Whalefall

I didn’t expect to be so emotionally invested in this story. The survival saga runs almost as a backdrop to MC Jay’s memories and grief. Jay is a very young man and dear god what a coming of age this is. Wrestling with complicated feelings about his manipulative / abusive parent would have been tough enough, least of all having to do it while being slowly digested by a whale. In the end, focusing less on who he lost and more on who he still has is what saves Jay.

The tension builds steadily and I thought it had reached the climax so many times before it actually did. I read the first half of the book in short bits but the entire last half I had to finish in one go because it was simply un-put-downable.