The Art of Taxidermy is a novel written in verse and the first of its kind I read. I have to say it took a little bit to get used to the format but at about 30% I was fully immersed and couldn't put it down.

“I can feel it, Annie whispered.
The air is heavy with ghosts.
The birds sing only sad songs.
The ground swallowed many tears.”

The writing is truly beautiful and some poems (chapters?) really touched me. I have marked quite a few, actually.
I also had a tear in my eye one time. It is such a wonderful story about a girl and her grief. Her unique way to see the world and experience the beauty in things other people don't usually.

It might be a bit repetitive at times but in my opinion that actually added to the simple charm of the story. We follow Lottie trying to cope with the death of her mother. She starts to collect dead animals, a hobby her aunt is shocked by. I loved the way the relationship with her aunt is portrayed because it shows that sometimes people may want the best for us but hurt us in the process. That doesn't mean they love us any less though.

I really appreciated how her father encouraged her to find her own way, to grief, to live.

The book also touched on the subjects of isolation and discrimination. It takes place in Australia and Lottie's family are German immigrants who didn't always have it easy there (Her parents lived through the second world war and the time of the internment camps in Australia).

Sharon Kernot uses a lot of imagery in her novel. If you can let yourself be wrapped in this story, you can feel the wind and the sun.
Although a fair warning: If you can't stand the description of dead animals, maybe this is not for you.

While the way this story is told took some getting used to (especially when you're like me and rarely read verse novels or poetry collections) it was the perfect way for this book. I couldn't imagine it being written any other way. It perfectly captures the feeling of being unanchored after such a loss, the innocence of children and the strange beauty we can find anywhere in the world if we dare to search for it in unusual places.

The Art of Taxidermy is the story of 11 year old Lottie as she copes with grief after the death of her mother. It’s written in the form of a poem with beautiful descriptions of animals and landscapes. 

Lottie’s aunt sees her fascination with dead animals as strange and sabotages her collection but this does not stop her with her ambition to become a taxidermist at a museum and she endeavours to improve her skills in the art with the support of her father. At many levels this is about following your dreams and being true to yourself.

It’s not a hugely plot driven novel though there are revelations along the way.  It’s about people and emotions and the importance of remembering and talking about the person who has gone and allowing individuals to grieve in their own time and way.

I found it very moving, especially the ending and will certainly read any further novels by this author.

This was a quick read that I liked! It was really beautiful, and I enjoyed the verse format. However, it went a little too quickly for me. I didn't really feel like I had a chance to grow to care about any of the characters. However, it really was lovely, and I don't regret reading it at all.

I'm a big fan of verse novels, especially when the bulk of the plot focus on a character's inner journey or self exploration. When the author is good at imagery, making us feel along with the character it transcends story to become art. And that's certainly the case here. Even when I wasn't clear on the context of a moment, when I was confused about he actual plot, I was sharing Lottie's experience. A little more context for the setting and events in the world at large would have been nice. But this is a book to read more for how it's being told than what is being told. That style won't work for everyone but I enjoyed it.

Unfortunately this book was a DNF (did not finish) for me. I’m not particularly fond of reading in verse although the verse did enhance the spookiness of the subject matter. But other than that, this book fell flat. I had a hard time connecting with the main character which made this book a struggle to get through. The book does touch on grief and I believe that was handled in a beautiful way. I can see how other reviewers liked the book so if you are a fan of verse writing, you should give this book a try!

3.75

"They are perfect - perfectly dead."

Charlotte lost her mother and her sister, and her father never recovered from their loss. So Lottie started looking for beauty in the world, for something to connect herself with the lost ones. She found out that animals were magical and beautiful in their fragility. Animals were pure beauty and were so full of life that she wanted to collect them. But animals could die, so she undertook her journey to collect a beuty that never dies. 

"The air is heavy with ghosts. The birds sing only sad songs. The ground swallowed many tears. "

This book is written in verse and I think that this was the right choice for a peculiar story such as this one. The protagonist is looking for a way to pass through her grief and the journey of the taxidermy's Learning is an important step to enter the world in an acceptable way for herself. 
I don't like taxidermy, I feel sorry for the dead animals hung to the walls, but  I can comprehend Lottie's desire to create a world for herself and her grief, a way to connect with her past and her future at the same time.

