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The Whale's Last Song
Once upon a time, a young girl ventured into a dark forest, looking for a cure for her much-loved elder sister ... A touching, tender and lyrical fable about what we do for the ones we love, and the beauty and mystery of being alive in a world in which we are part of everything, and everything is part of us.
As a terrible pandemic rages through the country, a young girl, Teo, leaves her small village and sets off into the forest, in search of a cure for her sister who is infected with the pox. Her father Merdocai has surrendered himself to the evil Marquis to be experimented upon for the Greater Good; and with her mother long-dead, all Teo has to keep her going is the love of her sister, her father and her friend Rodrigo, a stuttering poet.
As Teo ventures deeper into the forest, she encounters creatures and teachers who hold the answers to all the questions she has about who she is, and where she has come from. Meanwhile, out in the depths of the ocean, a whale is returning to the place he was born, to exhale his last breath. While Teo does not know this, he too holds secrets that belong to Teo's story.
The Whale's Last Song is a tender, sweet and wise fable, on what we are prepared to do for those we love; a celebration of the beauty and mystery of being alive in a world in which we are part of everything, and everything is part of us; and a love song to the natural world. It is The Alchemist meets The Princess Bride meets The Little Prince. It is a little gem.
As a terrible pandemic rages through the country, a young girl, Teo, leaves her small village and sets off into the forest, in search of a cure for her sister who is infected with the pox. Her father Merdocai has surrendered himself to the evil Marquis to be experimented upon for the Greater Good; and with her mother long-dead, all Teo has to keep her going is the love of her sister, her father and her friend Rodrigo, a stuttering poet.
As Teo ventures deeper into the forest, she encounters creatures and teachers who hold the answers to all the questions she has about who she is, and where she has come from. Meanwhile, out in the depths of the ocean, a whale is returning to the place he was born, to exhale his last breath. While Teo does not know this, he too holds secrets that belong to Teo's story.
The Whale's Last Song is a tender, sweet and wise fable, on what we are prepared to do for those we love; a celebration of the beauty and mystery of being alive in a world in which we are part of everything, and everything is part of us; and a love song to the natural world. It is The Alchemist meets The Princess Bride meets The Little Prince. It is a little gem.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2024
19 people are currently reading
531 people want to read
About the author
JOANNE FEDLER
29 books51 followersJoanne Fedler is an internationally bestselling author and witing mentor. She studied law at Yale and now lives in Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
October 5, 2025
This is basically if “The Alchemist” was good.
Some of the most gorgeous language and prose I’ve ever read.
A reminder to connect with the world and all its creatures with your entire heart.
A great exploration of the natural order of the world, the balance of everything. Cruelty and love intertwined and perpetually clashing.
The whales involvement was perhaps a bit silly
Someone remind me to come back to this one day to appreciate it more when I’m not so caught up with other things.
Some of the most gorgeous language and prose I’ve ever read.
A reminder to connect with the world and all its creatures with your entire heart.
A great exploration of the natural order of the world, the balance of everything. Cruelty and love intertwined and perpetually clashing.
The whales involvement was perhaps a bit silly
Someone remind me to come back to this one day to appreciate it more when I’m not so caught up with other things.
August 12, 2024
The Whales Last Song has some of the most beautiful writing I’ve ever read, the language the author uses completely immerses you into Teo’s world. I loved how we got to experience so many characters different stories and how I was positioned to feel a certain way before reading their backstory and then starting to see them in a different light.
I wish that the story had more input from the whale because other than the actions the whales takes (no spoilers) we don’t get much more input later on in its life, but I did like the symbolism it brought to the story.
I enjoyed how there was some authorial intrusion where we as the readers were spoken to as I thought it clearly carried the authors intended message across without going overboard.
Overall it was a really beautiful book with profound messages and characters I really began to feel for. I would 100% recommend reading it, the cover is so tame in comparison to the amazing ride of a story inside.
I wish that the story had more input from the whale because other than the actions the whales takes (no spoilers) we don’t get much more input later on in its life, but I did like the symbolism it brought to the story.
I enjoyed how there was some authorial intrusion where we as the readers were spoken to as I thought it clearly carried the authors intended message across without going overboard.
Overall it was a really beautiful book with profound messages and characters I really began to feel for. I would 100% recommend reading it, the cover is so tame in comparison to the amazing ride of a story inside.
October 13, 2025
4.5 stars
This might be the most beautiful writing I’ve ever read, it reads like poetry. There’s a not a lot that actually happens in this in terms of plot but it gives a really interesting character study for multiple characters and the vibes were immaculate. Definitely want to reread later when I can appreciate it more. Also I read this while listening to the Paper Trail soundtrack and it was perfect.
