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Whalefall
Jay Gardiner has set out on a fool’s errand: Find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot but feels it’s the only way to relieve the guilt he has carried since his dad’s suicide the previous year. The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly Jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles, then pulled into the whale’s mouth and the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out—one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale.
336 pages, Paperback
First published August 8, 2023
About the author
Daniel Kraus
57 books1,088 followers“Kraus brings the rigor of a scientist and the sensibility of a poet.” – The New York Times
DANIEL KRAUS is a New York Times bestselling writer of novels, TV, and film. WHALEFALL received a front-cover rave in the New York Times Book Review, won the Alex Award, was an L.A. Times Book Prize Finalist, and was a Best Book of 2023 from NPR, the New York Times, Amazon, Chicago Tribune, and more.
With Guillermo del Toro, he co-authored THE SHAPE OF WATER, based on the same idea the two created for the Oscar-winning film. Also with del Toro, Kraus co-authored TROLLHUNTERS, which was adapted into the Emmy-winning Netflix series. His also cowrote THE LIVING DEAD and PAY THE PIPER with legendary filmmaker George A. Romero.
Kraus’s THE DEATH AND LIFE OF ZEBULON FINCH was named one of Entertainment Weekly‘s Top 10 Books of the Year. Kraus has won the Bram Stoker Award, Scribe Award, two Odyssey Awards (for both ROTTERS and SCOWLER), and has appeared multiple times as Library Guild selections, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, and more.
Kraus’s work has been translated into over 20 languages. Visit him at danielkraus.com.
DANIEL KRAUS is a New York Times bestselling writer of novels, TV, and film. WHALEFALL received a front-cover rave in the New York Times Book Review, won the Alex Award, was an L.A. Times Book Prize Finalist, and was a Best Book of 2023 from NPR, the New York Times, Amazon, Chicago Tribune, and more.
With Guillermo del Toro, he co-authored THE SHAPE OF WATER, based on the same idea the two created for the Oscar-winning film. Also with del Toro, Kraus co-authored TROLLHUNTERS, which was adapted into the Emmy-winning Netflix series. His also cowrote THE LIVING DEAD and PAY THE PIPER with legendary filmmaker George A. Romero.
Kraus’s THE DEATH AND LIFE OF ZEBULON FINCH was named one of Entertainment Weekly‘s Top 10 Books of the Year. Kraus has won the Bram Stoker Award, Scribe Award, two Odyssey Awards (for both ROTTERS and SCOWLER), and has appeared multiple times as Library Guild selections, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, and more.
Kraus’s work has been translated into over 20 languages. Visit him at danielkraus.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,194 reviews
September 15, 2024
Whalefall.
I will never forget the experience of reading this. I don't think I've been this emotionally moved by a tale of this nature since Frankenstein and that's saying something.
Then, at the conclusion, it happened. The book hangover.
Whalefall is Jay Gardiner's story. Since his father's death by suicide, Jay has been wracked with guilt. Their relationship was complicated and they were estranged at the time that his Dad took his life.
Jay has given himself the task of finding his father's remains, which he believes lay somewhere in the waters off the coast of Monastery Beach. Taught serious diving skills by his Dad, Jay feels he is prepared for whatever he encounters.
Entering the water is like separating from the rest of the world. In complete silence, Jay enters the dark, cold waters of the ocean's depths.
In that environment, Jay's mind roams freely. The Reader is treated to many of his most personal memories, watching his complicated relationship with his family unfold.
In the midst of his quiet reflections, the unimaginable happens. First the giant squid, then the whale.
Jay has been swallowed by an 80-foot sperm whale. He passes all the way into the whale's first of four stomachs. There he realizes that he is still alive, but may not be for long. With just an hour left on his oxygen tank, Jay needs to find a way to escape and fast.
This story felt so real and original. I love the choices Kraus made in telling Jay's story. The back and forth between Jay's present circumstance and his reflections on his past kept the story moving at a nice, steady clip.
I developed such compassion for Jay over the course of the story, but also compassion for this whale, who becomes such a beautiful character unto itself. When I mentioned Frankenstein earlier, it's particularly this connection I meant.
The whale, who could be considered the monster, beast or baddie, of this story, was just a creature with a soul who incidentally had all of these circumstances thrust upon it.
As Jay fought for his life, while simultaneously grappling with his past, you could feel his will, his humanity, his feelings of hope and love, begin to grow, but would he be able to survive long enough to act on any of it?
This was an incredibly powerful read for me. I became so emotionally connected with the story. Not necessarily because I could relate to anything Jay was going through, but again, just because of the way that Kraus spun the tale.
I think if you let yourself just sink into this one, let the story wash over you and really feel it, this could be an equally powerful read for you.
In addition to all of the emotion though, this is also fairly gruesome and I thought the descriptions of what was going on with Jay's body, and the whale's, was so well done. Kraus definitely gets top marks for his Horror imagery.
If you decide to pick this one up, which you should, be sure you read the Author's Note at the end, where Kraus discusses the level of detail he went into when researching for this book. It's quite impressive. We love a well-researched story.
Thank you so much to the publisher, MTV Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This is the first that I have read from this author, but it will not be the last!
I will never forget the experience of reading this. I don't think I've been this emotionally moved by a tale of this nature since Frankenstein and that's saying something.
Then, at the conclusion, it happened. The book hangover.
Whalefall is Jay Gardiner's story. Since his father's death by suicide, Jay has been wracked with guilt. Their relationship was complicated and they were estranged at the time that his Dad took his life.
Jay has given himself the task of finding his father's remains, which he believes lay somewhere in the waters off the coast of Monastery Beach. Taught serious diving skills by his Dad, Jay feels he is prepared for whatever he encounters.
Entering the water is like separating from the rest of the world. In complete silence, Jay enters the dark, cold waters of the ocean's depths.
In that environment, Jay's mind roams freely. The Reader is treated to many of his most personal memories, watching his complicated relationship with his family unfold.
In the midst of his quiet reflections, the unimaginable happens. First the giant squid, then the whale.
Jay has been swallowed by an 80-foot sperm whale. He passes all the way into the whale's first of four stomachs. There he realizes that he is still alive, but may not be for long. With just an hour left on his oxygen tank, Jay needs to find a way to escape and fast.
This story felt so real and original. I love the choices Kraus made in telling Jay's story. The back and forth between Jay's present circumstance and his reflections on his past kept the story moving at a nice, steady clip.
I developed such compassion for Jay over the course of the story, but also compassion for this whale, who becomes such a beautiful character unto itself. When I mentioned Frankenstein earlier, it's particularly this connection I meant.
The whale, who could be considered the monster, beast or baddie, of this story, was just a creature with a soul who incidentally had all of these circumstances thrust upon it.
As Jay fought for his life, while simultaneously grappling with his past, you could feel his will, his humanity, his feelings of hope and love, begin to grow, but would he be able to survive long enough to act on any of it?
This was an incredibly powerful read for me. I became so emotionally connected with the story. Not necessarily because I could relate to anything Jay was going through, but again, just because of the way that Kraus spun the tale.
I think if you let yourself just sink into this one, let the story wash over you and really feel it, this could be an equally powerful read for you.
In addition to all of the emotion though, this is also fairly gruesome and I thought the descriptions of what was going on with Jay's body, and the whale's, was so well done. Kraus definitely gets top marks for his Horror imagery.
