I requested and received this book from Netgalley, was given it and unfortunately just as I started reading it disappeared from my kindle. Never to reappear again. I was advised to download the pdf on a totally different app which was a long and complex way of doing things and then as my phone is an iPhone mini, it was near impossible to read. So I had to buy a copy of a book I was given for free which clearly doesn’t make me feel very positive.

I requested this book because I’d read The Bees by the same author some time ago and had thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a brilliant novel, so imaginative and tightly plotted, so gorgeously written, sharing a simply fascinating glimpse into a world we don’t know about. So I was very keen to read another book by this author.

My concern, however, was that this is a bit too similar. A look inside an animal society, told from an animal’s point of view and it made me concerned that maybe the author is just a one trick pony, with only one idea up her sleeve? Or perhaps she is simply creating her own genre? Another story about a complex life form on this planet that isn’t our own to give us an insight into our own prejudices and actions; a broader understanding of what a human being is?

My concern was born out really but I still absolutely loved this book! I don’t think it will be for everyone and I think if you didn’t care for The Bees you won’t care for this one but I found it fascinating.

The story starts with a with a wide and disparate cast that don’t interact until you are quite far through the novel. And every chapter seems to start a new story with a new part of the ocean, a new society with different mores and pressures. We have the longi, who are loving and very sexually expressive; the tursiops who are aggressive and violent where females have no power and live in the harems of important males; a lone dolphin trained by humans and a napoleon wrasse who blames himself for all his family being caught in a fishing net. Central is Ea a longi who is known as difficult.

And Ea’s is the story we follow and how the other creatures interact with her and how they all in turn deal with the demons/godaboves/anthops who are human.

This is a beautifully written book. The words and phases are so carefully chosen and evocative that they help you suspend your disbelief. The dolphins are well characterised and believable. It is just a fascinating and gripping story with a plot that doesn’t let up.

There are bits about rape - although do dolphins have the concept of consent? And they are probably unnecessary. In fact there is a bit too much about sex - as though fish feel sexual arousal like humans and I could have done without that.

Overall I think this novel would be an acquired taste but one I really did enjoy.

Another dark animal-narrated epic from Paull.

4.5 stars

I had The Bees in my head long after finishing it. Paull's technique of relating a story from the point of view of an animal may be not new, but the way she did it seemed to be. Not making them humans in another creature's body, but bringing their experience into a human-accessible context.

Pod is recognisably the same style. Dolphins from different tribes/breeds, with their obvious size/cultural differences here clash in a bit of a epic. There are several narratives to follow, and not just from the dolphin world - I learned about the remora, the wrasse and found myself cringing at the effect humans were having on the ocean homes of all.

With Ea, we have an adolescent protagonist, centre of the stories, whose decision to leave her own pod sets off chains of events that both bring other characters and stories into one and sets up quite a brutal storyline.

It feels well researched. Obviously I can't say that from my own knowledge, and nothing in the book tells us that Paull has done so, but the behaviours, habits, communication methods, species facts all seem to be used to make this a realistic-feeling portrayal of several different characters and the lives of pods.

There is an almost spiritual side to the animals that I would love to know more about, not with an interest in spiritualism, but to know how much of it is true, and their use of hallucinogenic/pain-relieving smaller creatures to relieve their own ills.

The family lives of a pod, the structure and hierarchy, these made the story feel believable. I am aware of other reviews being negative about the very graphic and constant scenes regarding forced sexual dominance, which though distasteful to read, also seem to ring true, as dolphins are known to be sexually aggressive. I would have liked the author to include notes/references in the book about where her facts were found, and just what in the book is true and what was embellished/fictionalised. To me, it felt difficult but almost necessary - nature isn't kind. Social species do assert power through dominance. Females in other species aren't treated with equality necessarily.

This became very dark, and felt very similar in tone and structure to The Bees, I did enjoy the multiple viewpoints and range of characters - the remora in particular, as well as Devi the smart leader of the female Tursiops. Ea grew quickly into adulthood - for her the ocean was not as forgiving as little Nemo found it in Disney, this is not that kind of world.