This might be the most beautiful writing I’ve ever read, it reads like poetry. There’s a not a lot that actually happens in this in terms of plot but it gives a really interesting character study for multiple characters and the vibes were immaculate. Definitely want to reread later when I can appreciate it more. Also I read this while listening to the Paper Trail soundtrack and it was perfect.
July 1, 2025
Beautifully written story about a whale, a girl and an unlikely ducking. Pleasant read
June 6, 2025
I've thought about this book so much since reading it. about whalefall. about what family is and what it means to others. about its beautiful lyrical prose.
so much so I've come back and given it five stars as I think it really truly does deserve more hype
so much so I've come back and given it five stars as I think it really truly does deserve more hype
July 28, 2025
This book moved me completely - so much so that there were tears streaming down my face at the end. I couldn’t put it down until I had read every last word, down to the acknowledgments. The interlacing of storylines, the characters, the way the author views the world, life and death, and the questions she asks - it will all stay with me for a very long time. What a gift to have such a beautiful way with words.
November 13, 2025
This beautiful little story reads like a fairy tale. Hope is its golden thread.
Written in a poetic style, it brims with imagery throughout — the most striking quotes are listed below.
A major role is played by Mother Nature, who strives to restore balance where things have gone awry.
“to soak in the breathing womb of the forest”
At the heart of the story is Teo, a clever girl with one eye and boundless curiosity:
“brimming with curiosity that coursed through her like a silent river. The rumblings inside her were wild and endless.”
Her father, Merdocai:
“There were as many griefs inside him as there are concentric rings in the trunk of an ancient tree.”
Merdocai’s belief:
“The only way to hear the truth was to place one palm on the heart and one on the belly, close down the eyes and repeat the words over and over.”
We find ourselves in medieval Spain, where a smallpox epidemic is raging. Teo is sent into the forest and on to the sea by her infected sister, Sancia — supposedly to find Malakha, the angel who guides souls into death. But in truth, Sancia sends Teo away to save her from the deadly disease.
“Sometimes, when the future beckons, what we are leaving is not places, but the selves we are, behind.”
Teo brings along her beloved goat, Isabel:
“Loving something was more important than understanding, especially loving something you couldn’t quite understand.”
And of course, Teo is afraid of what awaits her on her journey. But:
“Will worrying hasten your feet? No, it will likely slow you down, even cause you to make mistakes.”
“Tears, it appears, have nothing much to do with eyes; they are simply the exit points for pain and confusion that arise from the heart.”
In the forest lives Teo’s dearest friend, Rodrigo.
“When you were with him, you felt somehow all right. That is because Rodrigo knew something existed on the other side of grief, and he was not afraid of it. You could say he was someone who made you feel that one thing you need when everything feels lost: hope.”
Rodrigo loves the forest and harbors doubts about certain people:
“if a man could cut down a tree without weeping or begging the forest’s forgiveness, there was no telling where his cruelty might lead him.”
Merdocai sacrifices himself for medical experiments that might one day combat the epidemic.
“When danger comes, some people will trample everyone and everything in their path to get themselves to safety. Others will put their hands up to wade through the darkness first, even as it deepens, offering themselves as prey to whatever perils are lying in wait so that they might build safe passage for those behind them.”
The Marquis, the one who commissioned these experiments, is a mirror image of Joseph Goebbels.
“The sound of his own voice hollering to underlings always revived him. Was there anything more uplifting to the spirit than dominion over minions?”
He locks Merdocai in a cellar, feeding him scraps and bile to see whether a person can survive on waste, just like cocroaches. Merdocai is consumed by loneliness, but the omniscient narrator reflects:
“Loneliness is a treachery to the spirit. Nothing is made to exist all by itself. If only we could whisper the truth into Merdocai’s ears: no-one is ever alone, even if it feels that way.”
Despite the abominable conditions in his cell,
“though starved and afeared, he [Merdocai] is undeniably who he has always been – a man of merit and honour, even if he can not see it.”
In the forest, Teo meets the blind woman La Primera de los Ojos — “the first of the eyes.” She is the midwife who delivered Teo at birth. She now tells Teo that her biological mother once placed her in a basket and entrusted her to the sea to protect her from the cruel Marquis. Merdocai’s wife saw the basket, tried to save the baby from the waves, and lost her own life in doing so. In the end, a whale pushed the basket to shore, where La Primera de los Ojos placed the baby into Merdocai’s hands.
“That is what love does – when a child is longed for, and adored by eyes that convey you are wanted, there is no ‘me’ and ‘you’, only ‘we’.”
Teo is heartbroken upon learning the truth, but La Primera de los Ojos tells her:
“All cures come in their time, some from inside us, and some from everywhere.”
Eventually, Teo reaches the shore just as the whale that once saved her breathes its final breath and sinks to the bottom of the sea — where it will feed countless sea creatures for decades to come.