"This is what you need, my dear Lottie. Life, not Death. Life. "

One of the things I liked the most was the father's support to his daughter's scientific heart. At the same time, her aunt was a good character. I also liked the setting and the historical references about WWII. I was really interested in the little knowledge written in the book. 

The last thing I want to remember about this book is the great pain and th great grief you could feel reading the pages. Some things are repeated because when you are in grief you pour salt into a wound thinking everytime at the same obsessive thoughts, as if your mind were fixed on the loss and nothing else could enter your brain. 

Beauty can be found in sad books, even if the themes are not entirely acceptable for your beliefs.

I was first drawn in by the title, The Art of Taxidermy. The first thing I could think of was those horrible taxidermy horrors that fail to capture the animal's natural expression and thereby somehow elevate the sadness of their death. So yes, I understood there's an art to it, but I was fascinate to see how Sharon Kernot's verse novel would tackle such a difficult topic. Thanks to Text Publishing and NetGalley for giving me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

 The Art of Taxidermy is a novel about grief and growing up with the shadow of it. Lottie has lot her mother and has now begun collecting and "fixing" dead things. Her aunt is horrified, since taxidermy or an interest in dead things is nowhere near appropriate for a young girl in the 1960s. Her father, however, might see that there is more to her interest than just grief. Kernot shows us Lottie's growing interest while also slowly developing the world around her. Lottie makes a Aboriginal friend through whose presence both Lottie and the reader are confronted with a very different but equally traumatic loss of identity. Kernot also adds another layer of loss and grief by delving slightly into Lottie's family history as Germans, especially into her father and grandfather's stay in a detention camp during the second World War. Kernot shows us that loss and grief are all around us and it makes for a very raw reading experience at times. 
  
The structure of The Art of Taxidermy is a very interesting one. Although the story is told in a linear fashion, it is fragmented, with only the most important moments brought to the forefront. The moment she discovered a dead mouse, the moment her collection is discovered, moments of love, moments of sadness. They all come together to form an incomplete yet recognizable picture of a young girl growing up in a world that is no longer kind. It felt very reminiscent to me of how memory works. Although it being a verse novel was one of my major draws to Kernot's The Art of Taxidermy, I had completely forgotten that by the time I started reading it. I was surprised initially, then remembered, and finally found myself engrossed by Kernot's style. By restraining herself, Kernot is able to put a lot of power into a few words.  Bringing these two things together, Keronot is able to introduce something akin to plot twists and surprises, while maintaining the poetry of her writing and the calmness of tone. 

Sharon Kernot's writing is beautiful. The Art of Taxidermy is full of vivid descriptions, of the vastness of the Australian landscape as well as the minute beauty of a mouse skeleton. At times the descriptions may be quite morbid, but by not hiding the blood, guts and gore, Kernot packs a much more powerful punch. Although The Art of Taxidermy could seem sensationalist, involving taxidermy and young grieving girls, it is actually a very meditative novel, which is aided by the fact that it is a verse novel. Kernot takes her time with Lottie but spares words. Acts are repeated, stubbornly, with everyone involved expecting a different outcome each time. For some readers this may be off-putting, but the way the story circled back to Lottie's grief or coping mechanism made sense to me. In the end The Art of Taxidermy was a quick read for me but an interesting one. I found myself thinking of how we look at grief, at loss, how crippled families can be by it, and how we can, maybe, move on from it.

I greatly enjoyed the poetic calm of The Art of Taxidermy. Kernot doesn't shy away from the horror of death (or taxidermy), but delivers a heartfelt story about a young girl doing the best she can. I'd recommend this verse novel to lovers of poetry and those interested in grief and loss.

2.5 OUT OF 5 STARS

The Art of Taxidermy is a story written in verse. It took me a bit to get into the story because of that, as I don’t tend to read novels in verse very often. The writing style was gorgeous in this, it was beautifully crafted. The writing style was my favourite aspect of The Art of Taxidermy. Due to the fact that it was written in verse I managed to fly through this book a lot faster than I thought I would. (Just thought I would mention that as well.)