Fascinating, exciting and makes you want to learn more about our fellow animals we can't see from our vantage point on land. Oh and stop throwing plastic away.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance reading copy.

(3/5 stars.)

“Each pod has pride and virtue, each feels above the other. They do not know they share one fatal flaw: they think they know this ocean”

Laline Paull follows The Bees with Pod- a multiple POV novel exploring the brutality of the ocean. Exploring ideas of hierarchy, sexual violence, climate change through the lens of a pod of dolphins- Paull’s novel is as equally ambitious as the dystopian bee hive setting in The Bees.

I loved Ea’s character- her defiance and sensitivity made her intriguing to follow. This would have worked better perhaps as a novella entirely from Ea’s perspective- I found the multiple POVs difficult to follow at times as a reader- but could this potentially work better as an audiobook with a team of narrators? That being said, I am still keen to see what pack/tribe/herd Paull writes about next!

*Content warning: detailed descriptions of animal rape and sexual violence throughout the book*

Due to the nature of this book; the way there is so many competing voices and MCs, I sadly did not enjoy it. Some of the voices were vile, disgusting and strange… and usually I like a weird book! I liked the dolphin, but overall, I was confused and disappointed throughout this book. The writing for me felt underdeveloped and in some parts boring. I had to reread many pages because the jumps in time or flashbacks etc were not aptly explained or obvious.

It is important to note I read an advanced galley. However, it was surprisingly full of typographical errors and grammatical mistakes.

I was also outraged at the descriptions of animal rape in this book. It was hard enough to read the novel and understand I was listening to an animal narrate the story; and it was really nasty and odd of the author expecting me to tolerate reading about animals raping other animals. I love animals and the cruelty felt unnecessary and sly. Sadly, I don’t think this book is a work of master fiction, it is more disappointing and offensive.

I was a huge fan of Paull's most recent novel, The Bees, so I was very excited to recieve an ARC of Pod, a book with an outrageously compelling premise. It's set in the deep-sea, with a split POV narrative between various creatures. The research, as was the case for The Bees, is meticulous, and Paull is an outstanding writer about the natural world, sprinkling the text with facts so the reader is learning without realising it.

Some of the writing in this novel is completely exquisite - the "tender sonic pains" of mournful whalesong is an incredible, resonant image- so it's a strange experience to read a beautiful sentence followed by a strangely amateurish one. Parts of the writing are just a bit clunky, especially when Paull is trying to transpose human traits onto these animals. It felt like the author was telling, not showing, which made it hard to connect with the narrative. The multiple POVs don't really work for me either - though I think they'd be brilliant on audio with multiple narrators - as they left me a bit confused, and took me out of the ocean and back onto dry land.

That said, there was plenty I liked about this book. The mournful, lonely characters were especially impactful after two years of lockdown and isolation, and the ecological warnings were compelling. I learned an awful lot from this one. It doesn't quite hit the dizzy heights of The Bees but it's still one I'm very glad to have read.

I actually enjoyed this more then I thought I was going to after the first few chapters. All the different characters that were brought in confused me at the start.
It was done well and it was interesting, I did preferred The Bees though.
I really felt for Google & think he was my favourite. The rape scenes - I’m not sure if they were all necessary to be honest as the other behaviour was barbaric enough but I see what it was trying to portray.
A strange read but it was written well seeing as it was being told from a dolphins point of view.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4642574091

Very difficult to categorise this one, but I really enjoyed it.

It's about a pod of dolphins trying to survive in a world where humans are destroying their habitat. The storyline is great and I cared about all the characters and their fates (and forgot they were animals, to be honest!). The author really does create a sense of wonder and awe at the world that exists in the oceans and all the weird and wonderful creatures that live it. And it was heart breaking/eye opening to learn a bit more about the awful things that people are doing to that world, as well.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for an ARC in return for an honest review.

