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eudaemonics's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Terminal illness
Moderate: Infidelity
kelly_e's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
5.0
Title: Unlikely Animals
Author: Annie Hartnett
Genre: Magical Realism
Rating: 5.00
Pub Date: April 12, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Empathetic • Joyful • Quirky
📖 S Y N O P S I S
It was a source of entertainment at Maple Street Cemetery. Both funny and sad, the kind of story we like best.
Natural-born healer Emma Starling once had big plans for her life, but she’s lost her way. A medical school dropout, she’s come back to small-town Everton, New Hampshire, to care for her father, who is dying from a mysterious brain disease. Clive Starling has been hallucinating small animals, as well as having visions of the ghost of a long-dead naturalist, Ernest Harold Baynes, once known for letting wild animals live in his house. This ghost has been giving Clive some ideas on how to spend his final days.
Emma arrives home knowing she must face her dad’s illness, her mom’s judgment, and her younger brother’s recent stint in rehab, but she’s unprepared to find that her former best friend from high school is missing, with no one bothering to look for her. The police say they don’t spend much time looking for drug addicts. Emma’s dad is the only one convinced the young woman might still be alive, and Emma is hopeful he could be right. Someone should look for her, at least. Emma isn’t really trying to be a hero, but somehow she and her father bring about just the kind of miracle the town needs.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Unlikely Animals came onto my radar after it was recommended to me by a friend who has a good sense of novels I will appreciate. The cover is appealing, yet it is so many of my buzzwords being included in the synopsis that convinced me to move this one to the top of my TBR. It was one of those books that came to be a just the right time.
Told through the POVs of the residents of Maple Street Cemetery, this novel explores aging, illness, memory loss, caregiving, familial expectations, imperfect friendships, grief and loss, addiction and the opioid crisis, kidnapping, and infidelity. Despite the heaviness of the topics covered, there are glimmers of hope and joy. The way Annie Hartnett handles and shines a light on the very real opioid crisis is heartbreaking and enlightening.
All in all, it is the cast of unforgettable and flawed characters - human, animal and spirit alike - that bring this story to life. It is an ode to both the living and the dead. Nature itself, including the miracles it brings, become its very own character, which I loved so much. The folks at the cemetery were a real hoot. Even with some characters being dead, there is so much humanity within the pages.
Unlikely Animals is unlike anything I have read before, in such a positive way. It really is the perfect combination of elements I love coming together in an uplifting and hopeful way. Annie Harnett takes very real, very serious, very tragic content and puts a comic spin on it in a way that works. A book I can see myself re-reading in the future and one that will most definitely be finding its way onto my end-of-year favoutires list. Highly recommend!
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• the natural world
• magical realism
• Remarkably Bright Creatures
⚠️ CW: epidemic, drug use, drug abuse, addiction, overdose, mental illness, terminal illness, cancer, medical content, suicide, death, death of parent, child death, infidelity, dementia, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, kidnapping
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"People talk a lot about first loves, or the love of your life, but people don’t say as much about the friend of your life."
"But there’s always something you miss out on, at the end."
Author: Annie Hartnett
Genre: Magical Realism
Rating: 5.00
Pub Date: April 12, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Empathetic • Joyful • Quirky
📖 S Y N O P S I S
It was a source of entertainment at Maple Street Cemetery. Both funny and sad, the kind of story we like best.
Natural-born healer Emma Starling once had big plans for her life, but she’s lost her way. A medical school dropout, she’s come back to small-town Everton, New Hampshire, to care for her father, who is dying from a mysterious brain disease. Clive Starling has been hallucinating small animals, as well as having visions of the ghost of a long-dead naturalist, Ernest Harold Baynes, once known for letting wild animals live in his house. This ghost has been giving Clive some ideas on how to spend his final days.
Emma arrives home knowing she must face her dad’s illness, her mom’s judgment, and her younger brother’s recent stint in rehab, but she’s unprepared to find that her former best friend from high school is missing, with no one bothering to look for her. The police say they don’t spend much time looking for drug addicts. Emma’s dad is the only one convinced the young woman might still be alive, and Emma is hopeful he could be right. Someone should look for her, at least. Emma isn’t really trying to be a hero, but somehow she and her father bring about just the kind of miracle the town needs.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Unlikely Animals came onto my radar after it was recommended to me by a friend who has a good sense of novels I will appreciate. The cover is appealing, yet it is so many of my buzzwords being included in the synopsis that convinced me to move this one to the top of my TBR. It was one of those books that came to be a just the right time.
Told through the POVs of the residents of Maple Street Cemetery, this novel explores aging, illness, memory loss, caregiving, familial expectations, imperfect friendships, grief and loss, addiction and the opioid crisis, kidnapping, and infidelity. Despite the heaviness of the topics covered, there are glimmers of hope and joy. The way Annie Hartnett handles and shines a light on the very real opioid crisis is heartbreaking and enlightening.
All in all, it is the cast of unforgettable and flawed characters - human, animal and spirit alike - that bring this story to life. It is an ode to both the living and the dead. Nature itself, including the miracles it brings, become its very own character, which I loved so much. The folks at the cemetery were a real hoot. Even with some characters being dead, there is so much humanity within the pages.
Unlikely Animals is unlike anything I have read before, in such a positive way. It really is the perfect combination of elements I love coming together in an uplifting and hopeful way. Annie Harnett takes very real, very serious, very tragic content and puts a comic spin on it in a way that works. A book I can see myself re-reading in the future and one that will most definitely be finding its way onto my end-of-year favoutires list. Highly recommend!
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• the natural world
• magical realism
• Remarkably Bright Creatures
⚠️ CW: epidemic, drug use, drug abuse, addiction, overdose, mental illness, terminal illness, cancer, medical content, suicide, death, death of parent, child death, infidelity, dementia, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, kidnapping
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"People talk a lot about first loves, or the love of your life, but people don’t say as much about the friend of your life."
"But there’s always something you miss out on, at the end."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Child death, Death, Suicide, and Death of parent
overdosecsoyars's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
fast-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
A wildly creative premise with so many layers to the story, and it all comes together beautifully. A relatable story about the ups and downs of familial relationships, loving fiercely through difficult times, and embracing every moment like it might be your last.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Terminal illness
Moderate: Addiction, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death and Gun violence
moss_piglette's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Suicide and Kidnapping
ketchup_chugger_al's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I too would buy a Russian fox for $18,000 if it wasn’t horrifically inhumane
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and War
ciiku's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
What a lovely book. Very unexpected how much I enjoyed this
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Medical content
codii23's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Just a lovely, calming, and caring small-town story. The characters are more the focus than the story, but the story can still hit you pretty hard. I absolutely loved it. The narrator’s voice was also perfect for the story. Wonderful casting there.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction and Drug use
nkling6's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was the first book I read by Annie Hartnett. It's super quirky, and I love her writing style. It immediately made me want to read something else by her. Rabbit Cake did not disappoint.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Death, and Drug use
beankels's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
This book was a fast read and very good. Despite it having strong themes of death and the opioid epidemic, it really was humorous and lighthearted. The characters were lovable and dynamic. I was worried I’d be a mess with having lost my dad at the same age as Emma, but I found it instead uplifting and a great, refreshing view of death. I also think the author was tasteful in their depiction of the opioid crisis. It really was a hopeful and uplifting story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Death
Moderate: Child death and Drug abuse
Minor: Murder
mrellis's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction and Terminal illness