At that moment, Teo senses the feared angel Malakha nearby, but
“She wasn’t a terrifying, gobbling monster, but a light, a refuge, a shepherdess of endings.”
The Marquis dies.
“We might say that [Marquis] Lazaro’s ending was the exact opposite of the whale’s. As we noted at the start of this tale, Nature is the ultimate equaliser.”
The omniscient narrator is gentle with him:
“People are not born evil or cruel. They learn it. Sometimes they are hurt into it.”
From the beach, Teo sets off for home once more.
“Now that she has been far away, Teo holds everything differently. She sees and hears things as they truly are.”
This fairy tale ends on a hopeful note. Returning home, Teo first reunites with Rodriges and then finds her father Merdocai finally freed. All are filled with feelings of happiness and hope:
“Hope is not made of the gossamer threads of Spanish moss, nor the wings of a dragonfly. It is woven from many strands, like the rope tying a girl with one eye to her trusty goat, or a skep sealed with wax to carry a child to safety. It is as old as mountains and soiled with use. It has worn many weathers, and though it is frayed, it never breaks as long as you keep holding on to your side of it. Teo knows it, and now you do too.”
“It is possible to rejoice in the breathingness of all things, the feelingness of the world, the everythingness of the ocean that threads us to the pulse of light. It is possible if we are smitten, as Teo is, with life.”
Not every thread in this story is tied up, as the narrator remarks:
“Some questions have simple answers, and others fade away into the great unsolved mysteries of the universe.”
But life goes on — and in this way, there is hope for the future:
“When we remember that we are a small part of the great aliveness of the world, no more special or grand than a goat, goshawk, duckling or whale, then all life is served. Where there is life, there will be more stories filled with love and courage, and very probably tragedy too.
For stories teach us how to love, how to be brave and how to survive grief.”
Written in a poetic style, it brims with imagery throughout — the most striking quotes are listed below.
A major role is played by Mother Nature, who strives to restore balance where things have gone awry.
“to soak in the breathing womb of the forest”
At the heart of the story is Teo, a clever girl with one eye and boundless curiosity:
“brimming with curiosity that coursed through her like a silent river. The rumblings inside her were wild and endless.”
Her father, Merdocai:
“There were as many griefs inside him as there are concentric rings in the trunk of an ancient tree.”
Merdocai’s belief:
“The only way to hear the truth was to place one palm on the heart and one on the belly, close down the eyes and repeat the words over and over.”
We find ourselves in medieval Spain, where a smallpox epidemic is raging. Teo is sent into the forest and on to the sea by her infected sister, Sancia — supposedly to find Malakha, the angel who guides souls into death. But in truth, Sancia sends Teo away to save her from the deadly disease.
“Sometimes, when the future beckons, what we are leaving is not places, but the selves we are, behind.”
Teo brings along her beloved goat, Isabel:
“Loving something was more important than understanding, especially loving something you couldn’t quite understand.”
And of course, Teo is afraid of what awaits her on her journey. But:
“Will worrying hasten your feet? No, it will likely slow you down, even cause you to make mistakes.”
“Tears, it appears, have nothing much to do with eyes; they are simply the exit points for pain and confusion that arise from the heart.”
In the forest lives Teo’s dearest friend, Rodrigo.
“When you were with him, you felt somehow all right. That is because Rodrigo knew something existed on the other side of grief, and he was not afraid of it. You could say he was someone who made you feel that one thing you need when everything feels lost: hope.”
Rodrigo loves the forest and harbors doubts about certain people:
“if a man could cut down a tree without weeping or begging the forest’s forgiveness, there was no telling where his cruelty might lead him.”
Merdocai sacrifices himself for medical experiments that might one day combat the epidemic.
“When danger comes, some people will trample everyone and everything in their path to get themselves to safety. Others will put their hands up to wade through the darkness first, even as it deepens, offering themselves as prey to whatever perils are lying in wait so that they might build safe passage for those behind them.”
The Marquis, the one who commissioned these experiments, is a mirror image of Joseph Goebbels.
“The sound of his own voice hollering to underlings always revived him. Was there anything more uplifting to the spirit than dominion over minions?”
He locks Merdocai in a cellar, feeding him scraps and bile to see whether a person can survive on waste, just like cocroaches. Merdocai is consumed by loneliness, but the omniscient narrator reflects:
“Loneliness is a treachery to the spirit. Nothing is made to exist all by itself. If only we could whisper the truth into Merdocai’s ears: no-one is ever alone, even if it feels that way.”
Despite the abominable conditions in his cell,
“though starved and afeared, he [Merdocai] is undeniably who he has always been – a man of merit and honour, even if he can not see it.”
