rated 4.75 on storygraph

once upon a time when nezuu was a wee little lad, they came across the internet shitholes that are reddit, 4chan, and pre-elon musk twitter (not that elon helped anything, really), and accidentally stumbled into one too many a thread featuring uncensored gore, explicit sexual content, and a cluster fuck of users confessing to their deepest darkest crimes and getting into fights on the internet attempting to "expose" one another.

anyone who's been on the internet at least as long as i have knows exactly the vibe i'm talking about. the kind of drama that has you sitting there scrolling for hours and hours through multiple threads, trying to get the full scoop on things. the kind of drama that starts off relatively normal but devolves so deeply that you're left questioning if you've just borne witness to a real crime, or if it's just a whole bunch of internet trolls who've capitalized on the opportunity to lie on the internet for no reason beyond attention-seeking and sensationalizing.

cooper takes this reality of the internet (and users' willingness to engage in this behavior, even as lurkers) as the basis for this book, and in the process dives into so many of the base issues of engaging with online content in our day and age: toxicity, performativity, masculinity and the toxic adherence to patriarchal standards, the difference between what is reality and what is fantasy (and people's lack of ability to distinguish between the two), the desire for internet "clout" even if it's based on lies and dramatization, and the extent to which people are willing to go in the name of ending out on top in the competition to become a celebrity online.

every motherfucker in this book is a liar. every single last one of them. they all participate in drama threads that are reviews and forum posts about a male escort named "brad", and every single one of them, at some point or the other, admits to lying and making things up for the internet fame points of having had sex with celebrity escort "brad". the fantasy of brad mimics the way drama typically unfolds on the internet, starting off very tame and normal, then devolving over time into extreme, explicit gore, rape, and dehumanization. and yet, not a single one of them steps away because of the now parasocial relationship they all have in their heads of themselves and brad.

what does it say, then, that as a reader, i too stuck through the entire book without stepping away? what does it say about me that i did entirely buy in to what i was reading, and i started trying to put together the pieces just like all the characters in the story itself? by making this read like an online thread, cooper makes us as readers bystanders and complicit in the sensationalization of brad. granted, we get more meta through our access to recordings of private calls, private faxes and emails, etc. so you could argue we're not the same as the bumbling idiots that have no reliable information but continue to engage with it regardless. we're made to feel like we have the insider scoop on it all but do we really?

i think that this book gives us as readers a lot to chew/ruminate on in terms of internet culture, our positionality and role within it, and the normalization and desensitization to extreme violence that comes with internet engagement. i could not recommend this book hard enough, but please do be warned that this is extreme horror, so please check CWs/TWs before deciding to engage!

normally, seeing the words "a love story" on the cover of a book would immediately make me push it to the side and dig through my stack to find something else more my speed. i hate to be that person, but books that center love and romance are not my speed, and i usually do not enjoy them much despite my best efforts to do so

shark heart is a story that narrates the beauty of loving unconditionally, of loving though you are losing yourself, and of loving knowing that it will only cause you pain. i was beyond moved reading this, shed tears, and stared blankly at a wall after finishing the book.

this is set in a world where human-to-animal transmutations are common enough that there are (what i believe to be) the equivalent of palliative care facilities to ease the ailing through their journies. as someone who watched multiple family members suffer through terminal diagnoses, the description of illnesses reminded me starkly of fighting that losing battle, of fighting so bravely against something that you know will consume you in the end. this aspect of the book was by far the most impactful for me, and i thought habeck did a phenomenal job of capturing the reality of terminal illness for both the person with the illness, and the loved ones around them.

heartbreaking as this book was, there was so much love woven into the story, of all different kinds. love between mother and daughter. love between two lovers. the unrequited love of someone that just wants good things for her. the enduring love of a child groomed into believing she doesn't deserve better. the love between two friends. the love one has for life, and all the beauty it has to offer.

this is the kind of book that i fear i will carry in my heart for the rest of my life.

if you like the idea of men more than the men themselves, this book might be for you.

the wolf and the woodsman presents as a romantasy that explores religion, morality, and sacrifice. and it does do that. maybe. for like the first 50 pages. and then it devolves into a mess that i don't even know how to describe.

my gripes? the characters feel flat, and have absolutely NO chemistry between them. we also have on our hands a group of people that have power then refuse to do anything with it. the characters are hypocritical - they do nothing and then get annoyed with others for also doing nothing of substance. everyone has a woe is me attitude which is incredibly insufferable, particularly coupled with the absolute lack of initiave towards real action. the most interesting character might just have been the main antagonist, and only because he was literally insane. the pacing drags at points and lacks real tension or suspense. a forest/journey that is described as highly dangerous only results in a handful of monster interactions, which are quickly resolved with little effort. in fact, most of this scary, dangerous journey is more about the fmc trying to get into the mmc's pants, which unfortunately i am not the target audience for (and also there was no chemistry, so it genuinely felt weird and forced). i have never felt as bleh about a book as i have reading this; i genuinely did not care about anything or anyone.

the exploration of religion, belief, and the extent to which people will go to keep their souls pure of sin was interesting. however, while it was mentioned frequently towards the beginning, it kind of tapered out, only to return again sometimes intermittently. it was great while it was there, and the parts of the books that engaged in this kind of exploration were quite well done and enjoyable. did it save my impression of this book? no. the magic systems were interesting and enjoyable to read about, particularly since they seem to be based in mythological lore. while some may object to extensive world-building, i would've loved to hear even more of the folklore of evike, the religious mythology of the yehuli, and the intersecting tales from the patrifaith. more scattering stories from the juuvi and other indigenous peoples would have also been so cool to read about.

overall, i would've enjoyed this book more if both the main characters grew a pair and actually STOOD UP in the face of tyranny even when it was dangerous. thank you for coming to my ted talk ❤️