If you decide to pick this one up, which you should, be sure you read the Author's Note at the end, where Kraus discusses the level of detail he went into when researching for this book. It's quite impressive. We love a well-researched story.
Thank you so much to the publisher, MTV Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This is the first that I have read from this author, but it will not be the last!
August 25, 2023
This was just daddy issues inside of a whale.
I came for scientifically accurate sea thriller and I got this.
The writing was painful, the pacing was atrocious, and the plot was nonsense.
Seriously what was this.
I came for scientifically accurate sea thriller and I got this.
The writing was painful, the pacing was atrocious, and the plot was nonsense.
Seriously what was this.
August 8, 2023
Title/Author: WHALEFALL by Daniel Kraus
Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: BLOOD SUGAR, THE LIVING DEAD, THE AUTUMNAL
Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/978166591...
Release Date: August 8th, 2023
General Genre: Science Fiction - Action & Adventure, Science Fiction - Hard Science Fiction, Thrillers - Suspense
Sub-Genre/Themes: Father-Son Relationships, Scuba diving, Families, “Trouble at Sea”, Death/Grief
Writing Style: An intimately told narrative, fast pace, short chapters, gripping, back & forth from flashback to real-time
What You Need to Know: I think the only thing readers will want to know before heading in, apart from anything you can glean from the synopsis, is to not be intimidated by its 300+ page count. I devoured this book in a day. The short chapters and mounting suspense keep those pages flying.
My Reading Experience: Right out of the gate, I’m letting other readers know that this will be one of the standouts for the year, for me. Top 10. Top shelf. And joining other books as all-timers. I will be recommending this book eternally.
There’s a magical quality to this book. I felt transported into the pages. I was on this mission with Jay Gardiner to look for his father’s bones. I felt everything he was feeling. His underwater exploration was so vivid, looking at the sealife through his eyes.
It was absolutely exhilarating. I might even say, it’s the next best thing to actually go scuba diving because, I am so terrified of being in the ocean, I will never experience this for myself. So I enjoy watching oceanic nature documentaries so that I can see what it’s like down there. Kraus cinematically used the gift of storytelling to bring Jay’s dive to life making it as real as possible for his audience.
The descriptions of sea creatures are my favorite. The deep sea is so space-like…so alien. The darkness, the illumination some creatures possess, I can’t even imagine (but I can!). When Jay Gardiner encounters the monoliths of the sea, huge sea creatures, it gave me goosebumps.
Each chapter has a heading at the top letting us know the PSI Jay has for this singular dive–the time left before he must surface. This becomes very important to the story and it’s an effective tool.
I loved being with Jay on this journey of self-discovery and wrestling with his complicated feelings about his relationship with his father. Once he finds himself in a life-or-death situation, the crisis creates a unique environment of trauma and therapy happening simultaneously in order for Jay to process his grief and pain through reliance on Jay’s own abilities to survive by leaning into his troublesome childhood. It’s actually genius. I was in a constant state of awe while I was reading. Kraus has done something magnificent here.
I will be buying a hardcover copy for my library so that I can read this story again.
Final Recommendation: This book releases on August 8th, just in time to make this book your epic Summer blockbuster. I highly recommend not sleeping on this one or letting it linger too long on your shelves. WHALEFALL is one of the best books I've read in the last decade. Better than JAWS, a MOBY DICK for this generation, penetrates past the page like Steinbeck, my new, favorite "Jack London" book
Comps: Jack London, Moby Dick, JAWS
Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: BLOOD SUGAR, THE LIVING DEAD, THE AUTUMNAL
Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/978166591...
Release Date: August 8th, 2023
General Genre: Science Fiction - Action & Adventure, Science Fiction - Hard Science Fiction, Thrillers - Suspense
Sub-Genre/Themes: Father-Son Relationships, Scuba diving, Families, “Trouble at Sea”, Death/Grief
Writing Style: An intimately told narrative, fast pace, short chapters, gripping, back & forth from flashback to real-time
What You Need to Know: I think the only thing readers will want to know before heading in, apart from anything you can glean from the synopsis, is to not be intimidated by its 300+ page count. I devoured this book in a day. The short chapters and mounting suspense keep those pages flying.
My Reading Experience: Right out of the gate, I’m letting other readers know that this will be one of the standouts for the year, for me. Top 10. Top shelf. And joining other books as all-timers. I will be recommending this book eternally.
There’s a magical quality to this book. I felt transported into the pages. I was on this mission with Jay Gardiner to look for his father’s bones. I felt everything he was feeling. His underwater exploration was so vivid, looking at the sealife through his eyes.
It was absolutely exhilarating. I might even say, it’s the next best thing to actually go scuba diving because, I am so terrified of being in the ocean, I will never experience this for myself. So I enjoy watching oceanic nature documentaries so that I can see what it’s like down there. Kraus cinematically used the gift of storytelling to bring Jay’s dive to life making it as real as possible for his audience.
The descriptions of sea creatures are my favorite. The deep sea is so space-like…so alien. The darkness, the illumination some creatures possess, I can’t even imagine (but I can!). When Jay Gardiner encounters the monoliths of the sea, huge sea creatures, it gave me goosebumps.
Each chapter has a heading at the top letting us know the PSI Jay has for this singular dive–the time left before he must surface. This becomes very important to the story and it’s an effective tool.
I loved being with Jay on this journey of self-discovery and wrestling with his complicated feelings about his relationship with his father. Once he finds himself in a life-or-death situation, the crisis creates a unique environment of trauma and therapy happening simultaneously in order for Jay to process his grief and pain through reliance on Jay’s own abilities to survive by leaning into his troublesome childhood. It’s actually genius. I was in a constant state of awe while I was reading. Kraus has done something magnificent here.
I will be buying a hardcover copy for my library so that I can read this story again.
Final Recommendation: This book releases on August 8th, just in time to make this book your epic Summer blockbuster. I highly recommend not sleeping on this one or letting it linger too long on your shelves. WHALEFALL is one of the best books I've read in the last decade. Better than JAWS, a MOBY DICK for this generation, penetrates past the page like Steinbeck, my new, favorite "Jack London" book
Comps: Jack London, Moby Dick, JAWS
October 19, 2023
I'm not mad just disappointed.
Just kidding, I'm pretty mad.
I'm going to say what many reviewers have said before me: This is not a book about a man who is swallowed by a whale and has to use science to get out alive. This is a book about a man (a teenager, actually, but more on that below) who has daddy issues real bad, and he happens to be swallowed by a whale also. The parts with the whale are few and far between—it doesn't even show up until nearly halfway through the book—and even when the dude is inside the whale, the focus is the dude ruminating on his fraught relationship with his now deceased father. The whale stuff is not about whale stuff or thrills or science, it is a big old giant (not great) metaphor for this dude's dad not loving him and how he can't get over it and just BLAH. I don't care.
I didn't want angst and whining about how daddy was mean but I loved him anyway, I wanted to watch a dude get swallowed by a whale and then science his way out. If that is what you want, too, then do not read this book. Just go read The Martian again, or some other actual sci-fi thriller/horror.