In the forest, Teo meets the blind woman La Primera de los Ojos — “the first of the eyes.” She is the midwife who delivered Teo at birth. She now tells Teo that her biological mother once placed her in a basket and entrusted her to the sea to protect her from the cruel Marquis. Merdocai’s wife saw the basket, tried to save the baby from the waves, and lost her own life in doing so. In the end, a whale pushed the basket to shore, where La Primera de los Ojos placed the baby into Merdocai’s hands.
“That is what love does – when a child is longed for, and adored by eyes that convey you are wanted, there is no ‘me’ and ‘you’, only ‘we’.”
Teo is heartbroken upon learning the truth, but La Primera de los Ojos tells her:
“All cures come in their time, some from inside us, and some from everywhere.”
Eventually, Teo reaches the shore just as the whale that once saved her breathes its final breath and sinks to the bottom of the sea — where it will feed countless sea creatures for decades to come.
At that moment, Teo senses the feared angel Malakha nearby, but
“She wasn’t a terrifying, gobbling monster, but a light, a refuge, a shepherdess of endings.”
The Marquis dies.
“We might say that [Marquis] Lazaro’s ending was the exact opposite of the whale’s. As we noted at the start of this tale, Nature is the ultimate equaliser.”
The omniscient narrator is gentle with him:
“People are not born evil or cruel. They learn it. Sometimes they are hurt into it.”
From the beach, Teo sets off for home once more.
“Now that she has been far away, Teo holds everything differently. She sees and hears things as they truly are.”
This fairy tale ends on a hopeful note. Returning home, Teo first reunites with Rodriges and then finds her father Merdocai finally freed. All are filled with feelings of happiness and hope:
“Hope is not made of the gossamer threads of Spanish moss, nor the wings of a dragonfly. It is woven from many strands, like the rope tying a girl with one eye to her trusty goat, or a skep sealed with wax to carry a child to safety. It is as old as mountains and soiled with use. It has worn many weathers, and though it is frayed, it never breaks as long as you keep holding on to your side of it. Teo knows it, and now you do too.”
“It is possible to rejoice in the breathingness of all things, the feelingness of the world, the everythingness of the ocean that threads us to the pulse of light. It is possible if we are smitten, as Teo is, with life.”
Not every thread in this story is tied up, as the narrator remarks:
“Some questions have simple answers, and others fade away into the great unsolved mysteries of the universe.”
But life goes on — and in this way, there is hope for the future:
“When we remember that we are a small part of the great aliveness of the world, no more special or grand than a goat, goshawk, duckling or whale, then all life is served. Where there is life, there will be more stories filled with love and courage, and very probably tragedy too.
For stories teach us how to love, how to be brave and how to survive grief.”
October 3, 2024
“Sometimes when the future beckons, what we are leaving is not places, but the selves we are, behind.”
I was absolutely blown away by this little gem. The way the author wove the various characters’ stories together was masterful and full of surprise. There was not a single moment where I was bored as the pacing was great - I think the multiple storylines helped keep me intrigued. I really enjoyed the poetic prose and the way the book made me contemplate life. I feel like each character had something to teach me, and I did feel changed after this read. I highly recommend this book.
TW: miscarriage, grief, death
Thank you to Harper Collins for this ARC, all thoughts expressed in this review are my own!
I was absolutely blown away by this little gem. The way the author wove the various characters’ stories together was masterful and full of surprise. There was not a single moment where I was bored as the pacing was great - I think the multiple storylines helped keep me intrigued. I really enjoyed the poetic prose and the way the book made me contemplate life. I feel like each character had something to teach me, and I did feel changed after this read. I highly recommend this book.
TW: miscarriage, grief, death
Thank you to Harper Collins for this ARC, all thoughts expressed in this review are my own!
October 3, 2024
“Sometimes when the future beckons, what we are leaving is not places, but the selves we are, behind.”
I was absolutely blown away by this little gem. The way the author wove the various characters’ stories together was masterful and full of surprise. There was not a single moment where I was bored as the pacing was great - I think the multiple storylines helped keep me intrigued. I really enjoyed the poetic prose and the way the book made me contemplate life. I feel like each character had something to teach me, and I did feel changed after this read. I highly recommend this book.
TW: miscarriage, grief, death
Thank you to Harper Collins for this ARC, all thoughts expressed in this review are my own!
I was absolutely blown away by this little gem. The way the author wove the various characters’ stories together was masterful and full of surprise. There was not a single moment where I was bored as the pacing was great - I think the multiple storylines helped keep me intrigued. I really enjoyed the poetic prose and the way the book made me contemplate life. I feel like each character had something to teach me, and I did feel changed after this read. I highly recommend this book.
TW: miscarriage, grief, death
Thank you to Harper Collins for this ARC, all thoughts expressed in this review are my own!
March 11, 2025
'Timing, you might be willing to concede, seems to be more a matter of fate than strategy. To be found in a location in a particular heralding moment invites meaning making, a habit towards which humans veer - less so, whales.'
