Category: Book with an animal on the cover

Review: If you ever wanted to get a sense of what it’s like to live in Florida and understand its strange, humorous, and weird existence, then this book is ready to supply you with a story. This particular story follows Jessa, a young woman in Central Florida, trying to figure out life after her father’s suicide. An initial dark premise, I know. However, Arnett finds levity and light in her first novel and taught me more about taxidermy than I ever thought I would learn.

The writing of this book is marvelous, and challenges the reader to be sarcastic, toxic, forgiving, and darkly funny all within the same page at times. The relationship that Jessa finds herself in with her family takes work…and a lot of beer. From her mother using taxidermy animals for inappropriate art installations, to her brother Milo trying to be a single father after the love of his life (and possibly Jessa’s life too) simply leaves, there is no rest and no avoiding the tension and love that her world brings. The reader gets to watch her struggle with her surroundings and fight to get her sense of self, beyond her grief and her relationships with others.

Perhaps the connection between tension and love is the most impressive balancing act that this book portrays. Having taken over her father’s taxidermy business after his death, Jessa is constantly confronted with corpses and the grotesque and somehow finds beauty and love to give to others. The dialogue and imagery of the book rise to this challenge and create a truly different and interesting read.

Contributed by: Noel