This book was way different from what I normally read. Mostly I wanted to read it because a good friend of mine would love the book. The fact that it involved sharks was the first reason she would like it, but then I saw that the author grew up near where she lives. The story even mostly takes place near her area. And it was a story about people and relationships. All things that are tailor-made for her. For me, well, I normally read old science fiction books. So I stepped outside of my comfort zone to read Shark Heart, thinking I would probably just tolerate it. Wrong. While it isn’t my favorite book ever I did enjoy it. The book rose above my expectations. Especially the “Love Story” part. This isn’t Harlequin Romance. This is more literary than that. The story really has more relation to Kafka than to romance novels. It goes a step further than Kafka in making the change gradual and mixing it into the stories of the relationships. I believe the fantastical change was really just a metaphor for the fact that people do change over the years. I don’t want to spoil this novel by saying more than that. I just want to say that this book is worth giving a chance, even if it is very different from what you normally read. It is a very good novel.

Review: Shark Heart
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
🦈
This novel was much more than I predicted. A beautiful story of love written with lyrical detail. We follow the lives of a newlywed couple, Wren and Lewis. The man is diagnosed with a rare disease that transforms him into a great white shark. As Lewis changes, we are thrown into the past and present. Between the two characters, their lives unravel. This is not only a story about the love between Wren and Lewis, but about love as a whole. The parts that showcase Wren’s mother gave birth to the story and highlight the characters with depth and beauty. Angela’s story was my favorite part of this book. I felt completely immersed in the world and setting. The book takes place where I live and gives great references to the places and people I see every day, which made reading even more enjoyable. All in all, this was a beautiful debut novel. Very unique and unlike anything I’ve ever read before. Being a shark aficionado, I’m happy to have read this and will add it to my collection once it's published. It’s definitely a book that will gain more depth with each reading. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for this advanced reader copy for my review.

This is such a beautiful book. I cannot believe this is the author’s debut novel.

Shark Heart takes place in the present day, but with one twist. There are rare “animal dementias” that occur in which people transform into various animals and begin to forget their human side. This is an intergenerational love story that starts with Wren, whose husband begins transforming into a great white shark a few weeks after their marriage. We watch them both struggle with what this means for their marriage and the rest of their lives. The book also goes back to Wren’s mother’s love story beginning with when she gets pregnant with Wren at the age of 15 while in an abusive relationship.

I loved the writing style of this author. It was poetic, heartfelt, and sometimes humorous. I appreciated her efforts in pulling in theater script formatting to help capture some of the emotions and Lewis’s love for theater. The speculative fiction piece did not seem too far out of the realm of possibility, especially with the detail the author put into the treatments and how the diagnosis was dealt with. I loved how the book focused on coping with grief, the burdens of caretaking, appreciating life’s beauty and the small things, learning from others, finding a meaningful life. I loved the book had a realistic ending rather than a happy ending, and there was little pieces of Joy in it to appreciate.

My one complaint is that there wasn’t a little more of Wren and Lewis’s story. I understand it was ending as soon as it started, but Angela’s story, especially with elements glimpsed from Wren’s just felt so much more complete.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am not a person who often choose romance as a genre to read but the cover and plotline hooked me instantly, pun intended. While at first glance this might seem like a classic boy meets girl, they fall in love and get married sort of tale it then take a fantastic and almost insane turn as the boy, Lewis, suddenly finds out he is mutating into a great white shark. While at first this might seem ludicrous, such is the astonishing skill and poetic prose of that very talented author that we find ourselves both accepting and grieving with our heroine, the composed and systematic Wren, whose live has been thrown into turmoil but nevertheless attempts to maintain her loving and close relationship, that in this world so like our own there is something much stranger and as devastating as Alzheimer's or cancer: The sudden onset of an animalistic mutation where a loved one loses memories and humanity and becomes dangerous or deadly by no fault of their own changing into a shark, a bird, a komodo dragon, etc. Even unborn infants are not immune to this health crisis. And while it is indeed fantastical it is so well portrayed that you are taken through the process from diagnosis to final mutation step by step and left with the family that remains to pick up the pieces of shattered lives. This book is profound, devastating and yet singularly beautiful and hopeful. It tests the boundaries of love between man and wife, mother and child with absolutely nothing shy of the full scope of what it means to be Human even when you're becoming something else. Loved it

