absolute winner for me.
Whisper of the Seals is out on 18 August in digital formats and paperback. Preorder it directly from Orenda Books here. In the meantime, do keep an eye out for the Random Things Tour next month and be sure to come back to FromBelgiumWithBookLove on the 30th, I’ll have an excerpt up for you.
Massive thanks to Orenda Books for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
manugareau's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
mike_c's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
arthabaska's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75