Also he's not even a man! He's eighteen! (or nineteen?) So we get whiny young adult thoughts instead of grown-ass man thoughts, and that is an extra heap of something I did NOT want when I started this book. (The audiobook narrator fed into this angsty whiny tone on top of all of THAT.)
I'm sure there's an audience for this, but that audience is mostly not reading it because they think it's a horror book about a dude being swallowed by a whale.
Dang, I've talked myself down to a one star.
Chipping Away at Mt. TBR, Spooky Season Edition — Book 3/31
Just kidding, I'm pretty mad.
I'm going to say what many reviewers have said before me: This is not a book about a man who is swallowed by a whale and has to use science to get out alive. This is a book about a man (a teenager, actually, but more on that below) who has daddy issues real bad, and he happens to be swallowed by a whale also. The parts with the whale are few and far between—it doesn't even show up until nearly halfway through the book—and even when the dude is inside the whale, the focus is the dude ruminating on his fraught relationship with his now deceased father. The whale stuff is not about whale stuff or thrills or science, it is a big old giant (not great) metaphor for this dude's dad not loving him and how he can't get over it and just BLAH. I don't care.
I didn't want angst and whining about how daddy was mean but I loved him anyway, I wanted to watch a dude get swallowed by a whale and then science his way out. If that is what you want, too, then do not read this book. Just go read The Martian again, or some other actual sci-fi thriller/horror.
Also he's not even a man! He's eighteen! (or nineteen?) So we get whiny young adult thoughts instead of grown-ass man thoughts, and that is an extra heap of something I did NOT want when I started this book. (The audiobook narrator fed into this angsty whiny tone on top of all of THAT.)
I'm sure there's an audience for this, but that audience is mostly not reading it because they think it's a horror book about a dude being swallowed by a whale.
Dang, I've talked myself down to a one star.
Chipping Away at Mt. TBR, Spooky Season Edition — Book 3/31
August 13, 2023
This was one of my most anticipated reads this year. This book had a deeper meaning and intent, and was really more around processing grief. I have no hard feelings that the book had a deeper meaning. I found it very slow going and left me wanting. I am sure there will be many readers who love it, unfortunately this one was just not for me.
August 5, 2023
WHALEFALL is a combination of stories rolled into one.
It's the story of Jay and his locally, well-known, seafaring father, Mitt. It's the story of Jay growing up being constantly drilled on ocean facts by his dad, nearly to the exclusion of everything else. It's the story of a diver breaking the rules and going out on his own. It's the story of a boy becoming a man. And finally, it's the story of Jay being swallowed by a whale.
All of this is imparted at a breakneck pace, infused with the the tension of a dwindling air tank. For me, this was a wonder of modern fiction.
With short chapters, (each headed by how much PSI of air is left), alternating what is happening right now, and what Jay went through with his dad growing up, the reader is compelled to keep reading. Here's the thing though, Kraus writes in such a way that the reader doesn't even notice that 100 pages have gone by before Jay even gets inside the whale. Sounds like there was plenty of time for the reader to be bored, right? But I never was, not once.
Kraus' writing is a marvel. He was able to weave in real science and then brought it to life. Squid beaks have never been so interesting! Kraus' writing has always been able to capture my imagination, but that is especially so with this book. Considering that this is a book about one guy and his dead father and that there are no other human characters in it, other than in flashbacks, I mean, to me that is mind blowing. I can't think of another book that is even remotely like this one. (Other than the bible story of Jonah, that is. And compared to this one? Jonah falls short. Sorry, God.)
Since I was first introduced to Kraus' writing in his collaboration with George Romero, (at the request of Romero's estate), The Living Dead, I have read several other works of his and have never failed to come away impressed. At this point, I am convinced that anything he writes will be good or even great, and Mr. Kraus' work will be on auto-buy from here on out.
WHALEFALL is a remarkable book. I immersed myself in it and never felt the need to come up for air. As such, it gets my highest recommendation!
*Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and MTV books for the eARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
It's the story of Jay and his locally, well-known, seafaring father, Mitt. It's the story of Jay growing up being constantly drilled on ocean facts by his dad, nearly to the exclusion of everything else. It's the story of a diver breaking the rules and going out on his own. It's the story of a boy becoming a man. And finally, it's the story of Jay being swallowed by a whale.
All of this is imparted at a breakneck pace, infused with the the tension of a dwindling air tank. For me, this was a wonder of modern fiction.
With short chapters, (each headed by how much PSI of air is left), alternating what is happening right now, and what Jay went through with his dad growing up, the reader is compelled to keep reading. Here's the thing though, Kraus writes in such a way that the reader doesn't even notice that 100 pages have gone by before Jay even gets inside the whale. Sounds like there was plenty of time for the reader to be bored, right? But I never was, not once.
Kraus' writing is a marvel. He was able to weave in real science and then brought it to life. Squid beaks have never been so interesting! Kraus' writing has always been able to capture my imagination, but that is especially so with this book. Considering that this is a book about one guy and his dead father and that there are no other human characters in it, other than in flashbacks, I mean, to me that is mind blowing. I can't think of another book that is even remotely like this one. (Other than the bible story of Jonah, that is. And compared to this one? Jonah falls short. Sorry, God.)
Since I was first introduced to Kraus' writing in his collaboration with George Romero, (at the request of Romero's estate), The Living Dead, I have read several other works of his and have never failed to come away impressed. At this point, I am convinced that anything he writes will be good or even great, and Mr. Kraus' work will be on auto-buy from here on out.
WHALEFALL is a remarkable book. I immersed myself in it and never felt the need to come up for air. As such, it gets my highest recommendation!
*Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and MTV books for the eARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
December 8, 2023
I like the way this dude writes.
Read the jacket cover description of this wonderful book and you’ll see this:
“Whalefall is a scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.”
I read the first part of this book, really digging it, and we come to the central conflict of this scientifically accurate thriller.
I look across the dimensional expanse and I stare into Daniel Kraus’ eyes and I say, “Dude. Are we really doing this? Really? Ok. Let’s go.”
Kraus first appeared on my radar when I read the excellent novelization of Guillermo del Toro’s film The Shape of Water. That film won all kinds of awards, deservedly so, including Best Picture and Best Director for del Toro. I was so impressed by Kraus’ work co-writing with del Toro that I read Kraus’ 2011 novel Rotters and very much enjoyed that as well.
But Whalefall is so much more than just another book about a guy being swallowed whole by a whale.
To be honest, I think the only other book I’ve ever read about someone being swallowed by a whale was Jonah in the Bible.
While this can work as a Biblical allegory, it’s also much more than that. This is a wholly unique reading experience.
Jay Gardner is a teenager who has been raised by a difficult father. Fiction frequently describes such a man as a ne’er do well, an alcoholic, or abusive. Mitt Gardner is separated from these other men by a devotion to the sea, and most specifically, by an allegiance to the craft of diving. Imagine Pat Conroy’s Bull Meecham from The Great Santini, but he is a diver, through and through. But as problematic as Mitt’s eccentricities are to the family, he is never overtly abusive and his love for his son and family is apparent.
Mitt also has two daughters, but his youngest is his son, and Jay gets to live through the vicarious and exacting tutelage of his father, almost constantly teaching, teaching, teaching - hammering into Jay all of this nautical wisdom with a single mindedness that suffocates his son, and with a sense of urgency that pushes Jay away.
