“There is never a right time to say goodbye.”
I didn’t have being absolutely destroyed by a book about a man turning into a shark on my bingo card, but here we are. Emily Habeck’s Shark Heart: A Love Story (Marysue Rucci Books 2023) positively shattered me. It was very nearly a 5-star read, but the last quarter took a shift that made the novel as a whole lose some of its sheen.
The first section of the novel follows Wren and Lewis – a beautiful love story of opposites attract. Wren is very much a color within the lines, don’t make a scene, type of rule follower. Lewis is a loud and boisterous actor turned drama teacher. Their love story is short lived; a few weeks after their wedding, Lewis receives a rare diagnosis. Animal mutations are a known ailment, but his is rare; Lewis is turning into a great white shark and, as far as the mutations go, this is one that happens quickly. As the mutation progresses, Lewis undergoes physical changes as well as personality changes. He becomes angry and unpredictable at times, and he’s becoming a danger to those around him, including Wren. It will reach a point where he will need to be released in the ocean. Their final days, how Wren treats him as Lewis, the man she loves and not as a terrifying man turning into a shark is a testament to the purity and strength of their love. Their story ends on a beach with a kiss.
The second section of the novel introduces us to Wren’s mother, a beautiful woman with an alcoholic mother and absentee father. She loses her virginity the same night she has her first kiss, and she is but a kid when she moves in with Marcos. Their love is toxic and leaves marks, but Angela and Wren survive him. The reader quickly learns why Wren slipped so easily into care of her husband; she’d lived through her mother’s mutation into a Komodo dragon.
We do revisit Lewis and learn that his life didn’t end on that beach. We also spend more time with Wren as she learns to maneuver life with Lewis.
The framework of the novel is a bit of a hodgepodge, with some parts written as a play and others as brief captions. While the novel appears chunky, it’s misleading because there aren’t that many words. Habeck really uses spacing and layout to carry the story – quite successfully, I’d say – and it is an extremely fast read.
In addition to a very beautiful love story and story of women and the choices they make as mothers, daughters, and wives, the novel boasts my favorite cover of the year. It’s gorgeous.
Read this book.
A Girl Named Tommi 