** Please check the content warnings before you read this book. **

Animal is a dark story filled with abuse. Do not read this if you're in search of a light-hearted story. Joan is a confessional and shameless narrator. It was jarring and thrilling at the same time to read someone carelessly reveal the ugliest parts of themselves.

Overall, Animal was a slow burn. Throughout the book, Taddeo slowly unravels all of Joan's terrible and predatory encounters with men. While I appreciated that this represented simmering female rage, the pacing felt off to me. I found that the middle of the book seemed endless.

I did love that Animal was an exposé of the nuanced spectrum of male cruelty and violence. I think that Taddeo explored this topic very effectively. However, I did not like that every single thought or conversation in this book was either about men or with men. This book wouldn't pass the Bechdel test - at all. I really wanted Joan to have something else to think about or discuss. I suppose that her obsession with men is indicative of her own particular traumas. But I found the constant talk of men and their ideas of sex/sexiness to be grueling.

Overall, I'll add Animal to my list of dark & thought-provoking books about female rage. But I do not plan to read this again.