Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Animal

This is one of the best novels on the effects of generational and sexual trauma I have ever read. This is not a story of redemption or hopeful new beginnings. Joan is an utterly real person, and we see the contradiction and pain living inside her without the fluff of a character built to be a turned-hero. The first half of the book is a stream of consciousness and can drag at times. However, a piece like this is not to entertain. Its goal is not to inform or enlighten. This is an expression of pain taken at face value. Those who have not experienced what Joan describes cannot fully grasp what this text does. Although feminism is a huge motif, the modern interpretation of the "girl boss" is nowhere seen. Joan's rage mimics the violence that builds through oppression and abuse, steering her to act out. She is not a hero, but she is also not an anti-hero. She is a person, she is a woman, she is an expression of those who know.

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haleydoeshairs's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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yesbethhh92's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“All my life, all the men taking what they wanted and leaving when it was over.”

Wow wow wow. This was incredible.

In Animal, Joan flees New York after witnessing a horrible act of violence. From there we follow her to Los Angeles, where she seeks out a woman named Alice for reasons that are slowly uncovered.

Joan reflects back on her life since childhood, recalling her relationship with her parents and a traumatic experience that affected the rest of her life and dictated all her future relationships with women and men.

This book is about the entitlement, cruelty and entitlement of men, and how this manifests in women as pain, rage and madness.

I could feel the primal rage growing in me as I read this book, and the tension kept building to an emotional and devastating end.

Lisa Taddeo is a master with words, and I love the way she created parallels between the stories of the different characters.

I loved this so so so much. I wasn’t sure about it early on, and took some breaks from it because it’s quite slow in the earlier chapters. But once it gets going, it really gets going, and by the end I was crying.

I highly recommend this but check trigger warnings first as there as some graphic parts.

“It was my father who had driven my mother mad. But once again, mad is not right. The world had set me up to believe that it was women who went mad. It was simply women's pain that manifested as madness.”

Content Warnings

jasannalise's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

CHECK THE TW’S FOR CHRISSAKES OH MY GOD I WASNT READY
was expecting a promising young woman kind of vibe but this was something else entirely. honestly have no idea what to think. taddeo is gifted at painting a picture with words, just feels like this book was trauma porn. like not a single thing was pleasant in this , but i somehow couldn’t stop reading

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jesssicawho's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Sheesh. That was an emotionally exhausting book. The writing is brilliant, every single word feels intentional. There were so many sentences or paragraphs I highlighted as powerful insights. The story, however, is brutal. Uncomfortable, painful, infuriating. I am glad I read this so I can say I’ve experienced Taddeo’s prose but I’m not in a rush to read anything else from her.

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itsbilliam's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

please please look up TW’s before reading this book. i will never be the same person after this read.

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ameliahelene's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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