'People are not born evil or cruel. They learn it.
Sometimes they are hurt in to it.'
This gentle fable like deep story is about humans, human conditioning and our relationship with animals and nature - the magic that happens when we slow down to see the interconnectedness of it all.
For me it's three stars because it could have been a little more succinct.
'People are not born evil or cruel. They learn it.
Sometimes they are hurt in to it.'
This gentle fable like deep story is about humans, human conditioning and our relationship with animals and nature - the magic that happens when we slow down to see the interconnectedness of it all.
For me it's three stars because it could have been a little more succinct.
October 1, 2025
Un gros coup de cœur pour ce livre qui mérite carrément ses 5 étoiles.
On se croirait replongé en enfance, dans un conte pour enfants, où les personnages sont extrêmement attachants et humains. On y parle de famille, de sacrifice, d’aventure, avec des personnages hauts en couleurs et un très beau message derrière tout ça.
Il se lit très vite et je recommande à tout le monde souhaitant ajouter un peu de poésie à sa vie.
On se croirait replongé en enfance, dans un conte pour enfants, où les personnages sont extrêmement attachants et humains. On y parle de famille, de sacrifice, d’aventure, avec des personnages hauts en couleurs et un très beau message derrière tout ça.
Il se lit très vite et je recommande à tout le monde souhaitant ajouter un peu de poésie à sa vie.
February 1, 2025
Oh my goodness. What a sweet, sweet, fresh dripping honeycomb of a book. Such nectar and balm for world weary souls. Recommended to me by a literary friend and purchased from Gertrude & Alice for a book club reading (I was lucky to get a signed copy). I had heard good things about the author through mutual friends but had never read any of her works. Ironically my reading of this book was interrupted by my own pox. Just before Christmas I came down with Covid which delayed my finishing until now.
As I read I found myself engaged but also soothed by the writing which I felt as reminiscent of my beloved dr. e, Clarissa Pinkola Estes. It is indeed a story for the ages of love and grief as the price of that love. I think I loved it so much as it was as much a fable for my inner child as it was for my adult self. As I read I could feel that child within me delighting in the adventure and comforted in the memories of all the stories I had consumed, ingested and embodied over the years.
In one of lifes strange synchronicities I came across a video a few days ago of a dying whale circled by sharks and then as it passed they moved in to begin the feasting. I cried at the death of the majestic whale and wanted to push the sharks away to stop them desecrating its body. I felt so protective of it, it felt so sacred. The images were burned into my mind with an attached sadness. Now after reading this book I understand more. I know a word now for the magnificent gift that a whales passing is -Whalefall There is comfort now in understanding that the body of a whale provides life to thousands of creatures for decades. "Not all endings are made of grief. Some are windfalls and godsends."
This is a book that you want to pass on with the blessing "Read this" but I cant bear to let this one go. I will have to buy other copies to give away, this one will stay on the closest of my seven full bookshelves.
As I read I found myself engaged but also soothed by the writing which I felt as reminiscent of my beloved dr. e, Clarissa Pinkola Estes. It is indeed a story for the ages of love and grief as the price of that love. I think I loved it so much as it was as much a fable for my inner child as it was for my adult self. As I read I could feel that child within me delighting in the adventure and comforted in the memories of all the stories I had consumed, ingested and embodied over the years.
In one of lifes strange synchronicities I came across a video a few days ago of a dying whale circled by sharks and then as it passed they moved in to begin the feasting. I cried at the death of the majestic whale and wanted to push the sharks away to stop them desecrating its body. I felt so protective of it, it felt so sacred. The images were burned into my mind with an attached sadness. Now after reading this book I understand more. I know a word now for the magnificent gift that a whales passing is -Whalefall There is comfort now in understanding that the body of a whale provides life to thousands of creatures for decades. "Not all endings are made of grief. Some are windfalls and godsends."
This is a book that you want to pass on with the blessing "Read this" but I cant bear to let this one go. I will have to buy other copies to give away, this one will stay on the closest of my seven full bookshelves.
September 25, 2025
Joanne Fedler’s The Whale’s Last Song (2024) is a gentle fable that is perfect reading for our troubled days.
I’m not sentimental about whales. You won’t catch me hanging around Warrnambool’s windy coast waiting for a glimpse of them, and five minutes of David Attenborough rhapsodising about them on TV is more than enough, thank you very much. But I think that people who hunt whales are barbarians, and I’m all in favour of conservation measures, as I am for all creatures that are endangered.