Oh, my! What a beautiful story!
Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read this book. The story has a strange premise , but if you can accept that and go with it, you will be greatly rewarded!
The story is actually two stories, about people that are diagnosed with a condition which causes their body to transform into that of an animal . The book is heartbreaking and yet also heartwarming. The characters are well written and the main characters are kind, good people who are very likeable. Good people who are going through such difficult experiences. I’m not one of those reviewers who writes multiple paragraphs, giving away the whole story. Let me suffice to say that this a beautiful story that I greatly enjoyed and that if the synopsis appeals to you, please do yourself a favor and give this book a try. You won’t be sorry! I loved it so much that I read the book in one sitting! Happy reading!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Simon Element for this advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. Shark Heart is the story of Lewis and Wren, a young couple who shortly after getting married, learn that Lewis has been diagnosed with a rare medical condition that will ultimately result in him metamorphosing into a great white shark. The story follows the couple as they deal with this transformation and we also learn about the events that shaped Wren, including her experiences growing up and past friendships/romantic relationships.

This story was absolutely fantastic and I devoured it in just two sittings. I think part of the magic of this story is that the author makes it easy to believe that something as unrealistic as animal transformations could actually be real and that it could be as devastating a diagnosis as it feels for these characters. In my opinion, this author is so successful in suspending the reader’s disbelief because she so eloquently describes emotions and elements of the human experience. Overall, this story was truly an exploration of unrealistic circumstances, infused with beautiful character development and clever writing.

Something else that I thought was truly special about this story was how it managed to create some distance between tough topics, like actual human illnesses and loss, and the reader’s experience, since this story was about a made up illness. In this way, I think it actually made it easier to digest this story and consider how its lessons could be applied to whatever circumstance you might personally be facing. In my opinion, this is what good storytelling is all about and books like this are why I love to read. I definitely think this book found me at the right time and was a comfort to read.

Thus, I would definitely recommend this book!! Literary fiction fans will not be disappointed.

I was drawn to Shark Heart because the premise reminded me so strongly of Julia Armfield's Our Wives Under the Sea, one of my top five books of 2022. Despite their eerily similar plot points (truly, "one spouse undergoes an unwanted but unstoppable transformation into a sea creature" is 100% applicable to both!), my experience of reading them felt different.

While I liked Shark Heart, I wasn't wowed by it - maybe because I'd already read and loved something so similar? I've seen a lot of other reviewers use words like "unique", and I'm sure I'd have described it that way too if I hadn't read OWUTS first. Regardless, it is certainly creative!

So I'll set aside that comparison, since OWUTS is such a hard act to follow (though I do think it's reasonable to expect that readers familiar with OWUTS will have it in mind when they encounter this book too).

Focusing only on Shark Heart, I really enjoyed the matter-of-fact way the author presented such a surreal situation - the contrast between the day-to-day logistics (scheduling Lewis's medical appointments, chatting over dinner about work, etc.) and the dawning realization that he's inexplicably yet inexorably mutating into a shark. His and Wren's short marriage is a beautiful depiction of love in the face of doom (which, if you want to get existential about it, is broadly applicable!). And, of course, the cover is spectacular.

That said, I didn't love the writing style - it wasn't at all clunky, but I wouldn't describe it as lyrical the way others have - and I found it challenging to (a) get to know and (b) care about some of the side characters, particularly Tiny Pregnant Woman. (I have thoughts about what she represented to Wren, but I'm not confident in them.)

For me, this was a 3.5 star read, but I've rounded up to 4. Thanks to Simon Element (S&S) and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a great concept, I really was invested in the idea and so glad it was executed well. I enjoyed what Emily Habeck wrote and it did what I was looking for. The characters were what I was looking for and it was written well. I enjoyed how good the story and characters were, they were written perfectly and it did everything that I was hoping for. I can't wait to read more from Emily Habeck.

