Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

48 reviews

billyjepma's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.5

This took me on a ride, but not the one that either it or I expected. While the science behind the premise is in-depth and appropriately unsettling—the detailed anatomy and gore made this a tricky one to listen to while cooking dinner, tbh—and the actual problem-solving involved in Jay's attempts at survival is quite good, there's not enough here to sustain a novel. I'm not usually one to complain about "padding," but this book suffers from an excess of repetitive emotional beats and jarring flashbacks that feel tacked onto what could've and should've been a leaner novella.

It didn't take long for me to feel that padding, either. The flashbacks are haphazardly placed and often defuse the tension created by the gnarly survival narrative. They also lack the emotional depth required to enrich the story, which makes the flashbacks and dramatic scaffolding they're trying for feel tacked on at best. The symbolism and metaphors Krause draws aren't bad, but they're overwrought to the point of exhaustion. If the connections weren't repeatedly spelled out in exacting detail, I might've been more able and willing to get on board. But you don't get points for beating me over the head with a metaphor, regardless of how effective it might or might not be, especially when the goal of the metaphor is as frustrating as the tired trope of "maybe my abusive parent wasn't all bad, after all."

Let's talk about the abusive parent angle, too, because I have beef. My patience for a "redemption" arc is very thin when it comes to this brand of parent-child relationship, so this book had an uphill struggle right out of the gate. But when your protagonist's father is as cruel as Mitt, you've already lost me. Krause's attempts at making him sympathetic are admirable, and some of them even struck a nerve, but Mitt is too vile a character for me to want to care about. I don't even like Jay as a protagonist, either! He's more shallow than not, and, as much as I hate to say it, he comes off as whiny. It doesn't help that the audiobook's narrator plays up Jay's youth, emphasizing the more annoying aspects of the characterization. There's little depth in the characters, either; all their backstory and drama are so predictable and one-note that they end up feeling more performative than anything.

The book isn't all bad, and I really wanted to like it, too, which is why it became increasingly frustrating to realize that I just didn't. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Cancer, Suicide, Gore, Death of parent, Animal death, Grief, and Medical content

Minor: Vomit and Pandemic/Epidemic

maaartha's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, Death of parent, Suicide, Terminal illness, Cancer, Blood, Body horror, Death, Confinement, and Gore

parchementhallucinations's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief, Physical abuse, Blood, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Death of parent

ticktock's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, Animal death, Suicide, and Blood

rainstar's review

adventurous emotional tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Confinement, Body horror, Animal death, and Blood

parkergarlough's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Animal death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Transphobia, Suicide, and Physical abuse

Minor: Bullying

thepeonyinink's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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, Terminal illness, Gore, Blood, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death of parent and Suicide

aposthuma's review

adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

What an INSANE book. As promised, it's 127 Hours meets the Martian meets Jonah from the Bible. This is possibly the goriest, grossest book I've ever read, but I could not put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Medical content, Vomit, Blood, Gore, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Grief

rondasue27's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Suicide and Emotional abuse

fatfatrat's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Grief, and Suicide

Minor: Vomit and Pandemic/Epidemic