WHALEFALL by Daniel Kraus – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

WHALEFALL by Daniel Kraus – ReviewWhalefall by Daniel Kraus
Published by MTV Books on August 8 2023
Genres: Adult, Horror, Survival, Thriller
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
five-stars

The nitty-gritty: A heartbreakingly beautiful story with an unrelenting sense of danger, Whalefall surprised me in every possible way.

“Hope collapsed every morning at six a.m.: Sleepers, arise! Jay began to see Dad’s siren as the opening punch of a boxing match, Mitt Gardiner versus his life. Dad didn’t want the house, not really. He didn’t want the family, not always. Only Jay, by bad luck the only other balls-haver in the house, was doomed to join Dad’s fight, to be brought up as a first mate on a ship headed straight for the rocks.”

I knew I was going to love Whalefall, but I did not know it would end up being one of my favorite books of 2023 so far. Folks, this book is going to be hard to beat. Daniel Kraus has taken an outlandish set-up—a teenaged boy is swallowed by a sperm whale while looking for his dead father’s remains—and turned it into a thrilling and emotional tale of survival and self reflection. If this story interests you in the slightest, you absolutely must read Whalefall. It’s a brilliant piece of storytelling that should not be missed.

Jay Gardiner is seventeen when he decides to strap on his scuba diving equipment and look for his father’s remains. It’s been a year since Mitt Gardiner jumped off a fishing boat and drowned himself, and Jay’s remorse at the way he treated his dad at the end has finally caught up to him. Jay wants to do something good for his family, and bringing back Mitt’s skull might smooth things over with his mother and sisters. Monastery Beach in Monterey isn’t the safest place to dive, but Jay’s been training his whole life, since Mitt took it upon himself to teach his son everything he knows about the ocean.

Jay manages to sneak past the Coast Guard and make his dive, but with only about an hour and a half of air in his tank, he needs to find something, fast. And then, the unthinkable happens—Jay is swept into the mouth of a sperm whale. With a dwindling air supply, an unpredictable whale, and a host of unexpected injuries, Jay looks back at his unconventional life and the many lessons his father forced upon him. Mitt gave his son a wealth of knowledge about the sea and the creatures who live there, and now it’s up to Jay to dig deep and use that knowledge to find a way out of the belly of the whale.

There isn’t a single thing wrong with this book. The pacing is perfect, the writing is outstanding, and the suspense is off the charts. The chapters are very short, sometimes only a page or two, and alternate between Jay’s present—as he’s diving and then when he’s swallowed by the whale—and the past, jumping back to various points in his childhood, growing up under the stern tutelage of his father. You might think these flashbacks would slow down the pace, after all Jay is fighting for his life inside a whale. But surprisingly, the flashbacks only enhance the rest of the story, because the emotional elements are just as important as the frantic, nail-biting action. Kraus labels each chapter in the present with Jay’s current air supply, starting with a full tank (3000 PSI) and eventually dwindling to 0. Just seeing those numbers decrease was so stressful! There’s a palpable sense of danger throughout the story, and you won’t find out what happens to Jay until the last page.

The idea of being swallowed by a whale may sound like fantasy, but Kraus has done his homework. The story is loaded with scientific details about whale biology, from the size and color of the whale’s teeth to the spongy feel and terrible smell of the inside of its stomach. Readers who get queasy over detailed descriptions of blood and other bodily fluids take note: you will feel as if you too are inside the whale’s stomach, and it’s not a pleasant feeling! This was such a visceral reading experience, and Kraus backs everything up with lots of research (he notes all his sources at the end of the book). The ocean is full of both wonders and horrors, and Jay experiences both of those during his incredible journey. The author also goes into great detail about diving equipment, which might be too much for some readers, but I thought it added authenticity to the story. Jay has been absorbing everything his father taught him for years, so it makes sense that he’s a skilled diver and knows his equipment inside and out.

I love books that use every detail in the story. In other words, when the author mentions an object in the beginning (for example the mesh bag Jay brings to collect his father’s remains), that item plays an important part later in the story. There is literally nothing wasted in Whalefall. One of my favorite parts of the book is when Jay finds a squid beak inside the whale (look it up, it’s scary!) Jay names it “Beaky,” and it turns out to be extremely important to Jay’s survival. (Also, Beaky reminded me of Wilson, Tom Hanks’ volleyball in Cast Away—if you’ve seen the movie you know what I mean!)

But now we come to the crux of the story, the emotionally charged relationship between Jay and Mitt. I absolutely loved the way Kraus slowly builds the tension between the two. Mitt isn’t an easy father to love, and he expects Jay to be as enamored with the ocean as he is. Finally, when Jay turns fifteen, he can’t take it anymore, so he leaves home to crash with some friends. It’s about this time that Mitt gets his cancer diagnosis, and Jay refuses to talk to his dad, even when his mother and sisters beg him to. And then it’s too late, because he’s dead. Kraus perfectly captures the complex emotions between the two, as well as Jay’s remorse when he realizes he’s made a mistake. When Jay is swallowed by the sperm whale, he sees the whale as his father:

“How do you escape your father’s closing jaws?”

I loved the parallels the author draws between Mitt and the whale. In Jay’s damaged state (he’s badly injured when the whale swallows him), he hears a voice talking to him, telling him what to do to survive. Is the voice of the whale? Or his father? Or is he simply imagining it? Ultimately it doesn’t matter, because the voice is exactly what Jay needs to help him. 

Finally, the title of the book takes on new meaning near the end of the story, bringing everything full circle. If you loved The Martian, you’ll find a similar vibe here as Jay has to use the resources at hand to find a way out. I’m not sure what else I can say to convince you to read this book, but if you want a reading experience unlike any other, I hope you’ll give this outstanding book a try.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Posted August 24, 2023 by Tammy in 5 stars, Reviews / 41 Comments

Divider

41 responses to “WHALEFALL by Daniel Kraus – Review”

  7. Stephanie @ Bookfever

    This sounds like such an incredible story. I would love to read it sometime. The fact that the author has clearly done a lot of research is also something that draws me in because yes being swallowed by a whale sounds so fantastical (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and it being kind of backed up with scientific details makes it a little more realistic.

    Reply
    • Tammy

      The research really raised it to another level, I was completely convinced something like this could happen!

      Reply
  11. Sophie

    Well Tammy I can see how you loved it! And you also convinced me even if it’s not my usual genre! That reminds me of Honor Among Thieves where I never expected to find that level of emotions!

    Reply
    • Tammy

      Yes, there are shades of Jonah and also Moby Dick. I labeled it horror because some of the things that happen to Jay are pretty horrific! (Nothing supernatural, but lots of bloody parts)

      Reply
  14. todd

    Nice! The entire time I’m reading your review I’m thinking this feels just like The Martian, except that instead of being stranded on Mars they’re stranded in a whale. And then to get to the end and find you mention The Martian, perfect. Absolutely a book I’ll seek out and try, hopefully before they make a movie about it. 🙂

    Reply
  18. sjhigbee

    This sounds like one I should have got hold of… I read the blurb and decided it sounded too far-fetched, so I passed. Evidently I made a huge mistake!! Thank you for the excellent review, Tammy:).

    Reply
  19. Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight

    I am so glad that you loved it! I quite liked it too, perhaps not *quite* as much but it was definitely still a win for me. I LOVE your explanation for who Jay is hearing- you make such a good point, it really doesn’t matter! I kind of wanted to know because that is who I am as a person, but your answer satisfied me, frankly! Wonderful review!
    Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…August 2023 Wrap-Up Round-UpMy Profile

    Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.