We all know Lisa Taddeo for her bold and insightful nonfiction work, "Three Women". Her debut novel is equally striking and raw. I was gripped. Thanks for the ARC!

As she showcased in Three Women, Taddeo can write. She is a master at delving into and revealing the inner lives of her 'characters'. AndJoan is very much a capital-C character - compelling yes, but far too deliberately drawn to feel real, while Alice reads as little more than a foil (at times it felt as if her prompting and J's off-loading of her story was more interview technique than fiction). There is a very Bret Easton Ellis vibe to the overall tone – Taddeo nails the aspirational nihilism, but do you end up really caring? Not sure.

What an amazing deeply dark and unsettling, raw and gritty thought provoking novel. Cold and blunt, the truths about ourselves that we don't want to hear or admit to or remember. This gipped me so much that I binged more than half of it in a day. I loved the journey through the past and present of how and why all of the events take place and the actions of Joan, her family and other encounters shape what happens with snowball effects further down the line.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced digital review in exchange for an honest review.

Raw, visceral, and often uncomfortable, Animal tells the story of Joan, a 37-years-old woman who flees New York after her ex-lover kills himself in front of her at the restaurant where she's dinning with another man.

Joan is a heroine like no other, self-professed depraved, without remorse or conscience. The book gives you access to her unfiltered and unapologetic thoughts. She acts in many way like an animal, lashing out but as the story progresses you discover a wounded animal and you slowly understand the events that made her who she is.

The book in its own way is also a reflection about women and the dozen little ways they can be assaulted every way. This book will stay with me for a long time, especially one sentence (I'm paraphrasing): "there are rapes you shower and get dressed for."

WOW. This book has been in my mind since the moment I read the last page. I found the narrative perspective of Joan to be completely compelling and something that stayed with me as I read on. Lisa Taddeo interrogates and blurs the distinctions between victims, perpetrators and exploiters. Joan embodies a multitude of different facades through her rage which is triggered by a relentless cycle of abuse. It's certainly not a lighthearted fiction novel but the complexity and depth of the plot and characters make it hugely enjoyable and gripping to read. The moments of fragmentation in the book seemingly mirror Joan's often conflicted and dissociating mind was especially brilliant. A strong contender for my favourite book of 2021 so far. I'm excited to see what's next for Lisa Taddeo and thrilled on her behalf for the great success I'm sure this book will be.

The reason for the title is not entirely clear but the lead character, Joan, not to be called the heroine, certainly displays animal behaviour. As the book moves on, the details of the abrupt deaths of her parents is disclosed as part of what triggers her dysfunctional adult behaviour. The book includes more sexual detail than is needed but that shows her obsession with random males. She moves from New York to Los Angeles in pursuit of Alice to whom she is related but also to lose the past. Her behaviour remains unchanged however. The book is not an easy read because it is hard to see the point off reading about a confused, immoral criminal. I am unable to recommend it.

Readers (like me) who loved Three Women will enjoy this novel. The plot is a bit unstructured but I think you read Lisa Taddeo for the psychological insights and the beautiful, precise words she uses to nail women's most private thoughts to the wall.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for this ARC.

Animal has left me confused - I honestly can't decide whether I loved or hated it. I've rated it 3 stars as I didn't really wanna leave a star rating, but if I have to then I'm going for middle ground.

Animal is a story about 37-year-old Joan who moves out to LA after witnessing the suicide of a married man she was having an affair with - he shoots himself in the restaurant in which Joan is having dinner with another married man. We soon find out Joan prefers and is drawn to married men, she describes herself as "depraved" and suffered some serious childhood trauma.

Much of the narrative delves deep into Joan's raw and honest thoughts and feelings - some of which are so sordid and awful I physically cringed. But some parts also had me nodding in recognition, which is what I mean about the confusion.

The plot as a concept had a lot of potential and it's what kept me going; the last 60-70% really picked up as things started coming together, events of the past were explained and some of my questions were answered. However, the plot had me reeling - often it was so outlandish and disjointed it made me uncomfortable, and I'm not easily affected by what I read.

