Reviews with content warning for Death - Shark Heart: A Love Story

"Shark Heart" was a beautiful surprise. I loved its artistic exploration of grief, loss, and the depth of love, as well as the theme of not recognizing the one you love anymore. Wren's experiences showcased the uncertainties of love, highlighting that there's no guarantee that you won't be hurt, suffer a loss, or that things will remain the same. I also appreciated the mention of therapy. I believe anyone who loves theatre and Broadway would enjoy this. Getting to know each character deeply was fantastic, and I didn't find any dull moments or feel overwhelmed with information.

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burnourhistory's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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emily_koopmann's review against another edition

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challenging lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

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hocuscrocus's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Man. If I were just rating part one, it would be an EASY 5. That was some of the most beautiful literature I've ever read. I was sobbing by the end. I can definitely understand why the format might not be everyone's cup of tea but I absolutely loved it.

Unfortunately, the book lost me in part 2. It's a lovely story, but it felt like too far a meander from the gut punch that was part one. If it were up to me, I would have had just the first part, about half of the third part, and the epilogue.

All that said, I whipped through this book like wildfire.

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tetrootz's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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ashes_to_ashs's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Shark heart is a novel with beautiful poetry and a unique presentation on one’s take on life and the tragedies than can arise in it. While the tone of the book is very bittersweet, it serves as a reminder that with every heart wrenching episode of life , there can come one of redemption and reason to live.

The animalistic diseases are strange to say the least, but perhaps are meant to symbolically represent any condition that results loss of a precious life— which allows readers to connect to the personal stories on a different level.

Read this book in a day. Highly recommend.

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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I selected this as a free add-on with my Book of the Month subscription.
"Shark Heart" is a heartbreaking story that explores the depths of love and commitment we have for those around us. Lewis and Wren are living their happily ever after and are still in their honeymoon phase of being newlyweds when Lewis receives a strange diagnosis. Lewis will remember mostly everything about himself, but his body will evolve into a great white shark. Wren tries to cope with slowly losing her husband and seeks solace with a pregnant woman who is going through her own situation with someone she loves becoming an animal.
This book was strange, but not necessarily in a bad way. I think this world in which people slowly turn into animals is a great metaphor for losing people to terminal diseases. Wren is experiencing the same feelings someone might feel if they found out their husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Wren is slowly losing her husband, and there is nothing she can do to stop it. She can be his caretaker until he becomes too difficult in his primal state, and she will have to say goodbye.
This is not the first experience Wren has had with people turning into animals, and the novel does explore some of her older memories to provide more narrative on more experiences of what it is like to lose someone to this horrid disease. In this world, not every person becomes the same animal, and some animals are easier to handle than others, allowing people more time with their loved ones.
Although I think this is a beautiful story that really explores love, memory, and identity in a poetic way, it did not land for me. I was never fully invested in Wren's story, and I am not 100% sure why. My heart went out to Wren, and I felt her devastation at watching her husband slowly change, but I was never captivated enough in her story to want more.
This is an interesting book and a great run at a debut.

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lauren_shilling's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book blew me away. I had just gotten out of a reading slump, so I was a little wary of picking up a book that was this long, as I tend to stick with shorter books when I'm recovering from a slump. However, I decided to read it anyway because it was a five star prediction, and it had been calling to me for a while now. I am so glad I chose to pick it up! It was a five star, as I predicted, and I am so happy about that! This book was heartbreaking and beautiful and just full of so much emotion. I loved all of the characters, and I loved seeing all of the stories that unfold over the course of this book. Wren and Angela were my clear favorite characters, I thought their stories were told beautifully, and I felt so much for them and their experiences. I think hearing most of Wren's story and her experience with her husband's mutation into a great white shark was so heartbreaking, and then when we hear her mother, Angela's story, it tied so much more of Wren's character together while also allowing us to get to know another woman who's story is just as impactful. Everything about this book was incredibly executed, and I loved every second of it. It's also super quick to get through! There are a lot of pages, but the chapters are very short. The longest one is only about three or four pages long. A lot of them aren't even a full page long. This not only makes this book a quicker read than you might think because of the page count, but it also lends itself really well to this story. I think for me, the honest simplicity of how it was told make the very complex emotions and experiences I was reading about seem so real. I'm not really sure how to explain it, but it was so well done. It's a very honest book, and it feels so real, even as it talks about things that don't happen in the real world. I felt every second of this story, and it was so incredibly well done. Probably one of the best books I'll read this year.

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