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dcoul's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Animal death, Abandonment, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Abortion
cait's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Infidelity, Grief, Pregnancy, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Self harm, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Terminal illness
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).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cannibalism, Blood, and Pregnancy
okiecozyreader's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
I started out loving the descriptions and longing for Oklahoma, but I came to love the relationships in this book - husband and wife, mother and daughter.
“She missed the illusion of grass and sky kissing at the end of the world.
She missed standing amid a rustling chorus of wind-waving grasses, the four horsemen of the tallgrass prairie - little bluestem, big bluestem, Indian grass, and switchgrass. She missed May fields dotted with black-eyed Susans, Indian blanket, and coreopsis. She missed bursts of red clay topsoil along dirt roads. She missed the smell emanating from meat smokers, the way the grocery store was always empty on Sunday mornings, good thirty-dollar haircuts, and scissor-tailed flycatchers, suspended like supermen in hot, dry air. She missed the evenings most of all: the grapefruit sun hovering above the prairie, dismissing the day with unpredictable strokes of cantaloupe, fuchsia, and violet.” P35
Wren and Lewis celebrate their first year of marriage, and soon thereafter, he realizes something is wrong with his body, and finds out he is mutating into a great white shark. His loving wife Wren takes care of him as his body and mind transform, and he loses the ability to direct the school play, and acting is one of his great loves. But their love for each other is incredibly beautiful.
“When Lewis finally came to bed, he took sleeping Wren's hand in his and closed his eyes, seeing if he could sense her electrical field.
"What... What are you doing?" she asked groggily.
"Just seeing what it's like to love you when I can't see you." P70
In part 2, we go back to Wren’s childhood and learn about her mother Angela. It was a totally different story, but while reading the first part, I wondered about her mother, and appreciated the backstory, even though it was difficult in many ways.
In part 3 we go back to Lewis in current day and then to Wren. I loved the mother and daughter story and how the author writes in the Acknowledgments, “When I write of a mother's love, I write not from the experience of being one myself but from being a daughter who has been so, so lucky to be loved by parents like you.” Throughout the book, I felt that love.
“Wren no longer sees life as a long, linear ladder with a beginning, middle, and end.
Instead, she considers how life is like a spiraling trail up a mountain. Each circling lap represents a learning cycle, the same lesson at a slightly higher elevation. Wren realizes she likes to rest as much as she likes to climb. She begins to enjoy the view.” P 397
“Angela had been grieving Marcos almost as long as she'd known him, and finally, like a rainbow against a bruise-hued cloud, she saw the real Marcos--not as an idea, dream, hope, or possibility - but as he really was,
Marcos drew an outline of a person who was generous, wise, and kind. and Angela's longing animated his image with life and color. This two-dimensional Marcos, the one she imagined, was never real.” P274
“And then Lewis caved, as usual, to the chatter of resistance, the recita-ton of his very important responsibilities, the weighty things that would require all his life force, attention, and creative energy, why he should not do the thing that was, deep down, most important to him.” P35
“She missed the illusion of grass and sky kissing at the end of the world.
She missed standing amid a rustling chorus of wind-waving grasses, the four horsemen of the tallgrass prairie - little bluestem, big bluestem, Indian grass, and switchgrass. She missed May fields dotted with black-eyed Susans, Indian blanket, and coreopsis. She missed bursts of red clay topsoil along dirt roads. She missed the smell emanating from meat smokers, the way the grocery store was always empty on Sunday mornings, good thirty-dollar haircuts, and scissor-tailed flycatchers, suspended like supermen in hot, dry air. She missed the evenings most of all: the grapefruit sun hovering above the prairie, dismissing the day with unpredictable strokes of cantaloupe, fuchsia, and violet.” P35
Wren and Lewis celebrate their first year of marriage, and soon thereafter, he realizes something is wrong with his body, and finds out he is mutating into a great white shark. His loving wife Wren takes care of him as his body and mind transform, and he loses the ability to direct the school play, and acting is one of his great loves. But their love for each other is incredibly beautiful.
“When Lewis finally came to bed, he took sleeping Wren's hand in his and closed his eyes, seeing if he could sense her electrical field.
"What... What are you doing?" she asked groggily.
"Just seeing what it's like to love you when I can't see you." P70
In part 2, we go back to Wren’s childhood and learn about her mother Angela. It was a totally different story, but while reading the first part, I wondered about her mother, and appreciated the backstory, even though it was difficult in many ways.
In part 3 we go back to Lewis in current day and then to Wren. I loved the mother and daughter story and how the author writes in the Acknowledgments, “When I write of a mother's love, I write not from the experience of being one myself but from being a daughter who has been so, so lucky to be loved by parents like you.” Throughout the book, I felt that love.
“Wren no longer sees life as a long, linear ladder with a beginning, middle, and end.
Instead, she considers how life is like a spiraling trail up a mountain. Each circling lap represents a learning cycle, the same lesson at a slightly higher elevation. Wren realizes she likes to rest as much as she likes to climb. She begins to enjoy the view.” P 397
“Angela had been grieving Marcos almost as long as she'd known him, and finally, like a rainbow against a bruise-hued cloud, she saw the real Marcos--not as an idea, dream, hope, or possibility - but as he really was,
Marcos drew an outline of a person who was generous, wise, and kind. and Angela's longing animated his image with life and color. This two-dimensional Marcos, the one she imagined, was never real.” P274
“And then Lewis caved, as usual, to the chatter of resistance, the recita-ton of his very important responsibilities, the weighty things that would require all his life force, attention, and creative energy, why he should not do the thing that was, deep down, most important to him.” P35
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy, Abandonment, Drug use, Blood, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic and Abortion
blakeandbooks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Abandonment, and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, and Child abuse
Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
eviemayhem's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I chose this as my Book of the Month, unsure if I would like it. As someone who has both lost a child and has a turbulent relationship with my mother, the premise spoke to me and I'm so glad I gave it a chance. The book is beautifully written; lyrical and flowing like a river. It is hard to believe this is the author's first book. There were so many points where I wanted to cry, and at times I didn't want to finish because my heart was breaking for Lewis and Wren. As someone who lives with a chronic disease, it is easy to see the story fold out from both sides: Someone living with a disease that is changing them at their core and that they can't stop, and the person giving up themselves to take care of a loved one.
Bring a box of tissues.
Bring a box of tissues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Medical content, Abandonment, Violence, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Confinement, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Pedophilia
time4tori2read's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Minor: Drug use
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