Reviews

How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery

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soggycedar's review

2.0

Should be called “I like animals, but I get sad when they die”. It feels more like a teenager’s diary to me than the real science-forward memoir that I expected. I assumed the author is a biologist or something because she identifies as a naturalist, but she’s actually just an experienced writer from a rich family that’s gone on a lot of “expeditions”.

I didn’t appreciate evoking suicide because her pets died, but then not talking about mental health at all. Or not liking her mother because she was a mean drunk, but once she died, realizing she was a good person all along because she… owned businesses and yachts?

It just wasn’t a story that needed to be told unfortunately. I love nature and animals, but this wasn’t about that.

bookish_manda's review

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informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

How To Be a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery was a really sweet memoir. It was pretty short, and I think that I still didn’t know who Sy Montgomery is by the end. I did enjoy hearing about the animals that have been a part of her life. It was also really nice to hear a little about Octavia (the Giant Pacific Octopus from The Soul of an Octopus) again after a few years after reading that book.