While I appreciate the opportunity to read this ARC, aside from a handful of interesting tidbits, I did not feel like this brought anything new to light nor that the author had a "take" or a perspective different from the many articles and books written prior on this same topic. As a New Jersey resident, I'm very familiar with the 1916 attacks, and was curious as to how they could form the basis for an entire book. It turns out, they really cannot without a severe amount of repetition and redundancy, and therein lies the problem with this book. There are so many repeated phrases, reminders of content from previous chapters (this book is not long enough to run the risk of forgetting), and rambling stream-of-conscious thoughts and non-sequiturs that I seriously suspect their use was a push to extend "content" to hit publishing minimums. There's a real need for a red-pen editing pass along with stronger supporting data. While trying to uncover what may have led to this remarkably abnormal shark behavior, Perez proposes several theories from the time, including higher water levels, a warmer gulf stream current, trash and waste being thrown in the water, U-boat activity, the presence of dogs--but being that we're over a hundred years removed from the incident, there is no way of knowing which if any of these contributed and each theory is mentioned, given a summation and which so-called expert from the time period proposed it, and then she moves on to the next. There is so much author opinion sprinkled throughout that just to make this book stand out, it would have been nice to see her blow out a theory she felt strongly about and argue its truth through each attack. But this is not where Perez has opinions, instead she focuses more on making ridiculous puns (or non making them but reminding you that they're there) and seemingly bashing the film Jaws and its subsequent 50th anniversary. There is a very strange negative tone to most of the epilogue, which mentions the anniversary celebration as though it's a failed or disappointing get-together. It also would happen about a month from this book's release, and by the time most readers pick it up, it would be irrelevant to even mention at all.
Having finished this book I can say that my original thought of "how could this be an entire book" was spot on because in this case, it really cannot.

I grew up watching the Jaws movies thanks to my dad , and out of them the one I actually like is the first one , plus I've read the book by Peter Benchley, and liked it even though it was a little different from the movie, so as soon as I found this I knew I wanted to read and I'm so glad I did , because it brought to life just how dangerous sharks can be , but at the same time I can see why people also give them the respect they deserve. Plus thus book also it gives the reader a in-depth look at each one of the attacks , what makes the shark the ocean's apex predator , as well as various theories explaining how or why thus attacks happen ,

I really enjoyed this
I adore sharks and jaws is one of my favourite movies so I was super excited for this book
It was jam packed with information and facts
So many things I didn’t know
I

Had a tough time with this. At no point while reading did I feel like I was learning from an expert-- rather, I had the experience of talking to someone who had read a couple of books and was sort of summarizing their findings in a casual way. In some ways, this made the book very readable, and I really felt like I absorbed what was being said. In other ways, I took everything being said with a grain of salt. I never really trusted Perez as an authority, especially since she often seemed to sacrifice the integrity of the facts and her mission in order to say something pithy (ie. spending an entire book talking about how people shouldn't be scared of sharks and then ending the final chapter with 'I won't be sea bathing anytime soon!') I felt the book itself was rife with contradiction, and in a way I understand, because it's complex to know in your heart that most sharks are not 'man-eaters' or 'bloodthirsty' but also know that the inexplicable behavior of the shark(s) in the 1916 attacks contradicts that, but in my opinion, if you're still working through that inherent contradiction, don't publish the book! Look for more facts! Read more primary sources! Spend less time writing sensational sentences about sea monsters and then scolding Jaws for sensationalizing! Like, the whole project lacks self-awareness.

Peter Benchley's late-career hand-wringing aside, I know that The Jaws Effect is an academic term and people smarter than me have had more thoughtful things to say about it, but I'm also so reticent to continue this cultural phenomenon of blaming art (fiction! that never claimed to be anything but fiction!) for the actions of real life people. Terribly sorry, but it's not Benchley or Spielberg's fault that the Australian government kills so many sharks in the interest of public health. Perhaps someone should have told the Australian government that Jaws is not a documentary and they shouldn't be legislating based on American horror movies. This is just as stupid as putting every American male to death because someone watched Silence of the Lambs.

A little off track here, but these are the questions raised by this book that go unanswered. It is impossible to write an entire book about the 1916 shark attacks and then be baffled that people are afraid of sharks. I do actually think Rachel Lee Perez knows this, and it wouldn't surprise me if she understood her own complex thoughts here, but she didn't interrogate them or write them down. The end of the book feels like she's hurrying through it (and it's only about 200 pages, it's okay to keep going!) in order to get to her main point which is: Save the Sharks. And I agree, but you know... that could have been a tweet, and you wouldn't have needed to quote Joseph Goebbels, of all people, TWICE to make it.

Have you ever wondered what inspired the movie Jaws or what really has fueled the fear of sharks that the public basically since the movie came out? This was a super thorough and interesting peak into the shark attacks in 1916 that inspired Jaws the novel, as well as, influenced the film.

This is a fascinating look into real life shark attacks that happened, as well as how Jaws changed the public's perception of sharks and really has exacerbated the fear of them and sparked a phenomenon that could not have been replicated today. Perez did extensive research and was able to tell the stories of these attacks really well and made them interesting even when there was a lot of data behind them or hardly any material from eyewitness testimonies. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is even remotely interested in sharks!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

If you love the movie Jaws, shark week, and thrills, then this book is for you! Showcasing a series of shark attacks in New Jersey shore, this book gives us the details on the attacks, why they happened and who is at risk of being a victim in the future. I was intrigued and hooked on this read. It kept my attention the entire time. The author did a fantastic job with the details, statistics, and capturing the interest of the reader and I love the cover! Very well done! I highly recommend this book!

Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the eARC!

Big thanks to Pen & Sword, White Owl and NetGalley for a copy of The Real Jaws by Rachel Lee Perez.

This was so informative, shocking and eye opening. Sharks have such a huge part to play in the world and it was heartbreaking to hear about how much unnecessary killing of them there was following the 1916 New Jersey Shore attacks.

Jaws is one of my favourite books, however the impact it had on how people view sharks is something that the author Peter Benchley wishes he’d never had any part in.

I would recommend this book to everyone, I’m sure if you only have a vague interest in sharks or none at all this book will change that.

Interesting look at what inspired the movie/books of Jaws. 50 years after the movie came out it was interesting to re-read about the events from the New Jersey shore. Really found the story about the poor German guy who was lynched very sad. The anti-German sentiment was strong, and could see the mindset of what some people though, but still found it heartbreaking to read about the poor guy. Re-watched the movie again too, which was interesting even with special effects not as good as today. The first half of the book goes over other places and attacks around the world, which explains the fear and frenzy of views on sharks, the second half of the book goes over what this belief has done to the shark population and how we are ruining the ocean ecosystem, and what we can do to stop the destruction. Would recommend.

I’ve read a couple of books about the 1916 NJ Shark Attacks, and I absolutely love sharks in general. I’ve even gotten to pet two of them! This particular book felt like more of an introduction to the attacks, which was then followed with info on other attacks, shark conservation, etc.

Although I picked up a new fact or two about the attacks, I spent more time wondering why she skipped over so much of interest in the case. Sure, she offered detailed accounts of the attacks themselves, but there wasn’t much said about the doctor and other heroes involved.

One thing I really didn’t like was that the author repeated herself a lot. Referring back to something earlier in a book is fine, but it’s not necessary to include a full quote for the second or even third time. She also overused the ‘no pun intended/pun intended’ joke.

Something that I found to be highly dubious was the claim that “ethics in the media industry was not what it is today.” The U.S. media has basically zero ethics and places plenty of misleading or false stories. The rare good journalists are often fired, especially with our version of the Mad King in charge.

This was a quick read, which might make it better for those who don’t want to invest too much time on the true story of a shark or sharks that behaved in a way that still defies experts today.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I definitely enjoyed the beginning part of the book which talked about the actual 1916 shark attacks and the last chapter which connected it to Jaws more than the rest of the book. The middle section, which talked about the theories behind the attacks and other attacks that happened afterwards, seemed to drag on and I thought about not finishing the book. The last few chapters, although they seemed to talk negatively about Jaws, redeemed the book as it focused on how the attacks could’ve inspired the book and movie adaptation of Jaws. This is not typically the genre I read, but I thought it was very interesting. I would recommend this to people who enjoyed the Jaws movie or books or just had a love of sharks.

This is a non-fiction of real life events that potentially inspired the Jaws book that was later turned into the block buster film. The book clearly stated that Peter Benchly denids that his book was inspired by these events, but there are themes that very similar.

