Posts Tagged: Patrick Ness

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Man-Hunting WHALES: And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness

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

Man-Hunting WHALES: And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick NessAnd the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness
Published by HarperTeen on September 4th, 2018
Genres: Adventure, Middle Grade
Source: HarperTeen
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four-stars

With harpoons strapped to their backs, the proud whales of Bathsheba's pod live for the hunt, fighting in the ongoing war against the world of men. When they attack a ship bobbing on the surface of the Abyss, they expect to find easy prey. Instead, they find the trail of a myth, a monster, perhaps the devil himself...

As their relentless Captain leads the chase, they embark on a final, vengeful hunt, one that will forever change the worlds of both whales and men.

With the lush, atmospheric art of Rovina Cai woven in throughout, this remarkable work by Patrick Ness turns the familiar tale of Moby Dick upside down and tells a story all its own with epic triumph and devastating fate. 

I think we need to get one thing clear right off the bat and that is that this book, And the Ocean Was Our Sky is fucking weird. And the Ocean Was Our Sky follows Bathsheba, who happens to be a whale. This book is 110% literary middle grade fiction and at times feels like it is trying too hard but you know what, I still thought it was great.

The entire time I was reading it, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around how weird it was that we had a whale narrator whose voice read very much like a human but also, the humans were the enemy. I definitely had no issues with the humans being the enemies since we all know humans suck but it was still jarring to have that contradiction and I get the feeling Ness basically did that on purpose to fuck with us because he likes doing that (if you’ve read any of his other books, you will know that he has a PhD in messing with his readers emotions.)

So anyway. Bathsheba is a whale and being a whale is great. BUT it actually isn’t because she saw her fam get slaughtered by humans and that is no bueno. For so long she has been driven by her drive to get revenge but when her pod imprisons a human to get information on the very devil itself, Bathsheba is conflicted. Especially as she gets to know this human better and starts to feel for him.

…We are taking a quick intermission to make it clear that this novel isn’t about a romance between a whale and a human. IT ISN’T THE BEE MOVIE. WE CAN ALL CHILL. Anyway, back to the review…

I really did insult this book earlier by saying its trying to hard but And the Ocean Was Our Sky truly is a beautiful read. For a book about a whale, it sure has a lot to say about human nature and human emotions. I know for a fact I’d appreciate it even more if I had read Moby Dick so I could truly enjoy how Ness was subverting the original text to create something maybe even more powerful. Regardless, it isn’t the end of the world that I haven’t read it (I do want to now) or if you haven’t read it. And the Ocean Was Our Sky holds up quite well on its own and is definitely worth your time if you’re the sort of person to enjoy books about whales that are actually reflections on human nature.

four-stars

4 Hot Espressos

Review: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Review: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Posted by on 07/02/2014 • 31 Comments

Why do I read these books? Wait, why do I love them? DO I LIKE PAIN!?!?

Before this book even began, with just the author’s note, I was already emotional to learn of the passing of Siobhan Dowd that inspired this novel. I’m so happy that Ness wrote it, and that it became such a well loved book. What a wonderful way to commemorate someone’s life work.

A Monster Calls is a masterpiece in itself, with its terribly poignant account of a young boy learning to deal with his mother’s battle with cancer. Being a mother myself, this is one of my worst fears – to leave my child motherless, filled with grief and pain and confusion. With that said, I truly and deeply connected with this story, with…