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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I selected this as a free add-on with my Book of the Month subscription.
"Shark Heart" is a heartbreaking story that explores the depths of love and commitment we have for those around us. Lewis and Wren are living their happily ever after and are still in their honeymoon phase of being newlyweds when Lewis receives a strange diagnosis. Lewis will remember mostly everything about himself, but his body will evolve into a great white shark. Wren tries to cope with slowly losing her husband and seeks solace with a pregnant woman who is going through her own situation with someone she loves becoming an animal.
This book was strange, but not necessarily in a bad way. I think this world in which people slowly turn into animals is a great metaphor for losing people to terminal diseases. Wren is experiencing the same feelings someone might feel if they found out their husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Wren is slowly losing her husband, and there is nothing she can do to stop it. She can be his caretaker until he becomes too difficult in his primal state, and she will have to say goodbye.
This is not the first experience Wren has had with people turning into animals, and the novel does explore some of her older memories to provide more narrative on more experiences of what it is like to lose someone to this horrid disease. In this world, not every person becomes the same animal, and some animals are easier to handle than others, allowing people more time with their loved ones.
Although I think this is a beautiful story that really explores love, memory, and identity in a poetic way, it did not land for me. I was never fully invested in Wren's story, and I am not 100% sure why. My heart went out to Wren, and I felt her devastation at watching her husband slowly change, but I was never captivated enough in her story to want more.
This is an interesting book and a great run at a debut.
"Shark Heart" is a heartbreaking story that explores the depths of love and commitment we have for those around us. Lewis and Wren are living their happily ever after and are still in their honeymoon phase of being newlyweds when Lewis receives a strange diagnosis. Lewis will remember mostly everything about himself, but his body will evolve into a great white shark. Wren tries to cope with slowly losing her husband and seeks solace with a pregnant woman who is going through her own situation with someone she loves becoming an animal.
This book was strange, but not necessarily in a bad way. I think this world in which people slowly turn into animals is a great metaphor for losing people to terminal diseases. Wren is experiencing the same feelings someone might feel if they found out their husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Wren is slowly losing her husband, and there is nothing she can do to stop it. She can be his caretaker until he becomes too difficult in his primal state, and she will have to say goodbye.
This is not the first experience Wren has had with people turning into animals, and the novel does explore some of her older memories to provide more narrative on more experiences of what it is like to lose someone to this horrid disease. In this world, not every person becomes the same animal, and some animals are easier to handle than others, allowing people more time with their loved ones.
Although I think this is a beautiful story that really explores love, memory, and identity in a poetic way, it did not land for me. I was never fully invested in Wren's story, and I am not 100% sure why. My heart went out to Wren, and I felt her devastation at watching her husband slowly change, but I was never captivated enough in her story to want more.
This is an interesting book and a great run at a debut.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Violence
tabookish's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
carolinemwatson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
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.
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.
All in all it’s a fairly enjoyable short read and time will tell if it leaves a larger impression on me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
skilb's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
orizenda's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
I really liked the first 2 sections of this book (my favorite was Angela). Having grown up with a father who had a cancerous brain tumor that completely changed his personality and made him very angry all the time, I personally read Lewis’s mutation in this kind of light. Be prepared for heartbreak with this book.
I do feel that Habeck has room to grow with her prose. The format of the book is pretty interesting and I appreciate that. Some of the things Lewis says to Wren are exceedingly beautiful imo. Maybe the simplicity throughout is quite purposeful and just not my taste.
I do feel that Habeck has room to grow with her prose. The format of the book is pretty interesting and I appreciate that. Some of the things Lewis says to Wren are exceedingly beautiful imo. Maybe the simplicity throughout is quite purposeful and just not my taste.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, and Violence
farrahwho's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Animal death, Death, and Pregnancy
kelseyr713's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Terminal illness, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Abortion
kitta's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-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
4.25
A strange book, but interesting and a quick read about a man who turns into a Great White Shark. Ultimately I wanted to know more about the mutations that turned people into animals, but it was mainly about relationships. And love.
I liked the short chapters and premise, but didn’t like the beginning and, as usual, I wanted more context. Also as a scientist, a single mutation can’t turn you into another animal 🙄. The science bothered me and could have used more freaking out.
Cottage read 2023 #1
I liked the short chapters and premise, but didn’t like the beginning and, as usual, I wanted more context. Also as a scientist, a single mutation can’t turn you into another animal 🙄. The science bothered me and could have used more freaking out.
Cottage read 2023 #1
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Violence
Minor: Drug use
oatmilkdyke's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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? Yes
5.0
Oh wow wow wow. This is absolutely going to be one of my top 5’s of 2023. It is jam packed with some of the most heart wrenchingly beautiful passages about love, loss, grief, found family, and finding joy on the other side of immense pain. It is a unique format with short chapters (sometimes even one sentence) integrating multiple side plots seamlessly, and utilizing different genres.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Violence