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A review by servemethesky
Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I took a chance on this book based on the intriguing description and I'm so glad I did! I'm a big fan of weird, dark books and surprisingly, this one was weird and...happy?! Ultimately, it's all about what it means to be a human and how all the mundane moments of daily life are what counts, not the big fancy accomplishments or material things that occupy so much of our mental energy.
It's fascinating to read others' reviews and see how people are interpreting the whole mutation into an animal thing. Lewis transforms into a great white shark, and as someone married to a person with depression, I read that mutation as being a metaphor for mental illness. Despite my mother dying of cancer, I didn't read it as a cancer metaphor like so many other readers did. I love that you can interpret the animal mutations any way you please--either way, humans are fallible, and life can throw all kinds of unexpected tragedies and traumas our way. What can we make of it when there's so much pain in the messy middle? How can we find joy?
At times, I found Lewis absolutely insufferable. He doesn't seem to see Wren as a whole person. Overall, Wren felt underdeveloped as a character despite being our protagonist. I LOVED the Angela section and by the end of it, I felt like I understood Angela more than Wren!
Sometimes it feels like this book is trying really hard to be deep, but I think sometimes it actually *is* deep. It may just depend on your mood when you read it.
Margaret C. Finnegan was a damn delight and I cackled picturing her singing Avril Lavigne songs to a miserable Lewis in the ocean.
Lastly, I'm glad there was no final scene where Wren and Joy meet Lewis in shark form, and no depiction of what Joy could mutate into someday. It's better without that cheesiness.
My only lingering qualm is... when the heck did Lewis have time to impregnate Wren?!? They could not have been having sex when he was 99% shark, right?!? I suspended disbelief the whole way through, and could not get past this one last thing haha.
I took a chance on this book based on the intriguing description and I'm so glad I did! I'm a big fan of weird, dark books and surprisingly, this one was weird and...happy?! Ultimately, it's all about what it means to be a human and how all the mundane moments of daily life are what counts, not the big fancy accomplishments or material things that occupy so much of our mental energy.
It's fascinating to read others' reviews and see how people are interpreting the whole mutation into an animal thing. Lewis transforms into a great white shark, and as someone married to a person with depression, I read that mutation as being a metaphor for mental illness. Despite my mother dying of cancer, I didn't read it as a cancer metaphor like so many other readers did. I love that you can interpret the animal mutations any way you please--either way, humans are fallible, and life can throw all kinds of unexpected tragedies and traumas our way. What can we make of it when there's so much pain in the messy middle? How can we find joy?
At times, I found Lewis absolutely insufferable. He doesn't seem to see Wren as a whole person. Overall, Wren felt underdeveloped as a character despite being our protagonist. I LOVED the Angela section and by the end of it, I felt like I understood Angela more than Wren!
Sometimes it feels like this book is trying really hard to be deep, but I think sometimes it actually *is* deep. It may just depend on your mood when you read it.
Lastly, I'm glad there was no final scene where Wren and Joy meet Lewis in shark form, and no depiction of what Joy could mutate into someday. It's better without that cheesiness.
My only lingering qualm is... when the heck did Lewis have time to impregnate Wren?!? They could not have been having sex when he was 99% shark, right?!? I suspended disbelief the whole way through, and could not get past this one last thing haha.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent