A review by jasmeaniethebookish
Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

5.0

I didn’t know a lot going into Whalefall. I knew it was a story about a man and a whale and had overwhelmingly positive reviews, so it seemed like something I needed to read, especially because I read somewhere that this is kind of in the vein of Blake Crouch. If that isn’t a way to get me to read a book, I dunno what is.

First, I thought I’d feel much more nervous reading this story. The idea of enormous ocean creatures is a terrifying one, but I believe Kraus beautifully approaches this other world. I imagine it isn’t easy to write about these things and not have a ton of overshadowing towards our human characters. However, I don’t feel as if this is an issue in the least.

This story has elements that could be deeply (ha!) terrifying but are beautiful and well thought out/researched. It was only closer to the end where the anxiety kicked in, but man, does it ever make that ending so much more bittersweet.


“A series of skirmishes at most, which only felt significant because their eyes were on the fronts of their heads and never the sides, where the grandeur of life could have been better viewed, the thrill of every falling leaf and stinging wasp and crashing rain. Even their setbacks were magnificent and their bloodshed stirring, all of it working together in a machine called family.”

-Daniel Kraus, Whalefall

You can preorder now (which you should do), or you can pick up your copy on August 8th when Whalefall releases.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!