My very first ARC from netgalley!

I LOVED this. I was a bit worried it would be needlessly weird and gross (looking at you Nightbitch) but it was oddly realistic given the subject.

The writing was beaut, and the different styles (sometimes as a normal novel, sometimes as a script for a play) stopped it from being too heavy I think. I read a few people didn't like how many different storylines there were but I thought it was well rounded and enjoyed them all.

I didn't expect to be battling tears on the school run over a man becoming a shark, or a woman pregnant with birds, or a mother becoming a komodo dragon, but that was what happened. It was also funny, and I think I'll buy everyone a copy for Christmas this year.

I loved it, and the cover is beautiful. All in all a successful first arc book and I'm glad I was given the opportunity.

Thank you for my eARC of this book. This was quite different to my recent reads which I enjoyed. It was a heartfelt and thoughtful book with antique premise, and I think it was executed well.

This was a wonderful and surprising story! I loved the structure of it, and how Habeck played with style and different types of writing. The characters, writing and plot were fantastic and I would easily recommend this to pretty much anyone!

I really enjoyed the concept behind this one and cannot wait to pick it back up. Due to ill health I haven't been able to read.

What did I just read?
Well first of all I like debut authors. It’s great to find a new author once in a while to add to your favourites, right?

I saw this was a Love Story and thought “why not” as I hardly read romance.

Oh my, I was in for a lot more than romance.
Do you ever consider book titles and how they fit into the story? I often do. But I wasn’t expecting what I discovered.

Lewis and Wren are newly weds when it’s discovered that Lewis has been unwell and his diagnosis will shock you.

Lewis will change day by day - he is transforming in body into…….

This really shouldn’t work, this really sounds bizarre and just totally ridiculous yet…..
I was fully immersed within this couples life. It reflects on Lewis Mothers pregnancy and life a bit too.

Lewis has to come to terms with this changes in him (let alone Wren) it’s going to affect them both in different ways.

Lewis, the Great White Shark.

What is his fate?
What is hers?

Remarkable in its writing to just woo me in on something I’d have found utterly ridiculous.

I knew almost nothing about this book in advance; I wanted to read it after seeing Marian Keyes raving about it on Twitter. It’s absolutely glorious. The story is obviously wild, but it’s entirely gripping and moving. I adored it and, like Marian, will be raving about it to everyone.

This was a deep and intimate book. A really cool slightly alternate world where animal mutations exist as a disease. The concepts were very interestingly explored and the relationships built well. I'm not sure if the section on Wren's mother needed to be as long as it was/not sure the relevance on the main story, but it was still a nice to have sub-story within the main plot.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

I read some very good feedback about this book however I didn’t like it . The premise of the story was confusing and the jumping around added to my confusion. No doubt there is some wonderful prose and descriptive text however I struggled with the story . There is so much sadness in this book and sadly I didn’t find the promised humor. 3 stars

I loved Shark Heart and would definitely recommend it. It was such an original story about love, family and what to do when someone gets ill and changes with the fallout that comes with this. A very good read.

A very accomplished debut novel, a meditation on grief, love and loss. Wren loses her husband, Lewis, to a mutating condition that changes him into a shark. Similarly, Wren’s mother had mutated into a komodo dragon when she was growing up. The mutations are an odd aspect of the novel, and really felt little more than a device to make the book original when she could have written the same story with her husband and mother having normal illnesses. I wonder if that would have been harder to get published. I don’t know what the animal mutations really added, other than novelty. Having said that, it is very well written and touching. It was odd to have an editor’s note at the beginning (and maybe this is just in the proof copy), saying how much it had made her cry. I cry very easily at books, but absolutely did not with this one. And I kept expecting to, so that was slightly irritating. I think this book will really touch some people’s hearts even though it didn’t quite work for me.

I really wasn't sure what to expect from this. The premise is a strange one, I was expecting a strange read but it wasn't. In the world, the metamorphosis of a man to a shark was a normal one. It's a beautiful read, sad and engaging. The characters were beautifully written. A really impressive debut.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC! This story sounded so unique and interesting after reading the premise that I immediately requested it!

