I didn't know what to expect when I picked up 'Animal' but, I knew that I loved Lisa Taddeo's writing, so I had high expectations and eventually... (yes, eventually), they were met. My immediate thoughts on finishing the novel was that it's so visceral, you'll find it difficult to move on and shake off immediately.

I will admit that I struggled at the beginning to figure out the plot and understand where the narrative was going. I was also intimidated by how long the novel was (600+), that being said, the way in which Taddeo moves between the past and present, it kept the pace of the story and I didn't feel weighted by the amount I had to read ahead of the end.

One of the things that I enjoyed was that Taddeo keeps everything mysterious but answers your questions satisfyingly even if you expected it. It's difficult to describe what 'Animal' is about, but I suppose, you could call it a thriller, however, there are layers to this as it also crosses over to feminism.

This isn't an easy read; it's graphic in description involving violence, grotesque sex and carries an array of triggers: suicide, sexual assault, murder, domestic violence and pregnancy. This wouldn't be for the faint-hearted as it's dark with a lot of moments where I was wincing as the story unfolded; never at one point does Taddeo make you feel it's dragging due to her concise use of language and prose.

'Animal' is haunting and impactful with an intense eye for detail; it's clear that Taddeo has included a message within the book, but it's not a 600 page lecture and something that will stay with me for a very long time. I highly recommend!

Thank you Bloomsbury Publish Pls and NetGalley for this ARC.

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I can’t quite decide what to feel about this book. Honestly I was expecting good things, it sounded right up my alley, but I just wasn’t that impressed.
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It was such a strange read. There are soo many meaningless graphic scenes of violence, abuse and loss, it just felt a bit much.
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Throughout we are in Joan’s stream of consciousness and she addresses “you” like she’s speaking to us. I was confused as to who “you” was for most of the book. It’s revealed near the end, but again it’s a strange choice. I just wasn’t a fan of this narrative style.
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I felt a bit disconnected from the story the whole time, like I was being held at arms length. I didn’t feel anything for Joan, and couldn’t care less about anyone else she met. There’s an insta-friendship which I didn’t get, they just sit down and instantly begin discussing very personal things.
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There are obviously some awful things that happen to Joan (putting it mildly), but honestly the way she describes these events is so unemotional and blunt you literally wont feel anything for her.
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She is made out as a victim on the blurb, but I just didn’t get that vibe, everything she did seemed to be calculated in some way. She seems like a psychopath, even as a child.
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I was enticed to keep reading though, as I was expecting something dramatic to happen at any moment. I was awaiting the explosion of her ‘female rage’, as the blurb suggests, but I was left a bit underwhelmed by it honestly.
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There are ALOT of potential triggers in this book so you might want to check them out if you feel you need to. I won’t list them here, as for me TW can sometimes be spoilers.
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Overall I feel this book could have been something special. I like it when an author is not afraid of including shocking scenes or morally grey characters, but in this case it just didn’t quite work for me.
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Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of those books which I think is written to shock.

It’s crude, rude, honest, with no holding back.

There is a large focus on sex. Tbh I find this unnecessary sometimes as this isn’t the only thing that defines a person.

There is a lot going on in Joan’s life in this book. It jumps and I struggled to keep up at times.

I’m not sure if I enjoyed it. I wouldn’t even say it had the element of surprise as it hit the tip of the iceberg with the horrific storylines.

Trigger warnings : child abuse, rape, murder, adultery, miscarriage, grief, bereavement and many more I am sure I haven’t remembered.

But it’s staying in my head because of the graphic scenes and situations which I am sure would never actually happen in real life…? though I am a country girl so that could just be my naivety. There could be some inner meaning which has gone straight over my head; who knows?!

I can imagine this is a marmite book, you’ll either love it or hate it.

This may turn out to be an unpopular opinion but bear with me!

Animal follows Joan, a very disturbed and deeply troubled woman who is running away from past trauma but as ever, you can’t run away from troubles as they have a way of catching up with you.

From the first chapter to the last, this book is full of explicitly descriptive and shocking encounters exploring the very unhealthy relationships Joan has with partners and herself. There’s no break between the abuse, rapes, miscarriages, forced abortions, pedophilia, sex, grooming, affairs, dementia abuse, drug abuse, psychological illness and mental illness. For me it was too full on and sometimes shocking for the sake of being shocking rather than adding to the storyline.

