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swalk's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
An intimate and immersive view into a small window of a young woman’s life, as she strives to carry on after a traumatic event, struggling with the meaningless rigmarole of daily life. Her armour, a facade of make-up and clothes, using her memory of how it is to be normal as a template for surviving this experience. She forges a relationship with a similarly injured woman which culminates in a situation she could never have imagined.
I thought this was a wonderfully considered account of personal trauma, followed by the emptiness of depression. It really resonated with me and I’m sure it will, with many women. I found it quite hard to listen to in places, but that’s how trauma is. I loved the dark twist at the end and the metaphor of the phantom. I was never quite sure where it was going to go, which kept it exciting. Overall a fantastic read.
Dead Animals is insightful, violent, beautiful and lonely.
The narrator was truly excellent, she made this audiobook giving you a connection with the protagonist and a visceral link to their emotion.
I thought this was a wonderfully considered account of personal trauma, followed by the emptiness of depression. It really resonated with me and I’m sure it will, with many women. I found it quite hard to listen to in places, but that’s how trauma is. I loved the dark twist at the end and the metaphor of the phantom. I was never quite sure where it was going to go, which kept it exciting. Overall a fantastic read.
Dead Animals is insightful, violent, beautiful and lonely.
The narrator was truly excellent, she made this audiobook giving you a connection with the protagonist and a visceral link to their emotion.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape
memydogandbooks's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Weird, wonderful, mesmerising story of SA (so triggers!) and the aftermath and the intoxicating queer relationship that follows the incident and the weirdness that then ensues. So hard to describe but a brilliant mind f***
{AD: thanks to netgalley for an advanced listener arc}
{AD: thanks to netgalley for an advanced listener arc}
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
gasperyjacques's review against another edition
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It was starting to feel like the theme of the year was violence.
Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton Audio for access to a review copy of this audiobook.
I’ll preface my thoughts on this with the fact I found the prologue, where the narrator is assaulted by a stranger at a party and the immediate aftermath where she's self conscious of bruises she can’t explain, sickeningly relatable.
After being sexually assaulted the narrator is traumatised in a way she repeatedly compares to being poisoned, and she struggles to relate to other people.
Her friends and her colleagues can't understand her - except for the ex-girlfriend of her attacker, who she forms an intense and concerning bond with.
Alongside this catastrophe relationship there is a focus on how dehumanising, exhausting, and deeply boring service work can be - which was unexpected, but I thought it was depicted refreshingly well.
The narrator's self blame when she starts noticing signs of an inexplicable post-traumatic haunting was slightly predictable, but still genuinely unsettling and the descriptions of her eerie bedsit reminiscent of Alison Rumfitt's brilliant Tell Me I'm Worthless.
Some of the narrator's nightmares were both disturbing and impressive, truly rivalling anything I've read in a Stephen King novel.
I do have extremely mixed feelings on the epilogue and that's why I'm not rating this above 4 stars, but I found nearly everything prior to that riveting and terrifying. This was a strange, sickening, surprisingly insightful novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault
abception's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Vomit
Minor: Abandonment, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Animal death, and Body shaming
kadbee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton + NetGalley for the ARC.
The cover and description of this book drew me in and the mysterious hauntings and narrator kept me hooked. A queer relationship with even queerer happenings was intriguing to read.
I wish the book was longer to see more development or aftermath of thetoxic relationship between our narrator and Helene,as unfortunately for me the final two chapters feel rushed, not as fleshed out as they could have been. The build up is slow and intense, the quick sudden ending leaves an unsatisfying taste in ones mouth.
Other than that I really enjoyed this, the narrator is a really well written, interesting character with obvious flaws and weaknesses that add to her identity, which may be overlooked if written by someone else. .
The cover and description of this book drew me in and the mysterious hauntings and narrator kept me hooked. A queer relationship with even queerer happenings was intriguing to read.
I wish the book was longer to see more development or aftermath of the
Other than that I really enjoyed this, the narrator is a really well written, interesting character with obvious flaws and weaknesses that add to her identity, which may be overlooked if written by someone else. .
