Look Behind You

I read so many people being upset that the whole book wasn’t about the whale thing, but honestly it would have been exhausting. It’s a near death experience, what are you gonna do? Not think about your life??

Also, I loved the writing. Maybe because it’s similar to my style. But for some people it was a deal breaker.

The whale thing doesn’t happen until like 40% and I can understand that it’s annoying, but I honestly thought it was better, or at least very well done, this way. But after that you’re gonna wanna finish it.

It may just be because I got attached to the characters pretty quickly, and so I was interested in them. All of them.

Especially, I loved the chapter division. I read another book with a similar structure and I just loved it.

I’m not a diving expert (or a stomach survivor(?)) so I can’t really speak regarding that. But I’m an animal enthusiast and all the whale and animal facts where very detailed and accurate, so I can only guess the rest was throughoutly researched too.

Also the voices thing. I thought it would be a convenient helper exactly when and how Jay(the protagonist) needed it. But it made sense. They were accompanied by flashbacks about how he learned those facts and they made sense. All things a diver(especially someone as obsessed as Jay’s father) would very well know.

Also, as I’ve read someone say, the fact that Jay is so young and conflicted works very well with his internal turmoil. From the start his dad is tough and apparently not much of a good dad. At least not to him. But while in there, going through all his memories, he starts to rethink things. He realizes that the only one who saw him as an antagonist was himself. Hid dad’s strongest fault was not being vocally affectionate, and being fixated on the position of “the man”. But he was a good parent, a great guide. And we get to realize that with Jay, who is just a teenager who just lost his antagonistic father in the worst way possible, and is being blamed for it by everyone.

The only weird thing is probably about him remembering so much information in detail. Especially considering he’s not an enthusiast(just forced into it by his dad) and ,as I have gathered, he’s not really cut for it. He was just taught since he could walk, doesn’t mean he’s made for it.

Especially the info about what his sisters do, that he happens to remember in detail and that is exactly what he needs.

All of that I understand.

But I would still give this book a strong 4.5 out of 5. Mostly because there isn’t a perfect book/story but I loved this.