This is a novel following Wren and Lewis as they come to terms with Lewis slowly mutating into a great white shark. Yes. You read that correctly. Now that might sound very odd or even simple but I promise you this book is so much more than that. It is about the meaning of life and why, even when we feel we can’t, we must go on. It is about how precious life is, how life can be cruel, harsh and uninhabitable but also full of joy, love and light.

In this version of our world humans mutating into various animals is a known and well researched “illness” and there are various facilities available to provide care to these people which I found fascinating. The book is at times humorous but mostly it is full of heart and a lot of melancholy. The writing was absolutely stunning, it was lyrical, poetic but also matter of fact. I have so much to consider and think about now I have read this. I expect there is a lot I didn’t even pick up on because this novel is so deep and so thought provoking.

I definitely recommend this if you are looking for something a little different that is impactful, thoughtful and explores what it is to be human. This came out on 3rd August so you can read this stunning debut now.

Unlike anything I've ever read before, Shark Heart is profoundly moving, intensely thought provoking and wholly absorbing. Certain lines were so exquisitely written that they took my breath away. It might be impossible to describe this book and do it any justice. But if you want a book that will remain with you long after you turn the last page, this is it. Simply beautiful.

🦈 BOOK REVIEW 🦈

Synopsis: 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 transform into that of 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 fully transforms? 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 daring 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 meets her fears with surrender, choosing to love fully, now.

Review: This book had me from the very beginning! Poignant, unique and poetic. With the note from the publisher at the beginning of the ARC saying “trust us!” How could I not? Who does that?! Boy am I glad I did! I was crying at the 50% mark and desperate for more. The author gave us SO much without it being overwhelming. I loved how diverse it was, with the inclusive of LGBTQ+ rep in there. I cannot even begin to write a logical and cohesive review. I think I am forever changed as a reader after reading this. THIS is what literary fiction is all about. Pushing the boundaries and making us all better readers for having read it. I’m sorry this review is so terrible but please PLEASE pick it up.

Many thanks to the publisher for the NetGalley ARC. Upon finishing the book I immediately bought myself a physical copy- I just loved it that much!!!

5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#booklover #bookaddict #booklove #readersofinstagram #tbr #bookworms #booksofig #sharkheart #fivestarreads #mustread

I thank NetGalley and Quercus Books/Jo Fletcher Books for providing me with an ARC copy of this book, which I freely chose to review.
Let me start by saying that this is not a book for everyone (I’m not sure there are many, if any, of those, but this one definitely isn’t). It is a love story, or several love stories (depending on our definition of love), and it does require a large dose of suspension of disbelief. I think it would fit into a definition of Magic Realism. The world in which the story takes place seems pretty close to the world we live in, but some of the things that happen are quite extraordinary. Some people suffer from rare genetic conditions that cause them to mutate into animals. Lewis, an actor who became a drama teacher but still dreams of making it in the theatre, meets Wren, quite by chance, and although (or because) they are polar opposites (she is an accountant, likes order and practical things, and has always tried to go unnoticed), they fall in love and marry. Shortly after, Lewis notices some strange changes in his body, Wren insists that he goes to the doctor, and he gets an earth-shattering diagnosis. The rest of part one chronicles the changes in Lewis, the process of his transformation, and the attempts they both make to keep their relationship going against all odds.
Part two is dedicated to Angela, Wren’s mother, who got pregnant at 15, was in a violent relationship with Wren’s father, and was later diagnosed with another animal mutation, a pretty slow one in that case, but one that affected Wren’s childhood and coloured her personality.
Part 3 follows Lewis’s life as a white shark, his meeting another human who had also turned into a shark, and what happens next.
The book ends with an epilogue where we meet Wren again and see how her life has changed, and we discover that in spite of everything, life carries on, and it can be magical again.
The plot is extraordinary, evidently, but the way the story is told is also quite special. There are parts of the story written as a play (with the names and descriptions of the characters, setting, and dialogues), and those might, or might not, be part of the play Lewis was writing before he turned into a shark. The rest of the story is written in the third person, from different points of view (sometimes Lewis, sometimes Wren, sometimes Angela...), and it is beautiful, moving, touching, at times funny, at times sad, and, if you connect with the story, it will likely make you feel a full gamut of emotions. The publishing director introduces the book by saying that editors have a rule, if a book makes you cry, you should buy it. And this one did. I must admit I was also teary in parts (especially the parts about Angela and Wren), I laughed out loud in others, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
I loved the book and the story as such, although it is quite possible to read it as an allegory (we can all think of illnesses that turn people into somebody completely different, and we all have dreams and might experience many different lives and changes), but that is up to each reader to decide.
I won’t try and dissect the magic. I will simply recommend the book to anybody happy to give it a go, and not too worried about stories that push the boundaries of possibility. I am sure we’ll hear more about this author because this is an impressive and powerful debut novel. Go on, give it a try.

