A beautiful story not just about love and marriage, but about change, loss and grief. The story is well written and the premise believable because in that world, people turn into animals like people here develop cancer. It's fantastic, yet moral, and you grieve along with the couple. A lovely debut novel!

Such a strange premise to a book but it truly tugged at my heartstrings. I’ll remember these characters for a long time. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I finished.

What a unique, lyrical experience. I did not find myself connecting emotionally to the characters as I have seen in so many others reviews. I think this was in part to the quick pace and movement between timelines and POVs and going in completely blind not knowing what to expect other than something about a man turning into a shark.
I do recommend this one for the deeper messages hidden within the bizarre storyline. I enjoyed the quick pace and story as a whole I just was not one reaching for the tissues but be aware that you may very well need them as you read as it is an emotional rides.

This was my first book to read by this author but it won't be my last! This was a beautifully written novel that evokes so many emotions. Don't miss out on this one!

Sad but beautiful, a portrait of grief and what can be found from true and deep love. Unlike anything I’ve read, but in a good way.

The pacing was slightly off for me, I had a hard time staying engaged. But I appreciate the premise.

When a friend showed me this book in July and told me a little bit about the story and predicted its success I was convinced this was too weird for me ... the whole white shark mutation just sounded a bit too strange.... fast forward a couple of weeks of thinking about this beautiful cover and I was intrigued enough to request this colorful book ... now that I finally managed to squeeze this book in I enjoyed this beautiful lyrical and metaphorical story about love and grief a lot! Thank you so much, Gen, for putting this book on my radar.
This book is unique in it's premise. Wren and Lewis are newlyweds when Lewis finds out he is going to transform into a Great White Shark over the next couple of months painfully but now very slowly with all the changes this entails ... but this also means this book has a beautiful depiction of love and grief - how this relationship and marriage came to be and what shaped Lewis and Wren into the people they are now and going forward. Once you can wrap your head around the fantastical nature of this book, it will take you on a thought-provoking journey about life, love, and motherhood. If you're looking for something different, highly recommend - but the book needs you to allow for human to animal transformations/ mutations ...
.. and isn't this cover just the prettiest ?

This book is a really innovative. A book about the grief journey, but being able to do it in a way that is humorous is a real feat. This is a book that you cannot wait to finish, but then upset that it is over.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- a heartfelt and poignant story that explores motherhood, grief, change, and the oddities, like the women who was pregnant with twin birds, and the fact Lewis, the protagonists husband, gradually turns into a great white shark. Habeck isn't afraid to explore themes of motherhood, abuse, trauma, and the past with her poignant style, and her characters struggles feel all too real, except for birthing birds or turning into an apex predator of the sea. i wish i could read this again, and at this point, i probably will because of the story explored by Habeck.

How does one even review a book like this? Just go read it! Run, don't walk, and obtain this book by any means necessary and then settle in to a beautiful world, one filled with hope and loss and pain and rejection and great beauty in ugly things.

My logic-minded brain wasn't sure I wanted to read this, I did not see how any author could make me follow along with a man turning into a shark. But the story is set in a solidly parallel world where it is not only possible, but you are able to accept the scenario. I never once felt it was a ridiculous situation, I was completely immersed in the story and the characters and the mutations that parallel those in our own world - fatal diagnoses, crippling accidents, Alzheimer's, all sorts and types of love, loss, rejection. And I think it's important for prospective readers to know this. You will be immersed so deeply into the story that you'll never question the idea of a man turning into a shark.

But is the story about a man turning into a shark? Or is it about all types of love and many types of loss and love's ability to continue on. The story spans four generations of Mother to Daughter to Daughter to Daughter. It is beautifully written, gorgeously written. I feel inept and unqualified to even review it. I'm grateful that I had a whole day to sit and read it all at once. I am grateful to NetGalley for the ARC. This book gets 5 stars and the certainty that it will land on many Top Books of the Year lists.

“How were your flights?” They ask. In all honesty, I don’t remember the flights at all. I started this fabulous and immersive book in Louisiana and didn’t come up for air until I landed in Maine. I hate flying, but the story made me forget everything except Lewis, Wren, and their tragic love story.

“A few weeks after their wedding, Lewis receives a rare diagnosis. He will retain most of his consciousness, memories, and intellect, but his physical body will gradually turn into a great white shark. As Lewis develops the features and impulses of one of the most predatory creatures in the ocean, his complicated artist’s heart struggles to make peace with his unfulfilled dreams.

A sweeping love story that is at once lyrical and funny, airy and visceral, Shark Heart is an unforgettable, gorgeous novel about life’s perennial questions, the fragility of memories, finding joy amidst grief, and creating a meaningful life.” (GoodReads)

Some parts are poetry, others a screenplay, and we move back and forth in time and POV, but it all flows together beautifully. Perfectly. Swimmingly. It was witty, tragic, lovely, heart-wrenching, and wholly original.

I can’t praise Habeck’s writing enough. The lyrical, engaging, and descriptive writing!