There however lots of positives. Lisa Taddeo’s writing skills are showcased. She is extremely talented at building complex characters and exploring their inner mindsets, especially the main character Joan who is so obviously mentally affected by the trauma she has suffered and seen. Joans narrative is jumpy and sometimes disconnected and hard to follow, which actually adds to the character and is fitting with the troubled woman we see. I also enjoyed exploring the theme how women are used, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

Ultimately despite the positives this is a book I can’t rate higher than a 2. This is because I couldn’t recommend this book with this many triggers. In fact, I would actively discourage friends from buying it.

I’ve seen loads of rave reviews about how bold and fearless this book is but that comes with a cost for Animal

I finished this within a couple of days of receiving it. It was... memorable. Definitely memorable! But I didn't really love it for the simple reason that I found the main character unlikeable. Or, as 'she' would say: depraved. This was the 'point' so I can't blame the author for writing the main character in this way. I simply did not engage with her though. As a result, I found myself not really caring what happened to her (or around her). This all said, the writing was beautiful and the pace of the book was such that I kept me interested and keen to find out more.

A novel that punches you in the gut. However imperfect she is - but aren't we all -, it would be impossible not to feel for Joan, the protagonist, after all she's been through in the hands of men. Lisa Taddeo's writing is raw yet lyrical in its own way. Animal is a stunning debut novel, and I'll certainly be reading her next.

A great read - dark and disturbing. The character of Joan was really, really well written. I really invested in the story. Highly recommended.

Raw, visceral and compelling, Lisa Taddeo's Animal is a book to admire rather than enjoy. Imagine a Lane Del Rey album where every song ends with blood, bleakness or barbarism and you've kind of got the vibe.

The narrator, Joan, is a great character, stumbling angrily through a life that resembles a chain of metaphorical car crashes, which harden her to the extent that a real, fatal, car crash early in the story barely seems to register with her.

Joan's depraved (in her own words) behaviour is a direct result of the tragic events that shaped her. She, and others, suffer heartbreak as a direct result of the sexual behaviour of the men in their life. Time and again, we see horrific chain reactions following events where men selfishly act on their sexual impulses, in some cases cheating, in some attempting to dominate/own women, or in some brutally abusing.

Animal is not an easy read but Taddeo is clearly a talented writer and the second half of the book in particular grabs hold of the reader.

With 'Three Women' being one of my most recommended books of the past few years I was so excited to read 'Animal'. The writing is fantastic - detailed, evocative and very raw, but I felt very little connection with the main character and really had to push myself to complete the book. Once I hit around 75% and her back story became clearer I felt the pace of the book pick up, but it wasnt enough for me to turn the book around for me.

I am sure there will be people that adore this book (as I did with Three Women), but for me that lack of connection fell short.

My first book by this author and i didn’t know what to expect. It was written strangely - but I needed to keep reading to find out out more about the story. The storyline is full of anger and abuse. This wasn’t my usual read at all, it was way out of my comfort zone. I can’t honestly say if I enjoyed it or not but I’m glad I finished it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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<p>This truly is a literary masterpiece. I completely understand why this book is getting so much praise. This is going to be a bestseller of 2021. </p>
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<p>This is definitely an impactful novel, Taddeo certainly doesn’t sugar coated the events that take place in this novel. Joan is an interesting character who tells us the story in this novel. It’s quite hard to discuss without giving away any spoilers; hence why this is vague. </p>
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<p>Joan has had many troubled relationships and there are definitely dark aspects within this novel. Taddeo really shows is as readers how someone’s life can be impacted by events from the past.</p>
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<p>This is a masterpiece. I have devoured this book; completely ignoring the reality because I was completely captivated by the book. I loved Taddeo’s Three Women but I think this is my new favourite. </p>
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<p>A most definite five star read that should definitely be on the TBR. </p>
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Written solely from the perspective of an extremely bitter, love-starved woman who moves across the country after her lover kills himself in front of her so that she can stalk Alice (yet another person she blames for all her misfortunes) this is a very intense read. The female protagonist, despite being a victim of significant childhood trauma, is completely unsympathetic and the writing veers on claustrophobic due to the protagonist's self-absorption and vitriolic outbursts. While Taddeo's exploration of the darker side of women is interesting and refreshing, I would have liked Joan to be more complex and for there to be a bit more pace in the narrative. A thought-provoking, if not completely enjoyable or satisfying, read.

