Reviews with content warning for Violence - Pet

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

216 reviews

draven_deathcrush's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I LOVED THIS BOOK! It was quick and even though the topics were hard, it wasn't overwhelming. I usually stay away from books with heavy triggers like this, but it luckily wasn't graphic. For the most part, the book was very heartwarming and just great with the message it was sending.

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honeycupreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

The truth does not change whether it is seen or unseen, it whispered in her mind. A thing that is happening happens whether you look at it or not. And yes, maybe it is easier not to look. Maybe it is easier to say because you do not see it, it is not happening.

Wow… This book packs such a punch in so little pages… This book is so heavy and will truly leave you at a loss of words. Complacency and its negative effects are depicted so well in this novel it tears you open. What we choose not to see when it comes to those we know and love and how that effects not only those close to us but also the world we live in. I cannot fully explain how wonderful this book is.

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queerafictionado's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish who is a monster and who is an angel. Because looks can be deceiving, and our interpretation and perception is always influenced by the world and people around us.

In this story, Jam accidentally brings a creature to life from her mom’s painting. A monstrous looking creature not of this world. And its name is Pet. By looks alone, it is something we would be told to fear. Something we would be told is a monster. But Pet came to hunt monsters. The monsters the world doesn’t realize still exist. Monsters that don’t look monstrous. I loved the juxtaposition of these things in the story, the way Emezi took concepts of monsters and angels and presented them in this unexpected way. It really got me thinking about things like transphobia and homophobia, namely the “phobia” parts of those words. And how trans* and queer people have been painted by the world as something to be feared, while the real monsters remain hidden, protected by power, privilege, and politics.

Emezi poignantly addressed heavy topics in this book. Using magical realism, they crafted a story that speaks to the nature and reality of our world, to the existence of monsters hidden in plain sight, to what it takes to uncover the truth, and to take those monsters down. It was an absolutely brilliant book and we need more stories like this in our world!

I am also very glad I listened to the audiobook of this because Christopher Myers did a phenomenal job bringing this story and all these characters to life!

🏳️‍🌈✊🏿Rep: black trans FMC with selective mutism, black SCs

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tyra16572's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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kelsiepixler's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I read this book to see if it was appropriate for a classroom library only to end up hooked. This is just as much a book for adults as it is for kids. As the book highlights, as adults the idea of “You think you see everything, so you think everything you see is all there is to be seen” becomes ingrained in a way that is extremely easy to not reflect upon. This book very artfully dove into very heavy, intense topics in a way that was reflective and introspective without being heavy-handed or overly traumatic.

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chainingbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.25

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taliaalongi's review against another edition

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dark hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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diana_blackmoon's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-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? No

5.0

Another perfection

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avisreadsandreads's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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blakeandbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I went into this book a bit blind. I’ve seen friends rave about this book, and enjoyed Emezi’s writing in the past, so I had a pretty good idea that I would enjoy it. I am so glad I finally decided to read it. This book has such an important message. I don’t think I will be able to adequately articulate how impactful this book was.

In the town of Lucille, everything is perfect and monsters are no more… right?

After Bitter’s painting brings to life Pet, a creature who is searching for a monster hidden in plain sight, Jam, black, trans MC, must assist Pet to find who it is, even if it is hard for her to image something bad happening in her best friend Redemption’s home.

In the midst of Jam’s disbelief, Pet speaks to her and says, “The truth does not change whether it is seen or unseen, it whispered in her mind. A thing that is happening happens whether you look at it or not. And yes, maybe it is easier not to look. Maybe it is easier to say because you do not see it, it is not happening. Maybe you can pull the stone out of the pool and put the moon back together.” It’s honestly a great and powerful reminder that monsters are always lurking in the light, whether we want to believe it or not, they are there. Having the knowledge and resources to know about abuse (provided to Jam and Redemption by Ube at the library) and with Pet’s help, they were able to find out what was happening and intervene.

I do want to say that this is pretty heavy material. CW include: child abuse, violence, pedophilia, and sexual abuse. Read with care.

I’m looking forward to reading the prequel Bitter, which is centered around Jam’s mom, to learn more about this world and get back into more of Emezi’s works.

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