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A review by throwback682
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler
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 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.