"He did not tell Wren how much he loved all her small things. The way her mouth dimpled on one side when she smiled; the way she took deep breaths when she did not know what to say or was trying not to laugh; her patience while explaining the stock market to him."

Wow, what a unique and interesting debut novel.

This book is a little quirky, but it 100% worked for me and I read it in a single sitting.

Lewis and Wren and newly weds when they get the terrible news that Lewis will gradually turn into a Great White Shark. The first half of the novel follows the mental, physical and emotional toll this transformation has on both Lewis and Wren. We switch views constantly between Lewis and Wren and also jump around in time as the share memories of life before the diagnosis.

The second half we jump back in time and follow Wren's mother. Her journey of trying to find her place, her desire to be loved and to provide for her daughter. We also follow along as she receives her own devastating news and what that means for herself and her daughter.

This novel is beautiful, thought provoking, emotional and poetic. Creative, lyrical story writing that provokes thought. So full of heart.

Wish I could read this book for the first time all over again.

“The. world is a big and small place, and life, a terrifying and sublime journey.”

From the gorgeous book cover to the poetic and lyrical writing, Shark Heart takes the reader on a unique and unexpected journey, exploring what it means to love others, the self, and the life experience.

The reader needs to let go of concrete thinking in order to fully appreciate this novel. Much like the character of Wren teaches us, beauty is often truly found on the abstract.

Aspects of this book I loved:
—beautiful writing, many places I wanted to jot down phrases that were so lovely and poignant.
—cover art is gorgeous.
—plot kept my interest, didn’t know how it would end.
—characters who I wanted to know better and cared about.
— creative storytelling and I loved the casual way she writes about human/animal combinations, as if these occurrences are ti be expected and part of everyday life.

Aspects of this book that I didn’t care for:
—too many characters and not enough time spent on each of them. There were so many side stories in addition to Wren and Lewis, and the book ends without enough time spent getting to really flesh out those characters (pregnant lady at swim, Rachel, Theresa).
—I couldn’t really tell where the author was trying to fit in spirituality/God/religion. At times it seemed like she was taking this story in a secular direction, more of a generalized faith or belief in some higher power, and at other times, perhaps landing in a more Christian direction. I noted that the author studied Divinity, so this likely plays a huge role in this. I think going secular or religious might have worked better instead of trying to add in all the possibilities.

Overall, I loved this book and would recommend to anyone looking for a story about love, faith (in possibilities), and seeing beauty amidst grief.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This novel was stunning! I fell in love with Lewis and Wren as I learned how they fell in love and how they dealt with the shattering news that Lewis suffered from an animal mutation that in 6 months would turn him into a great white shark. It sounds hokey, but it is anything but. Throughout the experience Lewis holds onto hope and his sense of humor until more and more of his personality slips away. You follow Wren as she comes to terms with his condition and what happens to her heart and mind after he is gone. The whole thing is heartbreaking and raw and beautiful and it made me cry. The people and the plot felt so tangible and I love how poetic the intimate moments between the characters are. I wasn't as attached to the second set of characters, Wren's mother Angela and Marco, but their story was another one of love and hardship. I adored this book.
Thank you to the publishers and Emily Habeck for allowing me access to read this book!

I received an eARC of Shark Heart, and immediately fell in love. The gorgeous cover, the fantastic premise, immediately drew me in, and once I started reading, I had to find out what happens in practical Wren's and artistic Lewis's world. Newlyweds Wren and Lewis receive a rare and devastating diagnosis a few weeks into their marriage - Lewis was in the early stages of a Carcharodon carcharias mutation: he was turning into a Great White Shark. With themes of abandonment, loss, hope, community, and of course, love, Emily Habeck writes a unique love story in a most unique way. Short, fragmented paragraphs interspersed with longer pages, "scenes" and "acts" separate sections, Shark Heart is an unforgettable book that prompts the reader to suspend disbelief and muse on all the wondrous ways of being alive.