miada001's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Excrement, and Drug abuse
julesreadsstuff's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Child death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, Death of parent, Excrement, Murder, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
bookbinbaby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Addiction, Rape, Misogyny, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
creepycrawlybookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
If you loved The Bees, and The Handmaids’s Tale, I’d highly recommend it, but I would definitely check trigger warnings if you need to do so, some sections are brutal to read, representing the animals’ survival and struggles in graphic scenes, so please go in forewarned.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Death, Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Excrement, Child death, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Medical trauma, Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
vrhayes08's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Drug use, Violence, Sexism, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Addiction
kwahl's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Drug use, Excrement, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, War, Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Rape, Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Vomit, Genocide, Kidnapping, Murder, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault
booking_along's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
i see why people love it and i can see why people don’t.
it’s brutally honest and how’s a direct view into how the marine life is effected by humanity in different ways - but all of them destroying and killing the marine wild life in some way either directly or indirectly.
so this isn’t a light fun read but a brutal one.
but one that needs to be told that way.
so i can see why some people read this and are horrified by how it is written and describes some moments or how they… well not like since it’s brutal and horrific but that this book does what really happen justice and because of that is very well done.
as someone extremely invested in marine life and wanting to help in any way i can… i expected to love this.
and in some ways i was blown away by how the author managed to tell this story as she does.
but at the same time… i don’t like the humanization of the animals. i didn’t enjoy reading the thoughts and “hearing” the animals talk with each other in the same ways that humans would.
and that might sound weird but i but i can’t explain it better than that.
i just would have liked a more nonfiction fiction writing style as an observer that sees the different behavior in Ea and all the other things and tries to understand… i don’t know.
i just didn’t love reading about dolphins and whales that thinks like a human.
i don’t even know if it’s just because i wasn’t in the right mindset or if the writing style just doesn’t work for me but something just kept annoying me with this book and it’s story it just never became this great story to me that it could be.
i wanted to read this and love this but sadly it didn’t work out like that. at least not for me.
but i do think that this book can work for a lot of people and that anyone that thinks this looks interesting should try it.
and it’s wonderful that this book became short listed for the “women price for fiction” because hopefully more people will read it because of that and will learn and see the horrors that the oceans and the inhabitants of it go through.
which certainly is something more people need to learn and hear more about!
so i do recommend this book.
even if it didn’t work for me personally as i had hoped.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, and Violence
lilifane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It's a book about humans ruining nature and disturbing the balance in the oceans, about the changing life underwater, (found) family and survival.... told from the perspective of a few dolphins and other sea creatures.
This is a short book, but it took me longer than expected to read it because I'm not familiar with all the marine life vocabulary. But I liked the writing in general and loved the atmosphere and setting. And I got very emotionally attached to the characters. Every time I paused my reading, I was pulled back to the book immediately and wanted to pick it up again as quickly as possible.
The plot mainly follows one female dolphin, but it's interrupted by glimpses into the lives of other sea dwellers. I was interested in all of them, and it was satisfying to learn about these cool species and how their stories intertwined.
I have to say that the story gets really brutal and there are too many rape scenes in my opinion.
I think I have to read The Bees now.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Addiction, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny
katewhite77's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Excrement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use
ramalam98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.25
Please stop eating fish.
Graphic: Rape and Sexual content
Moderate: Xenophobia, Violence, and Animal death
Minor: Grief and Suicidal thoughts