A very moving and beautifully written novel which had me on the verge of tears at several points. I loved Lewis and Wren’s story and thought it was very well done.

My only problem was that their story ended halfway through and we switched to the story of Wren’s mother’s childhood. While I did come to enjoy this story, it felt like a completely different novel and wasn’t quite as good as the first half - I kept hoping we would go back to the original story.

I’m still giving it 4 stars, which speaks to how exceptional I found the first half, as the structuring was completely off.

Shark Heart tells the story of a newlywed couple in their first weeks of marriage, when the husband notices some alarming changes to his body. The diagnose: he's slowly turning into a shark. This is such a great premise, but I was so bored. The details of his change were given without any build up of tension, just facts given. I skimmed through the middle of the book, to get to the end, and thought that was a let down as well. The writing in the entire book felt strange and choppy, I never got sucked in. If you're looking for a short, quick read about family, loss, and single motherhood, this might be for you though.

Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

When Ella from Hachette Books messaged me to say there was a book she thought would be right up my street I was a little surprised. I didn’t think the publicists would know me and my book choices well enough to make predictions about what I’d like. I was wrong. She knew exactly who this book was for. It’s about a man turning into a Great White Shark she told me, well what’s not to like? I was hooked on the idea before the book even arrived. Lewis and Wren have fallen in love. They’ve no idea that their first year of marriage will also be their last. It’s only weeks after their wedding when Lewis receives a rare and shocking diagnosis. He has an unusual mutation. Although he might retain some of his consciousness, his memories and possibly his intellect, his body will become that of a Great White Shark. Lewis is complicated, an artist at heart he has always wanted to write the great American play for his generation. How will his liberal and loving heart beat on within the body of one of the earth’s most ruthless predators? He also has to come to terms with never fulfilling his dreams. He has to come to terms with leaving Wren behind, for her own safety. Wren wants to fight on. To find a way of living and loving each other as Lewis changes. She is told that there will come a point when this will be too dangerous. Lewis will then have to live in a state run facility or free in the ocean. It’s when she sees a glimpse of his developing carnivorous nature that a memory from her past is triggered. Wren has to make a terrible, heart-wrenching decision.

I felt emotionally devastated by this beautiful novel that uses a fantastical premise to unleash experiences of grief, love, loss and potentially, healing. Wren and Lewis reminded me of my relationship with my late husband. We married after six weeks and even then I knew I wouldn’t have him forever. I had almost seven years until I lost him. This book explained how my own grief experience felt. After Jez’s death I felt furious with anyone who said ‘Jez would think..’ or claimed they could sense his presence. I could feel nothing. No voice, no presence, nothing. It was as if he had never existed. For Lewis there becomes a point when his incessant desire to feed will become his overriding thought, strong enough to wipe out all other thoughts, including his love for Wren. He will not exist as Lewis anymore. The doctors tell Wren, he will not know who she is, because he will be a shark. Wren has to come to terms with the fact there’s a time when she’ll have to let Lewis go. I had a point where I had to decide that I couldn’t look after my husband any more. I was exhausted, we had no carers in place and it didn’t feel safe to try and go it alone. Besides, as his brother told me, I had to start building a life without Jez. Wren is told the same after a terrible violent incident occurs at the after-party for the play Lewis’s students have worked on. When Wren calls the specialist nurse, she urges Wren to let him go. Will they be able to say goodbye?

