This was an absolutely stunning companion prequel to Pet. There was so much important commentary on monsters, humanity, revolution, and art explored on these pages. I can see classes reading this book and discussing it for years to come. This, like Pet, are modern classics that need to be protected from bannings and shared widely.

Emezi truly excels not only at strong storytelling narratively but connecting the reader to every aspect of the characters' struggles, desires, pain, and triumphs. The empathy that these kids have is inspiring and also a reminder so that we don't become the monsters we're fighting to stop.