Fortunately for readers like me, Joanne Fedler doesn’t anthropomorphise the whale in her story. It’s a metaphor for the cycle of life, and it plays an integral part in the plot, but it’s just a whale doing the (sometimes surprising) things that whales do. But we don’t find out what that is until late in the story when the central character discovers its role in her life…
Teodoro Beneviste a.k.a. Teo, a motherless girl masquerading as a boy on her father’s advice, is alone at home with her sister Sancia who has a frightening fever. They are desperately poor because the world was tilted in a way that made life for people like Teodoro and his sister — there is no other word for it — terrible.
It is the medieval era, a time of gross inequities, dictatorial powers and superstitious beliefs. And so it is that Teo’s father Merdocai has traded his freedom in the hope of finding a cure for his daughter. He is locked up in a dungeon as part of a grotesque experiment at the hands of the malevolent Marquis, and is on the verge of death.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2025/09/25/t...
I’m not sentimental about whales. You won’t catch me hanging around Warrnambool’s windy coast waiting for a glimpse of them, and five minutes of David Attenborough rhapsodising about them on TV is more than enough, thank you very much. But I think that people who hunt whales are barbarians, and I’m all in favour of conservation measures, as I am for all creatures that are endangered.
Fortunately for readers like me, Joanne Fedler doesn’t anthropomorphise the whale in her story. It’s a metaphor for the cycle of life, and it plays an integral part in the plot, but it’s just a whale doing the (sometimes surprising) things that whales do. But we don’t find out what that is until late in the story when the central character discovers its role in her life…
Teodoro Beneviste a.k.a. Teo, a motherless girl masquerading as a boy on her father’s advice, is alone at home with her sister Sancia who has a frightening fever. They are desperately poor because the world was tilted in a way that made life for people like Teodoro and his sister — there is no other word for it — terrible.
To be poor is to suffer gruesome injustices for which there seem to be no remedies, just the endless rumbles of starvation and cold and dreams of fullness and warmth in the small snatches of sleep one might grasp between hungers. In the days we are talking of, there was a shortage of many goodnesses, including medication — most especially for those to whom life had assigned abject poverty. (p.10)
It is the medieval era, a time of gross inequities, dictatorial powers and superstitious beliefs. And so it is that Teo’s father Merdocai has traded his freedom in the hope of finding a cure for his daughter. He is locked up in a dungeon as part of a grotesque experiment at the hands of the malevolent Marquis, and is on the verge of death.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2025/09/25/t...
November 2, 2024
Book 37: The whale’s last song
“Stories are slippery in small minds and make twisted patterns in the human soul. Knots as tight as nooses.” P111
I have to admit I had never heard of Joanne Fedler before... and I loved this book, which started as a children’s book but was edited to become a book for all ages. It’s full of tiny and enormous life lessons, and most of all it is full of Teo, an 11-year old girl who is smitten with life, and I was smitten with her.
I don’t want to give the story away, but I thought I’d share how I feel about the writing and why this story has packed with heart.
The dialogue was spot on between all the characters and really pulled at my heartstrings, sad and happy. There were some prophecies, which I adored. Those with nothing have so much joie de vivre, and those with everything get it all wrong – and the poorest but wisest of them all have everything they will ever need: love, hope, loyalty. Sigh.
Then there is the perspective of the whale, his song, and why he does what he does, and how important he is in both life and death – to the characters and life itself. Again, sigh.
There are lots of parallels to our lives today, but those didn’t necessarily matter to me. For me, it was about how the characters lived, interacted with each other, made mistakes, learned, died tragically or miraculously survived despite evil or hardship. Something tells me that this book will be even better the next time I read it!
Oh, and the author’s own hand drawings are peppered throughout, giving this book a fable-esque touch. Just gorgeous.
It’s original, special. If I had to reach out for a comp I would struggle, but I would say a bit of Winnie the Pooh, Where the Crawdads Sing, The Alchemist and perhaps fairytales in general?
Thanks for the recommendation, Catherine Milne!
9.5/10
#joannefedler #thewhaleslastsong #harpercollins #fourthestate #bookreview #amreading #fable
“Stories are slippery in small minds and make twisted patterns in the human soul. Knots as tight as nooses.” P111
I have to admit I had never heard of Joanne Fedler before... and I loved this book, which started as a children’s book but was edited to become a book for all ages. It’s full of tiny and enormous life lessons, and most of all it is full of Teo, an 11-year old girl who is smitten with life, and I was smitten with her.
I don’t want to give the story away, but I thought I’d share how I feel about the writing and why this story has packed with heart.
The dialogue was spot on between all the characters and really pulled at my heartstrings, sad and happy. There were some prophecies, which I adored. Those with nothing have so much joie de vivre, and those with everything get it all wrong – and the poorest but wisest of them all have everything they will ever need: love, hope, loyalty. Sigh.
Then there is the perspective of the whale, his song, and why he does what he does, and how important he is in both life and death – to the characters and life itself. Again, sigh.