As you can already guess, by the title of this book, the story has a big focus on taxidermy. There are quite a few gruesome scenes and descriptions in this book. If descriptions of dead animals bother you I would definitely stay clear of this book! Personally, it wasn’t something that bothered me. But then again I grew up reading Stephen King, so I can stomach quite a lot.

Speaking of the story, I was bored while reading this book. It seemed like nothing was happening and there were some repetitive moments. The characters also weren’t that memorable to me. All of them just felt flat. I couldn’t connect to Lottie at all, as she seemed unfazed by everything that was happening around her. The only thing that seemed to interest her was taxidermy and nothing else. I do understand in some ways why it was like that, but because of it I couldn’t emotionally connect to the story. One of the side characters is an Aboriginal boy, so there was some talk about indigenous people. I can’t comment on how that representation was handled.

Overall, The Art of Taxidermy was beautifully written but it lacked in story and characters. I’m not sure if this was a case of just me not connecting to the book, or if the story and characters weren’t well crafted. I think I’m unsure because of the format that this book was written in, as it’s not something that I’m used to.

This was my first verse novel, so I wasn't sure it I would take to it.  I finished it in one sitting and it was glorious.  It's the story of a young girl in Australia who, surrounded by death, tries in her own way to make death beautiful.  I loved it.  It's one of the most beautiful things I've read this year.  Her love of nature, especially animals, really spoke to me and reminded me capturing and mounting butterflies.  I especially appreciated that her father could see who she really was and not just a girl who should do girly things.   The novel also briefly touches on Australian internment camps during WWII and what it was like to be a German who had fled Nazi Germany only to end up in an internment camp in a foreign country.  Highly recommend.  It didn't feel YA to me.

Review: I was excited to read this young adult book because I have never heard of a book on taxidermy (in YA) before. Very interesting summery, so why not?

I was surprised to find out within the first few pages of this book that it was told through prose (poetry), and that did cause me to have a harder time to get into the book. Now, don't get me wrong I'm all for poetry-I love reading it. But, I was a bit thrown by it within the context of the plot/summary of this book. In the end it took me about two days to read this book and a day and a half to work through my notes to start writing up this review. 

With the poetry style writing, everything that was being told was so much darker and creepy. So, perfect! All fun aside, it was hard trying to figure out common information that is readily given in novel format of a book. It took way too long to put together that our main character's name is (well, nickname) Lottie and this is set a while back (time wise, I'd say a little after WW2). One the things I didn't get information (at least to put together) about her family being German and were living in Australia, also that her sister wasn't really with her (I thought she was an invisible best friend).

What I did like was how we get see overtime why Lottie loves to study and keep dead animals, skulls ect. Her whole life (she's six when the story starts and goes till she's 13, I think?) she has been surrounded and in the shadow of death. Her grandfather dies at an internment camp, her mother and youngest sibling die during the birth (the baby was stillborn and her mother was too weak and heartbroken). Her uncle dies and as we find out later her older sister (the oldest sibling) died when Lottie was young (and her mother was still alive). Although, it was nice to read about her and Annie (the older sister) liking the same things and seeing the beauty in death together (there is a rather chill inducing poem of Annie talking about how she died).

Lottie's grandmother, aunt and father are very present in her life, her aunt trying to straighten her out to be a normal young girl. Who does not understand Lottie's interest in dead things and keeping them, which makes her be the one who throws them out . In the end though, she is able to understand Lottie and her love (and her reasons for before, and how she thought that Lottie needed life instead of more death in her life).

Overall, I loved Lottie's drive and passion for taxidermy from such a young age. Although, with her family dynamic and the hardships each of them went through, and how Lottie went through so much death and sadness and found this beautiful passion from it (recreating and bringing back the dead in  a way).

Favorite quote(s):

I studied my beautiful corpse, in their decay.

I never cried.

I do not remember much

about Mother.

she was a shadow

that hovered in the dark corners of the 

house.

It was as if I had traveled

the distance

to his heart,

to the dark recesses

of his grief.

Your everything

is hers-

Your mother's.

You are a gift

And a curse.

I love books in prose, so I loved the layout of this book! 

This book deals with Charlotte's grief, and man does she have a lot. She expresses her grief in taxidermy, which her aunt absolutely hates. She tries to get her to stop throughout the whole book. 

