Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

26 reviews

loquaciousleon's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring medium-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

4.75

If you liked 

  • 'Life of Pi' and/or 'Dark Life'.
  • Are intrigued by the premise/summary.
  • Okay with storytelling that closely follows a graphic 3rd person narrative; walking through actions quite a bit.

you will like this story.

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niknak89's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Haunting, thrilling, painful, hopeful, heartbreaking, absolving. A son's examination of his relationship with and journey through all the stages of grief at the loss of his hard ass of a father- from the literal inside of a whale.

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septi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0


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rknitss's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is the story of a teenager coming to terms with his estranged father's death and their complicated history. This teenager has also be swallowed by a sperm whale and has 1hr of air left in his tank.

This was a difficult read for someone who has a complicated relationship with their parents. I came to the point of tears at times. You could really feel Jay's anguish thinking on all the hurts he suffered at the hands of his father, all the regrets he had regarding their relationship, all the things that could have been different. 

The whale is a character and a metaphor.

The descriptions of the inside of the whale are brilliant and horrific. This is not Jonah's nice comfy journey; Jay fights for his life (and the fight is messy) as he fights to understand the man he called father. I can only imagine the hours of marine biology research that went into this book. The science seemed sound to a lay-person like me and was woven into the story beautifully. You really believe that Jay can know the things about the ocean that he does, why he knows it, and his struggle to recall the parts that will keep him going.

Even the ending, which I was sure would disappoint, was well done and satisfying. 

Would recommend to people who like science thrillers, people who are into whales, marine biology and the ocean in general, scuba enthusiasts and people who like an exploration of character relationships particularly the relationship between father and son.

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klinkertinlegs's review

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adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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restoller's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Definitely worth a re-read.

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andreatypesbraille's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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b00murded's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5


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parchementhallucinations's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0


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crykea's review against another edition

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

5.0

This is the kind of book I've just finished but is not finished with me. I will be thinking if this for a long time and have already pre-ordered the paperback so that I may one day own a copy for myself

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