This is a very dark VERY disturbing thriller about a VERY angry woman. A compelling read but not one for the faint of heart. An incredibly powerful read.

Lisa Taddeo is such a good writer. This book is similar in structure to Three Women, in that it is such a slow burn, but by the end, you are completely engrossed.
Joan's story is told in current time, with flashbacks to her childhood and family, and it feels like layers and layers of revelations gradually being exposed to explain Joan's motives and actions. The other characters all have histories and individual personalities.
Another excellent book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sending me an ARC of this book. This is a book I’ve really been looking forward to as I enjoyed Lisa Taddeo’s non-fiction debut Three Women and I was keen to see how her talent translated into fiction writing. Unfortunately Animal left me feeling a little cold. It’s an incredibly raw story of a woman named Joan who, after her married lover shoots himself in front of her while she’s on a date with another man (yes, you read that right – it’s quite the opening), flees New York and moves to a remote canyon outside of Los Angeles and begins to ingratiate herself into the life of a young local women for reasons that only become clear as we move through the book. Joan is an incredibly messy protagonist who makes awful, dangerous choices but as we get to know her the depths of her trauma become apparent and you find yourself beginning to understand her behaviour and her outlook on life. But ultimately for me it all just felt like too much and I’m not usually one to shy away from gritty or upsetting stories. Taddeo is relentless in piling incredible levels pain and suffering onto Joan and the female characters in her immediate vicinity and after a certain point it felt more like cheap shock tactics than good writing. The book improves towards the end when some of the key plot points and mysteries of the novel pay off but I’d still be hesitant to recommend this book to friends. Would it have been too much to ask to have just one fewer brutal sexual assault?

This was too dark and angry for me. Some parts and the writing are excellent but it was not the right book for me. I wonder if people expect it to be as dark as this. Time will tell.

This is a weird novel. It’s overwhelmingly visceral, an emotional rollercoaster, and brilliantly written as it cascades through a series of objectively quite appalling events! The central character is Joan, an oddly pleasant name for someone who bounces through life like a rogue bowling ball, crushing anything and anyone that gets in the way. The book starts with one of her ex-lovers shooting himself in the restaurant where she’s having dinner with another man and from then on it gets worse!

Dreadful things don’t just happen to Joan but they also happen to those who are around her, those who get involved in her life accidentally and those she simply preys on, but as these are related something of her back story emerges. It’s a clever, slow burner though because just at the moment when you think, well that explains this something worse happens and you find out that there is an even worse thing to explain that!

The book is fast paced, sharply observed and very well written. This gives the terrible events a sense of authenticity and veracity. You soon realise that Joan is never going to find true happiness but then neither is anyone else who comes into contact with her. Given an offer of friendship or an act of kindness she will quickly respond with cruelty or a crime. However, she doesn’t come across as heartless. It’s more that she can’t get anything right or to work out in a better way.

Things get more complicated as the climax to the book approaches and some people might see the ending as optimistic but I’d have my doubts. All in all, it’s an interesting read if you can stand a bit of gore in places and Joan is an unusual protagonist, villainous yet also oddly deserving of sympathy. You still wouldn’t want to meet her!

What a rollercoaster of emotions! And what a range of strong women. Strong in many different ways, that’s for sure!

I am not going to lie, there were many occasions where I felt very uncomfortable and on edge. Joan has a way to really be a strong character as you get to feel for her as well as hate her in some moments.

Her relationship with Alice is so complex it is hard to work out their link.

I would say that because of this aspect of feeling uncomfortable, it also pushed me to finish quickly 😅 Very ambivalent feelings when finished !

Readers of Taddeo’s extraordinary Three Women will be familiar with many of the themes explored in this thrilling novel. Flipping between past and present and revealing the central story little by little, the novel is really masterfully written - by the end you realise you knew pretty much all along what the ultimate revelations would be. Joan is a compelling central character and she narrates her own story so well. I loved this novel and couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I’ve thought about this book after finishing it a lot because I don’t know how it has made me feel. It was confusing and very well written. The characters were all deeply flawed but very human.