While the main action here is the incident with the whale, what this is really about is the complicated relationship between Jay and Mitt, father and son.
In that context I also considered a comparison with Jeff Lemire’s 2012 graphic novel Underwater Welder. Both works involve a father and son difficulty while also being framed around a diving occupation.
Finally, this is just an excellent book.
Read the jacket cover description of this wonderful book and you’ll see this:
“Whalefall is a scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.”
I read the first part of this book, really digging it, and we come to the central conflict of this scientifically accurate thriller.
I look across the dimensional expanse and I stare into Daniel Kraus’ eyes and I say, “Dude. Are we really doing this? Really? Ok. Let’s go.”
Kraus first appeared on my radar when I read the excellent novelization of Guillermo del Toro’s film The Shape of Water. That film won all kinds of awards, deservedly so, including Best Picture and Best Director for del Toro. I was so impressed by Kraus’ work co-writing with del Toro that I read Kraus’ 2011 novel Rotters and very much enjoyed that as well.
But Whalefall is so much more than just another book about a guy being swallowed whole by a whale.
To be honest, I think the only other book I’ve ever read about someone being swallowed by a whale was Jonah in the Bible.
While this can work as a Biblical allegory, it’s also much more than that. This is a wholly unique reading experience.
Jay Gardner is a teenager who has been raised by a difficult father. Fiction frequently describes such a man as a ne’er do well, an alcoholic, or abusive. Mitt Gardner is separated from these other men by a devotion to the sea, and most specifically, by an allegiance to the craft of diving. Imagine Pat Conroy’s Bull Meecham from The Great Santini, but he is a diver, through and through. But as problematic as Mitt’s eccentricities are to the family, he is never overtly abusive and his love for his son and family is apparent.
Mitt also has two daughters, but his youngest is his son, and Jay gets to live through the vicarious and exacting tutelage of his father, almost constantly teaching, teaching, teaching - hammering into Jay all of this nautical wisdom with a single mindedness that suffocates his son, and with a sense of urgency that pushes Jay away.
While the main action here is the incident with the whale, what this is really about is the complicated relationship between Jay and Mitt, father and son.
In that context I also considered a comparison with Jeff Lemire’s 2012 graphic novel Underwater Welder. Both works involve a father and son difficulty while also being framed around a diving occupation.
Finally, this is just an excellent book.
August 22, 2023
And here we are, in August, and I believe I've just finished the most disappointing novel of the year.
This one's being pushed as "scientifically accurate" and I've seen comparisons to Andy Weir's The Martian . Is it accurate to science? Yeah, as far as that goes, sure.
So, I'm gonna say right up front here, before I do a (pardon the pun) deep dive, that I've read only one other Kraus novel—which was also highly recommended by someone who's opinion I trust—and that book was Rotters . And I remember not really enjoying that novel, and now I think I know why.
The biggest part of why I don't like this novel is that I'm simply not a fan of how Kraus writes. I don't like his overwrought characters, I don't like his plots with the necessary bits very obviously shoehorned in. I just don't like it. Which is fine.
But there's still so much wrong with this novel.
I guess I should label the bulk of this review as spoiler...so...you're warned.
So, all in all, this is an overwrought, overly-emotional boy-coming-to-grips-with-adulthood-and-the-loss-of-dad-and-now-he-must-find-his-own-way story disguised as a survival thriller.
Unfortunately, for me at least, it feels like it was written to be a formulaic character arc for Jay to accept his father for who he was, while giving the reader a claustrophobic, yet cinematic feel-good story that could easily be sold to a major motion picture studio as the next Tom Holland vehicle.
It's the type of novel that should have been a solid, well crafted meal but, as per usual with mass market blockbusters, ultimately shows us it's nothing but spoonfed pablum. Nothing to chew on, everything's predigested and there's no taste whatsoever.
I'd hoped for so much more, but instead, I just got a really depressing, disappointing read.
Never again, Mr. Kraus.
This one's being pushed as "scientifically accurate" and I've seen comparisons to Andy Weir's The Martian . Is it accurate to science? Yeah, as far as that goes, sure.
So, I'm gonna say right up front here, before I do a (pardon the pun) deep dive, that I've read only one other Kraus novel—which was also highly recommended by someone who's opinion I trust—and that book was Rotters . And I remember not really enjoying that novel, and now I think I know why.
The biggest part of why I don't like this novel is that I'm simply not a fan of how Kraus writes. I don't like his overwrought characters, I don't like his plots with the necessary bits very obviously shoehorned in. I just don't like it. Which is fine.
But there's still so much wrong with this novel.
I guess I should label the bulk of this review as spoiler...so...you're warned.
So, all in all, this is an overwrought, overly-emotional boy-coming-to-grips-with-adulthood-and-the-loss-of-dad-and-now-he-must-find-his-own-way story disguised as a survival thriller.
Unfortunately, for me at least, it feels like it was written to be a formulaic character arc for Jay to accept his father for who he was, while giving the reader a claustrophobic, yet cinematic feel-good story that could easily be sold to a major motion picture studio as the next Tom Holland vehicle.
It's the type of novel that should have been a solid, well crafted meal but, as per usual with mass market blockbusters, ultimately shows us it's nothing but spoonfed pablum. Nothing to chew on, everything's predigested and there's no taste whatsoever.
I'd hoped for so much more, but instead, I just got a really depressing, disappointing read.
Never again, Mr. Kraus.
June 2, 2023
Jay Gardiner has taken it upon himself to locate his father's remains in the Pacific Ocean off Monastery Beach. He feels that by doing so it will help him with his guilt over not coming around during his father's cancer battle and later suicide the previous year. His father was a hard man who loved the ocean and was hard (too hard) on his son when it came to everything in Jay's life, resulting in Jay leaving his parents’ home as a teen and never coming back.
Everything is going well during the dive until he spots a giant squid which wraps its tentacles around him as a sperm whale begins to feed. As he and the squid are sucked into the whale's mouth, he soon finds himself in the Whale's first of four stomachs. With only one hour of oxygen left, he must find a way out.
This book was a very interesting surprise. Not only is this book about a man swallowed by a whale, but it is also family dynamics, guilt, depression, illness, emotional/verbal abuse, a father-son relationship, and survival. The descriptions in the book are vivid and put me right in the water and stomach of the whale. As Jay's oxygen levels begin to decrease, the tension mounts. Will he find a way out? Will he survive?
Whalefall had me on the edge of my seat and I found myself immersed in the book. This was a fast paced read which had me worried and hopeful all at the same time. I loved the dialogue that Jay had inside the whale. During his time in the whale there are flashbacks to the past which ultimately led him to this moment.
As I mentioned the descriptions in this book are vivid, which I loved but they are also vivid when it comes to what is inside the whale's stomach and the injuries Jay receives while doing his best to find a way out of the whale. Whew, what a page turner!
This was such a great book that was well written, fast paced, thought provoking, shocking and moving.
Thank you to Atria, MTV Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
Everything is going well during the dive until he spots a giant squid which wraps its tentacles around him as a sperm whale begins to feed. As he and the squid are sucked into the whale's mouth, he soon finds himself in the Whale's first of four stomachs. With only one hour of oxygen left, he must find a way out.
