Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Filthy Animals

Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor ❄️
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

❄️ In this collection of short stories, Taylor explores the emotional charge that runs just under the surface of our encounters with other people. The linked short stories at the centre of the collection focus on three people: Lionel, a PhD student recently discharged from hospital after a suicide attempt; Charles, the injured dancer who becomes attracted to Lionel at a potluck, and Sophie, Charles's dancer girlfriend. As Lionel becomes drawn into the murky waters of Charles and Sophie's relationship, he must weigh his deep loneliness against his continued vulnerability.

There's really no excuse for me putting off reading this for so long, except that I loved Real Life so much that I was afraid of having such Big Feelings again. But you know what? I was right to be, because Brandon Taylor wields his pen like a scalpel.

Throughout this book, Taylor probes what it means to be vulnerable. He is a master of illustrating the artificiality of social settings: a dinner party, a first date, a university exam. All the opaque stuff we move through to try to reach each other - or rather, to mediate our interactions so that we don't have to reach each other, so we can broadcast ourselves from a safe distance. His stories illustrate the life and feeling seething beneath this calm surface, and the moments where characters unexpectedly connect feel raw and thrilling, charged with danger.

This sense of danger is present not just as an idea but an embodied thing. Food, sex, blood, all of these things are closely connected to the emotional heart of each story. The characters' emotional fragility (or seeming lack thereof) is always carefully pitched against their physical being, the tether they have to the world, lending real weight to acts of cruelty or tenderness. There's something raw and animal and real about these stories that I couldn't help but love.

❄️ Read it if you're in the market for a short story cycle, or a wintry book as this is all snowdrifts and low-hanging skies. And obv if you loved Real Life ❤️

🚫 Avoid if you're steering clear of narratives around suicide and physical or sexual violence.

Content Warnings

libbyhb's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved Real Life, so I had had this on my TBR for a while. This definitely felt in line with Brandon Taylor's previous work. I liked the continuous story the best, with Lionel and Charles and Sophie, and was always glad when we returned to them. I also liked when a new installment was from a different person's perspective. As characters, they were just complex enough to feel really grounded in reality, while still feeling a little distant and difficult to fully know. I like this aspect of Taylor's characters, the way they feel both really vulnerable and guarded at the same time. I liked this collection, and look forward to what he writes next.

Content Warnings

youngblackademic98's review

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emotional funny fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

mayenk's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Most of the stories were really good, but a few were so weirdly placed or rather not cohesive with the overall story. I liked that there were a few characters that were kinda continuous throughout the book. Some stories left us wanting more, others felt complete.

Content Warnings