I adored Three Women and Taddeo's writing style, which was apparent in Animal too - I love an honest look at the human psyche, whether fictional or otherwise, but the seriously odd elements of Animal's plot for me. I understand the intention probably was to evoke feelings of confusion and discomfort, but it felt a bit too pretentious.

62+Liz Barnsley
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Animal by Lisa Taddeo
Animal
by Lisa Taddeo (Goodreads Author)
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Read in May 2021
I'm honestly not sure what to say about this one. The writing is beautiful and clever in its descriptive sense and formation of external characters, Lisa Taddeo is undoubtedly talented in that arena.

That aside though I found this novel disturbing and likely not in the way the author intended..I can see what she was attempting here but for me personally it was too convoluted and over written in so many places. Main protagonist Joan is so totally unlikable, the way she behaves, the way she thinks, you are invited to understand that this is because of a dark event in her past, and it is, yet somehow as horrific as that final reveal was, it didn't really hit home. I was just left feeling vaguely uncomfortable and half wishing I'd never read it.

Its like if you took the worst aspects of every woman and kind of melded them into a hot pot of events and experiences that would be Joan who never really solidifies as a possible real human being in her own right. Clever as this was in some ways, in others it felt like it was just there for shock value rather than being a social commentary on anything.

There are shocking and distasteful acts in this book, not something that tends to bother me but here it was over reaching. And frankly the alzheimer's layer of the plot I found to be genuinely offensive and trust me I dont offend easily. I'm not even a reader who gets wound up about fictional dead animals but I guess we all have our tipping point.

I do see, with a birds eye view, why Animal has a lot of rave reviews and will probably do very well but when I zoom in on it I'm pretty sure I just didn't "get" it.

Sadly I don't really feel I can recommend this one

'Animal' by Lisa Taddeo uses first person narrative to take you inside Joan's head. She is a woman who has experienced (and been shaped by) multiple trauma's, including the loss of her parent's aged 10. How this happened, what she hopes for in moving to LA, and why she seeks a woman called Alice, are all revealed in the last quarter of the novel.

This book is heavily reminiscent of 'Luster' by Raven Leilani. Both have deeply damaged narrators who have sought relationships with married and unsuitable men. Both depict their lives and experiences unflinchingly. After writing the non-fiction 'Three Women' it appears Taddeo continued to want to explore some of the same themes, including how life experiences can impact on someone's ability to love.

I have to admit, whilst I thought this novel was very well written, I didn't enjoy it - although I'm not sure I was supposed to. It was certainly visceral and there are many upsetting ideas tackled. I did wonder how more rounded the novel would have been, if written from multiple perspectives. Although giving Joan a voice was probably Taddeo's priority. I will be interested to see what Taddeo writes in the future.

This book wasn’t for me. Taddeo is an extremely talented writer and I found the first half of the book compelling and darkly engrossing. But I found the book became too much for me in the last 10%. Personally I found it too provocative and gratuitous.

Trigger warnings for murder, multiple scenes of rape and sexual assault as well as scenes of very harrowing violence. For example this book contains a description of a miscarriage and a vivid description of a crime scene. If these things are too triggering for you just be warned.

Thanks to the author Lisa Taddeo, Bloomsbury and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNF'D for use of ableist language, handicapped is considered a slur amongst the disabled community, of which I am a member of. Very disappointed this wasn't picked up by an editor or Taddeo doing her own research. Gutting as I was very much looking forward to her fiction debut

Thank you Netgalley and Bloomsbury for giving me an ARC of this book. I’d been seeing it on my dashboard, hearing about it online - at some point, I just had to give in and request it. I was intrigued by the cover and the blurb. I really really liked the opening chapter. The voice was distinct. So many details and descriptions that bring the story to life were present. But then when I got to the following chapters, it got confusing. Chapter 2 in particular felt like a different story altogether, even voice-wise. This is purely subjective, but I found the narrative hard to follow. Having said that, I still think that the writing is impeccable. The author clearly has done her research and put a lot of time and heart into this book. In the end, I think it just wasn’t for me. But I do believe that the praise that it already gets is justified.