This book was a very interesting surprise. Not only is this book about a man swallowed by a whale, but it is also family dynamics, guilt, depression, illness, emotional/verbal abuse, a father-son relationship, and survival. The descriptions in the book are vivid and put me right in the water and stomach of the whale. As Jay's oxygen levels begin to decrease, the tension mounts. Will he find a way out? Will he survive?
Whalefall had me on the edge of my seat and I found myself immersed in the book. This was a fast paced read which had me worried and hopeful all at the same time. I loved the dialogue that Jay had inside the whale. During his time in the whale there are flashbacks to the past which ultimately led him to this moment.
As I mentioned the descriptions in this book are vivid, which I loved but they are also vivid when it comes to what is inside the whale's stomach and the injuries Jay receives while doing his best to find a way out of the whale. Whew, what a page turner!
This was such a great book that was well written, fast paced, thought provoking, shocking and moving.
Thank you to Atria, MTV Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
Read
October 22, 2023Given the concept, the name, and the Jaws-like cover (wonderful), i was so geared for the literary equivalent of a Jason Statham movie. A reading experience like The Meg, a long-before-the-film chazza shop copy of which is one of my most cherished possessions.
It was not, in that the first fifty pages or so are very intensely about Jay the diver's emotionally abusive father and their horrible relationship, and the whole story of attempting to science your way out of being swallowed by a whale was mediated by the father's ghost (or hallucination thereof), and the story actually takes us to a place I found profoundly uncomfortable. Not the whale's stomach, although that was uncomfortable, but a message of 'maybe if the relentlessly bullied kid had just appreciated his bullying father a bit more he'd have seen he was a decent guy deep down who loved him really and maybe he was wrong not to forgive this man who made him so miserable he ran away from home at 15, and hey his tough love saved your life', which...sucks, honestly.
It was compelling and I needed to know how it ended. No idea if it was plausible in the science but it had internal consistency. I think I might have engaged differently if I had been expecting a Lars von Trier film instead of a Jason Statham one, but here we are.
It was not, in that the first fifty pages or so are very intensely about Jay the diver's emotionally abusive father and their horrible relationship, and the whole story of attempting to science your way out of being swallowed by a whale was mediated by the father's ghost (or hallucination thereof), and the story actually takes us to a place I found profoundly uncomfortable. Not the whale's stomach, although that was uncomfortable, but a message of 'maybe if the relentlessly bullied kid had just appreciated his bullying father a bit more he'd have seen he was a decent guy deep down who loved him really and maybe he was wrong not to forgive this man who made him so miserable he ran away from home at 15, and hey his tough love saved your life', which...sucks, honestly.
It was compelling and I needed to know how it ended. No idea if it was plausible in the science but it had internal consistency. I think I might have engaged differently if I had been expecting a Lars von Trier film instead of a Jason Statham one, but here we are.
July 25, 2023
While Whalefall is of course a survival horror story, it is at heart a tale on grief and complex parent/child relationships and working through the grief and growth that comes from facing those issues head on. Please note that the horror/survival aspect is a slow burn, and Jay isn’t even swallowed by the sperm whale until page 120 (according to my arc edition), but there is quite a bit of gore for those who aren’t squeamish. Thought provoking and suspenseful!
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.
August 26, 2023
I think Daniel Kraus is becoming one of my favorite authors.
I loved every second of reading Whalefall. Beautiful writing and storytelling that hit me straight in the feelings. Going on the favorites list!
I loved every second of reading Whalefall. Beautiful writing and storytelling that hit me straight in the feelings. Going on the favorites list!
April 23, 2023
Whalefall
By Daniel Kraus
This book WOWED me in so many ways! It's a book about a relationship between a father and son that is totally mismatched. He thought his father hated him at times. His father also was "a drunk" and couldn't hold a job down. He had once been a great diver. The only thing that they have in common is the love of the ocean.
This book is also about a boy that wanted to dive in the ocean to recover even a single bone of his father's but it turned out to be a life and death struggle when he is accidentally swallowed by a whale. This is the crisis that helps the boy bring back more than just a bone of this father's, but his father's love.
All the details of being in a whale, the relationship, the hypoxia, all seemed so real. Good suspense too! Great characters and world building. This brought tears to my eyes several times.
I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this fantastic book!
By Daniel Kraus
This book WOWED me in so many ways! It's a book about a relationship between a father and son that is totally mismatched. He thought his father hated him at times. His father also was "a drunk" and couldn't hold a job down. He had once been a great diver. The only thing that they have in common is the love of the ocean.
This book is also about a boy that wanted to dive in the ocean to recover even a single bone of his father's but it turned out to be a life and death struggle when he is accidentally swallowed by a whale. This is the crisis that helps the boy bring back more than just a bone of this father's, but his father's love.
All the details of being in a whale, the relationship, the hypoxia, all seemed so real. Good suspense too! Great characters and world building. This brought tears to my eyes several times.
I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this fantastic book!
Read
September 13, 2023My god, men really will dive into a dangerous ocean to find their father's bones and get swallowed by a whale before going to therapy. This was definitely claustrophobic and a good look at grief and trauma. I loved the short chapters and general weirdness that was going on, but I didn't fall into this as hard as I expected to.
July 21, 2023
I know this is a highly anticipated release, so I hope I’m in the minority…I was so excited for this book, and I’m sad to report that I didn’t like it.
First, let’s start with what I liked:
Short chapters for the win. Always.
However, I lost interest from the start. The pivot from past to present so often really made the story choppy and hard to follow. I didn’t care about Jay or Mitt, or any other character really. It felt more like family drama than horror.
I was hoping for an action packed experience, and in 300+ pages there wasn’t much action to speak of.
While this was about so much more than just a diver and a whale, it just wasn’t enough to keep me interested.
Thanks, NetGalley for an advanced copy of this title!
First, let’s start with what I liked:
Short chapters for the win. Always.
However, I lost interest from the start. The pivot from past to present so often really made the story choppy and hard to follow. I didn’t care about Jay or Mitt, or any other character really. It felt more like family drama than horror.
I was hoping for an action packed experience, and in 300+ pages there wasn’t much action to speak of.
While this was about so much more than just a diver and a whale, it just wasn’t enough to keep me interested.
Thanks, NetGalley for an advanced copy of this title!
October 5, 2023
In a sea (*hyuck hyuck*) of modernizations and reimaginings and dime a dozen stories, Whalefall is one that is completely unique. Part Jonah and the Whale, part lesson on where and who you came from, part making it through the grieving process – it’s a story unlike any other I’ve read.
The premise is that Jay’s father committed suicide via the sea after being diagnosed with an incurable cash of mesothelioma. The two had a very contentious relationship and Jay’s choices in the final years of his father’s life have led to a strain on his ties with the remaining members of the family and the diving community his father was such a part of. Jay decides his shot at redemption is to find Mitt’s skeletal remains in order to give him a proper burial . . . . and then he gets swallowed by a whale . . . .
I noticed on Goodreads this is classified first as a horror and . . . no. I’d call it The Martian for the marine lover. It will blind you with science, but it is written beautifully. It certainly won’t be for everyone, but I’m so glad Shelby put this on my TBR during our weekly phone chat.
And I didn't even know MTV Books was a thing, but I'm here for it.
