I was going through a reading slump when I decided to pick this one up. I had read a different book from Dzanc publishers last year called ‘The Pavilion of Fomer Wives’ which contrary to popular opinions I enjoyed. When I began reading ‘Animals Eat Each Other’ I thought of it as brave but I tired soon. After three strenuous hours put into this book I have decided to be more careful with the next few reads.
Cover page
I received a Kindle proof copy of the book so it did not have a cover, however, I do like the cover that I see on Goodreads against the book. The cover is a mirror image of a woman with the title in big bold letters. I also thought the color choice was symbolic, hence, beautiful.
Characters
This is a story of a barely adult young girl who is self destructive, attention craving and a little eccentric. Picture her as a young girl with loads of tattoos, frequently falling in and out of relationships. And she knows it. She knows that she is addicted to things that are wrong.
I told myself it wasn’t my attraction to him that was making me feel this way, but that I was addicted to doing wrong things. Breaking the rules felt wrong, but it was exciting.
It is the story of this girl I wanted to hate all along but could never do so.
Content
When I read through some reviews of the book before writing my own I was more confused. My eyes particularly fell on the words ‘sad erotic’ but I couldn’t agree with it. The book does open with a weirdly and supposedly sexy scene but I just found it murderous.
Matt placed the knife on my face, pressing against my lips. He wanted me to lick the edge of it, to push my tongue up against the serrated edge so he could watch the way the muscle in my mouth looked against the metal. With his other hand he held my neck to the floor.
My first impression was that the scene is from a crime scene, the crime is yet to happen but I read on and realised it was not so. Our protagonist somehow befriends a tattoo artist and his barely adult girlfriend, and their child. The protagonist and the couple get closer and it hardly take any time for them to fall into a relationship. All three of them.
The book continues with a series of sexual encounters bordering to assault. Meanwhile, there is a psychological conundrum as well. The protagonist is not happy being the third tire. She wants to be the centre of it. She is half in love and half crazy.
The book has everything you can imagine. Drugs, alcohol, relationships and self realisation. I even enjoyed the book at certain places but mostly was looking at finishing it soon so I could carry on with the next one.
The story felt very predictable. The ending, more so. I was happy for or protagonist but wasn’t surprised.
Language
I did like the way it was written though. The book felt disjointed at places. It is missing the flow but the language per se is beautiful. I liked some sentences but they somehow did not fit in the scenario. It felt like the book was written in fragments.
Good points
I like the book cover from Goodreads. It’s beautiful. I also love the subject of the novella. It came across as something I would want to read about. The language is also beautiful. The characters are designed really well.
Bad points
Even though the writing was good I couldn’t enjoy it. There were some sentences that burst in the mouth like fruity bubbles but mostly the mocktail was bland. The content also felt monotonous. I kept waiting for something to happen but nothing ever did. There are no crest and troughs in the book. The graph is quite linear.
Overall
I liked some parts of the book but mostly ended but wasting my time.
Whom do I recommend this to
Those who like a different context are going to like this particular book.
Go ahead, grab yourself a copy of Animals Eat Each Other and tell us what you think about the book! If you are a Kindle person, ensure to select the Kindle edition of the book.
Looking to buy a Kindle?
The frontlit, high-resolution Kindle Paperwhite seems to be the officially preferred Kindle at Meraki Post; Veena, Gazala and Ram have one each. And while Pooja may claim she is more of the “Love the new book smell” kind of person, she may be secretly deciding between the premium Kindle Oasis and the simple and efficient Good Ol’ Kindle.
Kindle Kindle Paperwhite Kindle Oasis
Meraki Post is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.in. Learn more.