This is a tender witty modern look at death grieving and how it affects us all in different ways .The narrator works in a family run funeral parlour in Australia and thinks she knows everything there is to know about death and grieving until tragically her own mother dies suddenly .
The raw visceral ugliness of grief immediately after the death of her mother is described on minute Oh so accurate detail as is the desire to escape this awful feeling in any way possible as if by mortifying her own flesh she can remove the unbearable feelings
I loved the modern Australian setting just different enough from my own uk life for the differences to be noticeable snd this important
The scenes set in the adult Sand M club wander between horrific and hilarious,I wanted to gather this girl up and take her away from hurting herself so badly
The description of a mother enduring a still birth had me in floods of tears and provides the cathartic ending that the novel needed
I real an early copy of the book ok NetGalley Uk it is published 17th February 2022

'New Animal' is a journey through and exploration of grief in a young woman. An interesting debut novel from Ella Baxter, 'New Animal' packs some punches. Baxter explores how trauma from grief manifests itself.

This book will have you laughing and reflecting on your own inner thoughts at the same time.

I personally felt like the last chapter was incredible and the prose was so beautifully thought out and written.

A promising debut - I am keen to see what Ella Baxter publishes next.

New Animal by Ella Baxter has a promising premise about a young woman attempting to distract herself from grief but I felt like it was underdeveloped.

Wow. Not even sure where to begin with this one.
A perfect, honest and hard hitting account of grief, losing a mother and how its (not) handled.
This weirdly has the perfect mix of grief and sex which stunned me but it absolutely worked.
Some shocking scenes- not for the faint hearted.
Raw, unique, clever.
And its a debut. OHMYGOODNESS.