Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

Shark Heart

Author: Emily Habeck

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy fiction

Publish Date: August 2023

Read: May 2025

Favorite Quote: The surface of love was a feeling, but beyond this thin layer, there was a fathomless, winding maze of caverns offering many paces to see and explore.

Story Synopsis: Wren, a practical and logical woman, falls in love with actor and dreamer, Lewis. Several weeks after their wedding, Lewis receives a surprise diagnosis. He has a mutation that will turn him into a Great White Shark. At first, Wren resists the news, but as Lewis changes, they are both put to the test in how they will respond to their new reality. Throughout the journey, Wren must revisit her own childhood and confront the difficulties she faced before she can move on and find joy.

Why does this book beguile? My mother-in-law gave me this book and said, “You’ll either love or hate it, but I think you should read it.”

I loved it.

I had no idea what to expect when I started this book, but the element of fantasy (humans mutating into animals) intrigued me. Had Shark Heart been a contemporary fiction with the same story and themes without the animal mutations, I probably would have rolled my eyes. However, this tiny element of fantasy pulled me into Wren’s life so completely that I cried with her, found laughter and hope with her, and understood her motivations. Emily Habeck did a phenomenal job deconstructing the complicated relationships of love: romantic love, familial love, and relationships that end. This is exactly the kind of fiction book that inspires empathy and connection for readers.

Bookshop.Org Link*: Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

Amazon.com Link*: Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

If you’re interested in this, read*: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt