Ahoy there mateys! While I enjoyed the art style, I have to admit that the story made no real sense to me. I wanted the whale to talk about the sea and life underwater. I wanted her to talk more about the library. I did not really enjoy this book. I have seen other reviews that were positive about this one though so maybe I am not the reader for this particular story. Arrrr!

I really wish the page/spread of the couple having sex wasn't in the book! Otherwise my 6/7/8 year olds would love this! I really loved it - but seems to make the most sense to me as a read-aloud to children minus the penises.

Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou meets The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

If there was ever a target demographic for this comic book, I do believe it would be me. A seafaring mail man, a blushing whale and an underwater library? Count me in.

The drawing style is beautifully expressive and washed with what looks like watercolors. The short story was touching in a way that caught me by surprise. I nearly cried. I was half-expecting this to be a children's book, but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone under 13 years old. There is nudity, scenes of child birth and animal cruelty. All that being said, this would make a great gift for new parents, or anyone who has a great fondness for the sharing of books and stories. Give it a try!

I voluntarily obtained a digital version of this book free from Netgalley and Europe Comics in exchange for an honest review.

This was a beautifully written and illustrated story of an unlikely friendship between a man and a whale. I loved getting to see inside the library and learn about the sea mail service. The atmosphere was cozy and pulled me in right away. It felt like a nice mix of a children and adult book.

I would've enjoyed more time exploring the library. For example, maybe seeing the whale recommend books to different sea creatures. Also, warning for nudity depictions several times in the book, as well as a sad, slightly graphic ending.

Decided to read this due to the very intriguing title and I went into it with the expectations of it being a story for younger audiences. Well, I was wrong! The illustrations were absolutely beautiful but I found the story lacking in some parts with a very sad unexpected twist.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a beautiful, poetic, and sad story. I loved the artwork very much, it masterfully emphasizes the emotions of the story in each frame. In terms of story, it doesn't unfold as one expects it would, and it beautifully reflects the joy and the sadness of life, the good and the bad, the kind and the cruel, the ugly and the beautiful, and sometimes all of them at the same time.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for the advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars. This was such a touching story about the power of books and friendship. The more fantastical elements were so lovely and made the story more interesting and it set itself apart. The art was also amazing and all together this was an incredibly beautiful book.

It is a story about a sea mailman. He is going out in his green rowboat to deliver the mail. At sea, he meets a whale. Behind her smile is hidden the world's largest library. The friendship that changes everything is born then.

A poetic, dreamy, lovely, heartwarming, and tender story. Take a look at it! You will not be disappointed! I loved every word written in this short story, and the art complemented it perfectly. Uplifting! 🥰

Thanks to NetGalley, authors, and publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book really surprised me, the author took the story to places I didn't expect they would do so, and it made me really interested in what would happen. The story is simple yet very touching. And the art style is gorgeous, the colours that the artist used and the way that she did the sea landscapes were breathtaking.

Such a beautiful, poignant story! Gorgeous illustrations, references to Moby Dick, lyrical language. Profound and quietly sad. Thank you NetGalley for the electronic copy of this amazing book.

Ooof! this book should come with a warning so here it is: warning!

As the title suggests, the story tells of a whale in whose belly is a library.
One day, a sea mailman encounters the whale and a friendship blossoms. We thus learn of the sea and the creatures living in it as much as about fishermen and mail and how hard it is for family who stay behind when their loved ones go to sea to do their job.

But most importantly, we learn about the power of stories.

As befits a story about the sea, the art is mostly blue-ish and done in watercolours. I was pleasantly surprised about the "honesty" of the art (many books don't show all human body parts for example, especially not in children's books).
However, this did pack quite a punch in the end which I had not seen coming. If anyone asks, I was cutting onions!

Still, the ending was perfect in a way and necessary, so don't be discouraged because of my warning. Some stories need to be told even if or especially because they make us cry.

I really, really, really wanted to love this story, but I'm afraid I didn't. The story was kind of hard to follow, as it switched between several themes, which made it feel like it was all over the place. Because of that, the message wasn't clear until the very end of the story. Usually that's not a bad thing, but I personally prefer knowing the message earlier in the story in short stories like this one.

The illustrations however, are STUNNING. It's one of the most beautiful graphic novels I have ever seen. There was a good contrast between the color schemes of the sea and the land and I love that.

In short, it's a beautiful, bittersweet story, I just struggled with the fact that it wasn't really coherent.

I really like this novel. Not only it tells the story of a beautiful friendship, but also it contains humorous parts of the narrator and other characters. Poetic, funny and tragic. Would recommend this to someone looking for a sad but smile worthy book.

The Whale Library begins as a heartwarming tale about a sea-faring mailman who meets a whale with a library inside her mouth. I found myself in love with so much of the diction of this novel, especially the poetic sections at the beginning and end. Admittedly, I initially thought this book was aimed more towards younger children, however some of the word choices and subject-matter had me questioning this after I got through about 2/3s of the novel. The illustrations of this book are another area where it really shines. All of the blues really gave off the feeling of being at sea versus at a river or smaller body of water. I found the character drawings whimsical enough to keep me interested in their lives, though I was a bit confused about why so much background was given about sea-mail. Overall, I would probably suggest this book for middle or higher grade readers, perhaps as a project on parables or extended metaphors.

A gorgeously illustrated story about a sea-mail carrier who happens upon a giant whale. Turns out inside the whale is an entire library of books. The man and whale become friends and he is invited inside to visit the library. They promise to meet again on a lunar eclipse (the whale is afraid of whalers), however the man can't hold up his promise as his wife goes into labor that same night. In a horrific turn of events, the whale, who waits for the man until sunrise, is taken by whalers and butchered, all of her books falling into the sea. This is a quick read, coming in well under 100 pages and with sparse (albeit beautiful) text. It's really quite a lovely story until the whale is taken. I literally gasped, what a tragedy for such a beautiful creature.

Net Galley provided me with an Advance Reader Copy of this book on exchange for an honest review.

I picked this book to read because it looked like it would be a short, wholesome read. I was partially right. I was short and mostly wholesome, but also indescribably sad. The story follows a man who delivers nail to sailors and a whale who has a library inside of them. The two strike up a delightful friendship, sharing things from their two different yet simular worlds. The art is so gorgeous and evocative and the writing is almost lyrical. I didn't expect to get so invested in this book that I would genuinely cry, but I truly did. It was a beautiful, heartbreaking book that I absolutely loved. I would definitely read it before letting your children read it though. Some aspects are not child friendly and you should go in knowing what it is from the start.

Even though it hurt me, I loved this book enough that I'd love to have a physical copy to keep in my home one day. I hope that it finds the audience that it overwhelmingly deserves

"i too hate sad stories" then WHY-
i started reading this and immediately loved the illustrations, the story!! i love stories overflowing with imagination<3 i continued reading at a bus station, and actual tears came out of my eyes,,, this was sad. so sad. why. WHY! i am so moved, it was such a great story.
i definitely recommend if you wanna read a cute wonderful story about the sea and books and stories and mailmen<3

This is perhaps the most outstanding book I have read all year. It is beautiful and sweet and falls right in line with everything I love about stories. I want an English copy so bad. I want to gift English copies to everyone I know.

I was provided a free copy from NetGalley for my honest opinion.

This short book was just beautiful. From the illustration to the words, just beautiful. This story is about a sea mailman that happens to come across a whale that has a library inside of her stomach. Also, there is a love story as well.

This comic featured absolutely STUNNING watercolor illustrations that really took my breath away. The story was lyrical and poetic, about a man who delivers mail by boat who encounters the whale librarian of the sea. The ending was very sad and bittersweet, but still really lovely.