Special thanks to Simon Element, S&S/Mary Sue Gucci Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This is one hell of a book which made me laugh, cry, love, only to break my heart. This may be an oddball of a story, but in a good way. Anyway its a wild ride and all I can say is jump on.

I would highly recommend this book. 5 stars for the uniqueness and for all the emotions this book gave me.

I was so intrigued by the premise of this book. I mean, a guy turns into a great white shark? The marine biologist in me needed to know more.

What came after the initial excitement was disappointing. This book was very slow paced to me, and while I can appreciate the storyline and the beautiful lessons in this book, the overall writing just didn’t capture me.

I would describe the writing style similar to “where the crawdads sing” which was another hugely popular book that I wasn’t into.

This cover is absolutely the most beautiful cover I’ve ever seen though.

SHARK HEART is a wild, emotional ride of a book. It was a moving story of the relationship between two newlyweds while the husband swiftly transforms from a human into a great white shark. The reader also learns more about the wife, Wren, and her relationship with her mother. Overall, the story is beautifully written and moves effortlessly between each character's emotions and their interactions with one another. The main issue I had with SHARK HEART was the seemingly disjointed arrangement of the storytelling. Wren and Lewis' story was told rather quickly in the first have before jumping suddenly to the life of Wren's mother before moving back to the present. While intertwined, I wish the two stories had been more seamlessly cohesive, as it was confusing the read at first. Overall, this was a great book and I would recommend it to my library patrons!

A big, massive ball of feelings come with this entanglement of stories! This story is entirely unique - from its concept to its formatting to its poetic nature.

The characters’ progression was metamorphic I laughed, I cried, I fell in love, my heart broke.

There are aspects of Lewis, Wren, and Angels that I found heartbreakingly beautiful. The way they love so intensely and feel their emotions in their own manner makes for the most unique group of characters!

It’s one of the oddest, strangest stories I’ve ever read. It’s about change, facing the impossible, grappling with grief, and being so indescribably in love that it hurts.

The way Emily Habeck has me crying and laughing over a freaking SHARK!

Thanks for the wild, crazy ride Emily! I read this entire book in a day and have already been telling EVERYONE to read this book ASAP.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, Simon Element, Marysue Rucci Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this amazing debut by Emily Habeck - 5 stars!

Wren and Lewis are newlyweds when he begins to turn into a Great White shark. This sort of transformation, resulting from a familial mutation, is common enough that hospitals have different teams to help patients and their families as they transform. Wren is obviously devastated and devotes her life to taking care of Lewis, a task that becomes harder and harder as he transforms. The second half of the book explores Wren's past and that of her mother.

Wow - Emily Habeck is now on my list of people I want to have dinner with. Can you imagine that conversation? To be able to create a book with this premise and have it so full of heart, imagination, and is gorgeously written as well. It's about the transformations we all make as we grow, love, become parents, grieve. It deserves all the hype it is getting - I can't wait to read more from this author but how do you top this? Highly recommended!

This was one of the most unique stories I’ve ever read.

Shark Heart follows Wren and Lewis who are newlyweds. Shortly after they are married, Lewis is diagnosed with Carcharodon Carcharias Mutation which will turn him into a great white shark before their first wedding anniversary. The premise behind this book was unlike anything I’ve ever read which is what drew me to it, but I was not prepared for how profound this book would be.

I was expecting the story to lean more toward sci-fi/horror, but it touched on deep subjects such as grief, death, domestic violence, and what it means to be truly alone. This book perfectly encapsulated the feeling of grieving someone that isn’t dead and finding joy in the after.

The pacing of this book was a little odd as the story jumped around and wasn’t always linear, but I honestly loved it.

By the time I finished this book, all I wanted to do was go home and hug everyone close to me. I obviously don’t have to worry about my husband turning into a fish, but you never know how much time you have left with someone. 4/5⭐ and I can’t wait to purchase this for myself.

4.5 stars!

I will admit, I requested "Shark Heart" by Emily Habeck because of its beautiful cover alone. What you will find in this book is a wildly strange, wholly unique romance that will make you laugh and cry with its musings on life, love, motherhood, family, and affliction. This story is clearly an allegory for chronic and terminal illnesses. It details, through magical realism, how someone who is sick can change and distort and crumble and deteriorate physically and mentally, but this novel also conveys how caring for a sick person can irrevocably change the carer, too... how carers lose their sense of self and independence, and how, despite unconditional love and loyalty, they relinquish parts themselves in the process of overseeing and, eventually, letting go. Unfortunately, I have a lot of experience with both, so I identified with this book on an extremely personal level. I found myself drawn into this story from the first page. I loved the characters, the changes they go through, the lessons to be learned, the reflections to be gleaned, and the emotions poured into this story. Some of the prose is written in a journalistic manner, while other bits almost feel play-like manner, so that may turn off some readers. I urge you to stick with it. I promise you will be rewarded with something that is a breath of fresh air. Try reading as little as possible about this book before starting it! A fabulous book that will be on my mind for years to come.