I felt that not a lot happened. I found my mind wandering while reading. It wasn't the worst book I've read, but definitely wasn't the best either,

The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon Kernot is a gorgeously written tale of grief, death, life, and most importantly, the deep, aching beauty found in all of it. It’s about exploration, confusion, acceptance, loneliness, and family, all told through majestic verse that flows and ripples through the story like water over a rocky riverbed. The descriptions are visceral and real, each scene laid bare and raw before you, to read and understand, to learn. 

As Lottie grows up, and tries to understand the grief forever hanging above her family, she learns to find beauty in death, and to honor the once living through various methods. While the entire book focuses on death and decay, it somehow never becomes macabre or gruesome. The story is told with the utmost love and respect in every syllable. 

I received a free e-copy of The Art of Taxidermy from NetGalley and Text Publishing in exchange for my review.

Thanks to Text Publishing and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review. 

This book is written in verse which is really cool and something a bit different.. I was a little apprehensive at first as this is not a writing style I engage with very often. I needn't have worried however, as it it's a sublime reading experience and makes perfect sense in the context of the book.

Lottie, a young girl, the child of German immigrants living in Australia becomes fascinated with death after her mother dies. As a result of this interest, she begins collecting dead animals in an attempt to preserve them. Her aunt is horrified but her father encourages her interest, seeing it as a sign of  burgeoning scientific curiosity.

I have a distinctly morbid slant when it comes to matters of life and death so I found this book really interesting. It's a meditation on grief through the eyes of a young girl looking to make sense of what she's been through and how she chooses to process the death of her mother.

The book also has a real sense of place and the Australian landscape, flora and fauna plays a key role in the lyrical descriptions of Lottie's life and experiences. 

The novel also touches on prejudice against the Aboriginal population and contains a seemingly controversial use of the n-word. It is used in the context of 'they called him _______' as in referencing the racism faced by the character's best friend. This word was clearly used against the Aboriginal population in the historical context of post WW2 Australia so I didn't have an issue with it, but some readers have found it objectionable so make your own judgement.

Another slightly bizarre criticism I've seen is people complaining that the book has descriptions of dead animals. Bruhhhhhh...

Anyhoo, I really enjoyed this, it was a short, immersive read that utilised an interesting writing style to tell its story.

This is the perfect fall book. A novel in verse, it doesn't ask much of the reader, just that they follow along with it in this journey of dark days and dealing with grief. It has a wonderfully spooky vibe throughout that it's title clues you in on from the get go. It is honest and open in a way that lets you fall deep into the book and lose sense of yourself. There is a lot to say for any book that makes you forget where you are whenever you have to pull yourself out of it. Kernot has struck a very vulnerable cord with this one, and I'll be turning to this book time and again when I need to feel sad for no reason. It's cathartic in the way it explores the themes of grief and death, whether that's particularly what you're sad about or not.

I think this is the first book of poetry I have ever reviewed on this blog. Yay for firsts! To be honest, when I first requested it, I didn’t realize it was poetry, which was a surprise when I started reading it. I haven’t really read poetry since college, and I must say, it was a truly beautiful experience.

The poems all connect to tell the story of Lotte, a young girl who has lost her mother. One of the ways she copes with it is by finding dead animals — birds, mice, mostly small things — and collecting them. She is fascinated by them. Her Aunt Hilde is worried about her doing this, finding it morbid and weird, and actually destroys Lotte’s collections on several occasions. I have to say, I really disliked Hilde, even though I know she was doing what she thought was right. Lotte had to find her own way to deal with her grief and this way was working. It was not a morbid fascination with death, but a reverence for the gift of life.

I did forgive Hilde when she gave Lotte a kitten. Kittens will help me forgive almost anyone.

Lotte also uses her love for animals and her amateur taxidermy skills to feel closer to her sister, Annie. We find out towards the end of the story that Annie has also died, though Lotte still feels her presence, especially when searching for her specimens. Lotte’s father is dealing with his own grief, but also eventually supports Lotte’s scientific mind and interest in animals.

