Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Shark Heart: A Love Story

Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck

46 reviews

breanneporter's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I’m not totally sure how to rate this one. It’s a very quick read and an interesting concept written in a fairly unique style, but I’m not sure I’ll be taking much away from it, and I was a bit disappointed by the ending. Shark Heart takes place in an alternate version of our timeline where humans can undergo mutations into other animals, and follows newlywed 35-year-olds, Lewis and Wren as Lewis transforms into a great white shark. It flashes back and forward through time, to both Wren’s and Lewis’ (but mostly Wren’s) childhoods and young adulthoods, and shows us the before, during, and after effects of Lewis’ transformation.

It’s certainly a whacky concept but it was an interesting thought experiment and I liked the format of the novel, which had short chapters and various “scenes,” as if from a play that Lewis was writing. I really liked Wren’s backstory and how her past was gradually revealed to us. I was engaged and interested to keep reading, but was disappointed by the ending.

I didn’t particularly like Lewis’ final chapters, taking place in the ocean with the other human-turned-shark character, which I found just slightly too strange and cringey (I think the exaggerated audio narration may have played a part in this assessment) I also think the ending was a cop-out, with Wren being surprised by a pregnancy and giving birth to a daughter that becomes her whole reason for living. I’m not sure what it really said about love and grief in the end, or perhaps I’m just not sure it said anything new or interesting about either one. Also I hated the tiny pregnant woman storyline so much.

All in all it’s a fairly enjoyable short read and time will tell if it leaves a larger impression on me.

Content Warnings

mollyb13's review against another edition

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I knew that I might have to quit reading this, but wanted to give it a try as I've heard so many great things about it. Terminal illness is usually something I avoid in books and thought that since it was about a man turning into a shark I might be fine. It was very clear within the first 15 pages that this is very much reading like a man given a cancer diagnosis. The form this book is written in seems very unique and interesting, just not the topic for me.

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sas_lk's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

This book deserves all the hype it is getting. Beautifully written. Often I would find myself reading for what I thought was 5 mins, but when I checked, I had somehow read 40 pages. Sad but beautiful and inspiring too.

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

This was weird and intriguing and I couldn’t put this book down. I loved how the book has some theatrical scenes sprinkled in. I could really see how Lewis and Wren fell for each other, they loved each other so much. I loved the prose and the questions it brought up (explicitly or implicitly) about love, change, and terminal illness. While I appreciated Angela’s story, I wish it hadn’t felt so separate from Lewis and Wren’s story; it kind of took me out of the book a little, especially with how much time was spent on Angela’s life before Wren was born. Though by the end of that section I saw how it was all connected; I wish the author had taken a different direction in connecting these stories together. And I loved the ending but wanted more! I will think about this book for a long time.

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