Despite these similarities to my life, it wasn’t Lewis’s story that broke my heart, It was Wren’s story. This is not the first time Wren has had to say goodbye. When she was barely a teenager her mother also had a rare diagnosis, but her mutation was that of a Komodo Dragon, equally deadly and impossible to live with. One scene between Wren and her mother, as she leaves her in the state facility, was so moving I cried. I found it unbearable. This is what’s astonishing about Emily Habeck’s debut. It seems so fantastical, yet is utterly real in it’s emotions. Using such unusual animals as the mutation/illness creates a distance from the feelings involved. Some readers might even think it ridiculous - but the terrible anticipation, the moment of loss, the grief and relentless momentum of life are exactly the same. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the decision to put an elderly parent in a home or a Komodo Dragon into a facility, the guilt and pain as you walk away feels identical. It isn’t all relentless misery though. We meet Wren’s mother as the teenager she once was. We also go back to Lewis and his new life in the ocean, as his emotions flit between loss and what’s for dinner. His friendship with Margaret is so funny. She was once a human too and she’s been looking for another hybrid to talk to, and boy does she talk?! She’d try the patience of a shark. In a beautifully unusual way and in an almost poetic prose, this beautiful debut is about life. It’s ups and downs, the horrendous losses and the gains: the naivety of first love, becoming a mother, our love and care for an elderly parent, friendships and realising that a special little girl sees you as her dad. Life is constant adaptation, evolving and developing all the time. Every end is a beginning. This is such a special novel, an incredible debut with such a keen grasp of what being human is all about. I can see this becoming an all-time favourite for me. It quite simply took my breath away.

A highly original debut novel of marriage, motherhood, and metamorphosis, of love, loss and grief. This unconventional love story begins with newlyweds Wren and her husband, Lewis—a man who, over the course of nine months, transforms into a great white shark.

“ Wren saw now how passion was delicate and temporary, a visitor, a feeling that would come and go. Feelings fled under pressure; feelings did not light the darkness. What remained strong in the deep, the hard times, was love as an effort, a doing, a conscious act of will. Soulmates, like her and Lewis, were not theoretical and found. They were tangible, built.”

Interwoven throughout the first section is the tale of Angela, Wren’s mother, as we are teased with snippets of her story. The second section is then dedicated to her, and her relationship with Wren. I’m loathed to offer details on the remaining sections, for fear of spoiling anything.

I think the second section may have been my favourite, with Angela taking centre stage, and telling Wren’s origin story. I just couldn’t warm to Lewis, but readers should look forward to meeting Margaret who was incredibly endearing. The epilogue was very sweet, if a little lightweight.

When good, it’s great, the writing gorgeous and heartfelt and hideously human…

“Maybe life has no ceiling, no floors, no walls, and we’re free-falling from the moment we’re born, lying to each other, agreeing to make invented ideas important, to numb ourselves from the secret.”
“What’s the secret?”
“Maybe what happens between birth and death isn’t as precious as we
think.”

As a lover of Bojack Horseman, it didn’t require too much suspension of disbelief for me to imagine this world of animal mutations, and the universality of the struggle to survive. I enjoyed the format of short chapters, sometimes only a single line capturing powerful prose, but the sectioned approach made it feel a little disjointed, disconnected somehow. And occasionally, the writing veered into sentimentality

But as debuts go, this was a fantastic read, from a clearly talented writer, and I look forward to her next.

Wow, what a book!

I didn't know what to expect when I started this but I was totally blown away.