In very whimsical fashion Jenny Slate takes us on a journal of what it’s like to wake up every day heartbroken over the loss of one love, thinking you’ll never love again. Only to find out that one day you will find another human to love you! And they will love all your little quirks that make you the human you are! And you’ll love all their little quirks that make them the human they are! But you do still harbor the fear of loss, because after all you are only human. But maybe one day when you’re both the epitome of wind chimes in the wind and song birds on the sea, you may even find the courage to wed each other! But shortly after that magically lyrical period of life the two of you may decide “hmm I like their quirks and they like mine, I wonder what would happen if we tried to make another human” and that’s when the true transformation begins. When you have the ability to create another form of life, a lifeform! And you’re ever changing! And the life form inside of you is ever changing obviously because you’re still growing it, and you’re filled with so much curiosity and wonder. But this whole motherhood thing should be easy right? We’ve been doing it for centuries so how hard could it be right? RIGHT?! 

Slate tells us exactly how hard it can be! Through veracious essays in all shapes and sizes. Dreams of storks delivering babies, having a way too comfortable one sided relationship with your doctor, what a postpartum body is really like, daydream scenarios of all the best gossip! 

Jenny Slate has this insatiable ability to burrow deeply inside your soul and stay there with her art. She’s a master of stringing words together in such a concise way that feels fresh! She is able to put emotions you couldn’t even comprehend feeling, into words you’d never say, but that feels so right. She’s simultaneously original and relatable. She’s romantic and sparky and continues to make you fall deeper in love with her each time you consume her art. I know Lifeform will be reread many time over by me, just like Little Weirds was. And I know each time I read it, I’ll glean something new. 

I recommend this book to longtime Jenny Slate lovers, new moms, people in tune with their body and the earth below their feet!!!Thank you netgalley and Hachette Audio for this audio arc!