read

"Wren's love was true but methodical, and for the first time in all his life, Lewis felt secure and accepting of his sensitivity and inner turbulence, because Wren loved him just as he was."

This book was both a poetic reflection on grief and loss and deeply weird.

Newlyweds Wren and Lewis struggle with his diagnosis of a mutation that will turn him into a great white shark. At first, I thought the book meant metaphorically, but I soon discovered that no, the book means it literally. Lewis is truly turning into a shark bit by bit, from his bones breaking down into cartilage to growing fins. The timeline meanders through the years, from Wren's early experiences with loss to meeting Lewis and both of their struggles to accept the diagnosis. Both of them struggle to let go of their dreams of a life spent together, and Lewis struggles with the loss of what he hoped to accomplish - both with his drama students and as an actor himself.

Losing someone in a way that you no longer recognize them speaks to many people's experiences with dementia or other illnesses. I think the author used the animal mutation as a device to make her reflections on these experiences lighter and easier to read. It added an uncanny speculative element to an otherwise thoughtful, sensitive and emotional book. ( )

This was a pleasant surprise, an unexpected gem, even. Honestly, I borrowed this because I thought the cover art was striking. I knew nothing* going into it and I think it probably was better this way. I probably would have skipped it had I known more.

Glad for the cold open because this was profoundly weird and wonderful, Impossible and relatable. Pretty sure it'll be one of my top reads this year.

Highly recommended--if you're open to offbeat, give it a chance.

*May be a partial lie. A couple of times, Kendra Adachi also likes weird books and there have been a couple of times that I forget where her newsletter book recos end and my readiscoveries begin. ( )

Exquisite. Brilliant, beautiful, glorious. Exceptional! ( )

It isn't the unique premise that makes this book so good, it's the devastatingly beautiful prose and how it transforms grief into love. Shark Heart isn't evenly written, especially near the end, but it's still simply magical storytelling. ( )

I'm not going to lie, this is one of the oddest books I have ever read... but it's also so beautiful! Shark Heart is a love story between Wren and Lewis, a man who has a terrible illness, he is gradually turning into a great white shark!

The symbolism in this book is incredible. If you have loved and lost anyone, especially gradually, you will love this book. I know I'm not explaining it well, I don't want to give too much away. This one will definitely stay with me for awhile. If you enjoy literary fiction, give this one a try. ( )

I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this book since it is not my kind of book and it was one of those over-hyped books that everyone else was reading which I sometimes avoid.

It's an unique and unusual book with an unusual writing style too which made it more interesting and easier to read for me at least.

Wren and Lewis are married and Lewis feels that something is wrong with him when he notices his body is changing. Come to find out he is turning into a great white shark.

This book is not just about Lewis but also about Wren and her life before she met Lewis and also after how her life changes.

I like the short chapters (some are paragraphs on one page each) of Angela (Wren's mother) and Colleen (Angela's mother) and their lives. It breaks up the book from Lewis.

I'm quoting someone's review on Amazon: “If you can get past the osbscure concept of the book then you will love it!”

For some reason, I got emotional in some places, more than others. I guess I got attached to some characters more than others.

I absolutely loved this book. ( )

“There is never a right time to say goodbye.”

Oh my god. This book is all the stars. It was so beautiful. First of all it has so many amazing and relatable quotes. It has marvelous and relatable characters. Even though the story is about her husband turning into a shark, the emotions Wren and Lewis experience are very similar to families dealing with any kind of illness that alters a person and requires another to take on the caretaker role. I think if you look at it from that angle the story becomes even more.

The number of emotions this book made me feel. I cannot explain how much I cried. Wren was way to relatable for me and it made it so much harder. I loved the way the author wrote all the characters. What I think I adored most about this story was how vastly different Angela and Wren’s stories were. Yet, the underlying theme of unconditional love was so beautiful.

I don’t want to give too much away so I’m trying to stay super vague about things, because I feel like this is one of those books you have to go into without any idea of what’s coming. It just makes the experience more authentic and touching. I honestly don’t know who had the more emotional story Wren or Angela. They both have this way of moving you individually and making you reflect on things.