The premise is that Jay’s father committed suicide via the sea after being diagnosed with an incurable cash of mesothelioma. The two had a very contentious relationship and Jay’s choices in the final years of his father’s life have led to a strain on his ties with the remaining members of the family and the diving community his father was such a part of. Jay decides his shot at redemption is to find Mitt’s skeletal remains in order to give him a proper burial . . . . and then he gets swallowed by a whale . . . .
I noticed on Goodreads this is classified first as a horror and . . . no. I’d call it The Martian for the marine lover. It will blind you with science, but it is written beautifully. It certainly won’t be for everyone, but I’m so glad Shelby put this on my TBR during our weekly phone chat.
And I didn't even know MTV Books was a thing, but I'm here for it.
July 14, 2023
In an attempt to assuage the guilt Jay Gardiner was feeling for his relationship with his dad, Mitt, Jay embarks on a dive to retrieve his late father’s remains. His late dad committed suicide earlier in the year, launching himself overboard into the deep blue ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach.
While on the dive, Jay is confronted by a giant squid who Jay later determines to be a sperm whale’s latest meal. As Jay attempts to remove himself from the chaos, part of his gear gets caught in the squid’s tentacles. Struggling to get free was fruitless. In a flash, Jay is swallowed whole and finds himself in the belly of the whale beast with only less than an hour left of oxygen to escape his living hell.
Whalefall wasn’t what I was expecting. I struggled with the flashbacks to Jay’s past. But perhaps those flashbacks’ purpose was to provide some context into Jay’s history. And in the scheme of things, Jay was facing possible death, so his life was flashing before his eyes. However, to me, it didn’t do much for the novel except to muddle the eaten alive narrative.
I didn’t particularly like any of the characters. Somehow they all bore the same vanilla personality. It’s possible that the family conflicts overshadowed the character development, making all the characters one in the same. Or, I may have been more interested in the escape process, instead.
Overall, Whalefall was a decent read. But I would have loved it more had it not been for the family flashbacks. Three stars.
I received a DRC from Atria through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.
While on the dive, Jay is confronted by a giant squid who Jay later determines to be a sperm whale’s latest meal. As Jay attempts to remove himself from the chaos, part of his gear gets caught in the squid’s tentacles. Struggling to get free was fruitless. In a flash, Jay is swallowed whole and finds himself in the belly of the whale beast with only less than an hour left of oxygen to escape his living hell.
Whalefall wasn’t what I was expecting. I struggled with the flashbacks to Jay’s past. But perhaps those flashbacks’ purpose was to provide some context into Jay’s history. And in the scheme of things, Jay was facing possible death, so his life was flashing before his eyes. However, to me, it didn’t do much for the novel except to muddle the eaten alive narrative.
I didn’t particularly like any of the characters. Somehow they all bore the same vanilla personality. It’s possible that the family conflicts overshadowed the character development, making all the characters one in the same. Or, I may have been more interested in the escape process, instead.
Overall, Whalefall was a decent read. But I would have loved it more had it not been for the family flashbacks. Three stars.
I received a DRC from Atria through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.
September 9, 2023
This year seems to be the one where all my anticipated reads are actually not good at all. In fact, this one became a hate read.
This book is sold as “scuba diver gets eaten by whale” but we are given “guy does everything he’s not supposed to do and finds out the consequences” but you’re also just super bored while reading it at least until he finally gets stuck in the mouth of a sperm whale. Honestly just skip to around 30% to when he finally gets swallowed to get to the good stuff. It’s much like taking a ride on the Magic School Bus through the indigestion system of a whale.
To begin though, I have so many problems with this book
Why is the main character speaking in third person? It was so disorienting how we are omniscient. The writing is also clipped which I noticed seems to be a popular style in horror novels but to me just reminds me of “why waste time say lot word when few word do trick.” Like literally “Eyeball pain.” was considered a full complete sentence.
The back and forth between past and present every other page (bc the chapters are only 3 pages long) was unneeded and just dumped so much useless information about the dad. We get it, he was the best guy to others and you’re not. We didn’t need example after example written in soliloquy of him. And the way his entire family chooses to ignore his trauma and disrespect his boundaries just to guilt him over and over again really made this an annoying read. None of the characters were likable at all.
The fact that it’s set after 2020 and we bring up the pandemic for a whole added subtext like really I’m trying to escape reality where that didn’t happen LOL there was no reason to throw that in there. The dude is here to get eaten by a whale I don’t care about a pandemi lovato that wasn’t even explained just assumed that we all know. Future generations reading this will be like “what does this have to do with whales or the story?” and my answer is “I have no fcking clue.”
So funny enough, I’m very familiar with Monterey Bay and Carmel, California as that’s where my family would often go for vacations! I have never known anyone to spot as many animals as this guy did in his one dive. First a freaking MOLA MOLA while diving right off the beach? Then he spots a giant squid (at regular depths mind you). Then gets eaten by the sperm whale that’s obviously it’s competitor. Also orcas show up? No way all that happened in the same dive. The bay is known for its whale watching bc of the underwater canyon said to rival the Grand Canyons depth but youre not gonna see every single rare sea animal.
Also the whole point of him traveling down there is for his fathers remains from 2 years ago. He wants to find the bones of a human which only last 3 to 6 months. The book is named “whale fall” which is what happens when a whale carcass falls to the bottom of the ocean and creates almost its own ecosystem of food. Those last up to a decade bc it’s a giant freaking body! It makes NO SENSE why you would think ur dad, a regular human, would just be right on the floor of the ocean. Next to a chasm. Deeper than the grand canyon. *yeah okay gif*
The rules of scuba diving that this guys father instilled in him and that we are forced to learn are just thrown out the window. I’ve never known someone so unprepared for something they over prepared for. He forgets his gloves when he will be using his hands 90% of the time. (This is actually common tho). He doesn’t have a diving knife?? That’s literally a necessity for any scuba diver. He let his hands go just to readjust his mask when he could’ve held out till he reached a place he could hold on with his feet. Like was there no research put into this? For someone who was supposedly drilled on the in and outs of diving, he honestly deserved to die cause my god.
Like I said, once you reach almost halfway, you take a journey through the digestive system of a whale. This is where the horror/splatter punk comes to play finally. With grotesque descriptions of choking on vomit, to burning in stomach acid, to being stuck in the stomach like a body bag suit was enough to even make me wiggle with claustrophobia. So the descriptions and talent for the grotesque are there, it’s the plot that is lacking in weight and plausibility.
When he finally gets in the stomach though, he literally does nothing. The entire time, nothing. “If I lay here. If I just lay here.” Stabs the whale once and then just turns into a worm. Useless. Somehow still describing the events happening outside the whale in perfect clarity though. It’s like he’s Bran Stark watching through the eyes of the raven, I mean whale.
A fellow reviewer described this book as “daddy issues inside a whale” and I couldn’t agree more.
Don’t waste your time with this novel. The concept is intriguing but the execution leaves much to be desired. Wait till someone else tries their hand at it and we will be all the more better for it
This book is sold as “scuba diver gets eaten by whale” but we are given “guy does everything he’s not supposed to do and finds out the consequences” but you’re also just super bored while reading it at least until he finally gets stuck in the mouth of a sperm whale. Honestly just skip to around 30% to when he finally gets swallowed to get to the good stuff. It’s much like taking a ride on the Magic School Bus through the indigestion system of a whale.
