i’m a broken woman5-stars adult beautiful-prose ...more293 s4 comments Ceecee2,328 1,934

4.5 rounded up

This is a love story but un one I have ever read before. Lewis and Wren meet and fall in love. They are utterly different, so opposite but somehow they balance each other out. He is arty, a school theatre teacher and outgoing, she is quiet, s structure but their relationship works. When Lewis develops some odd symptoms a visit to a doctor eventually leads to a diagnosis that he will transform in the next nine months into a great white shark. What, I hear you cry?? Yes, that’s my reaction too! He will retain his human consciousness but his physical body will be that of one of the oceans most dangerous predators. The novel focuses on their story but also that of Wren’s mother Angela, her childhood and growing up.

I think it’s absolutely fair to say that this is one of the oddest, strangest and weirdest books I have ever read but it totally captivates me. At its heart it is a moving story of people who face the impossible, it’s about hanging on to love, but also coming to terms with grief, loss or with regret. At times it’s funny (usually Lewis, he’s quite a character) at others it’s sad, heartbreaking and occasionally disturbing. It’s fascinating viewing how Lewis and Wren react to the diagnosis and how they adapt or otherwise.

There are some magical realism elements and I particularly these sections which are also a metaphor for how we change and adapt throughout our lives, such as via our bodies or through relationships. Life is also transient and one of those messages is to grab life by the scruff of the neck and relish those moments as none of us know what’s around the corner.

It’s written in a very different way too. At times it’s poetic, it’s vivid, at others it’s set out as a play or a movie and somehow the author cleverly makes it work. The ending is good, thought maybe a little neat. This is a very different and thought provoking book and one I’ll certainly remember. This is a fiction debut and all I can say is wow, what will follow this?

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Quercus Books for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.203 s2 comments Melissa ~ Bantering Books284 1,616

“Yes, Lewis. Yes. I will marry you.”

(This is what I would say to Lewis if I was Wren and I lived inside the pages of Emily Habeck’s debut novel, Shark Heart.)

The book opens with one of the most gorgeous marriage proposals I’ve ever read in literature – Lewis to Wren, asking her to spend the rest of her life with him.

And after I read it, I was instantly smitten with the writing, the characters, and the unique nature of this love story.

How unique is it? It’s this kind of unique: Lewis and Wren are newlyweds when Lewis is diagnosed with a shark mutation, meaning his body will transform into that of a great white shark.

This devastates their marriage and destroys their dreams. Together, they’re mourning the crumbling of their union; as individuals, Lewis is losing his teaching career and his dreams of being an actor, while Wren is left to rebuild her life and find new joy. What will her life look without Lewis in it? Can they still somehow be together, a human and a shark?

Habeck’s way of telling the story is fable in feel and emotional without being overwrought. And she experiments with style, sometimes slipping into poetry and other times laying out the scenes a play. The way it all comes together is beautiful.

The novel does stumble, though. Halfway through, the story switches from Lewis and Wren to Wren’s mother, telling the mother’s story of neglectful parents and an abusive relationship. It goes on for way too long, takes too much focus off Lewis and Wren, and feels unnecessary. I see the point of it, but the point could’ve been made in a more concise way.

But really, Shark Heart is such an impressive and original debut that I can’t even fathom what Habeck will write next. Whatever it is, I’ll be waiting for it.


My sincerest appreciation to Emily Habeck, S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books, and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.netgalley-arc on-my-kindle188 s6 comments Kelly Hooker478 245

I’m just a girl, raving about a shark book, asking you to trust me.

If you told me I would become wholeheartedly invested in the story of a man who turns into a shark I wouldn’t believe you. SHARK HEART was the bizarrely beautiful book I never knew I needed.

Told in alternating timelines, the story follows Wren and her husband Lucas as he receives the devastating diagnosis that he will slowly transform into a Great White shark.

This layered story explored the nuances of change and was so much more than I expected. The plot was entirely implausible and I have no idea *how* it worked, but I could not tear myself away from these pages. The writing was stunning, the structure was unique, and the themes of love and loss in various forms simply shined.

Emily Habeck took a bold chance on an imaginative premise and I’m so grateful she did.

RATING: 5/5
PUB DATE: August 8, 2023
158 s8 comments jay882 5,086

the author looked at "would you still love me if i was a worm" and went "what if instead of silly, this was actually a sad question"


read as part of 202-Queer
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