Whalefall
I picked this up to fulfill the kindle reading achievements “best of” list and actually was surprised to find myself enjoying it as much as I did.
At the heart of it, its basically jonah and the whale, but what if you were a diver and the whale was real and its really trying to digest you. The book has some other minor stuff, like the daddy issues the main character has, but the entire book is written in a realistic and scientifically accurate way. The author consulted with multiple cetacean biologists and other scientists to make sure his depections of both outside and inside the whale are accurate.
The location is set at monterey bay which might be of interest if you’re in the area, but you will NOT recognize the locations unless you’re also a diver, since about 90% of the book takes place under water.
The most unrealistic part about the book is that the main character is basically 16. I understand that’s mostly so he can fit inside the whale gullet, and to maintain some tension, but i find it hard to believe that a 16 year old can do everything that he did to survive the whale gullet. There’s a lot of amazing trauma that the character survives, and a lot of facts and things he needed to know to survive the trauma, but past that, the book is quite engrossing.
I also found out later that the author also helped write “the shape of water” and other hollywood movies, so it explains how he could keep the tension so well.
Highly recommended! well deserved place on the list of 2023!