I enjoyed Lisa's first novel and I was very excited to read this one. It is different but still a page turner and I enjoyed it.

This book is about power and it’s very graphic in places.
I felt the timeline bounces around so much that the book becomes so confusing. I did enjoy the style of writing. But it’s not for the faint hearted

Animal by Lisa Taddeo is a dark and disturbing novel about a young woman named Joan who is on a destructive path of self-destruction. Joan's journey is one of violence, addiction, and depravity. She sleeps with married men, gets into fights, and uses drugs and alcohol to numb her pain.

Taddeo's writing is raw and unflinching. She does not shy away from the ugliness of Joan's world, and she does not attempt to make her sympathetic. This makes for a difficult but ultimately rewarding read. Animal is a book that will stay with you long after you finish it.

I LOVED Three Women by Taddeo, so I was extremely excited to read Animal. What an absolutely breathtaking and visceral book - the language is so evocative, and it took me a while to actually get through because I was having to go back and reread parts.

I loved Three Women but unfortunately really didn’t get on with Animal. Clunky and confusing, and off-putting for the reader.

Lots of TWs with this book.
A very gutsy piece of literature for a debut novel.
A very brave number of topics to which to write about.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for gifting me the book

'Animal' is not the type of book that I typically read. This book is a very dark read and I am much more of a happy, romance/fantasy girl, so maybe that's why I did not enjoy this book as much as I am sure a lot of people do.
There were so many interesting messages in this book about women and power and anger. It was definitely an interesting read and there were a lot of aspects of this book that I did enjoy. I do think that I did not enjoy it as much as a lot of people will simply because this is not the type of book that I would typically pick up and read.

This was a dark and uncomfortable read that I couldn’t put down. The hate and anger within our protagonist was difficult to engage with, the story flits between time and it can be confusing figuring out what is going on, but once you do, you are gripped, and everything hangs in this dark secret that we are waiting for the story to reveal. This is a book that will stay with me.

This is a thoughtful, beautifully written book with each woman written with justice and importance. great for reading groups.

I really enjoyed the depth of the main character. There seemed to be so many layers to her that you weren't ever sure what was next.

I believe there should be a trigger warning for miscarriage as one particular scene is quite graphic and could be triggering for some.

I did have hopes that the level of violence would go further as the name "animal" suggests an idea of a character becoming almost feral.

Love Lisa Taddeo's descriptive flair. Read this book really quickly as couldn't put it down. She really grips the reader and although the characters aren't always likeable, you're invested in knowing what happens to them.

Lisa Taddeo—author of Three Women, the blockbuster 2019 study of desire and abjection—has made her first foray into fiction with the confrontational novel Animal. In some ways it’s a continuation of her work in Three Women, touching on similar themes—notably, the domination of women by men—but also a corrective. Joan, the protagonist, does not simply lie down and take it. She hurts, but also hurts in return. It’s a book of female rage and sometimes graphic violence. Buckle up: this book goes dark and deep."

This wasn’t my usual kind of book and I found it quite difficult to gel with. I’d heard such great things about Lisa Taddeo’s previous writing and I can certainly see the appeal; it’s just not to my personal taste

Wasn’t really my cup of tea unfortunately! Still kudos to Taddeo’s immersive storytelling. I wish I could have gotten in to it but perhaps I read it at the wrong time for me personally. No reflection on the author.

Gritty and fast paced novel, not my usual type of fiction but I enjoyed the anti-heroine narrator. Some parts were a bit too much for me - could have done with some trigger warnings.

Thank you to NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review! Animal has some beautiful writing; I lost track of the amount of quotes I annotated, singing their praises and dissecting their meanings. Taddeo presents a bold portrayal of femininity that is often overlooked in media, subverting the expectation from prey into predator. Joan is a complex character, both the victim and the exploiter in tandem across the span of the book but it’s enthralling to hear her story and see where it ultimately ends up.

The main reason for my rating dipping a bit is that the story was often nonsensical (and not in a good way). The enigma of Joan’s past unravelling was mysterious but clunky and sometimes the chapters felt unintentionally disorientating. This sometimes made the story hard to follow on with and a smoother narrative style may well have lended to an overall better reading experience. Worth the slow burn if only for the richness of quotes to be found!

Loved loved loved Three Women, I thought it was genius and I was so excited to be accepted to review Animal.

It's an incredibly dark story about rage, power, abuse and control. Joan is a hugely complex character: I felt sorry for her at times but others I was questioning her choices. Taddeo is a brilliant writer, no doubt about it, I will read everything she puts out into the world. I just didn't love this as much as I wanted to. Three Women was such a statement and a brilliant piece of publishing, and I think this needed a bit... more.

A really solid addition to the genre; reliable, if a little predictable in places. Would recommend if you know what you want from this sort of book, as it definitely delivers that. Not as good as I expected from the author, a bit like a repeat of Three Women in places.

After reading Lisa Taddeo's debut, Three Women, I couldn't wait to see what she would do next.
But sadly I really struggled to get into and continue reading Animal.
Over the course of weeks and months I found myself picking this up and then putting it down. It didn't quite capture my interest long enough to enjoy it as one continuous story.
The writing is as raw and brilliant as Taddeo's debut, as is the way in which she writes about sex but the story itself was a bit all over the place.
I also couldn't really connect with Joan as a main character.
It was a bit of an uncomfortable read as well, which I think is what Taddeo was going for.
Even though this wasn't quite for me, I will definitely be reading whatever Lisa Taddeo does next, as Three Women was so strong.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Such a raw and emotional book, yet gripping. I loved the complete truth and telling that the author delivered