Reviews

I am really struck by the book, Chouette, by Claire Oshetsky. It’s about a woman who gives birth to an owl.

For anyone who has a child who doesn’t quite fit in or conform to society’s ideals about how a person should be — it is a riveting and empowering tale.

It is also darkly funny.

I can’t recommend it enough, as long as you can handle something as surreal as having to come to terms with your infant gobbling up mice and killing the neighborhood pets.

This book is a hoot. (Sorry.) And it has given me more appreciation for my own owl-baby and support for allowing her to be who she is.

If you have a neurodivergent owl-baby of any kind, I think you will relate to this book and root for Tiny and her fierce little Chouette.

annabelljar's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

4.0

grimby's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

deerling's review

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-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

4.0

Such an intriguing and peculiar read. Magical realism isn't a familiar genre to me, and I wasn't sure if it was something I would enjoy. But Oshetsky proved me wrong!

I'm writing this review on May even though I finished the book on January. It's a shame, because I have certainly forgot a lot of things from the book already. One thing I do still remember is the anxious and even scary atmosphere the book had. I was a bit shocked how things escalated. The ending went over my head, but I still liked it.

Motherhood is an unfamiliar concept to me, but I still think this book described it well. The way the main character was ready to do absolutely everything for her child was interesting and sweet to read.

Definitely recommended!

kristasorocks's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

sk13912's review against another edition

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2.0

I love a weird book but this was just disheartening and frustrating. I appreciate the intention and the creativity with which it was done, but it was just an unsatisfying story devoid of emotion. I can’t sympathize with the mother or the baby or the father or anyone else. The mother was infuriating and hypocritical, obSESSED with her baby being different and rejected by polite society before the baby is even born. She wants her baby to be her “true self” but only if that true self matched the mother’s perception of her child. The father is short-sighted, kind of a jerk, and quite dumb for not recognizing his wife was deeply disturbed and delusional from the beginning. Also the metaphor of disability gets really lost in the literalism of the language and the story. Like what’s meant to be signified by feeding live animals to an infant?

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