This was a well organized book that brought up a lot of information about sharks and how the culture around them have evolved through the years. It’s well paced and keeps giving you little nuggets to keep the reader interested. If you’re interested in sharks then I highly recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Pen & Sword for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.

I appreciate that I was provided a copy of the eARC by NetGalley, Pen and Sword and White Owl in exchange for my honest review.

The cover of this book initially caught my attention. I am a Jaws fan and, like many, find sharks incredibly interesting. Once I read the book description I knew I would definitely be reading this.
This book did not disappoint with the writer’s clear and concise discussion of the Shark Attacks in New Jersey in 1916. Occasionally, the author seems to detour to unrelated topics but by the end of each chapter, it gets tied back to the 1916 attacks. This was a very informative and entertaining, although sometimes heartbreaking, read and I would read another book by this author. I really enjoyed how she tied the ending in and gave her readers information and ways to take action after they finish reading.

Did you know that the first known representation of a shark attack is from 725 BCE...? I did not! And did you know that the movie "Jaws"> has some basis in fact—a series of 1916 shark attacks on the New Jersey coast? I did not know that either.

In "The Real Jaws", Perez dives into the history of those shark attacks and, critically, how they impacted the way people viewed sharks. I'm not entirely new to shark research (I once upon a time wrote an essay that was partly about sharks and that referenced some of the same sources she uses, which amuses me), but I wasn't familiar with the 1916 attacks or the other seasons of increased shark activity in various places. I did read the Wikipedia article on the 1916 attacks before I read the book—which I then regretted, because there would have been a bit more suspense for that part of the book if I hadn't known what to expect.

So it's fascinating material. Perez takes to the subject with plenty of enthusiasm (if a few too many exclamation marks) and a lot of research—anyone who likes leaping from a book into the reference section will be satisfied here. The beginning of the book has a timeline, which is full of events (e.g., polio outbreaks, war activities) that I initially thought were just for context but Perez tied neatly into the context of sharks and shark-human encounters. I don't take every conclusion at face value (e.g., Perez says that "even the ISAF [International Shark Attack File] suggests on their website that people actively menstruating should avoid swimming in open water to reduce one's odds of being attacked by a shark" (loc. 1562*), but what the ISAF actually says** is much softer: "If someone is attempting to maximize reduction of risks, staying out of the water during menstruation is one step that can be taken. However, many people safely dive while menstruating, and we have continued to see no obvious pattern of increased shark encounters."), but that's probably smart for most nonfiction; treat one source as one source but not as a definitive source without, erm, consulting other sources.

Writing-wise, this could have used another extensive round of line-level edits. I liked the overall structure (starting with the 1916 attacks and then moving on to theories about what caused so much shark activity, more recent shark-heavy seasons, and of course "Jaws"), but I spent far too long on lines like this one: "This [multiple bites] is outside the standard behavior when a shark mistakenly bites a human. Why did the shark repeatedly bite Bruder when surely it must have known that its victim was indeed a human being?" (loc. 625)

Perez later gets into what science now thinks about sharks—among other things, that they use biting to examine unknown things (they don't exactly have fingers to do the same job!)—but I was stuck on the fact that even if a shark bit somebody once and realized in doing so that it wasn't a seal, it wouldn't know the thing was specifically human; most likely it would just know that the thing it had bitten was living but not a seal or fish or whatever. Given that Perez also notes that violent language (attack, bite, deadly, etc.; e.g., loc. 2168) has widely been used to describe sharks and their interactions with humans, and that such language contributes to a public view of sharks as monsters, I also would have liked to see her use quite a bit less of the same language (my Kindle counts some 718 uses of the word "attack", though I should note that this includes the references, the table of contents, etc.).

All of this said: I learned a lot, and I came home from work with my nose buried in my Kindle and said absentmindedly to my partner, "Can we watch 'Jaws'?" (and then went back to my book). An engaging read if you want to learn a bit about a forgotten (and gory) part of history, or if you need a shark week read.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.
** https://web.archive.org/web/20250515001155/https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/reduce-risk/menstruation/

I received a copy for review. All opinions are my own. Most all of us have an innate fear or sharks but we don’t even understand what causes that in the big picture. This book was so informative and really taught me the history of shark attacks, our fear of them, and how humans have misunderstood sharks since the dawn of time. This gives me a far greater appreciation of the species as a whole.