“The world had me set up to believe that it was women who went mad. It was simply women’s pain that manifested as madness.” 

Animal is provocative, graphic, and blunt. The whole book my face was 😳

Through an unlikeable protagonist and her destructive choices, Taddeo argues that much of who women are and what they do is a product of what was done to them. As Joan revealed her story, my opinion of her changed from sociopathic bitch to feminist icon. 

Animal would be incredible on its own, but Three Women gave greater insight into the story. Three Women, Taddeo’s narrative nonfiction, investigated the roots of female desire and clearly influenced Animal. A friend agreed that Animal is a metaphor for all of the harsh truths that Taddeo uncovered in her research for Three Women. Part of what made the novel satisfying to me that Taddeo had no control over the stories in Three Women, but she chose the ending for Joan in Animal, bringing closure and hope to a very dark tale.