There are lots of parallels to our lives today, but those didn’t necessarily matter to me. For me, it was about how the characters lived, interacted with each other, made mistakes, learned, died tragically or miraculously survived despite evil or hardship. Something tells me that this book will be even better the next time I read it!
Oh, and the author’s own hand drawings are peppered throughout, giving this book a fable-esque touch. Just gorgeous.
It’s original, special. If I had to reach out for a comp I would struggle, but I would say a bit of Winnie the Pooh, Where the Crawdads Sing, The Alchemist and perhaps fairytales in general?
Thanks for the recommendation, Catherine Milne!
9.5/10
#joannefedler #thewhaleslastsong #harpercollins #fourthestate #bookreview #amreading #fable
November 23, 2024
The Whale’s Last Song (ARC) Review
My rating: 3.5⭐️
This book was really slow at the begging which made it a bit of a struggle to try and get through it, however, it was beautifully written.
The author’s writing style is just so unique. The way the book was written was as if it’s a fairytale but also a children’s tv show where the narrator constantly checks in and diverts our attention towards another figure. The novel was beautiful yet so sad as it had elements of history where we could see how to small pox devastated people and the hardship it created.
Viewing the characters and their different lives was interesting as it was so different, yet they intertwined. There were elements of a butterfly effect of how small actions made a significant impact to a character and it displays the beauty of life even throughout the hardships and the lengths we go to for our loved ones. Overall, this book is a beautiful work of literature.
If you like books that contain:
🐳 Fairytale-esque novels
🍯 Devastatingly beautiful novels
🐳 Multiple POVs
🍯 The beauty of life
🐳 And more
This book is for you.
Thank you to HarperCollins for this gifted copy.
My rating: 3.5⭐️
This book was really slow at the begging which made it a bit of a struggle to try and get through it, however, it was beautifully written.
The author’s writing style is just so unique. The way the book was written was as if it’s a fairytale but also a children’s tv show where the narrator constantly checks in and diverts our attention towards another figure. The novel was beautiful yet so sad as it had elements of history where we could see how to small pox devastated people and the hardship it created.
Viewing the characters and their different lives was interesting as it was so different, yet they intertwined. There were elements of a butterfly effect of how small actions made a significant impact to a character and it displays the beauty of life even throughout the hardships and the lengths we go to for our loved ones. Overall, this book is a beautiful work of literature.
If you like books that contain:
🐳 Fairytale-esque novels
🍯 Devastatingly beautiful novels
🐳 Multiple POVs
🍯 The beauty of life
🐳 And more
This book is for you.
Thank you to HarperCollins for this gifted copy.
October 30, 2024
BREATHTAKING STORYTELLING
I fell in love with the flawed characters in Joanne Fedler’s latest book, ‘The Whale’s Last Song.’ Although the tale is poetic, it masterfully deals with deep feelings, intergenerational pain and heartache.
As I read, I thought of Santiago’s trials in Paulo Cohelo’s, ‘The Alchemist,’ and I was also reminded of the capacity to help others under the most extreme circumstances, as in Viktor Frankl’s, ‘Man’s Search For Meaning.’
The pages of ‘The Whale’s Last Song’ give insights into family dynamics and our connection to our ancestors. The way Joanne expressed the synergy between all creatures is breathtaking. I am less fearful of death and endings after following Teo’s enlightening pilgrimage, and more trusting that universal forces will make things ‘right’ in the end.
Thank you Joanne for sharing your heart in this magical story.
I fell in love with the flawed characters in Joanne Fedler’s latest book, ‘The Whale’s Last Song.’ Although the tale is poetic, it masterfully deals with deep feelings, intergenerational pain and heartache.
As I read, I thought of Santiago’s trials in Paulo Cohelo’s, ‘The Alchemist,’ and I was also reminded of the capacity to help others under the most extreme circumstances, as in Viktor Frankl’s, ‘Man’s Search For Meaning.’
The pages of ‘The Whale’s Last Song’ give insights into family dynamics and our connection to our ancestors. The way Joanne expressed the synergy between all creatures is breathtaking. I am less fearful of death and endings after following Teo’s enlightening pilgrimage, and more trusting that universal forces will make things ‘right’ in the end.
Thank you Joanne for sharing your heart in this magical story.
January 7, 2025
I picked this book up off a library shelf due to the lovely cover and was excited because I love a good fable or fairy tale. Alas, this one didn’t do it for me. The writing was flowery but never really seemed to flow for my liking, and there were too many POV characters for such a short book so the story feels very flat and empty. It also left so many unanswered questions, and given that I wasn’t bowled over by the writing style that open endedness was more frustrating than beautiful.
Some issues:
Overall, not for me.
Some issues:
Overall, not for me.
