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A review by morethanmylupus
Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck
challenging
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
What makes a human a human?
This is the kind of book that you either love or find mind-numbingly weird. It's a quick, relatively easy read in the sense that the chapters are short and the prose isn't overblown. The themes, of course, are much deeper. When do you have to force yourself to let go of someone you love? How do you cope with a loved one becoming something that's not only completely unrecognizable but also potentially dangerous? How do you know when you've made the most you possibly can of an untenable situation? How do you grieve someone who isn't exactly gone but is no longer accessible?
Yes, the premise of there turning out to be genes that turn humans into various animals is far-fetched, but the animal transformations were only a scaffold on which to build a whole story around loving and loving enough to let go. In the midst of all this animal transformation, we get a lot of familiar themes around domestic violence, found family, and friendships long and fleeting.
A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
This is the kind of book that you either love or find mind-numbingly weird. It's a quick, relatively easy read in the sense that the chapters are short and the prose isn't overblown. The themes, of course, are much deeper. When do you have to force yourself to let go of someone you love? How do you cope with a loved one becoming something that's not only completely unrecognizable but also potentially dangerous? How do you know when you've made the most you possibly can of an untenable situation? How do you grieve someone who isn't exactly gone but is no longer accessible?
Yes, the premise of there turning out to be genes that turn humans into various animals is far-fetched, but the animal transformations were only a scaffold on which to build a whole story around loving and loving enough to let go. In the midst of all this animal transformation, we get a lot of familiar themes around domestic violence, found family, and friendships long and fleeting.
A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse