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brianreadsbooks 's review for:
Mostly Dead Things
by Kristen Arnett
I can honestly say this book is unlike anything I’ve read before. I wasn’t sure I would like this for the first quarter of the book, but once I sank into it I ended up LOVING it.
“When her taxidermist father commits suicide, Jessa-Lynn Morton takes over the family business while the rest of her family crumble with grief in bizarre ways. A dark and oftentimes comedic tale of love and loss.” Through a back and forth cadence of current and past scenes, Arnett slowly reveals the hidden, unspoken, and intertwined stories of this family of lost/confused/doing-just-fine-thank-you souls.
Fair warning: she gets graphic. There’s a lot of meat and innards. But it’s important meat and innards!
It’s out on June 4, and I recommend a preorder/add to TBR if you love darkly funny family dynamics, odd premises, lesbian protagonists, taxidermy, #onlyinflorida stories, or writing that’s so amazingly visceral you feel fully in the moment alongside the characters.
After I finished the book, I learned from Arnett’s twitter profile she’s a rad lesbian librarian from Orlando. And that’s why this book was written so well. She understood the characters and the setting. She used that to envelop the weirdness of the worlds of taxidermy and queer dating into a story about trauma and grief and family that left me feeling things. I just ordered her short story collection Felt in the Jaw because I want more!
This book centers queer women. The story isn’t about their queer identity, per se, but (from my gay male POV) reflects the importance of it in the larger story of their lives. I loved this. It’s the reality we live as queer people who exist in the world as part of families, jobs, and sometimes…taxidermied peacocks.
I received this advanced reader copy from Tin House (my first ARC – thank you!).
Follow me on Instagram for more #bookstagram reviews and photos: @brianreadsbooks
“When her taxidermist father commits suicide, Jessa-Lynn Morton takes over the family business while the rest of her family crumble with grief in bizarre ways. A dark and oftentimes comedic tale of love and loss.” Through a back and forth cadence of current and past scenes, Arnett slowly reveals the hidden, unspoken, and intertwined stories of this family of lost/confused/doing-just-fine-thank-you souls.
Fair warning: she gets graphic. There’s a lot of meat and innards. But it’s important meat and innards!
It’s out on June 4, and I recommend a preorder/add to TBR if you love darkly funny family dynamics, odd premises, lesbian protagonists, taxidermy, #onlyinflorida stories, or writing that’s so amazingly visceral you feel fully in the moment alongside the characters.
After I finished the book, I learned from Arnett’s twitter profile she’s a rad lesbian librarian from Orlando. And that’s why this book was written so well. She understood the characters and the setting. She used that to envelop the weirdness of the worlds of taxidermy and queer dating into a story about trauma and grief and family that left me feeling things. I just ordered her short story collection Felt in the Jaw because I want more!
This book centers queer women. The story isn’t about their queer identity, per se, but (from my gay male POV) reflects the importance of it in the larger story of their lives. I loved this. It’s the reality we live as queer people who exist in the world as part of families, jobs, and sometimes…taxidermied peacocks.
I received this advanced reader copy from Tin House (my first ARC – thank you!).
Follow me on Instagram for more #bookstagram reviews and photos: @brianreadsbooks