AUTHOR: Patrick Ness
PUBLISHER: Walker Books
PUBLISHING DATE: September 4, 2018
FROM GOODREADS: 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.MY THOUGHTS: This just happened to be my first Patrick Ness read and it was rather interesting. I've always wanted to try him out but The Chaos Walking Trilogy supposedly has some bad treatment of a dog throughout so I've steered clear. First of all, be aware that this is actually a Moby Dick retelling. Now I've never read "Moby Dick" and have no plans to so some of the content may have been lost on me.
So basically the whale population lives in the ocean and man lives in the Abyss but it's reverse from real life - the ocean is up and the Abyss is down. Bathsheba is an apprentice for a Captain who has been on a mission for 2 years searching for the infamous Toby Wick, slayer of many whales and often referred to as "the Devil." Along the way they capture a man and through discussions, Bathsheba begins to question all she has been raised to believe about man.
There was something quite beautiful about this book, yet there were times I hated it. I went back and forth many times which is somewhat sad when it's only a little over 160 pages. I can definitely get on board with the concept of animals hunting man for all the evilness they have brought on them. And I've always liked sea life so that helps too. The book also has some good messages about how sometimes society creates devils and gives them life through rumor and tales (and well, now sometimes they are real too aren't they). The ending played out as I suspected and I must say that the artwork was stunning. The book reads like a fairy tale and is physically gorgeous (thanks library!).
However, something just didn't click for me and it's hard to say what. I am glad I gave it a chance and never considered DNF'ing it but I don't know who I would recommend it to. If you like Patrick Ness, I'm sure you'll want to add this to your collection. I guess that will have to do.
RATING: 3 PAWS (it might have been 2 if not for the artwork)