Thank you to NetGalley, Emily Habeck, Simon Element, and S&S/Marysue Rucci Books for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

To be honest this book sounded so weird, and I was IN!! The story begins with Lewis and Wren. A newly married couple loving their new life together, navigating work and each other. This comes to a halt when Lewis gets a devastating diagnosis: he’s turning into a great white shark.

I love how the format included some script scenes and poetry. Many pages had only a paragraph or so of writing to separate thoughts. Wren’s story goes much deeper than just Lewis. We get a look into her past and her mother’s life too.

Lyrical and mesmerizing! You don’t want to miss this one!

I honestly don’t know how to rate this book. It was insanely creative…and just plain insane. There were some very cool ideas in this but it all felt too piecemeal and chaotic. It’s like the author compiled her wacky creative writing journal entries into a book with very little editing. It was very stream of consciousness without cohesion.

I wish there had been a little closure for Wren and Lewis at some point. Same with Angela and George. We get to see a big chunk of their stories but then are left in the dark. The author has a unique writing style which I thought was engaging. I loved that Lewis was an actor/theater teacher and parts of the book were written as a script. Very neat.

I took away an overall message of appreciating life and that beauty can be found anywhere. Also, the definition of “love” is broader than we sometimes think it is.

I was ultimately a little disappointed with this final product but it is definitely worth a read, though, because I guarantee you haven’t read anything like it before.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon for an ARC of this beautiful debut novel. Wow.. when I read the synopsis, I had no idea what to expect since it sounded so ludacris, but I am so grateful I took the plunge. The novel focuses on a newlywed couple, Wren and Lewis, who come from different backgrounds, have different beliefs, but blend together perfectly. Lewis begins noticing changes in his body, and after his wife's insistence, finally goes to a doctor who tells him he is physically and emotionally changing into a Great White Shark. The reader discovers that people develop gene mutations that transform them into all different types of animals, but what is amazing with this story is that is such a small part of the picture this novel is painting. It focuses on love, motherhood, and the bonds that make us all.

This book changed me. It’s so unique and strange and beautiful. Just read it!
The writing is lyrical perfection.

An astonishing debut. Such a beautiful story. I was wondering how the plot of animal mutations was going to be handled, but in the story, it's a medical fact of life for some, and treated as such (even though it is a bit a magical realism). It truly doesn't feel like a stretch of the imagination the way it is presented. Lewis and Wren are such compelling characters, albeit for different reasons. Ultimately, this is a story of love, marriage, motherhood, family, and learning to start anew after life throws you a curve ball. Really, this is a must read.

"For Lewis and Wren, their first year of marriage is also their last. 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.

At first, Wren internally resists her husband’s fate. Is there a way for them to be together after Lewis changes? Then, a glimpse of Lewis’s developing carnivorous nature activates long-repressed memories for Wren, whose story vacillates between her childhood living on a houseboat in Oklahoma, her time with a college ex-girlfriend, and her unusual friendship with a woman pregnant with twin birds. Woven throughout this bold novel is the story of Wren’s mother, Angela, who becomes pregnant with Wren at fifteen in an abusive relationship amidst her parents’ crumbling marriage. In the present, all of Wren’s grief eventually collides, and she is forced to make an impossible choice."

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Element/S&S/Marysue Rucci Books for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

“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 like without Lewis in it? Can they still somehow be together, a human and a shark?

Habeck’s way of telling the story is fablelike in feel and emotional without being overwrought. And she experiments with style, sometimes slipping into poetry and other times laying out the scenes like 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.

I tried not to read too much about Shark Heart before starting it myself, but it was impossible not to notice all the buzz surrounding this debut novel. In my opinion, the attention is well-deserved. The novel starts with Lewis and Wren meeting, falling in love, and getting married. However, the newlyweds immediately face a hardship: Lewis has a mutation that is turning him into a shark. With beautiful writing and insights, Emily Habeck addresses how such a "transformation" affects the couple which drew me in and kept me wanting to read. We then learn abut Wren's past and future. (I recommend not reading the publisher's description because I think it gives too much away. I preferred letting the story unfold and expose the revelations.) While the premise sounds outrageous, readers will relate to dealing with change, grief, hardship, heartbreak...

