Reviews

I won an ARC of this from Goodreads.
This is definitely one of the most unique books I’ve ever read. I loved the writing style and the cover art is great.
The switching perspectives was an interesting concept, but it took me longer to get into the story. Overall, it was enjoyable and darkly funny.

theodarling's review against another edition

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funny sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed this quite a bit but wasn't totally sold on the very ending.

05olivia15's review against another edition

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challenging funny reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is so wonderfully strange.

For something that is under 200 pages long, it manages to be "about" so much, including but not limited to: Darwinism, doomed love affairs, reincarnation, American politics, the colonial history of Namibia, where does the human soul live?, the exact prices of historic objects owned by Ronald Reagan, taxidermy, closeted gay people, and, as the title suggests, aardvarks!

Things that just WORK in this book:
1. The prologue which narrates the entire evolution of the aardvark beginning with the big bang ("--a whirling mass of vapors is unhinged": first line of the book! incredible!) and ending with its discovery by ill-fated British naturalist Richard Ostlet in 1875. Condensing the entire creation of the universe into 3 pages of run on sentences is hilarious. It just completely demystifies something that is incomprehensible to most of us and just sets the stage for the tone of the entire book.

2. Symbolism. If you could not already guess, the aardvark represents...... a lot of things. To get into would be to spoil the book. But I have never read something where the symbolism was so ham-fisted and obvious, but still hurt me emotionally. There are some lines in this book that caused me to audibly gasp (especially towards the end, all of the stuff about skin and eyes and blindness, just wow)

3. It is funny in a way that is not funny at all. About 50% of this book is told in 2nd person, the "you" perspective", where YOU the reader are meant to be a character in the book-- and the character you are meant to be in this book is one of the worst people you have ever met. You are trapped in the body of a Republican congressman named Alexander Wilson who spends his time trying to criminalize abortion and buying Ronald Reagan's furniture in private auctions. It is amazing to force the reader to inhabit the life of quite possibly the least relatable or sympathetic person on the planet. It is also amazing to have to experience the aforementioned symbolism while stuck in the mind of someone who willfully refuses to see it.

4. Extremely realistic historical fiction. This book is split into 2 storylines: one that follows you, the worst man alive, and one that follows the doomed Victorian era romance of Richard Ostlet, the naturalist who first discovered the aardvark, and Titus Downing, a world renowned animal taxidermist. The detail of their storylines had me believing that these were real historical figures. There is just so much research underpinning this entire book that just took my breath away with the effort it must have taken.

This is probably going to be one of my favorite reads of 2024. It is so weird, so off putting, and strangely so sincere for being a political satire. I c

alyssaddouglas's review against another edition

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3.0

Second POV isn’t my thing. 3 stars bc the story of downing and ostlet was just… I know neither of these stories were technically love stories. The homoeroticism between all of these men… whew. Funny how it was paired up with politicians, republicans really. The end, having the aardvark taken back home could be taken many ways. I think it stood for a lot of things but maybe all of those things would boil down into one main thing. IDK I liked it at times, but I didn’t love it.

marthaweeze's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

ms_greenjeans's review against another edition

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4.0

Ok, raise your hand if you’ve ever considered using a stuffed aardvark as a symbol of sexual repression in our stuffy culture. No? Anyone? Who would ever think of that? Well, this author did, and she can write, and she has things to say. She contrasts the story of two closeted gay men at wildly different times (1850s and 2020s) and connects them with this aardvark. One man is the taxidermist who captures the spirit of the aardvark when he stuffs it and the other is a young Congressman who crafts every move he makes in order to become a powerful politician. And she brings Darwin and Reagan and Nazis into the story and then makes you fall in love with the aardvark. I picked up this book because Kate Atkinson had written a blurb for it and I love Kate Atkinson so I’m really glad she didn’t disappoint me. This book is funny and odd and really well written, a quick read that will get you thinking about wearing the skins of your enemies and how relates to taxidermy and Ronald Reagan.

matildawormwood's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny medium-paced

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

3.0

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