Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler

39 reviews

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.

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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. 

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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 assault

The author (they/them) describes incidents of a sexual nature and struggles to categorize them as consensual or assault due to their heavy drinking.

TW: gender dysphoria

They describe parts of their body that make them feel dysphoric, things that help the dysphoria (binding), and things that make them feel euphoric (masculine clothes, packing, the word “boyfriend”).

TW: harm to animals This book deals heavily with marine life in the wild as well as marine science.

There is discussion of human experimentation on marine life, including intentionally hurting or killing animals through various methods. Examples include killing a fish to study it further, and doing various things to traumatize a jellyfish to induce a certain reaction. There’s also discussion of animals eating each other etc.

englishelise's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Instant favorite! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death

mathenam's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

canyongoblin's review against another edition

I was not in a good mental
Head space to read this. The climate change disaster of losing unique life can be too much for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

bookbrig's review against another edition

emotional informative fast-paced

I read this thinking it might be a good fit for teen readers, and I do think it could work for teens with some clear content warnings. It's creative and moving, and deals with lots of teen relevant topics - college drinking/hookups, body image, racism, family dynamics, gender, and sexuality, plus there's engaging science and animal stuff. But it doesn't elide details. It's... graphic is the wrong word, but maybe just blunt? Honest. And that makes it both excellent and definitely not something I was in a great place to read right now. Check the content warnings on this one before you go in, because I didn't, and I wish I had. I wasn't really in the right place to read it, though I will happily recommend it to the right readers. The audiobook, read by the author, was excellently done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Body shaming, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Animal death

dreareads_'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

There is so much about this book to love. I love the way Sabrina is so open and honest about their life, identity, and existence. Each essay provides us with a glimpse to their story, a story that is intertwined with a love for sea creatures and science that only Sabrina can blend together. By portraying their life through sea creatures, Sabrina opened the door for strangers to walk in and see a world that is both familiar and strange. Of all the essays I must say that my favorites were definitely "If You Flush A Goldfish" and "We Swarm". Two essays that felt both deeply personal and universal at the same time.

The only reason I do not give this book 5 stars is because there were a couple of essays where the chosen sea creatures and scientific discussions did not easily blend with the story that Sabrina was presenting at the time. 

Regardless, I cannot help but love a book where I learn a lot and feel even more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Sexual content, Blood, Dysphoria, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Grief, Racism, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

greenwillow77's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Subtle, moving & beautiful. I usually find that memoirs of this kind, where the metaphor is deployed to reveal some deep emotional truth about humanity, the author, the world, etc., fall to one of two camps: either using the comparison hamfistedly & leaving you wanting a book of memoir or information but not both, or working with the thinnest of connections between the two halves, newspaper comment article style. 
This is not the case here. The parallel between the author’s lived experience & the world of sea life & ocean research is effective & well balanced, it has genuinely moving & subtle moments of family & community, comments about love enduring & finding self that never descend to mawkish or pink Instagram level. 
Excellent book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Racism

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!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Animal cruelty, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism, War, Stalking, and Animal death

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

mmiles9619's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Racism