Review: Animal by Lisa Taddeo

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Animal

by Lisa Taddeo

Thanks so much to Libro.fm for this audiobook.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Publish Date: June 8, 2021
Audiobook
13 hrs
Standalone
Genre: Contemporary

I am depraved. I hope you like me.

Joan has spent a lifetime enduring the cruelties of men. But when one of them commits a shocking act of violence in front of her, she flees New York City in search of Alice, the only person alive who can help her make sense of her past. In the sweltering hills above Los Angeles, Joan unravels the horrific event she witnessed as a child - that has haunted her every waking moment - while forging the power to finally strike back.

Animal is a depiction of female rage at its rawest, and a visceral exploration of the fallout from a male-dominated society.

My Review:

The first sentence of the synopsis drew me right on in. Depravity? IN! You hope I like you? I'm pretty sure I will!... and yet, here I am proven wrong. Don't get me wrong, I don't DISlike her... I think this is going to be a book that you either love or you don't. Unfortunately it's not one that I loved and yet I couldn't stop listening either. I love Emma Roberts and was delighted that she is the narrator... and I know this read is a somber one but the one tone sound, which I think is just the way the book is, had me fairly bored through the majority. I know, I know - bored but couldn't stop listening? YEP.

If you have been following me for any length of time, you know that I love unlikeable characters.. and Jane is a tough one. I wanted to simultaneously hug and shake her. She's has been put through the ringer and there are definitely some tough scenes to read through. We get a full look into Jane as a character but I feel like there was just something missing here and I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it's due to the jumpy chapters or the continued bad decisions by someone who can't seem to get herself out of this vicious, toxic cycle.... or that maybe when she kinda does it's... lacking?

I appreciate what the author was doing here. For me, this journey from prey to predator had really good bones to it, but I needed more meat.

★★