This book was absolutely lovely. Heartbreaking in places, but ultimately hopeful. It’s a story about a family’s love for one another, shown in different ways, but very strong and real.

There is so much to say about this book. I’m not sure I can adequately say how it made me feel. Grief is such a weight, such a heavy burden to carry around. Such a hard topic to write about. The way this book made me feel, raw and ripped open. The way it’s verse is written, offering so much more then what’s there. Please go pick this book up. Read it with a cup of tea and be ready to go on a twisty journey. 

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback. 

#read #reader #book #bookstagram #readersofinstagram #bookreview #greatreads #alwaysreading #reading #ilovebooks #currentreads #bookaddict #booknerd #bookish #bibliophile #goodreads #readerlife #booklife #readandreview

The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon Kernot is a novel in verse that explores death and grief as well as how we deal with it all. Novels in verse aren't normally my go-to style, but this is absolutely worthy reading. Due to the style, it can go very quickly if you don't slow down to savor it. Kernot's writing is wonderfully lyrical and rhythmical, yet somewhat spare. It can be a bit repetitive at times though. I wouldn't say the book is exactly exciting, but overall the author handles the topic at hand very well and she writes beautifully. I may need to explore more of Sharon Kernot's writing in the future.

I'll be honest, I didn't realise this novel was written in verse when I started reading it. However, I loved it. The plot itself is very simple - a young girl is struggling to cope with her own grief, and that of everyone around her - and collects dead things, partly out of morbid fascination, but also out of a desire to beauty even in death.

The simplicity (and the heart-breaking sadness that goes with this) is perfect for verse, where the bare bones of a story, and emotions, can be presented in very few words, but in a way that is even more meaningful for the reader.

Or at least, that is how it felt for me.

I loved the slow reveal of the depth of grief that Lottie is experiencing, as well as the added grief and experiences of her own family. During the novel, Lottie is 12-13 years old, which is a time when a young person might experience such adult traumas, but not know how to process them. Lottie's own way of processing these things may be both morbid and macabre, but it works beautifully.

It may be that this is partially due to how short it is, and each small poem could easily be read as a standalone, but I loved the thread of the plot and emotions running through them all. I would gladly read this again.

For me, this would not have had the same impact if it had been told in prose. The Art of Taxidermy came as a real surprise, and I loved every word of it.

I love this book, I though the atmosphere really reminded me of a film that Maggie Smith would be in. It actually made the appreciate the word of taxidermy in context outside of being the villains in the Paddington movie.I had some issues with it (like the black best friends main character trait being that he’s black). Over all would recommend to some but not to most.

I feel bad for another dnf, but these books just haven't been clicking with me lately.

I read the first 45% of this book fairly quickly, it flew by and I could just keep going and going. However, after I had stopped, I wasn't able to make myself pick it back up again. I realized I just didn't have a connection with the characters nor was intrigued by the story and family history that this book seemed to be building to, and with the book needing to be nearing more action/reveals/tension, I didn't think I was going to end up being invested when everything went down.

It's hard to pinpoint where this lack of interest came from. I think some of it definitely came from the general subject matter of the story (or the hobby through which the inner story of our MC is dealt with). While I knew this book would be about taxidermy, dead animals, etc., I guess I hadn't expected the detail? I guess I had assumed it would be backgrounding the larger family story rather than the other way around, and in reality I just don't enjoy reading about dead animal collecting, studying, and attempts at taxidermy of these dead animals. It just made me really uncomfortable at points, and I found myself skimming longer passages that involved these types of scenes. And unfortunately... this was most of the book. At least I know this for next time though, avoid books with a focus on dead animals?

I also wasn't fully enraptured by the verse. I've loved a lot of novels written in verse (most from Ellen Hopkins), but I just didn't mesh well with this particular take. I feel like verse is a little more hit or miss with me than prose, just as poetry is as well, and I honestly didn't feel like this novel benefited much from the verse (from what I read of it, of course). It seemed to read more as just broken up sentences than an actual style, and it just wasn't lyrical for me. I do think others will enjoy it though!

All in all, this book just wasn't for me, but I don't feel like I can judge it 'objectively', as much as anyone ever judges a book objectively. It just had too many things that weren't my taste, but I do feel like this book will find a home on some readers' shelves.