July 30, 2025
Initially I bought this book because the cover is beautiful, and I found a signed copy at a bookstore. I'm so glad I picked this up, because this found me at exactly the right time. It might be the most beautiful and heartfelt book I’ve ever read.
Its a story about love, sacrifice, grief, hope, and connection, to each other and the world. It's written in the style of a fable so the writing is very lyrical and the prose is just gorgeous.
I loved how all the storylines are connected, everything ties together in such a meaningful way.
Honestly, I don’t even know how to describe it properly. It’s beautiful, a little sad, but also hopeful. It really touched me, and left me in tears. This is the perfect book for the weary soul.
Its a story about love, sacrifice, grief, hope, and connection, to each other and the world. It's written in the style of a fable so the writing is very lyrical and the prose is just gorgeous.
I loved how all the storylines are connected, everything ties together in such a meaningful way.
Honestly, I don’t even know how to describe it properly. It’s beautiful, a little sad, but also hopeful. It really touched me, and left me in tears. This is the perfect book for the weary soul.
December 23, 2024
This is a lovely little book. In the author’s note, she states that this was originally slated to be a children’s book and then later adapted to the adult genre, and you can feel that in the best of ways. This has the whimsy, tenderness, and openness of a fairy tale while still tackling tough themes. Though I wish the villain had more nuance and that there were more moments of propulsive tension (this book mostly explores how we ended up here rather than exploring what happens next), I was moved by our many heroes’ journeys to find home, especially the whale embracing its whalefall.
November 15, 2025
It took me a while to get into the flow of the story, at times it seemed stilted and confusing. Once I got into though, wow. It was beautiful and tragic in the way that only very real things are, the more simple language choices really helped to humanise the message and I know that I could have read this now or when I was 14 and understood it just as well (which I loved). Overall amazing book that I would recommend to everyone needing a reminder of the boundless capacity for empathy.
November 29, 2025
Whimsical and full of heart... I don't think I've ever read a book as poetic or elegant as this before. Every chapter contains a pearl of wisdom - inviting the reader to reflect on life, death, grief, hope, and how we are all connected. The author's writing is so vivid that the characters come alive and you feel truly lost in the pages.
I was sometimes a little confused with the multiple storylines, which is why I haven't rated it 5 stars; but in saying that, I think I need to re-read and really absorb it. Such a little gem of a book, there definitely needs to be more hype around this one.
I was sometimes a little confused with the multiple storylines, which is why I haven't rated it 5 stars; but in saying that, I think I need to re-read and really absorb it. Such a little gem of a book, there definitely needs to be more hype around this one.
April 28, 2025
A stunningly beautiful book.
What had now become a beloved favourite read for when times are hard and comfort for the soul is required.
It is written like a child's tale but with the truth of hard earned adult wisdom and understanding.
The perfect book for solace.
So much gratitude for this story.
What had now become a beloved favourite read for when times are hard and comfort for the soul is required.
It is written like a child's tale but with the truth of hard earned adult wisdom and understanding.
The perfect book for solace.
So much gratitude for this story.
May 4, 2025
This is a beautifully written book. It reads like pure magic. The characters are engaging and the significance and depth are clear. I wish the whale had played a bigger role and some of the questions posed at the end would have been answered. Still, a delight to read.
June 15, 2025
Beautiful prose, magical and eerie. Very fairytale-esc. Nettle and Bones by T Kingfisher vibes. A special story of love and sacrifice, trials and successes, dreams and memories. Aussie narrator too ❤️'d it!
Highly recommend!
Highly recommend!
November 30, 2025
A very whimsical story but not entirely my cup of tea! It took me longer to read than it should have because I couldn’t connect to the characters as much as I wanted to. I loved the animal companions though!
3 stars
3 stars
October 24, 2024
While every story, like every life, has its beginning, middle and end, some don’t follow that order and in order to know one beginning you need to find a different ending.
This is probably one of the most beautiful stories I’ve read this year. It’s a short book, but the characters and the journey are so well thought out and the poetic prose style writing just ties it all together.
The use of multiple timelines keeps us engaged as we learn how each character’s involvement in Estie’s past has shaped her present and her future.
Can’t recommend this one enough!
Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishers and the author for my copy of the book.
This is probably one of the most beautiful stories I’ve read this year. It’s a short book, but the characters and the journey are so well thought out and the poetic prose style writing just ties it all together.
The use of multiple timelines keeps us engaged as we learn how each character’s involvement in Estie’s past has shaped her present and her future.
Can’t recommend this one enough!
Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishers and the author for my copy of the book.
October 29, 2024
A magical tale of love and sacrifice - enjoyed this one
November 18, 2024
glorious!
January 17, 2025
Quite beautiful.
February 4, 2025
I struggled with finding a bond/connection with the characters. It is a beautiful story and a great adventure, but I guess in the point of life I am in, I just wasn't feeling it.
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