I just finished reading Shark Heart, but I know I will continue thinking about it. I envision this thoughtful novel leading to great discussions for book buddies and book clubs. And it will be a favorite of 2023 for many readers.

Thanks to #NetGalley, #SimonElement, and #MarysueRucciBooks for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review..

Shark Heart takes readers on an emotional and thought-provoking exploration of transformation and letting go. Through the poignant story of Lewis’s transformation after his marriage to Wren, the book delves into the challenges, grief and growth that come with finding love and letting go.
Adding in Wren’s relationship with her mother, the book captures unconditional love revealing that growth often arises from facing adversity.

Emily Habeck uniquely captures the emotions of losing oneself in the care of a loved one and the overwhelming love that defines the experience. But the heart of the book lies in its exploration of metamorphosis and the art of letting go.

The writing paints vivid scenes that allow readers to simultaneously see its humor and horror. I enjoyed the pace and found the writing guided readers through the bittersweet process of releasing control. I was left with encouragement to embrace life's inevitable transitions with grace and courage.

I stayed up way too late last night finishing this book, and I don't regret it at all! I think that 'Shark Heart' is a book that with stick with me for a long time. I can't stop thinking about it.

I had heard about the concept of this book, and I wasn't sure what to expect going into it. This book surprised me in so many ways. It's about a woman named Wren, and it goes through her present with her husband, Lewis. Lewis has a diagnosis that he is mutating into a shark within the first year of his marriage to Wren. We see everything that Lewis experiences as his body begins to change, and we also see how this affects Wren.

The story goes through different timelines, and it shows Wren's past and what shaped her to become the person that she is today. Some of the chapters are about a page long. This book is beautifully written, and it changes style throughout the book. It can go from a play script to poetry to third person narration.

What I will take away from this book is the beauty and devastation of love and transformation. All of us change over time, and it can be difficult to understand that things change and nothing remains the same. Wren's story shows how through sadness, we can still find happiness.

Another theme of the book is making mistakes or looking back with regret. These are such powerful concepts, and they were beautifully explored by the author, Emily Habeck.

I was hysterically sobbing through parts of this book, and I had to put it down at times because I couldn't read through my tears. I read this book in a day, and I won't stop thinking about it.

Thanks to NetGalley, Simon Element, and Marysue Rucci Books for an ARC of this beautiful story.

Loved this book. The beauty of the language read like poetry. The story was heartbreaking and heartfelt. I'm recommending to EVERYONE!!
Official review link coming soon.

This is a novel about change: changes inside families (when couples marry or expect a child or lose a family member), changes in our body and our deepest hopes, change in the format of the novel (mostly prose, it seamlessly slides into scripts and poetry as it tries to morph alongside its characters), and, literally, change between species. It's a novel about loss and hope, with the central concept that humans can mutate into animals: Lewis, the just-married high school drama teacher at the center of this novel, is changing into a Great White shark, and his wife Wren is watching him do it, adapting as far as she can alongside him. (The metaphor for illness and care giving works perfectly; it is as accepted by the characters in the novel as a diagnosis of cancer or severe depression would be in ours.) There is no cure for any kind of change in this novel, and most of the changes are devastating. Lewis's mutation is one of the most feared (sharks are not easy creatures to get along with, changing a friendly and mild man into a massive toothy predator, and it moves quickly), but he's not the only character in this novel undergoing one. This sounds grim, and the book is honestly sad at times (Habeck writes movingly about loss), but the novel finds hope too. Habeck's certainty and control of the story, and the surprise as the novel itself at times gently morphs into other forms, offers the possibility of moving forward even in the hardest parts. I really liked it.

Thanks to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for the free earc I received in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are all my own.

3.75 This story has such an interesting premise and discuss so many topics from loss, grief and acceptance. I thought it was explored and executed well, the ending did feel a little bit safe to me but overall was such an experience to read.

I have never read a book quite like this. Wren and Lewis are the sweetest couple that unfortunately are ripped apart by a mutation causing Lewis to transition from human to Great White shark. Wren does everything she can to hold on to Lewis as long as she can but in the end she has to let him go live out his life in the ocean. Their goodbye was heartbreaking even though you knew it was coming.

The book is written more like a play than a traditional novel, which makes it feel as though Lewis is with you from beginning to end. Learning about Wren’s mother and life in the second half of the book was gut wrenching but makes you understand Wren all the better.

This was such a unique novel that was enjoyable, enthralling, and tugged at my heartstrings in the best way.