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. 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. The emotional film “Whalefall” explores the depths of grief, the tenacity of the human spirit, and the impact of facing one’s history. Readers are completely drawn into Jay’s inner world and the nuances of his relationships thanks to Kraus’s writing, which is full of sensory description and reflection. Readers are encouraged to reflect on their own lives by the novel’s investigation of memory, identity, and family. Whalefall is a mind-blowing, take-your-breath-away adventure, but it's also a tender and moving story of the relationship between a father and son. Daniel Kraus is a writer I greatly admire. He can do anything, and does." - Dan Chaon

Whalefall: A Novel | Welcome to Heartleaf Books Whalefall: A Novel | Welcome to Heartleaf Books

Suspenseful and cinematic, Whalefall is an “astoundingly great” (Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author) thriller about a young man who has given up on life…only to find a reason to live in the most dangerous and unlikely of places. 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. BRILLIANT!! Thank you NetGalley and Atria, MTV Books for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

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. 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 profound and multi-layered book “Whalefall” by Daniel Kraus transports readers on an emotional trip through the life of Jay Gardiner, a young man who must contend with the weight of his father’s history and the complexities of his own emotions. 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.)

Book Marks reviews of Whalefall by Daniel Kraus Book Marks Book Marks reviews of Whalefall by Daniel Kraus Book Marks

This hard sci-fi thriller is full of cinematic and wild suspense and would be great for fans of Andy Weir."— Library Journal, starred review 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. Arts Entertainment‘s Richard Abate and Will Rowbotham will serve as exec producers alongside Imagine. Astoundingly great. Whalefall is, quite simply, a beautiful novel—a must-read story of the sea, the nature of awe, and the briny relationships between fathers and sons.” The examination of family dynamics and the long-term effects of parental connections is central to the story. Jay’s internal monologue reveals his struggle to make sense of the conflict between the father he knew and the father he believed he ought to have. As Jay confronts the residual agony of his past and looks for a feeling of closure that escaped him during Mitt’s existence, this internal conflict serves as the emotional center of the book.Astoundingly great. Whalefall is, quite simply, a beautiful novel—a must-read story of the sea, the nature of awe, and the briny relationships between fathers and sons.” Maybe I’m being extra generous lately because I took most of the month of August off from reading, but I loved this.

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus The Review and Summary of Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

I read this ARC on a whim, having only barely skimmed the synopsis before diving right into it. Tbh, what I expected was a pretty classic piece of survival fiction with a sprinkle of sci-fi and a dash of legend, but what I got was a story of grief and growing up that was equal parts tender and visceral, celestial and human, mythological and material, researched and raw. A moving character study disguised as a riveting, cinematic survival thriller...The pacing is relentless, the awe astounding, and the tension palpably constricting, even as Kraus takes time to provide necessary details both scientific and visceral."— Booklist, starred review The primordial nightmare at the core of Whalefall is fantastically gripping. A character study developed in the most intense crucible imaginable, Kraus’s latest novel is smart, surreal, and powerfully humane.” 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.” Let's start with Jay and his father. We're told early that Mitt, Jay's father, was a tough guy, always trying to teach Jay lessons for survival, that you just never knew when some small, trivial fact would one day save your life (cue foreshadowing moments one through one hundred). Kraus makes sure we never forget this fact, because he takes virtually every non-whale moment—and quite a few whale moments—to not just remind you, but to slap you around with it, to bludgeon you with it, to run you over, then reverse over you one more time, just to make sure that you never ever forget what Mitt did and said to Jay.One of our oldest stories, one of our greatest fears, and one of our most capable writers. Stranger things than being swallowed by a whale have probably happened, but they've rarely been told so well." - Stephen Graham Jones 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. An absolute triumph, a masterpiece of suspense, emotion, and flat-out terror…It’s one of this year’s can’t-miss books, and a journey you won’t soon forget.” —Paste Magazine