Whalefall

"DNF for now. I may come back to it, but all the diving terminology just left me bored. I'm sure this is a me problem. This one just may not be for me."

"Now this was a fun and interesting read. Without spoiling, what an imaginative adventure. I can't imagine going through what happens in this story. Very descriptive which I appreciated as someone who has not done any diving. I actually learned a bit from the authors details here. "

"A propulsive tale of sorrow, ingenuity, spirit and nature, driven by the extraordinary imagination of the author. Seventeen-year-old Jay Gardiner, privately grieving the death of his father, dives into the Pacific near Monterey, scuba gear in place, to find the body of his father, Mitt, a master diver who disappeared into the Pacific rather than die in a hospital of cancer. Jay descends into an ocean canyon in the Pacific, the whole time mentally replaying arguments with his father. He gets pursued and squeezed by a giant squid, and moments later both Jay and the squid get swallowed by a sperm whale, meanwhile his oxygen tank ticks down. Whalefall was named among the NYT’s most suspenseful books. Suspenseful, imaginative, heart-breaking; an awesome start to 2024."

"This is very close to 4.5 stars and maybe I'll update that in the future. This was a whaley good time. (Really good time haha.) I saw this book on Goodreads, and it immediately piqued my interest. It ended up being exactly what I wanted, a realistic science fiction thriller that takes you through the struggles of father and son relationships through the belly of a whale. The main protagonist Jay is wonderful to read, the struggle between him and his father written throughout the entire novel is well put together. I like how short the chapters are, it felt very action-packed because of it, almost a little bit too much at times. Kraus fits a whole lot into the 300 pages of this book. I will say it follows the flashback trope, something it's hard NOT to see in modern-day writing but it differed enough in style that I wasn't too ****** off. The whale "talking" to Jay was interesting, it helped wrap up the things at the end of the novel. I think it might be a slightly cold take to say I would have preferred Jay to come to these conclusions with his dad without this. It took away from how realistic the novel was, it was researched thoroughly and felt fairly plausible all things considered. When that stuff came in, I lost the voice of the novel slightly, although I can understand others not feeling the same way. That's how the book left me though. Still loved it and look forward to reading more of Kraus!"

"Very well written, a deep look (no pun intended) into grief. "

"Wow. This book hit me right in the feels. Which was totally unexpected. My expectations were that this would be a heart-racing, panic-inducing thriller. But it definitely went in a little bit of a different direction. I enjoyed it for what is was. Beautifully written and educational. I will never look at sperm whales the same. "

"Whalefall is the story of a young boy, Jay, and his struggle to please his father. All his life he is hounded by oceanic facts. Everyone loves Jays father, but Jay despises him for always making him feel less than. After his father is diagnosed with cancer and commits suicide in the ocean, Jay decided to move out of the house. He didn’t visit him during the illness nor attend his funeral. Ultimately he chooses to attempt to find his dads remains in the ocean where he died. As he is donned with his scuba gear he goes on his journey to find dads remains. He doesn’t but he does find himself sucked into the belly of a sperm whale. This is where it all takes place. The descriptions are meaty and stuff horror movies are made from. The scientific part of the story is written in such a way that it isn’t technical and it flows throughout. <br/>The book was paced well between the now and the past. I really enjoyed how Jay has used each of his family members strengths to help him survive."