While this novel was not exactly the one for me, there are parts of it that I appreciate and think were very well done. The setting was described well, and made me feel like I was truly in Nashville in the 1920s. I appreciated the discussions of race and segregation from the time period. The relationship between Two and the animals at the zoo was a great metaphor for how Natives were and are treated. The characters we got the most story from, Two, Crawford, and Clive, were all interesting to hear about and had unique backstories. The magical elements tied into the story was delightfully fantastical and grounded in reality at the same time in a way I enjoyed. The surrealism at points was great.

However, the overall feeling I got from this book was very disjointed. There were so many characters that I feel did not contribute much at all. Because of the sheer number of characters introduced back to back, I had a hard time figuring out who was who and what their purpose was. I also thought all of the different plot threads on their own were interesting, but I was confused on how they were meant to fit together. I was expecting them all to converge and make sense at the end, but they never did. And the ending itself did not feel like an ending at all. Most of the time I enjoy ambiguous endings, but this one was just one note for me.

Overall, I had an okay time with this book, but it wasn’t my favorite.