Reviews

"Things could get weird. This book is ✨Experimental✨"

-They weren't wrong when they plastered that on the Book of the Month webpage for this book.

Set in a world where animal mutations are real and a young marriage is tested, Lewis and Wren's story is beautiful and metaphorical.

Come into this book blind and with an open mind because you won't be disappointed. Habeck's debut novel, Shark Heart, had me laughing and feeling sad all in the same paragraph.

catherineamerica's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.25

In Shark Heart, our journey involves this man turning into a shark and how his world and the world of those around him changes. However, in the universe of the book, people will sometimes mutate into other animals. So instead of this book being about this crazy unique transition, this is just one of those introspective character domestic dramas, which feels almost pedestrian because this woman’s husband is turning into A GREAT WHITE SHARK and instead I gotta deal with the wife going through the stages of grief. The book makes a brief mention of the “pandemic” occurring, a reminder this takes place in our universe, but it doesn’t go into detail and overall I feel it was unnecessary to mention because the author didn’t go into any details of how the totally normal occurrence of people turning into other animals was affected by social distancing or any of the pandemic effects.

carriekelley22's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.75

aksej972's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

katam's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

wrh121's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

One of the strangest books I’ve ever read but so so beautiful. Do not read this the week your kids turn 13 and everyone’s doing school graduations! I wish I had read it in book form just to mark up the passages that spoke to me so much. Wonderful reflections on love, as parents and as partners, and what it means to hold the joy of the world and the fear of it at the same time

tracey1981's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-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

4.25

This was a really compelling debut. It’s just the kind of magical realism or fantasy that works for me where one element from “our” world is different (in this case, humans can sometimes mutate to become animals and one of the protagonists learns he is becoming a great white shark soon after getting married) and very little world-building or explanation is required.

I liked Wren and Lewis and their dynamic a lot and there’s some really beautiful writing here. There is sadness (at one point I was holding on to the counter sobbing while doing dishes listening to this) but also a lot of reflection on the little things that make life better.

I agree with those who said the ending is a bit too neat and there’s a change in timeline/narrator/tone about halfway through that was a bit jarring for me, and I didn’t love that section as much. Still, the parts I loved, I enjoyed enough to give this 4.25 stars.

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