I think seeing Angela go from this naive fifteen year old girl to this mother who loved her daughter with everything she had was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Wren is dealing with losing a husband she really only just got. She’s dealing with being his caretaker while he becomes something else entirely. Each story is something that you can relate to on some level.

And all of this says nothing about the amazing way the story was written. It was beautiful. I loved every second of it. It’s one of those stories that is super surprising. I think it might just be one of my favorite reads this year. It’s most definitely a marvelous. I really highly recommend this book. ( )

This is unlike anything I have ever read. I devoured it in one day. The short chapters helped keep me motivated to keep reading. Thanks to Edelweiss for the review copy. ( )

What a wild and beautiful book. The summary sounds so strange, but if you accept the premise and just lean into the lyrical writing it's lovely. It’s less about a mutation that can turn you into an animal, and more about how love and loss often shape who we become. Parts are written like a play and just when I wasn’t sure where the story was going next, the book took a turn into a different character’s story. It was perfectly done to give the reader a better understanding of the main characters.

“Wren became soft and young when she was learning.”

“As they say in the theater, suspend your disbelief. Otherwise, the reality of this world is very much like yours and mine.”

“Lewis would learn the difference between loneliness and being alone.”

“So maybe love wasn’t an unwieldy accessory in times of peril. Maybe it was the key to survival.” ( )

I am giving this 4 stars for its creativity and its message of love, but I just wasn't invested in the mutation storyline. I did enjoy the love story of Lewis and Wren, and the relationship between Wren and her mother, Angela.
It has a sweet message about love and caring, but again, the mutation was just too far out there for me. ( )

Very strange book that made me a little uncomfortable at times. And so very sad. Beautifully written. ( )

My heart was not ready for this! When the description of the book tells the reader to expect a man to slowly morph into a shark, you don't anticipate crying your bloody eyes out. I certainly didn't. I was intrigued with the weird concept, that in this world, some people are born with a condition that mutates them into animals. Sometimes it doesn't happen until they are older, sometimes it happens to children. Some animal species can take humans decades to evolve into - other species (like sharks) can take only a few months. Wren and Lewis have recently wed and they have their whole lives ahead of them. Lewis is an eternal optimist, a high school theater director, fun and loud. Wren is his opposite, small, quiet, tidy, and orderly - always thinking two steps ahead. When out of the blue Lewis is diagnosed with the ultra rare diagnosis - transforming into a great white shark - they have to figure out how to proceed. How long does he have? Will their love endure? AMAZING STORYTELLING! I can't stop thinking about this book. The format is amazing - it alternates characters, is sometime told in the form of a scene in a play, sometimes just a thought. It's gorgeous. Definitely one of my top picks for the year! ( )

One of the most unusual books I've ever read. The premise of people morphing into animals and how it affects, not only them, but the people who love them makes for a very interesting read! "A gorgeous debut novel of marriage, metamorphosis, and letting go, this intergenerational love story begins with newlyweds Wren and her husband, Lewis- a man who, over the course if nine months, transforms into a great white shark." This paragraph on the flyleaf describing the book made me buy it! ( )

Such a strange and beautiful story. It's like a quiet love story, but also people can just start to morph into animals at any point in their life, and it's not a treatable condition. What?
Somehow it works though, and the bizarre is what makes the quiet nature of the rest of the story so good. ( )

The concept of this book is really cool. I'll admit I was completely drawn into the idea. But I barely got through the first couple of pages without cringing at how toxic the relationship between the two main characters is. It very much promotes the idea that a woman shouldn't have opinions and should allow her husband's interests to direct her own. Quotes like "Wren did not take life personally or let her feelings run wild."

Alongside that, the infatalizing of Wren is disturbing. Again quotes like "All the art he shared with Wren was an education to her, and in her unknowing, Lewis found her rarest vulnerability...Wren became soft and young when she was learning."

The text is an interesting mix of screenplay and prose. It also shifts narrators and time frames.

I cannot in good conscience recommend this book. It's so toxic. ( )