This short novel, described as a scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver swallowed by a sperm whale, was not for me. It seemed to be chapter after chapter of either repetitive daddy issues, long-winded descriptions of diving and diving equipment, or tedious descriptions of escape attempts. The writing was marred by flourishes clearly meant to ramp up tension but which just became extremely annoying. I almost put it down multiple times, but forced my way to the end. I wish I hadn't bothered. ( )

Whalefall is an unexpected observation on the complexities of the parent and child relationship told through the main character's traumatic swallowing by whale.

Mitt Gardiner is an expert diver and ocean conservationist of the extreme order. Someone who almost loathes living on land. Diving is his everything. It’s a passion he intends to share with his only son, Jay, whether he enjoys it or not. Jay’s perspective straddles a blurred line between apt pupil, dutiful son, and resentful child/teen.

Mitt teaches Jay everything he knows. He means to make his son capable and safe in the ocean and maybe also in life. He is harder on his son than on his daughters in all the ways that parents can be; setting higher goals and expectations for the only male child. In a way, Jay feels like Mitt’s legacy, but not all children want to be that. There’s a key line in the book about fathers having obligations, to which Mitt retorts, don’t sons have obligations, too?

Jay leaves home at fifteen, following news that his father has terminal cancer (mesothelioma). He intends to prove to Mitt that he’s his own man who can make it in the world unaided (though he always has arm’s-length support from his parents). Independent and spirited to a fault, Jay moves from place to place until he ultimately settles in with another family that is no blood relation.

Meanwhile, his own family suffers through Mitt’s disease without Jay. It isn’t until after Mitt commits suicide, returning himself to the ocean that is all he’s ever wanted to surround himself with, that Jay gains perspective on the importance of his father’s lessons and of belonging to a family. He decides that he can overcome the resultant chasm between his self and his mother and sisters if only he can dive one last time and recover something of Mitt for them to bury; a sort of closure that the family did not get from having no mortal remains to inter. Jay’s return to the ocean after two years puts to the test every bit of knowledge Mitt has ever imparted, and through his journey into the mouth of a sperm whale, Jay finds acceptance, understanding, and a deep longing for life.

Beautifully written and technically graceful, Whalefall is art of the highest order. The author seams the past and present together beautifully and tells a resonating story through a scientific lens. Highly recommended, this one is a contender for novel of the year.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an Advance Reader Copy. This novel releases August 8, 2023 so pre-order your copy today. I have. ( )

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

Gosh this was beautiful. Brutal, violent, terrifying, but totally breathtaking. The descriptions of the whale alongside the total life and death mechanics Jay goes through is totally mind blowing, and so well grounded. ( )

The blind audacity of a teenager lands him in a truly wild predicament. All because his family and his town assign a stupid amount of blame on him surrounding his psycho dad’s cancer battle and subsequent suicide.

You can’t even root for the whale because it quickly becomes a symbol of his dad in some strange—and failed—attempt at a trauma coping mechanism.

And here’s a sentence I never thought I’d have to write in a book review: Excessive use of the word “sphincter”. ( )

A scuba diver is swallowed by a whale, and has until his oxygen tank runs out to escape. The premise makes it seem like would be more in the pattern of books like The Martian than it really is, since this one is a lot more about the father/son relationship the author somehow manages to make the situation represent, less about the technical minutiae of the escape plan. Still, I can honestly say I know of no better first-person description of crawling through a whale's stomach chambers in any literature. ( )