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon Element, S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books, for the Digital Review Copy.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book early! I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was very well done, and the story kept me interested. Shark Heart was a beautifully written story that honestly broke my heart, but I loved every moment of it! I believe my students/patrons would also love this book and will be acquiring it for the library!

A stunning, powerful, interesting, creative gift of a book. I loved it and found myself so moved by so many of the powerful themes that resonated. An interesting surrealist twist makes this a thoughtful and deep read.

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy. Shark Heart, A Love Story, is different from what I usually read, and I was pretty resistant. A young couple meets, falls in love, and then soon after they are married, things change. The husband feels strange, goes to the doctor, and is diagnosed with something that means he is slowly morphing into a shark. Yes, a shark. I kept reading, and it is really a love story. But the human to animal theme (he is not the only human that turns into some kind of animal, it is somewhat common thing in this alternate universe), was hard to get into. Overall, I’m glad I read it I think. #sharkheart #emilyhabeck #magicalrealism #manbecomesshark #debutnovel #netgalley #advancedreadercopy #bookstagram #booklover #reader #bookblog #lovetoread #fictionreader #bookreview #bookrecommendation #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #takeapagefrommybook #readallthebooks #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #booknerd #whattoread #readingtime #bookaddict #ilovetoread #ilovebooks #needtoread #readallday

Shark Heart centers on Lewis and Wren, who are newlyweds when Lewis is diagnosed with a condition that is slowly turning him into a great white shark. We go back in time and learn about Wren and her relationship with her mother, as well as relationships with a previous ex-girlfriend and a woman pregnant with twin birds. This story really worked for me- I was not initially sure I could get behind this seemingly far fetched medical diagnosis, however it played very much like a couple dealing with any other fatal diagnosis. I appreciated their decisions and discussions on how to spend his remaining "human" time. The back story of Wren's upbringing shed much light on how she was dealing with her terminal husband. This is a beautiful story that I will think about for some time. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy.

I loved this one!!! So sweet and sad and magical and playful. I love how the author played around with writing styles, mixing up the narration with scenes as if written for a play. My heart broke but was also uplifted... such a great story!! Also wasn't expecting almost two stories in one, but I really enjoyed both parts and it didn't feel clunky at all which is impressive. Can't wait to read more from Emily Habeck!

What makes a human a human?

This is the kind of book that you either love or find mind-numbingly weird. It's a quick, relatively easy read in the sense that the chapters are short and the prose isn't overblown. The themes, of course, are much deeper. When do you have to force yourself to let go of someone you love? How do you cope with a loved one becoming something that's not only completely unrecognizable but also potentially dangerous? How do you know when you've made the most you possibly can of an untenable situation? How do you grieve someone who isn't exactly gone but is no longer accessible?

Yes, the premise of there turning out to be genes that turn humans into various animals is far-fetched, but the animal transformations were only a scaffold on which to build a whole story around loving and loving enough to let go. In the midst of all this animal transformation, we get a lot of familiar themes around domestic violence, found family, and friendships long and fleeting.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Grab your scuba gear because it’s time to dive deep into this wildly unique debut, Shark Heart by Emily Habeck.

Told through gorgeous prose with moments of action-fueled play-styled scenes sprinkled throughout, Shark Heart is a story told in three parts. In the first part we meet newlyweds Wren and Lewis. After years of being together, mere weeks after tying the knot, Lewis learns that he is going through the early stages of Carcharodon carcharias mutation, and within the year he’ll transform into…a great white shark. The second part of the story is about Wren’s mother and those particularly transformative years of growing from child to teen to adult. The third part…well…you’re going to have to explore the depths(read the book, wink) to discover what lies beneath.

Curiosity fueled my desire to pick up this book. If you’re looking for answers to the questions of why & how, you won’t find that folded neatly within this story. What seems like a whimsical love story on the surface with the rather odd animal mutation in the mix, is actually a metaphorical way to explore love & loss and what makes humanity human. With a propulsive narrative, a great white shark sized bit of curiosity, and gorgeously written passages that will make your heart soar, you’ll fall in love with Wren, Lewis, Angela, George and all of the rest of the creatures great and small. Highly recommend you pack this one in your bag for the last beach trip of the summer!! I guarantee your skin will be warmed by the sun and your heart by this book.
Final rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review Shark Heart. It’s available now wherever books are sold.

While this book had some of the most beautiful, lyrical prose that I've read in a good while, it didn't quite hit the mark for me. I feel like the story went a little too fast (very short pages) and we didn't get enough time to see the characters develop enough. The jump in the middle to Angela's backstory threw me off and was almost like starting a whole new book after having following Wren and Lewis. The synopsis mentioned a woman pregnant with twin birds and I really thought that character would play a larger role in the story as well. I would still check out more from the author as her writing as beautiful and her ideas are original.

This is such a unique story! It’s worth all the hype. I encourage anyone who is considering it to read “Shark Heart”.