It was a fascinating and riveting read, a story told from an unusual perspective that made me think and enjoy what I read.
Excellent storytelling, a great story if love the sea.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I'm navigating between 3 and 4 stars /5, but in the end I guess I swam closer to 4.
I won't lie, it was a difficult and imperfect read. I am grateful for the ARC and I guess there are some issues with the style that can be dealt with, as I remember The Bees by the same author as a very good read, better edited than this book.
Also, the Bees was narrated by a single voice, one bee, and here in Pod, we have to dive in and out of so many voices that it becomes somewhat too much, but still very interesting as the view points are polar opposites and teach us something new, make us feel something new.
I forgot to mention: the whole cast is made of marine animals - dolphins, whales, Wrasse fish... And I cared for them a lot, regardless of the profusion of voices. Yes, I kept wishing to go back to Ea or Google, but in the end, the story made sense. The mix of research and anthropomorphism allowed the tale to unfold and for me to be moved by the inhabitants of the ocean, and their fates, made unbearable by some human beings.
Several scenes are nearly unreadable by the amount of violence shown, but I was glad I read that book, obviously well researched and with an urgent message (please please remember that animals are sentient and that they don't deserve to be killed or maimed or exploited), emotions that the flaws of the book didn't take away from me. I will remember this book.
I want to thank Little, Brown Book Group UK and Netgalley for gifting me an advance copy of Pod in exchange for an honest review.

Confession time: I was scared to finish this book!

"The truth is hard to believe, harder to bear"

This was the story of sea creatures, narrated by Ea is a spinner dolphin, Rorqual is a lone whale, Devi is an alpha and Google is a military-trained lone dolphin.

Under the sea is described beautifully, animals think like a human and this got a little scary and violent as the story goes on. Death and sadness were upon them.

I hate to give up a book and hate more to rate it as I am not finished it. Although this book is a creative and wonderful ocean description, But also unpleasant and should be a warning for reading it.

Many thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK via Netgalley for giving me a chance to read "Pod" by Laline Paull, I have given my honest review.

When I read The bees by this author I was amazed at how the story was told from the pov of one little bee so I was so excited to receive an arc ebook for this one. Told from various the pov of various sea creatures, but focusing on one particular dolphins journey you get to feel that you are under the sea, you feel how terrifying humans are, how dirty the ocean is. It’s so well done and feels so well researched, how the behaviour of each creature is described, how the ocean and tides etc are described, it’s wonderful and heartbreaking all at the same time. My only negatives would be that maybe there was too many pov’s, one in particular probably could have been left out, and the book was overly sexualised with scenes of rape which were unpleasant. As for the overall storyline though, I loved it and couldn’t stop reading!

My thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK for an advanced copy via Netgalley of Laline Paull's 'Pod', in exchange for an honest review.

If I am being genuinely honest, I would have to say that I was disappointingly bewildered by all the competing voices in this novel. I might have enjoyed the read more if Paull had allowed me to follow one narrative with greater character depth and development, but my interest was scattered across too many disparate perspectives.. The section narrated by the remora fish was vile, and the wrasse's point-of-view profoundly distracting. I did engage with Google, the military-trained lone dolphin, and the lone rorqual whale, but the novel felt fractured. Really, there was nothing keeping me reading apart from Ea's narrative. Everything else was bothersome distraction. Even saying that, Ea's story became less enjoyable once the remora fish was introduced.

'Pod' could have been cut in half, frankly, and been a more enjoyable read for me, personally. Nor is this a novel where the quality of the writing might compensate for a weak plot or a fractured plot; the style of language used here is not poetical, it's quite devoid of subtle techniques, even down to the lack of dialogue (communication is mostly reported speech or italicised). The writing is straightforward and - if I'm honest - a bit pedestrian. I found swift changes in tense disorientating and I found myself unsure in parts where I was in time, according to the narrative (by that I mean, flashbacks or jumps in time were not sufficiently clarified). Repeatedly, there were sections of paragraphs that were difficult to parse. I think the author knew so well herself what she meant, that she did not stop to judge whether or not what she had actually written conveyed her mearning. I would add that the version I read was an advanced galley. However, it was surprisingly full of typographical errors and grammatical mistakes.

