Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Animal

I wanted to like this book so much... yet, once again, the advertising was better than the work. I barely managed to finish it.

Nothing happens for 300 pages and then there's too much action, yet somehow I am still looking for the catharsis.

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ml475's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Fairly vulgar descriptions and touches on heavy themes. I loved Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women but this felt unsatisfying. Start was slow and doesn’t really get interesting until about 60% through and even after finishing I’m not entirely sure what the plot was as story seemed to get lost throughout

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lilysaddler's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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sophee_568's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Disclaimer: I don't condone anything that happens in this book. I do not recommend it because it deals with heavy topics: childhood trauma, sexual assault, murder, suicide, abortion, and sexual harassment. Check for other triggers before reading the book.
Animal is Taddeo's debut novel and a damn good one. The book is written from a 1st person perspective, which puts the reader in the head of the protagonist Joan. The opening line is shocking; it tells us Joan has witnessed a man kill himself in front of her. Later on, we learn that man was her lover. That is one of the reasons she decides to leave NYC and head to California; the second reason is to find Alice. In California, she lives in a commune with 3 men. They all have separate living spaces but an older man Leonard constantly invades her private space and forces her to listen to his sob story, which enrages Joan to the point of violence.
Animal feels like a mystery novel with its structure. Throughout the book, we get little snippets from Joan's childhood and adulthood that pave the path to present-day events. This is not a mystery/suspense novel but we are unraveling the mystery of what happened in Joan's childhood; something that could explain why she is the way that she is, and what made her do the things she's done. Her relationship with her parents is crucial to later events in the book. It almost feels forced, as if Joan's actions are done with the sole purpose to shock.
Joan is an unlikeable protagonist. She carries burdens from her past which make her scared, vulnerable, and full of rage. Her fury is directed toward men. As a woman, she knows what it's like to be abandoned by „the most important man in her life“. That shows us why she has complicated relationships with men in her life; none of her relationships are healthy. She never gets compassion, support, or love from men, only half-hearted treatment, sex, and gifts which she sells for money and uses to pay her rent. Joan is not a hardworking, independent woman. She had a few jobs but none of them lasted long. At one point she recalls her father saying she will grow up to be an independent woman who earns her own money, to which she thinks that she doesn't want that. She wants to marry rich as her mother did, yet she never managed to do that.
At the core of the book is Joan's relationship with Vic, a married man who was once her boss. It could be said he ruined her life but he ruined his own too. They started their romance on a business trip to Scotland, and to Vic, it evolved into something intense. He slowly became obsessed with her, which she wasn't aware of until it was too late. He has a wife and two children at home but he preferred to be with Joan. She got bored with him, and dated other guys even told Vic about the other men in her life. He listened to her patiently every single time until he reached a boiling point. He knew where Joan was because he had previously stalked her, and read her emails. When Joan went on a date with a guy she calls Big sky(I read this translated into my native tongue so I'm not sure about the name), Vic entered the restaurant and blew his brains out. Seeing Vic in that violent act made her relive the trauma from her childhood.
On the contrary, in her family, she was on the other end of that situation. She is a child of a father who cheated on his wife. When her father impregnated his mistress, he told his wife because he wanted to keep the baby. Joan's mother was so furious that she killed him, and killed herself. Joan was the one who found them. That kind of trauma permanently changes you; your brain develops differently. Then we have Joan putting herself in the same situation on purpose. She is acting out her trauma, which is very common, and thus begins the cycle of generational trauma. By the end of the book, we see Joan fighting against that impulse of transferring her trauma to her future child.
After the death of her parents, young Joan goes to live with her aunt. Her aunt was and remains a big influence on Joan. She taught her everything she needed to know about life and men. This central theme is the dynamic of male-female relationships. Most of the time men are in positions of power, whether it's a conscious effort or not. Joan is trying to disrupt that disbalance, she wants to be in control. She is a character that is hard to sympathize with because of her rage, her seeking revenge, and the logic behind every single action.
Animal is a complex book that makes you think about the characters, their actions, motives, and the different aspects of the book. This seems like a book about men but it is more than that. My review only scraped the surface of the book. There is a lot left to explore, such as Joan's relationship with her mother, Joan's hardships with motherhood, and Joan's relationship with Alice. If I attempted to analyze every single thing, I'd be here for days but that only shows how captivating this book is. I've read a lot of 'negative' reviews of the book, and I understand their perspectives but to me, this book is incredible. Through Joan's character, Taddeo gave us an insight into the inner workings of a traumatized woman fighting her way through life, and I love reading about those types of characters.
To conclude, this book delivered what it was supposed to deliver. The writing style is powerful, insightful, and direct. I flew through this book; it was so easy to read despite the difficult topics. I couldn't stop reading, and after finishing it I couldn't stop thinking about it. That is the type of book I love. Still, I can't give it 5-stars because I wanted to come to some kind of conclusion but haven't been able to yet.

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