‘Animal’ -Lisa Taddeo
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚠️ Child abduction, Physical and mental Abuse, Rape, Murder, Suicide, Graphic sexual descriptions, Mental illness, child sacrifice, Abortion, Self harm, Still birth and infant fatality ⚠️

Please be advised: this is an entirely gritty, dark and scintillatingly depraved novel that is expertly written but has the unique potential to be incredibly triggering on almost every page.

YES LISA TADDEO. This is exactly the type of bold literature I wanted to read. It’s unapologetic and viscerally raw; depicting the fallout from a male dominated society.

I found the narrative of Joan utterly engrossing and spellbindingly compelling. Victim, instigator, purpertrator, exploiter; she manifests and embodies a range of facades through her unadulterated rage, brought upon by a relentless cycle of continued abuse. A complex protagonist (to say the least) her provocative nature made this book addictive. In particular, the representation of fragmented cohesion to reflect Joan’s often conflicted and wandering mind, I found to be bone-chillingly brilliant.

A strong contender for my favourite book of the year, no doubt. This one will stay with me for a LONG time.

A huge thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing, Lisa Taddeo and NetGalley for this eARC.

1.5 rounded up

Sigh. Where to start... having absolutely loved Three Women and enjoyed the extract of this that I'd read I was certain this would be one of my top reads of the year -- it was definitely one of my most anticipated, but ended up being a huge letdown.

Instead I'm sorry to say that I found this to be almost instantly forgettable and an utter slog to get through and it feels like I read a different book to everyone else! The protagonist, Joan, is in her late 30s and has recently relocated from NYC to LA after a violent incident involving someone she was having an affair with. On arrival in LA she seems to hurtle between meaningless encounters (both sexual and non-sexual) without rhyme or reason. She has clearly been damaged by the death of her parents when she was young and other events which have taken place since, but the way the novel was written made me feel totally disconnected from what was happening - I think some of this was likely intentional on the part of the author, but it's an instant turn off from the perspective of this reader. There is a clear theme of violence against women and its link to Joan's anger and subsequent actions, but I just didn't feel at all invested in the outcome of events in the plot because of the endless pages of dialogue and encounters which felt (to me) like they contributed nothing to the overall story.

I am more than happy to admit that there's something I missed here as most of the reviews so far are rave ones, but suffice it to say that this novel was not my cup of tea at all.

Joan has spent a lifetime enduring the cruel acts of men. But when one of them commits a shocking act of violence in front of her, she flees New York City in search of Alice, the only person alive who can help her make sense of her past. In the sweltering hills above Los Angeles, Joan unravels the horrific event she witnessed as a child—that has haunted her every waking moment—while forging the power to finally strike back.

Taddeo’s writing is heart-piercing. While reading, I often had to stop and take in some of the passages that although utterly horrific rang incredibly true. Things I would never dare say out loud! (Or would I have the courage to let anyone know I actually thought it). Joan is a broken brave soul on a journey for redemption for the crimes she expérienced simply because she was born.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Unforgettable, uncomfortable and utterly absorbing. I can't say this was an easy or particularly enjoyable read, but it that broke my heart again and again and leaves you with an incredible compassion for a woman you don't even know.

Sadly I wasn't the right reader for this book as I was unable to engage with the main character and I found myself skimming through.. However, I'm sure fans of Three Women will find much here to enjoy as the writing style and themes have a similar vibe.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

I found this book to be really dark and quite disturbing at times, while you know Joan has been through so much in her life I couldn’t take to her at all, I just didn’t like her, I found the story really hard to follow at times, she jumps about in her narative a lot! It took a while to find out who Alice is but I got that I really didn’t care. It’s very well written but really not for me at all, I’m sorry.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

I appreciated the intent of this book and the way it shows us a woman scarred by trauma and filled with rage, but the even, flat prose doesn't seem to track with the contents of the book. I can see that Joan is fighting a crushing sense of social and self- alienation but the voice is so even, a kind of literary monotone, that I was always detached from the story being told.

There are some bold and shocking moves in the book, and a long-awaited reckoning with a generalised culture which is so complicit with violence against women from rape to objectification. But the thriller technique of making us wait almost to the end of the book to find out what happened That Day that functions as causality and as a key to Joan's psyche just went on far too long for my taste and some judicious editing might have tautened up the whole story.

Likely to be a somewhat divisive book and worth reading for precisely that reason.