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Reviews tagging 'War'
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler
19 reviews
lazlio's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Really enjoyed this book. I loved the combinations of stories from human life compared with sea creatures that share similarities. The drawing of connections between many viewpoints was really beautiful and I enjoyed Sabrina’s writing style and honesty throughout.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Rape
jazhandz's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
I picked up this book because the marketing and blurb makes it sound like science nonfiction. It is not. It is a collection of personal essays that use marine as a metaphor. They’re beautiful essays, they’re very striking, but I was just intensely frustrated the whole time because of the marketing failure. I wanted the sea creatures to be the point of the book, and it didn’t feel like they were. Maybe I would rate this higher if I’d gone in knowing that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Animal death, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Dysphoria, Body shaming, Sexual content, and War
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Racial slurs
throwback682's review against another edition
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I have no idea how to describe this book. In short, it's a memoir told through the lens of dense scientific info about sea creatures. But that’s…. nowhere near accurate or at least nowhere near adequate.
Perhaps it’s a string of long strange similes that forces you to re-examine your assumptions about both marine life and humans.
How does a book flow seamlessly from Lorena Bobbitt to Brock Turner to dead whales to immortal jellyfish? From strap-ons to gender dysphoria to biracial identities to crabs huddled together on the edge of a volcanic vent at the bottom of the ocean? From mother octopuses starving to death for their babies to alcoholism to rape? From the NYC dyke march and the queer history of a tuberculosis hospital to cuttlefish camouflage? It shouldn’t all be able to fit in one book but it does and it’s spectacular. Example: at one point they perform a necropsy on an early queer relationship after a breakup.
I had to take breaks during some of the heavier subject matter and you should definitely check the trigger warnings but for me it was well worth the pain. What a brilliant piece of art. The synergy of all the myriad pieces of this book is extremely powerful.
Perhaps it’s a string of long strange similes that forces you to re-examine your assumptions about both marine life and humans.
How does a book flow seamlessly from Lorena Bobbitt to Brock Turner to dead whales to immortal jellyfish? From strap-ons to gender dysphoria to biracial identities to crabs huddled together on the edge of a volcanic vent at the bottom of the ocean? From mother octopuses starving to death for their babies to alcoholism to rape? From the NYC dyke march and the queer history of a tuberculosis hospital to cuttlefish camouflage? It shouldn’t all be able to fit in one book but it does and it’s spectacular. Example: at one point they perform a necropsy on an early queer relationship after a breakup.
I had to take breaks during some of the heavier subject matter and you should definitely check the trigger warnings but for me it was well worth the pain. What a brilliant piece of art. The synergy of all the myriad pieces of this book is extremely powerful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, War, Xenophobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
TW: victim blaming, sexual assaultkaydee_reads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
5.0
This book is strange and lovely and best served slowly, reading a couple essays a day and then putting it back down to let them sink in. I loved the mix of science and memoir. Some essays are stronger than others - the cuttlefish one and the one about the sturgeon stood out as particular favourites in terms of matching the animals to the topic - but all make you think and feel and I loved the writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Fatphobia, War, Lesbophobia, and Toxic relationship
skbat's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, War, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Racism, Rape, Violence, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, and Body horror
tiffanyjeannine's review against another edition
4.0
Great collection of essays mixing personal experiences with a sea creature’s own experience. The way the stories parallel one another was masterful. The animal stories were fascinating. I feel like I need to go watch a nature documentary or two. I also need to check out the physical copy to see the illustrations I missed out on. Definitely check trigger warnings. Things get heavy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Fatphobia, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Classism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Homophobia
marstone's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Suicide, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Dysphoria
Minor: War and Colonisation
annemaries_shelves's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
4.5 stars
I really loved this collection - it's a blend of nature writing and memoir. The author relates the lives and science behind 10 different creatures to a particular aspect of their life and experiences. For example, their gender explorations, their grandparents' stories in WW2 China, and the eating disorder they experienced as a teen. I appreciated how Imbler made those connections and used metaphor to expand on both sides of the concept - it's not always easy to balance the nature with the personal in an engaging and accurate way.
The writing itself was straightforward and lacking that lyrical, more poetic writing a lot of nature and memoir writing can have and that I tend to prefer (less Braiding Sweetgrass style, if that's a helpful reference). However, the authorial voice and the occasional joke or sarcastic aside worked for me. It's also very much a collection of essay chapters, so there's less of a connecting thread (aside from the high-level concept) across chapters.
In terms of the animals themselves, I either learned a lot about them or got a refresher on ones I’m more familiar with. The sand striker, octopus, cuttlefish, and whales were some of my favourites but honestly all 10 creatures were fascinating in their own way. And the chapter art was so good - it’s hand drawn line art (the artist is listed in the acknowledgments) and compensated for the lack of full colour photo inserts that I wish the book had had a budget for.
Overall, if you like blends of nature and memoir - and especially if you're looking for more queer and/or BIPOC (specifically mixed race Chinese-white) representation in your science/memoir writing - I recommend checking this book out. (Which the author so aptly points out is a hyperfocus of people in the chapter about hybrid animals).
CW: discussions of eating disorders and attempts to lose weight unhealthily as a teen, sexual assault and substance-induced blackout periods of sexual activity where consent cannot be given, brief discussions of war and the Japanese invasion of China in WW2
I really loved this collection - it's a blend of nature writing and memoir. The author relates the lives and science behind 10 different creatures to a particular aspect of their life and experiences. For example, their gender explorations, their grandparents' stories in WW2 China, and the eating disorder they experienced as a teen. I appreciated how Imbler made those connections and used metaphor to expand on both sides of the concept - it's not always easy to balance the nature with the personal in an engaging and accurate way.
The writing itself was straightforward and lacking that lyrical, more poetic writing a lot of nature and memoir writing can have and that I tend to prefer (less Braiding Sweetgrass style, if that's a helpful reference). However, the authorial voice and the occasional joke or sarcastic aside worked for me. It's also very much a collection of essay chapters, so there's less of a connecting thread (aside from the high-level concept) across chapters.
In terms of the animals themselves, I either learned a lot about them or got a refresher on ones I’m more familiar with. The sand striker, octopus, cuttlefish, and whales were some of my favourites but honestly all 10 creatures were fascinating in their own way. And the chapter art was so good - it’s hand drawn line art (the artist is listed in the acknowledgments) and compensated for the lack of full colour photo inserts that I wish the book had had a budget for.
Overall, if you like blends of nature and memoir - and especially if you're looking for more queer and/or BIPOC (specifically mixed race Chinese-white) representation in your science/memoir writing - I recommend checking this book out. (Which the author so aptly points out is a hyperfocus of people in the chapter about hybrid animals).
CW: discussions of eating disorders and attempts to lose weight unhealthily as a teen, sexual assault and substance-induced blackout periods of sexual activity where consent cannot be given, brief discussions of war and the Japanese invasion of China in WW2
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Eating disorder, War, Body shaming, and Sexual assault
Minor: Racial slurs
bishopbox's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Absolutely beautiful writing!! The way the author mixes stories of their personal life and info about sea creatures was so well done! I will definitely revisit this book in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Animal cruelty, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Racism, War, Stalking, and Animal death
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
vangaldk's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I found myself crying about both sturgeon and the author's grandmother. Imbler relates fish to moments in her life in insightful ways.
Content Warnings
Minor: Eating disorder, War, Dementia, and Genocide