I wasn’t sure about this book to begin with. I’m a fan if Lisa Taddeo from Three Women, and I was finding it hard to understand the narrator, what she wanted and why she was behaving so strangely. But then the story unspooled in the most heartbreaking, emotional way in the second half and I couldn’t put it down. An intense analysis of pain, trauma and love. There are some parts of this book I will never forget.

I absolutely loved Three Women so I was excited about this book but unfortunately it just wasn't for me and I didn't finish it. I don't think it's a bad book at all, the author is without a doubt a very talented writer but I found myself hating most of the characters and not having any relief from it. It was very intense and I ended up deciding it wasn't my style.

I also didn't particularly like the attitudes in the book. I'm not an idealist but the way the characters lived and thought were so completely different to my own that they didn't resonate.

Thank you to @lisadtaddeo and @BloomsburyBooks for this advanced audio copy of Animal in return for an honest review. Animal is due to be published on 24th June 2021 and you can get a copy here.

Description 🔖

I don’t think I’ve ever done this before, but I’m going to do a complete lift and shift of the official blurb for this book;

Meet Joan.

I drove myself out of New York City where a man shot himself in front of me. He was a gluttonous man and when his blood came out it looked like the blood of a pig. That’s a cruel thing to think, I know. He did it in a restaurant where I was having dinner with another man, another married man. Do you see how this is going? But I wasn’t always that way. I am depraved. I hope you like me.

General Thoughts 🤔

I truly struggled with this book. I kind of got it, but didn’t get it. I kind of liked it but didn’t like it. To be honest, I’m still really not sure how I feel about the whole book and I’ve given myself 24 hours after completing it to really think about it.

I think I understand the intent of this book but I’m not entirely sure that the way in which the story is delivered to all of us as readers fulfils that intent. There are some shocking and explicit stories told via Joan and I’m fine with that; I’m not a prude and I don’t squirm easily, but I’m not convinced that all of them were appropriate. In fact, I thought that there was quite a large chunk of unnecessary and useless prose included in the book that I don’t think added much; if anything.

Usually, I can stand strong in my feelings about a book and I’m not uncomfortable in sharing those, however I feel like there may be something that I’m missing with this one. I don’t know how I feel about it but I think I’m supposed to feel something.

Characters 👫👭👬

Joan is obviously a very troubled character and has been through more in her lifetime than most of us will ever go through. The emotion was removed from her character and everything was told factually and was quite flat. This meant it was hard to empathise (I’m not saying I couldn’t, but it was hard) though I have a feeling that this was done intentionally.

Writing Style ✍️

When I think hard about it, I think this is where I struggled the most with this book. The story felt scatty to me and a bit thrown together. I often sat thinking “what is going on here now? I’m lost!”. After the first quarter, this confusion meant I kind of switched off and it is 100% on me that I stopped putting the effort into trying to engage with the book.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖️

I’ve been left confused and a little bit deflated by this book. I think I understand what it was trying to achieve but for me personally, it didn’t quite get there. There are some fantastic and raving reviews for this book and the author so I wouldn’t like to deter anyone from giving it a try as I feel that it’s very much a personal experience. I’m sure that this book will see a lot of success, it just didn’t hit the spot for me.

A fascinating portrait of a troubled woman - although it feels awfully familiar. Not sure if this adds much to the conversation, but Taddeo is a skilled writer. Good for fans of My Year of Rest and Relaxation.

**Update**
I have since tried the audio version of this book, and it didn't engage me anymore unfortunately. I so badly want to enjoy and like this book as the other reviews rave about it, and I feel like i'm really missing out by not loving it. Never mind. Guess I just need to remember that we all like different things!
*************


This book has been super hyped, and I feel like I have known about this book for months and months. I'm not sure if this was because the book was any good or if it was because the authors previous book was such a huge hit!
Nevertheless I really couldn't wait to start reading this - I must confess I haven't read Taddeo's previous book, so i was going into her writing style completely blind.

I really did not connect with Lisa Taddeo's writing style, or her central character Joan - I really struggled to find a way into the narrative, and get hooked into the plot and characters.
The pacing felt incredibly slow - up until the last 100 pages or so - but I think that is far too late to hook you into a book. The only reason I didn't DNF this book was because I was reviewing this book.
The book is described as a fast paced thriller and I think this is so far from what I experienced as a reader.

I really didn't enjoy my time with this book - and I know I'm in the minority here looking at the other reviews. This has really made me question whether or not to read Taddeo's first book, which is currently sat on my shelf.
I just couldn't connect!! Not for me!