A great story, well written and riveting. It made me cry buckets as there's a lot of grief but also hope.
Loved every moment of it and I think that the author is a talented storyteller.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

The Night Animals is a beautifully told, touching and hopeful story of family and friendship; of dealing with mental health issues; and, of finding the strength to ask for help.

Nora’s mum has been signed off from her work as a paramedic due to having PTSD. She has good days and bad days and, on the worst days, stays in bed and leaves Nora notes telling her to stay with a friend. Nora has begun to see the shimmering ghost animals which used to visit her when she was younger. Could these animals help her find a path away from her loneliness and isolation? Could they hold the key to helping her find the courage and strength to ask for, and accept, the help she and her mother need? Could they take her back to her past and into a more hopeful future?

Chasing a ghost fox across the school playground, Nora is pulled beneath the branches of a cherry tree by Kwame who is hiding from a bully. Kwame lives close to Nora and spends a lot of his time with his Grandad both to help him and to get away from his noisy, boisterous siblings. Nora tries to push Kwame’s friendship away, but he proves himself to be a kind-hearted, determined and supportive friend who can see that Nora needs help even when she can’t see this herself.

Together, they find themselves on an incredible adventure on the trail of a ghost fox, hare, raven and otter, an adventure that opens a path for Nora to find the help her family needs.

This is a heartfelt and beautifully told, empathetic story of finding the strength to face problems, of recognising when everything is not fine and having the courage to ask for and accept help from others. Highly recommended for readers of 9+.

Thank you for the chance to read this ARC. The Night Animals is a powerful story of Nora, dealing with difficult issues. Her dad left when she was young, and lives abroad, and her Mum is struggling with PTSD.
Nora begins to see ghost animals, all helping her in different ways, leading her to new friendships and understanding it's ok to ask for help
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and read it in one sitting.
I will be looking out other books from this author.

Beautiful moving story for young readers.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

Nora lives with her mum who is a paramedic but who is off work due to PTSD. She has good days and bad days, and Nora never knows what sort of day it's going to be, but recently there seem to have been more bad days than good, with Nora coming home from school to find her mum in bed and a note on the door. Recently Nora has started seeing ghost animals that appear to be guiding her is some way, she just doesn't quite know how. Along with her new friend Kwame, can Nora discover exactly what the ghost animals are trying to tell her?
I'd heard great things about The Night Animals and, having loved The Hunt For The Nightingale (you can read my review here), it felt like the perfect book to start the new year, especially as it has just been announced as Waterstone's Children's Book of the Month for January.

From the start, I need to say that this is a beautifully written and heart-felt book full of love and hope in so many different guises and what started out as reading a couple of chapters whilst having a lie-in, ended up being a book I read in one sitting. Nora clearly feels alone but doesn't want to ask for help; it can often be a difficult thing to do, especially as she feels she needs to be strong for her mum. She is struggling at school as well as at home to keep her emotions in check and feels that isolating herself is better; 'fine' is a word she uses a lot through the book - at so many points during the story, I wanted to reach into the pages and hug Nora. The ghost animals are her lifeline but she is the only one who can see them so she is reluctant to tell anybody about them. That is until Kwame comes along, and it is he who I think is my favourite character: he is hiding from the school bully when we first meet him and seems determined to blend in instead of standing out, yet he is persistent in his quest to become Nora's friend. He is kind and caring in so many ways and a real hero in my eyes.

The Night Animals is a powerful and thought-provoking journey of discovery that it brimming with empathy. It's a book that reminds us that it's ok to ask for help and that mental health is never something to be ashamed of. It's about family, friendship, hope and love ... lots and lots of love ... and I promise it will leave you wanting to hug the book once you have finished reading it.

Released on the 5th January, The Night Animals was the perfect start to the new year.

I previously read another book by this author 'hunt for the nightingale' and adored it. It's one of the best books i've read and left me sobbing. But this book just didn't have even remotely the same effect on me. I almost felt it was written by a different author.
the premise is good. A girl whose mother is suffering from PTSD, is struggling with life and interacting with other people. They always want to know how she is, and although things are definitely not fine, she is determined to try and make things normal, so tells everyone that everything is fine. However, sometimes her mother cant leave her room, cant cook or do anything much at all. Nora has withdrawn from her friends, in an effort to try and hide that things aren't really fine.
then she starts seeing these ghostly animals with rainbow auras, and they seem to be trying to tell her or show her something.
basically this is a story about accepting reality, finding true friends and understanding that it is OK to ask for help!
Although I didn't really enjoy this story too much (at least in comparison to hunt for the nightingale), there was still a really good message to be had.
the topic might be a bit hard for some kids, but equally, this book could be perfect for kids who are perhaps going through the same things, and it might give them hope and the strength to also ask for help. So from that point of view, I can't fault the message that it's putting across.

Nora is adamant there is nothing wrong with the world – yes, her single mother parent is off sick as being an ambulance paramedic has given her long-term PTSD. But that's not an issue. If anything, the only thing notable about the world is that everyone else in it is lacking in understanding, and that Nora can see ghost animals – indeed we start this with her waking up to a ghost fox lying on top of her bed. Is it the case – could it possibly be, do you think – that the animals know better than Nora about how to proceed with life?

This is a book about capitalised Issues, but done so rivetingly and entertainingly that you never feel hectored about any of them. It shows us a lovely relationship between Nora and her mother, and a much younger one between the girl and Kwame, a lad who is the same year-group yet different class in school, and a part-time resident just across the road. It also shows the relationships between Nora and the animals – the first chunk is a little too obviously (for an adult audience at least) about how the fox points out to Nora that solitude does not leave her in good standing, and then there is a ghost this and a ghost that, and so on, all with nudges that they hope will help her iron out all the wrinkles in her life.

It feels a little awkward slightly at times to have the book split apart into such obvious chunks – the animal does their thing, and vanishes – but the pages still read so well throughout that these stops and starts are never a problem. This is really a commendable read, and enough of an effort to make you want to track the author's future output with anticipation, as well as check back on her debut for this age bracket. OK, it's not perfect – a side-issue with bullying is really clunky and pat – but this is a warm, engaging read, keeping us on our toes as to what will happen to its welcome spread of characters, and still getting to the core of the emotions caused by all those Issues, whether they be bitterness, self-isolation, or the way we are too happy to bury the need to call for help too deep for our own good. A strong four stars.

This book was a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I cried and smiled , I'm glad I read this first before reading it to the children as they may have found Grandma sobbing a bit upsetting. It is such an important book though addressing many of current issues in society so I will read it again together. I beautiful heartrending but ultimately redemptive book.

Thanks to NetGalley for approving me for this ARC. It's definitely an important story for children and is a gentle introduction to mental health and the impact that this can have upon children and families. I do feel the plot pace was a bit off - the story took a long time to build up and then felt wrapped up very rapidly.

All in all an important book for children to engage with.

This is an incredible read that I found to be so moving with practically every page moving me in some way. It is well written with a compelling storyline and well developed characters and is full of both heart-wrenching moments that will have you biting you lip with emotion and hopeful moments that will leave you uplifted. A great read.