Overall, in Laline Paull's third book, I found my suspension of disbelief strained. I just could not quite believe that I was hearing a sea-creature's experience. The opposite, in fact, held true: all throughout, I was judging how well or how badly the author was inventing underwater perspectives or weighing up how much she had researched her subject. It does say something of the author's success that I was unable to surrender myself to the story completely. This book felt like an exercise in marine biology research, rather than an engaging piece of fiction.

Ultimately, I was outraged at the descriptions of animal rape in this book. It was hard enough to suspend disbelief in order to imagine I was listening to an animal narrate the story; it was harder still to withstand the frequent jumps in character points-of-view between animals; it was impossible for me to justify the author expecting me to tolerate reading about animals raping other animals. It's just not acceptable to me, and I would chalk this novel up as - to put it mildly - a severe disappointment, if not a cause of actual offense.

Following on from her successful novel from the perspective of a honeybee, Laline Paull has now ventured into the world of sea creatures. 'Pod' follows a number of different ocean dwellers, whose stories come together over the course of the novel. Ea is a young spinner dolphin who feels out of place amongst her kin. Devi is an alpha female in a brutal megapod of bottlenose dolphins. An unnamed wrasse awaits the spawing season. A lone male humpback whale sings to warn others of the dangers of humans. And Google, a captive born military trained dolphin finds himself alone in the ocean after a disastrous mission.

Paull's style is easy to read and flows well - the whole story is very compelling and I read it quickly. I am not sure what I make of the anthropomorphising of these animals. I'd have liked the book to have included an epilogue to explain how close or far any of it might be from the real behaviour of these animals. Cetaceans are highly intelligent, so I don't find it as implausible to read about them having human-like thoughts and relationships as I might do other animal groups. I'm less convinced about the wrasse, particularly its decision not to eat a certain group of creatures that was sharing its space out of a sense of awe, or it's ability to have intelligent conversations with a different species of fish. It was the inter-species relationships that I found harder to buy into, although again with cetaceans I would find it more plausible and I have heard of different species of dolphin spending time together.

The impact of human activity on the ocean is seen throughout the book and the 'anthrops' are the real enemy and threat. From the sea of plastic to references to creatures spawning early, to the treatment of Google by his human handlers, humans do not come off well. Paull does well imagining how a dolphin might perceive things like discarded plastic - they refer to it as 'moult' - or to sonic noise (which they attribute to demons). I've always had a liking for sea creatures and this novel definitely makes me want to understand more about their behaviours. I did find some aspects hard to believe though - such as the way the dolphins seemed to learn each others' languages with no effort or time (I've heard that orcas in different parts of the oceans can't understand each other so I'm not convinced that would be possible), or the character transformation undergone by one character. It felt a bit too easy and convenient.

There are incidences of sexual violence in several places, and whilst it is between dolphins, as they are talking human-like dolphins I think it could still be distressing to read about for people who are sensitive to this. Therefore I would not recommend to readers who avoid this topic in books.

I was strongly reminded of the children's classic 'The Animals of Farthing Wood' - imagine that in a marine setting and for grown ups, and you've summed up this book. There was a similar sense of talking animals banding together to evade horrible humans. Of course, that's a simplification, but it's the essence of the story. I'm still slightly in two minds about how well it works for adults in terms of credibility. But I did really enjoy reading it all the same.

This was a really interesting book, Ive never read a book from this perspective before and although it took some time to get to used to, I really liked it. It is really well written and the storyline is compelling, definitely worth a read.

Really weird to be reading from this perspective; but so absorbing! Great if you love the ocean, and genuinely relatable in terms of the themes.