To begin though, I have so many problems with this book
Why is the main character speaking in third person? It was so disorienting how we are omniscient. The writing is also clipped which I noticed seems to be a popular style in horror novels but to me just reminds me of “why waste time say lot word when few word do trick.” Like literally “Eyeball pain.” was considered a full complete sentence.
The back and forth between past and present every other page (bc the chapters are only 3 pages long) was unneeded and just dumped so much useless information about the dad. We get it, he was the best guy to others and you’re not. We didn’t need example after example written in soliloquy of him. And the way his entire family chooses to ignore his trauma and disrespect his boundaries just to guilt him over and over again really made this an annoying read. None of the characters were likable at all.
The fact that it’s set after 2020 and we bring up the pandemic for a whole added subtext like really I’m trying to escape reality where that didn’t happen LOL there was no reason to throw that in there. The dude is here to get eaten by a whale I don’t care about a pandemi lovato that wasn’t even explained just assumed that we all know. Future generations reading this will be like “what does this have to do with whales or the story?” and my answer is “I have no fcking clue.”
So funny enough, I’m very familiar with Monterey Bay and Carmel, California as that’s where my family would often go for vacations! I have never known anyone to spot as many animals as this guy did in his one dive. First a freaking MOLA MOLA while diving right off the beach? Then he spots a giant squid (at regular depths mind you). Then gets eaten by the sperm whale that’s obviously it’s competitor. Also orcas show up? No way all that happened in the same dive. The bay is known for its whale watching bc of the underwater canyon said to rival the Grand Canyons depth but youre not gonna see every single rare sea animal.
Also the whole point of him traveling down there is for his fathers remains from 2 years ago. He wants to find the bones of a human which only last 3 to 6 months. The book is named “whale fall” which is what happens when a whale carcass falls to the bottom of the ocean and creates almost its own ecosystem of food. Those last up to a decade bc it’s a giant freaking body! It makes NO SENSE why you would think ur dad, a regular human, would just be right on the floor of the ocean. Next to a chasm. Deeper than the grand canyon. *yeah okay gif*
The rules of scuba diving that this guys father instilled in him and that we are forced to learn are just thrown out the window. I’ve never known someone so unprepared for something they over prepared for. He forgets his gloves when he will be using his hands 90% of the time. (This is actually common tho). He doesn’t have a diving knife?? That’s literally a necessity for any scuba diver. He let his hands go just to readjust his mask when he could’ve held out till he reached a place he could hold on with his feet. Like was there no research put into this? For someone who was supposedly drilled on the in and outs of diving, he honestly deserved to die cause my god.
Like I said, once you reach almost halfway, you take a journey through the digestive system of a whale. This is where the horror/splatter punk comes to play finally. With grotesque descriptions of choking on vomit, to burning in stomach acid, to being stuck in the stomach like a body bag suit was enough to even make me wiggle with claustrophobia. So the descriptions and talent for the grotesque are there, it’s the plot that is lacking in weight and plausibility.
When he finally gets in the stomach though, he literally does nothing. The entire time, nothing. “If I lay here. If I just lay here.” Stabs the whale once and then just turns into a worm. Useless. Somehow still describing the events happening outside the whale in perfect clarity though. It’s like he’s Bran Stark watching through the eyes of the raven, I mean whale.
A fellow reviewer described this book as “daddy issues inside a whale” and I couldn’t agree more.
Don’t waste your time with this novel. The concept is intriguing but the execution leaves much to be desired. Wait till someone else tries their hand at it and we will be all the more better for it
May 13, 2023
The sea has always frightened me in that nobody knows what’s down there. Less than 5% of creatures in the deep oceans have been discovered. There could be a whole Snorks city and we’d never know! I learned so much about the ocean and marine biology by reading this book, like the sperm whale’s echolocation clicks are the loudest sound made by an animal (that we know of - again, what is down there?!), and that they have four stomachs.
Jay is a 17-year-old boy who recently lost his Dad, Mitt, to mesothelioma and suicide. Mitt spent much of his life in the water, so when he saw the end coming, he weighted himself down and did a whalefall into the ocean. The father and son didn’t have the best relationship, and diving was about the only activity they did together. Jay was Mitt’s only boy, but he is small in stature and sensitive, leading to a lot of ridicule from his father. When Mitt was dying, he begged the family to make Jay come visit him, but Jay refused.
Some time later, Jay finds himself at Monastery Beach, a place in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. Most people don’t dive there, as there is a canyon as deep as The Grand Canyon under the surface, and it’s easy to lose your way. Jay wants to find his dad’s bones, but can’t dive down into the canyon because he only has oxygen. You need specialized equipment to keep you from getting nitrogen narcosis, a deadly disease that causes confusion and hallucinations in divers.
Jay is confident that he can find bones before he reaches the edge of the underwater canyon. His father taught him everything about oceanography and deep-sea diving, and Jay’s need to find something permanent of him, even if only a tooth, makes him take the dangerous gamble. As he’s mesmerized by a rare type of bioluminescent squid, something bumps into him. That something happens to be a sperm whale.
At first, Jay isn’t worried. People don’t get eaten by whales … unless the person is very thin, and unless it’s a sperm whale. The only whale with the ability to pass a human down its esophagus happens to be trying to get to that 30-foot long squid, and when the whale begins to suck, the squid grabs onto Jay and he’s along for the ride - right into the creature’s first stomach. For the rest of the book, we look back on the relationship between Jay and his father, as Jay tries to figure out how to survive his situation.
I haven’t read writing like this since Erika Ferencik’s “Girl In Ice”. The visuals seemed like you are RIGHT THERE in the stomach with Jay, and it was both beautiful and barbaric. The author wanted to make this as scientifically accurate as possible, and it made for a fascinating book. The entire story is good, but the mental pictures it gives are breathtaking. As with “Girl In Ice”, this is one of the most thoughtful, stunning horror/thriller books I’ve ever read. It gets nothing less than five stars!
(Thank you to MTV/Atria Books, Daniel Kraus, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on August 8, 2023.)
Jay is a 17-year-old boy who recently lost his Dad, Mitt, to mesothelioma and suicide. Mitt spent much of his life in the water, so when he saw the end coming, he weighted himself down and did a whalefall into the ocean. The father and son didn’t have the best relationship, and diving was about the only activity they did together. Jay was Mitt’s only boy, but he is small in stature and sensitive, leading to a lot of ridicule from his father. When Mitt was dying, he begged the family to make Jay come visit him, but Jay refused.
Some time later, Jay finds himself at Monastery Beach, a place in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. Most people don’t dive there, as there is a canyon as deep as The Grand Canyon under the surface, and it’s easy to lose your way. Jay wants to find his dad’s bones, but can’t dive down into the canyon because he only has oxygen. You need specialized equipment to keep you from getting nitrogen narcosis, a deadly disease that causes confusion and hallucinations in divers.
Jay is confident that he can find bones before he reaches the edge of the underwater canyon. His father taught him everything about oceanography and deep-sea diving, and Jay’s need to find something permanent of him, even if only a tooth, makes him take the dangerous gamble. As he’s mesmerized by a rare type of bioluminescent squid, something bumps into him. That something happens to be a sperm whale.
