Reviews with content warning for Cannibalism - Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals about Death

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? has been burning a hole in my audiobook TBR for a while now. I usually save my Audible library backlog books for vacations and was expecting to listen to it while in Greece, but A Promised Land ended up being quite long and I didn’t get to to my audiobook backlog. I’ve been thinking about it since I came back and decided, you know what? I’m going to sneak it in.

Written by mortician extraordinaire Caitlin Doughty, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? is an honest and informative Q&A about death, dying, mortuary procedure, and other such morbidly lovely things. This particular book is composed of questions that Doughty has been asked by children. Outside of the whole “death” thing, this book is appropriate for children in that way – it was written around questions specifically from children. Definitely up to the parents as to whether or not this is suitable for their child, but other than the grim overall subject matter, Doughty does answer the important questions!

That said, this is not a “children’s book”. I learned something in every chapter, much to the chagrin of my husband who didn’t appreciate the text messages telling him random facts about death and dying (did you know your ashes can be turned into a vinyl record when you die? I didn’t!). I was also very nicely was informed that most people don’t appreciate random facts about death throughout the day.

So to that point I’ll say – Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? is filled with dry humor and information, I cannot emphasize enough that this book talks very directly about things like rigor mortis and the odds of being buried alive. It’s a heavy and somewhat taboo subject made very accessible, but it is certainly not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. If you want to learn more about death as we understand it from a scientific source, but softened enough that it becomes a bit amusing… Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? is perfect for you! If any of those things sound off-putting, this book is not fo you!

Personally, I really enjoyed it. I appreciated Doughty’s dark sense of humor but I also adore being filled with interesting information and Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? has it in spades. The length of the audiobook (about 4.5 hours) is perfect for the actual gravity of the topic, and Doughty did a great job reading it. This will be a niche book, but I intend to pick up more of her work.

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kayladaila's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny informative medium-paced

4.0

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cryptid_crow's review against another edition

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funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Caitlyn, as per usual, handles the subject of death (and everything to do with it) in an approachable way! She answers all of the questions with candor and tasteful humour. Definitely a fitting read for those young and old who want to know more about what happens when we die!

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farbooksventure's review

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funny informative fast-paced

4.0

In Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, Caitlin Doughty answered 34 death-related questions from children. I love how she points out at the beginning of the book that instead of asking innocent questions, the kids are asking some morbid stuff. Honestly? They are not afraid to ask things that matter.

Here is a few examples of (memorable) questions that are answered in this book:
Q11: "If I die making a stupid face, will it stuck like that forever?"
Q12: "Can I give my grandma a Viking funeral?"
Q15: "If someone is trying to sell a house, do they tell the buyer someone dies there?" (the legal aspect to this question fascinates me)
Q22: "Can someone donate blood after they die?"

In some parts, the writing clearly considering the younger reader. In other parts of the book, however, the answer can be quite technical & I'm not sure whether a younger reader can follow it or not. It's the only minor critique from me. Overall, the writing is very accessible & easy to read. She also doesn't shy away from giving vivid detail in her answer.

The audiobook itself is phenomenal. I wish I can read the physical copy too so I can enjoy the illustrations.

If you're looking for informative & easy-to-read nonfiction that's not sugarcoating conversation around death, I think you will find this book just right for you. For some reason, I also think people who love biology will enjoy this book (cause I certainly do).

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grayraincurtain's review against another edition

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funny informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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