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Animal death
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Violence
alexutzu's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, the author and the narrator for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
A quick but dark novel that leaves some lingering feelings, focusing on the line between sanity/mind clarity and mental health struggles provoked by abuse and manipulation, as well as on how society perceives these matters.
😍 The good:
Short, but packed with depth, exploring toxic human relationships. The literary style and main character's perspective, narrated in an accurate way, were rather engaging and suitable to the tone of the book.
😅 The not-so-good:
The novel is heavy in style at times, making me lose focus on the key events and feelings of the main character. It was so short that it lacked some substance in some of the parts, and the ending was not as strongly executed as expected.
A quick but dark novel that leaves some lingering feelings, focusing on the line between sanity/mind clarity and mental health struggles provoked by abuse and manipulation, as well as on how society perceives these matters.
😍 The good:
Short, but packed with depth, exploring toxic human relationships. The literary style and main character's perspective, narrated in an accurate way, were rather engaging and suitable to the tone of the book.
😅 The not-so-good:
The novel is heavy in style at times, making me lose focus on the key events and feelings of the main character. It was so short that it lacked some substance in some of the parts, and the ending was not as strongly executed as expected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Bullying, Sexual assault, and Animal death
tiasy97's review against another edition
3.5
I think I’m still a bit confused as to what was actually going on in this, I expected it to give me a bit more, however the narration was stunning and due to this I wanted to keep listening! The narrator was brilliant in conveying the emotions of the main character and I really felt engaged with them at times. The story was interesting but at times didn’t make much sense, there didn’t seem to be an entire plot line and at times I couldn’t tell where we were trying to go with it. The ending was very sudden for me, although I understand this is a short read so I guess it had to be!
I also understand the main character is meant to be a normal person but I am annoyed that she dobbed Helene in for the murder, girlie KILL THE MAN AND ENJOY ITTTTTTT !!!!!
Check your trigger warnings before reading!
Check your trigger warnings before reading!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual assault
courtenaywrites's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Stuckes' premise, on the surface, is structurally sound. The cover adds to the intrigue presented by the description. We follow an unreliable narrator through her unusual life. At times, we aren't sure if we are being told everything.
However, the story as a whole fell flat for me. The characters were so two-dimensional that I found it difficult to care about them. Stuckes' writing reads as more Young Adult than the Adult book advertised. Additionally, there were far too many comma splices, making the book feel slightly amateurish. Many of the sentences could have been rewritten to become beautifully striking.
When the character was expressing her thoughts, they would often be in italics, but Stuckes has chosen to include "I thought to myself," making the sentence thoroughly redundant. This book needs to be gone over with an editor to shape up the technical aspects. Furthermore, we begin the book in second person, which comes across as a mistake for we then end up in first-person perspective for the rest of the novel.
On the other hand, there were some rare gems in sentences such as, "Customers are a screaming hydra of need." Though this isn't enough to save the book for me, and that is why I have rated it as low as I have. I understand what the author was trying to achieve, but it did not land. If this book had been a short story, it could have been spectacular.
However, the story as a whole fell flat for me. The characters were so two-dimensional that I found it difficult to care about them. Stuckes' writing reads as more Young Adult than the Adult book advertised. Additionally, there were far too many comma splices, making the book feel slightly amateurish. Many of the sentences could have been rewritten to become beautifully striking.
When the character was expressing her thoughts, they would often be in italics, but Stuckes has chosen to include "I thought to myself," making the sentence thoroughly redundant. This book needs to be gone over with an editor to shape up the technical aspects. Furthermore, we begin the book in second person, which comes across as a mistake for we then end up in first-person perspective for the rest of the novel.
On the other hand, there were some rare gems in sentences such as, "Customers are a screaming hydra of need." Though this isn't enough to save the book for me, and that is why I have rated it as low as I have. I understand what the author was trying to achieve, but it did not land. If this book had been a short story, it could have been spectacular.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Domestic abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Medical content, Emotional abuse, and Blood
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