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challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you @librofm for allowing me to listen to Barn 8 by Deb Olin Unferth for free! I picked this one out to listen to because I thought it sounded very refreshing and different - come on, who wouldn't be tempted by the words CHICKEN HEIST? And to an extent, it was! But I should have seen it coming really... There was a lot of chicken talk in this book. I know you're all probably shaking your heads at me, there's literally a picture of a chicken on the front. But there's still a lot to enjoy in Barn 8, not least that it's a commentary on the state of egg farming in the US (and everywhere I suppose).
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Janey is a runaway with no clue what she wants with her life. Cleveland is an auditor for farms. Together they come up with an impossible plan to steal a million chickens in the dead of night, with the help of a ragtag team of activists. Chaos ensues. (Yes I'm aware I've used the 'x ensues' construction too much recently).
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It takes a little while to get going, and initially I found Janey very annoying, but slowly she grew on me. When Unferth introduces more and more characters, they start to come more to life. She switches through perspectives with ease (but I really wish audiobook narrators wouldn't try so hard to put on different voices for different characters - it makes me cringe) and each voice feels distinct. There's even chapters from the perspective of a chicken! I'm also a huge fan of including things like journal entries and transcripts in novels, which Unferth does to great effect.
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Some of my favourite chapters were towards the very end, when we hear from a security guard who has been left to guard an empty farm, forgotten for years by his company, and a forest ranger whose assigned plot is suddenly overrun by leghorn chickens.
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Unferth manages to ask probing, philosophical questions without coming across as preachy, while simultaneously unspooling an entertaining (most of the time) heist novel. This is a unique read for sure, and I recommend trying it if you're in the mood for something a little different!
.
Janey is a runaway with no clue what she wants with her life. Cleveland is an auditor for farms. Together they come up with an impossible plan to steal a million chickens in the dead of night, with the help of a ragtag team of activists. Chaos ensues. (Yes I'm aware I've used the 'x ensues' construction too much recently).
.
It takes a little while to get going, and initially I found Janey very annoying, but slowly she grew on me. When Unferth introduces more and more characters, they start to come more to life. She switches through perspectives with ease (but I really wish audiobook narrators wouldn't try so hard to put on different voices for different characters - it makes me cringe) and each voice feels distinct. There's even chapters from the perspective of a chicken! I'm also a huge fan of including things like journal entries and transcripts in novels, which Unferth does to great effect.
.
Some of my favourite chapters were towards the very end, when we hear from a security guard who has been left to guard an empty farm, forgotten for years by his company, and a forest ranger whose assigned plot is suddenly overrun by leghorn chickens.
.
Unferth manages to ask probing, philosophical questions without coming across as preachy, while simultaneously unspooling an entertaining (most of the time) heist novel. This is a unique read for sure, and I recommend trying it if you're in the mood for something a little different!