Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Shark Heart: A love story

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Shark Heart: A love story by Emily Habeck

31 reviews

dixiecarroll's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't to cry over a great white shark being lonely in the ocean. This was ultimately a portrait of grief and felt very much like a fever dream coping mechanism for someone who has experienced great and traumatic loss. This is a fast read - extremely easy to binge read in one sitting, but it is of the "weird" variety - duh. I recommend picking this up if you need to escape the reality of your own grief (or if you want to have a wild experience).

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prestonpre's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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farrahwho's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

The surface of love was a feeling, but beyond this thin layer, there was a fathomless, winding maze of caverns offering many places to see and explore. Wren used to think romantic passion only grew more intense in the depths. But this belief was naive and impractical, a by-product of a certainty-obsessed culture that equates love with longing and views ambivalence as a fatal flaw. Wren saw now how passion was delicate and temporary, a visitor, a feeling that would come and go. Feelings fled under pressure; feelings did not light the darkness. What remained strong in the deep, the hard times, was love as an effort, a doing, a conscious act of will. Soulmates, like her and Lewis, were not theoretical and found. They were tangible, built.

this has lots of my favorite things: lyrical prose, exploring themes of love, loss, grief, hope, change, and relationships; magic realism elements (human-to-wild animal mutations). it was so easy to care for the characters and empathize with their experiences. i want to give wren a hug so bad!!

however, it is structured in one of my least favorite ways of story telling which is though a series of non-linear vignettes making it hard to follow at times. the vignettes seem to get sparser throughout, leaving much to be desired. it also experiments with formatting in the sense that some "chapters" are written as scenes of a play which is fitting given lewis's character, but i felt like there were many times where the flow of the story was disrupted because of it.

might be a nonsensical comparison to make but the writing style gave me slight alone with you in the ether meets our wives under the sea vibes? so if enjoyed the prose in those, there's a chance you'll like shark heart as well

overall, i still really enjoyed this as much as it broke then mended my heart. giving it a 3.75, but it is practically a 4 star

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kelseyr713's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is one of the most beautiful, fascinating, and lyrical novels I've ever read. Highly recommended.

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carlyjb16's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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rover_under's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is a much faster read than the page count suggests, owing to its unique style. Some scenes are written as screenplays or diary entries that extend to only one or two sentences per page. I enjoyed the book. It was heartfelt and its allegory toward illness and death felt impactful and was used well.

I don't know if I have the life experience to evaluate the book in this way, but despite the absurd premise of the book, the subject matter was handled well.

One thing I was confused by is the author's choice to hide Wren and her mother's mutation until late in the book. I initially excused it as being part of the past self that Wren had chosen to leave behind, but Lewis seemed to know all of it, though I can't recall it referenced in the first part of the book when he's going though his metamorphosis. It felt awkward and strange to have not been told since I'd initially thought it was Wren hiding it from the other characters.

Otherwise I think it's a fantastic book with a very engaging style, and I would fully recommend it for anyone who felt comfortable with the subject matter discussed.

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