15 Comments
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Amy's avatar

I just finished shark heart last night and opened this post with my morning coffee, what a lovely surprise! The book was amazing and while it was sad I did appreciate that it felt 'real' sad and hard, not the misery for misery's sake that some 'serious' authors seem to specialize in. Maybe it's the current hellscape we live in but I was also happy not to have yet another 'let's revel in awful people behaving badly' novel. This also reminded me of Piranesi which I say as a compliment, I adored them b

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Clara's avatar

What a lovely comment and I agree with you! Thank you for reading! x

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Emily Hessney Lynch's avatar

Yes! Agreed, I love weird, dark books, but they're often so heavy and sad, and I can't read too many in a row. Somehow Shark Heart felt weird and heavy at times, but also...happy and hopeful? I'm so impressed and grateful that Habeck was able to pull that off.

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julespv's avatar

I loved this book from the first page. Beautiful prose and a story that sounds ridiculous in concept but rang so true on the page. I would never have discovered this on my own, so thank you, Clara!

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Clara's avatar

oh, i really love this!! thank you for letting me know and i'm so glad you enjoyed it! xx

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Jen S's avatar

Ditto! I just finished it and loved it. After Clara’s post I couldn’t wait to read it.

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Melissa (balletbookworm)'s avatar

Ok, way too many people with good taste like this one so I guess it’s going on the TBR! (Might suggest this as a book group pick too 😏)

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amelia's avatar

I read Shark Heart around the same time you did, and have also been evangelizing about it to all of my reader people. I loved this conversation, it added a lot for me, thank you for reaching out and taking a swing at being the interviewer!

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Clara's avatar

I love this -- thank you so much for reading! x

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amelia's avatar

oh! also! my current read is “american mermaid” by julia langbein, another debut novel that, while i haven’t finished it, i suspect you would find pleasing. the wordplay is a delight, and the narrative(s) and characters are compelling, and it’s an absolute romp on authorial intent and integrity.

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Julianna's avatar

This was lovely, and I can’t wait to read her book. Love hearing authors talk about their work ❤️

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Kathy Monaghan's avatar

Just finished the novel and loved it. Every page was a surprise. Loved the characters' journeys and world building.

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Emily Hessney Lynch's avatar

Got an ARC of it this summer and absolutely loved it. Such a beautiful book. I just so appreciated that it shows life as beautiful and worthwhile despite the pain of being human when things (both the world and a lot of books/media) feel so bleak lately. Thank you for this conversation! 💜

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Meredith Farley's avatar

Book immediately added to cart. Loved reading this. Can't wait to dig into the novel.

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Clara's avatar

Yay, this makes me so happy, Meredith! Lmk what you think. x

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