jes312's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

carmenthecowboy's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad fast-paced

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rebeccareadabook's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging reflective medium-paced

3.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

noorii's review against another edition

Go to review page

inspiring reflective

5.0

a lesson in hubris indeed

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

youngwessels's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative medium-paced

3.25

The chapters revolving around David Starr Jordan are a compelling look into a deeply troubled person’s experiences but the chapters revolving around Lulu Miller’s own life are just a sloggish look into a slightly less troubled person’s experiences.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mirto's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

If I could give this 6 stars, I would. Brilliant book. I would even say Lulu Miller created a whole new genre. Memoir, biography, essay, nature book, history book, sociology, psychology, murder mystery, whatever, you name it. Made me feel so many things, all at once. I learnt a lot, from science to giving myself the life I want. Why Fish Don't Exist will stay with me forever.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

junefish's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

1414's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

cynthiareads's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative reflective slow-paced

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nawakhtha's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative inspiring medium-paced

3.75

A book about David Starr Jordan where the author researched him to find out his source of perseverance in the face of chaos. It starts off rather annoyingly as it was mainly discussing Jordan in a positive light and might seem to ignore the deeply concerning and hypocritical aspects of his legacy, but this all gets addressed in the second half of the book. The first half of the book also has the author taking a tone of scientific and atheistic snobbery at times (not really excessive, just to the point where I personally found it mildly annoying), but it mellows out as the book progresses which ends up painting a nice picture of how the journey of researching Jordan’s life has transformed the author. I expected to dislike this book quite a bit, but my feelings on that shifted the more I got into it which I think adds a lot to how I was able to feel the author’s transformation through her journey. It was also rather gripping and written smoothly enough that I was still able to enjoy it throughout. 
The illustrations in the beginning of every chapter are beautiful.
It does contain references to self harm, eugenics, and forced sterilization. I personally thought those topics were handled well by the author, but it’s worth mentioning in-case you just generally don’t want to engage with these topics at this point in your life. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings