Shark Heart: A Love Story

I don't know what I rate this book. I feel hollow after reading it. I feel like my heart was ripped out and yet the ending did not leave me feeling satisfied. Wren got an ending but the author left Lewis's ending hanging there. I thought maybe Wren would see a shark at the end and think it could be Lewis living his best life, but that didn't happen. As I said, I needed more closure for Lewis' story.

Also, I did not realize that their love story was only going to be half the book. I will say that part disappointed me because the first half was so good. The second half was Wren's mom's story, which was fine, but I wanted more Wren post- Lewis and Lewis as a shark. Everything with Wren and Lewis was the best parts.

The story of Wren's mom would have made a nice novella.

Interesting, unique story. Beautiful writing.

Lovely writing style, great characters, very interesting story, and too many passages that hit you right in the feels. The pacing felt awkward at the end. There was a clear climax of the story you started with about, what 2/3 through the book? And the rest felt like a long epilogue and prequel combined that had me wallowing in sadness. I listen to the book for bookclub and those last two hours were just punishing to continue after the culmination of the books rising action. I think it tried to end on a hopeful note, but I just could not get back to that feeling at all after the gut punch climax. Might want some distance from the book before you continue to the end. Do not recommend a last minute read through before your meeting!

I really enjoyed this book. It was unique and I felt like I was invested in the characters and I wanted to know what happened next. The prose was beautiful. It brought about a good discussion at our book club. The cover art is beautiful as well.

I was hesitant to read this novel because I don’t usually gravitate towards romance or love books, but the concept of someone turning into a shark certainly piqued my interest. This book was wonderful! It was full of heart, unique prose, and familiar landmarks (the novel centers around north Texas and Oklahoma where I have lived my whole life), and left me wanting more! I enjoyed how the story was broken up into 3 parts to tell the entire story of not only Wren and Lewis’ love, but the full story of Wren’s childhood and what happened to her mother as well as a glimpse into the future. The author’s way of adding screenwriting prose into the novel as well was a really nice touch to tie in Lewis’ love of the theatre and I thought it was really neat.