itsmarkyall's review against another edition
5.0
There are some writers who are so damn talented at what they do it’ll make you a little bit jealous. PRIDE OF EDEN proves why Taylor Brown is one of those writers. This book is one of the most gorgeous and imaginative works I’ve read in a good long while.
mommasaystoread's review against another edition
4.0
This book quite literally wore me out. It's that emotionally draining as Taylor Brown took me into a world of animal cruelty and poachers with details that are not for the faint of heart. I'm not usually squeamish, but this one got to me so much that I had to set it down more than once for something lighthearted. Don't misunderstand me. I didn't lay it aside because it was a chore to get through, and I always had the intention of picking it back up, and I did. Taylor Brown is quite the gifted storyteller, and he certainly knows his stuff when it comes to drawing a reader in. So, it wasn't that the story wasn't good, it was just the heart-wrenching nature of it all. When I think about the people I might recommend this book to, I have to say the list is rather short, but it's completely due to the graphic nature of what is done to the animals. But there is also beauty here with the people who go to great lengths to save them. So, I'll say this - if you're squeamish or can't read about animal abuse of any kind even in fiction, then I'd skip this one, but I would recommend reading other books by this author because he surely knows his stuff.
mommingandreading's review against another edition
4.0
Happy Pub Day to Pride of Eden, a new novel by Taylor J. Brown, out today from St. Martin’s Press! I was honored to receive an ARC of this novel through a Goodreads giveaway, and this was an excellent read.
This book follows Anse, a Vietnam veteran who runs an animal sanctuary called Little Eden on the Georgia coast. His specialty is exotic animals — lions, elephants, giraffes, and more — that have been rescued from collapsed circuses & abandoned roadside attractions. Anse is assisted at the sanctuary by Tyler, his veterinarian girlfriend; Lope, a falconer; and Malaya, who used to hunt down big game poachers in Africa. The way that Anse gets his animals isn’t always on the up-and-up, and this gets him into some trouble along the way.
This was a brutally beautiful read. Brown weaves together vignettes about the characters and their background, as well as about the animals that are apart of the sanctuary. This author is a phenomenal writer, one that takes you into the wilderness and makes like you’re being stalked by a wild lion. It was intense but almost poetic in tone.
This has been described as a ‘fever dream of a novel,’ and I absolutely agree. There was so much cruelty against animals & humanity, juxtaposed with the beautiful descriptions of the animals and wilderness. It’s not an easy read if you’re an animal lover; there are multiple scenes of violence against animals. I thought this was a 4/5 star read for me and I’m interested to hear what you think too!
This book follows Anse, a Vietnam veteran who runs an animal sanctuary called Little Eden on the Georgia coast. His specialty is exotic animals — lions, elephants, giraffes, and more — that have been rescued from collapsed circuses & abandoned roadside attractions. Anse is assisted at the sanctuary by Tyler, his veterinarian girlfriend; Lope, a falconer; and Malaya, who used to hunt down big game poachers in Africa. The way that Anse gets his animals isn’t always on the up-and-up, and this gets him into some trouble along the way.
This was a brutally beautiful read. Brown weaves together vignettes about the characters and their background, as well as about the animals that are apart of the sanctuary. This author is a phenomenal writer, one that takes you into the wilderness and makes like you’re being stalked by a wild lion. It was intense but almost poetic in tone.
This has been described as a ‘fever dream of a novel,’ and I absolutely agree. There was so much cruelty against animals & humanity, juxtaposed with the beautiful descriptions of the animals and wilderness. It’s not an easy read if you’re an animal lover; there are multiple scenes of violence against animals. I thought this was a 4/5 star read for me and I’m interested to hear what you think too!
joshniesse's review against another edition
4.0
Pride of Eden is rich, dark, and atmospheric. It is a southern novel whose nature loving outlaws are reminiscent of those in Edward Abbey’s classic environmentalist adventure tales of the southwest. Brown’s skill and sophistications seems to grow by leaps and bounds with each new novel. This Southern novelist’s career is just taking off and I am here for it!
lilyaronovitz's review against another edition
2.0
When I started this book, the first couple chapters drew me in, with exciting characters and unique settings. But now, having finished the novel, I could barely tell you what happened in it. The writing seemed to be moving a mile a minute, because I found that when I would skim paragraphs, I would realize a couple pages later that I had absolutely no clue what was going on. It required my full attention to follow the somewhat chaotic storyline (which I didn't give, hence probably why I couldn't tell you what happened in this book). But I also felt like almost nothing happened. Roughly 75% was exposition or build up to the eventual "heist", and there were so many different storylines/perspectives that the author was trying to weave into the main storyline of Anse wanting to find a new tiger. In my opinion, these all detracted from the main storyline, only making the book more confusing. Overall, I just felt like so much of this novel was trying to move too fast– which worked against the story because given the uniqueness of the setting, this was a topic I don't know much about, and definitely could've used with a little more explanation or description in some areas–while the plot felt like it was going nowhere for most of the story. And all of these personal opinions could have been skewed from me early on in the story just deciding that this book isn't for me and proceeding to skim the rest and confuse myself, but maybe not
babygrandpa's review against another edition
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
annarella's review against another edition
3.0
It's one of those case that can be labeled "It's me, not the book".
I found it well written, I like the style of writing and I think that the author is a talented storyteller.
Unfortunately the descriptions of the animal abuse were too strong for me and I DNFed.
It's not my cup of tea but it made me discover an excellent author.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I found it well written, I like the style of writing and I think that the author is a talented storyteller.
Unfortunately the descriptions of the animal abuse were too strong for me and I DNFed.
It's not my cup of tea but it made me discover an excellent author.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
readwithregina's review
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Some parts were incredibly well written, but some of it made my eyes gloss over the words (and skim). He compared the animal instincts of lions and wolves to the people who worked with them. It's not an easy read, but it was a good reminder of how entrenched we are with the animals we reign over.tdblaylock's review against another edition
2.0
I tried to like this book more, I really did. Brown has a mastery over the English language, that is for sure. He knows how to set up a scene, and he knows how to deliver beautiful prose that can hit you right in the feels. This book is full of it, but the characters and the plot are lacking. I never felt like I knew these characters. Their backstories are fleshed out a little throughout the story, but they are never fully rounded out leaving me wishing I could understand their motives and their drives more. Even the main character, Anse, is lacking- there is so much potential in telling a backstory of how a jockey found his way to an animal sanctuary, but even that was barely mentioned. Likewise, the story never hits a true climax. The plot is told through chronologically ordered vignettes with only some of them really pushing the story along. The side plot of the wolf man starts to come along nicely, but I think it falls flat and, in the end, feels rushed as the book closes. In my opinion, Brown had a fantastic concept with a chance to delve deeper into these differing characters that are brought together in a peculiar setting of an animal sanctuary. Instead of choosing to focus on character development that happens to follow a plot, or focusing on a plot with characters moving it along, he ends up doing neither very well.