A review by cupidcove
Pod by Laline Paull

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.0

This is a book written from the perspective of dolphins, so I obviously knew there would be some anthropomorphization of the dolphins, but I think that anthropomorphization was poorly handled. One of the things that interests me about reading from the perspective of an animal is seeing the way they view the world is different from humans, and the dolphins in this book felt all too human. They dealt with drug addiction, sexual assault, and violence in much the same way that humans would, and that just didn't feel realistic to me. The incredibly human reactions the dolphins had to their suffering felt like it existed to place emphasis on the human impact on their environment rather than for its own sake. I shouldn't have read this because I didn't like Laline Paul's work in the past, but I let the hype get to me. I won't be picking up more from her in the future.