Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Bálnahullás by Daniel Kraus

160 reviews

nerdygnome's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"No one carries the best parts of themselves. The best parts are those held inside of others."

While unique in its own right, "Whalefall" feels a bit like the oceanic version of "The Martian" — a solo man, left to fend for himself under seemingly insurmountable survival odds. As you might then expect, "Whalefall" is atmospheric and tense. What you may not expect, though, is that along with this pervasive sense of adventure comes a good deal of quiet reflection. Readers are taken both deep into the ocean and deep into the protagonist's emotional growth. 

Jay, a young man estranged from his family, is making an epic attempt at reconciling with his relatives. He's on a deep-dive quest to locate the remains of his deceased father, who committed suicide by leaping into the sea. Jay is convinced that by doing so, his mother and sister will forgive him for staying away from his father's deathbed even when his father was begging to see him. Just when it seems he may have succeeded, Jay is accidentally eaten by a 60-ton sperm whale and must try to battle his way out of the whale and to the surface before his oxygen tank runs out. 

I enjoyed the clever, crisp writing that Kraus delivers. While I did sometimes feel that the graphic descriptions of his battles against whale flesh were long winded, it's safe to say I was suitably enchanted by the story throughout. Flashbacks to Jay's childhood experiences gave me a breather from his ardurous task of escaping the whale, and slowly revealed the complexities of his relationship with his dad. While it has the feel of an adventure story, at its core "Whalefall" is instead a beautiful testimony to the parent-child relationship (even, perhaps especially, when flawed), grief, reconciliation, and love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent

sgatz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

This is an achingly beautiful book. Cannot wait to reread. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide, Medical content, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism

atalea's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

cassie7e's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

A meditative, interminable metaphor for grief and complicated father-son relationships. (Blurb claims "scientifically accurate" - I forgive all my thoughts of "how is he not dead yet" on the basis of being metaphor.) 

Warnings:
- Emphasis on "interminable" - if you're looking for a plot heavy thriller, this is not for you. Even for me it dragged on.
- Nonlinear timeline, mimics memories bubbling up. I love this style but it's polarizing.
- Many graphic descriptions of injury and slogging through slow confused obstinate thoughts.

The acknowledgement of covid in 2021-onward parts of the timeline was startling (how long until it isn't anymore?) but it's merely part of the setting, not part of the story at least.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

plumsdeify's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicide

meganpbell's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A teen finds himself in the belly of a whale when diving for his estranged father’s remains in this intense science thriller and extended meditation on fathers, sons, and the life-saving legacy that lives on in us long after those we’ve lost. As someone who lost an estranged parent as a teen, it was hard for this book to gain my trust—and it did in the bigger picture, but not in the finer details. Still, a thrilling and moving read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Alcohol

skilb's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent

dread_kore's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Best book I've read all year. One of my new favorites. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Suicide

theseaghost's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I was excited for this because I’d heard good things and have a tattoo of a sperm whale on my arm. But it was a series of wildly improbable events with paper thin characters and a cloying attention at sentimentality that falls entirely flat. I think this might have been better served as straight up young adult or teen fiction or maybe a graphic novel or something. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide

folst015's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Suicide