Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Bálnahullás by Daniel Kraus

106 reviews

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

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

mtferal's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

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

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

mentat_stem's review against another edition

adventurous informative tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Suicide

noctstate's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Self harm

hyperashley's review against another edition

tense medium-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? Yes

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, Blood, and Death of parent

limina's review against another edition

challenging sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

This book feels pretty ridiculous, I know. But it also has a semi-heartfelt story to it as well. It's claustrophobic, and at times heart-pounding. It's being made into a movie, I'll be interested to make the comparison.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Vomit

aparker89's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective tense fast-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

3.75

What a trip! This book was nearly impossible to put down- I just had to know if Jay was going to escape his prison inside the whale! This story takes us deep into the psyche of death, grief and longing. 
While it seems a little ridiculously with the whole Jonah being swallowed by a whale, this author works hard to ensure scientific accuracy without bogging us down with too much information! 
I really enjoyed this story. It is captivating, riveting and pulls at your heart strings!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic