Reviews

Volpe 8 by George Saunders

ctpompei's review against another edition

funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

xsleepyshadows's review against another edition

3.0

A fox learns human and experiences our society of marvel and also of cruelty. This is told through the perspective of the fox and is a quick read that was really enjoyable and heartbreaking. ~Ashley

Want another Fox story? Try Pax

johnbradley2's review against another edition

5.0

An excellent fable, tenderly told.

alyssabookrecs's review against another edition

5.0

I am so in love with this little story. The stylistic choice of not just writing from a fox’s perspective but as they would write ‘Yuman’ is indicative of the heart of this story: “I wud like to know what is rong with you people... Wud a Yuman do something like that to another Yuman? I dowt it.” This writing seems simplistic on the surface coming from an animal, but I applaud Saunders for writing with the complexity that he would for a human character. And I thank him for sharing Fox 8’s story.

wooblatoober's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

i loved it so much. so beautifully written. i read it for like 30 minutes but it’s affected me like i read it for hours. super well-done. 

i was really surprised by how this story could be so short and still invoke such strong emotion. it’s beautifully written, especially because of its simple tone and spelling.

there’s a paragraph spanning pages 45-46 that resonates with me as a perfect way to describe feelings of distrust coming from trauma—distrust of those who caused it, of those who are capable of causing it, and a general distrust of everything good.

it’s only less than 50 pages. the words are big and there are illustrations. it won’t take long to read, so i highly suggest reading it if you can.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Blood, Violence, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Gore and Injury/Injury detail

ace_hearts's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

like_walter's review against another edition

funny reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

del_rea's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

gggina13's review against another edition

5.0

Such a sweet, funny, short little SAD book. The ending was so smart. The illustrations were moving. I’m so impressed

erincataldi's review against another edition

3.0

I don't know what I was expecting, but I will admit, I picked up this book because it was small and it was beautiful Fox 8 is a dark short story about an endearing fox who is enamored by humans. He sits outside of a house night after night listening to the mother read to her children and over time Fox 8 learns how to speak like a "Yuman" and read. He puts his newfound skills to use for his pack to discover what is going on to their forest. Land is being clear and there are more trucks and white boxes every day. Soon their environment is gone and they are starving. Fox 8 is not so impressed with the yumans now. A chilling tale from a cute wolfs perspective on humans screwing up the environment.