At first, Jay isn’t worried. People don’t get eaten by whales … unless the person is very thin, and unless it’s a sperm whale. The only whale with the ability to pass a human down its esophagus happens to be trying to get to that 30-foot long squid, and when the whale begins to suck, the squid grabs onto Jay and he’s along for the ride - right into the creature’s first stomach. For the rest of the book, we look back on the relationship between Jay and his father, as Jay tries to figure out how to survive his situation.
I haven’t read writing like this since Erika Ferencik’s “Girl In Ice”. The visuals seemed like you are RIGHT THERE in the stomach with Jay, and it was both beautiful and barbaric. The author wanted to make this as scientifically accurate as possible, and it made for a fascinating book. The entire story is good, but the mental pictures it gives are breathtaking. As with “Girl In Ice”, this is one of the most thoughtful, stunning horror/thriller books I’ve ever read. It gets nothing less than five stars!
(Thank you to MTV/Atria Books, Daniel Kraus, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on August 8, 2023.)
January 26, 2024
Well, I finished the book. Grief horror is one of my fav subgenres. But sadly this didn't do anything for me. I wanted to feel claustrophobic, but all I felt was the claustrophobia from this book not ending. So.. a classic case of the book not being for me🥴
September 18, 2023
this happened to my buddy eric once
September 9, 2023
I really didn't enjoy this book. I thought this would be my book of the year. The writing was hard to read, it was condensed, or spaced out, filled with oceanic details that intrigued me at first as a diver but just got excessive. The characters, I never cared if they lived or died, they were so shallow, I was bored.
This book was everything that didn't work for me.
This book was everything that didn't work for me.
August 15, 2023
this is like if james patterson wrote 127 hours in a whale
July 6, 2024
oh I absolutely would've completely died in about 5 minutes. this is terrifying.
highly appreciated the super quick chapters from beginning to end though!
highly appreciated the super quick chapters from beginning to end though!
August 24, 2023
Well, this was a nice surprise.
I did not know what to expect but I was really pleased.
I enjoyed the writing and the timeline structure.
The narrative was very well crafted.
In my eyes, this was more like a drama, rather than a horror or thriller.
There are no likeable characters, but I did feel sorry for the kid.
The chapters are very short. Some have just two words.
The book has only 55k words, so it is a fast read.
The author handled the topic of mental and emotional illness with excellent care.
I heard that this book it’s going to be adapted for the screen.
TW: depression, grief, survivor guilt, abuse, and most importantly, reaction to suicide.
I read the gorgeous hard cover while riding the train to work and the e-book while walking (living dangerously!).
I also simultaneously listened to the audiobook, which I thought was excellent.
Hardcover (MTV Entertainment Books): 336 pages
e-book (Kobo): 179 pages (default), 55k words
audiobook narrated by Kirby Heyborne: 8.2 hours (normal speed)
I did not know what to expect but I was really pleased.
I enjoyed the writing and the timeline structure.
The narrative was very well crafted.
In my eyes, this was more like a drama, rather than a horror or thriller.
There are no likeable characters, but I did feel sorry for the kid.
The chapters are very short. Some have just two words.
The book has only 55k words, so it is a fast read.
The author handled the topic of mental and emotional illness with excellent care.
I heard that this book it’s going to be adapted for the screen.
TW: depression, grief, survivor guilt, abuse, and most importantly, reaction to suicide.
I read the gorgeous hard cover while riding the train to work and the e-book while walking (living dangerously!).
I also simultaneously listened to the audiobook, which I thought was excellent.
Hardcover (MTV Entertainment Books): 336 pages
e-book (Kobo): 179 pages (default), 55k words
audiobook narrated by Kirby Heyborne: 8.2 hours (normal speed)
May 24, 2024
Incredible.
First, there will be so many readers who love everything about this book. I’ve never read anything remotely like this! I guarantee you will be moved and at times you are sure to be breathless. I am giving this 4 stars because it was too much for me at times. So much detail, so much information! I hope you enjoy it.
First, there will be so many readers who love everything about this book. I’ve never read anything remotely like this! I guarantee you will be moved and at times you are sure to be breathless. I am giving this 4 stars because it was too much for me at times. So much detail, so much information! I hope you enjoy it.
May 8, 2023
Horrifying, nasty, claustrophobic. Loved it. Full review to come.
August 21, 2023
2.5
The exploration of the relationship between a father and son was at the forefront of this book, but I wanted the exploration of the ocean to be more prominent.
The exploration of the relationship between a father and son was at the forefront of this book, but I wanted the exploration of the ocean to be more prominent.
September 12, 2023
“No one carries the best parts of themselves. The best parts are those held inside of others.”
Maybe I’m being extra generous lately because I took most of the month of August off from reading, but I loved this.
I see a few reviews calling it boring and I really don’t understand them. Far fetched? Absolutely. Gross? Yep. Overwritten? Maybe. But boring?! There were a few moments here where I thought, damn, dude has been swallowed by a whale. Can’t really get much worse, can it? And then it somehow gets worse. And it kept happening. I’d be given a shining moment of hope just to have the rug pulled out from under me.
I enjoyed the writing more often than not (it borders on flowery/purple for sure) but the book is already so short I find it hard to find any serious fault with it. And I think Kraus produced some excellent quotes that resonated with me in the end. (He also produced some truly visceral scenes, I will never see my palms the same way again.)
This felt super intense to me. Each chapter is either titled with a reading on his air tank, to tell you how much air Jay has left, or a year, marking a flash back. We bounce back and forth in time. To me, the set up mirrors the concept of “life flashing before your eyes” as Jay himself is anticipating his own death.
I loved the metaphor for grief. I loved the commentary on toxic masculinity and climate change, the reflection on what it means to be family.
This is not inaccurately shelved as science fiction, but I almost feel as though it’s audience is more horror readers? Don’t get me wrong, it’s well researched, and I learned a good deal, but it does kind of feel like the horror is what propels it.
I would definitely read Kraus again.
Maybe I’m being extra generous lately because I took most of the month of August off from reading, but I loved this.
I see a few reviews calling it boring and I really don’t understand them. Far fetched? Absolutely. Gross? Yep. Overwritten? Maybe. But boring?! There were a few moments here where I thought, damn, dude has been swallowed by a whale. Can’t really get much worse, can it? And then it somehow gets worse. And it kept happening. I’d be given a shining moment of hope just to have the rug pulled out from under me.
I enjoyed the writing more often than not (it borders on flowery/purple for sure) but the book is already so short I find it hard to find any serious fault with it. And I think Kraus produced some excellent quotes that resonated with me in the end. (He also produced some truly visceral scenes, I will never see my palms the same way again.)
This felt super intense to me. Each chapter is either titled with a reading on his air tank, to tell you how much air Jay has left, or a year, marking a flash back. We bounce back and forth in time. To me, the set up mirrors the concept of “life flashing before your eyes” as Jay himself is anticipating his own death.
I loved the metaphor for grief. I loved the commentary on toxic masculinity and climate change, the reflection on what it means to be family.
This is not inaccurately shelved as science fiction, but I almost feel as though it’s audience is more horror readers? Don’t get me wrong, it’s well researched, and I learned a good deal, but it does kind of feel like the horror is what propels it.
I would definitely read Kraus again.
August 8, 2023
Soooo boring. I got about 15% through and quit.
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