This book checked all my boxes for a creepy, sapphic, gothic vampire story.

The vampire was interesting, especially as an old taxidermist preying on a young woman who has been through some serious trauma.

This is dark, grim, and incredibly beautifully written. But unfortunately, I just didn’t connect with Noelle, the main character and it fell short for me on that particular point.

But if you aren’t big into characters and want a gross horror filled with weird sex and trauma, this could be for you.

Really interesting themes of catholic guilt and (for lack of a better word) mommy issues. I thought the capitalisation of He for God and Her for the mother was very clever.

That being said I felt it was a case of good premise, poor execution. I found the writing to be clunky and overly descriptive to the point of confusion at times. It was an uncorrected proof copy so I can’t speak for the final published version, but I do think a hundred pages could have easily been shaved off.

I’ve also come to the realisation that i am not a vampire girlie so that definitely impacted my enjoyment of the book.

What did I read? I am mesmerised by the craft of this writer. The characters, the premise and the setting and compelling, and fresh too, but the writing style was incredible. I will reread this again to make note of all the lines that can easily become catchphrases. I did not expect this to be so funny. I will devour this author’s books.

If you’re going into this hoping for a twisted vampire romance filled with catholic guilt, you will be disappointed. If you’re looking for the gothic novel of 2024, you’ll be good! An incredibly interesting exploration of isolation, traumatic childhood and religion. Super gloomy but definitely worth the read!

Enjoyed very much the style of writing of this book. It made me closer to the character than ever however I didn't feel like this kind of character was my cup of tea. Still enjoyed where the story was leading me on. I'll be keeping my eyes out for another book from this author.

Gorgeous. An incredible new voice in the modern horror and queer romance scene. Jagger keeps the reader on their toes, entices them closer, and terrifies them in a miasma of religious trauma, sapphic tension, and supernatural intrigue. The Catholic influence in the story was compelling from both a traditional horror perspective as well as a contemporary one. Recommended for readers who are interested in literary fiction. Might be a bit dense for readers who aren't used to a more introspective pace. .

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of Fragile Animals. It's out now!

Fragile Animals follows Noelle, a young woman who decides to take a 'writing holiday' to the Isle of Brute. There, she meets a strange man named Moses, who insists that he is a vampire. As their relationship progresses, Moses becomes a catalyst in Noelle's reckoning with her childhood traumas stemming from her religious past.

I pretty strongly believe this is a "it's not you, it's me" type of reaction I'm having upon finishing this book. On paper, it's everything I love: wintery, gothic atmosphere, Catholic trauma, trauma from having a shitty relationship with your parents, and vampires. There's a lot here that I should love, and I did enjoy them individually, but as a whole, it never quite came together for me. All of the plot points felt so disjointed and, unfortunately, a lot more tell-y than show-y. I never saw why exactly Noelle had all of this deep seated religious trauma. I wanted so much more from that.

So much of what happens is weighed down by the prose, which is at times beautiful but also at times overwrought and exhausting in its abundance. The narrative really, honestly, felt like a slog until the last like 15% of the story. There would be pockets of interesting things but in between that it was Noelle rehashing the same things without revealing anything to the reader because it was all saved for that last 15% of the novel.

I also never fully connected with Noelle as our main character. I never really understood her motivations behind her actions, either in the present or in the past. The motivation can be being deeply unhappy and unable to cope with your past, but that can still be conveyed in a way where it makes sense why the character does and says the things that they do. I never really bought that from Noelle.

I'm bummed I didn't love this as much as I wanted to, because the premise is great and the cover is stunning. I like the project of the novel more than the execution, as I've said. I can see myself returning to Jagger to see how her craft changes (if it does). We shall see.

I would recommend this book but it is best gone into blind besides that it centres a character who is grappling with her Catholic upbringing and there is a crusty vampire. That is really all you need to know...

Fragile Animals is such a weird book, but in a familiar way. The writing once it hits it's flow, within a chapter or two, is easy to fall into, and the main character, Noelle, is every unsure twenty-something figuring things out and coming to terms with her childhood. She is very well fleshed out which lead me to feel both annoyed and sympathetic towards her.

I think my only critique is that it was a bit too long towards the end, I think somewhere in the last 5-7 chapters could be trimmed a bit, so we could get to the "event" she refers to a little faster. I think this would allow the story to have a slightly better flow in it's last quarter,

A very different book that feels very literary fiction featuring a gross vampire but worth the plunge if you are open to it.

This book was a strange read for me, and I have no doubt that if my circumstances were different, then prehapes my perception of this book would be very different.

Also, being Scottish and familiar with many of the locations, I almost felt removed from the story. When our protagonist arrived on Bute, her description of the people and the attitudes felt somewhat insulting and almost Americanised. As in all the islanders are staring at her because she is new and strange, this sort of view is weirdly outdated.
Although it is obvious that the writer has incorporated her own autism with the text, it prehapes that characters' understanding and perception of social cues alters from others who are not typically nuerodivergent. Which also feels overwrought with hyperfixations and, frankly, rather odd imagery. I am unsure if this was to purposefully make Noelle unlikeable or just to really hammer home the protagonists neurodiversity. However I feel as though it's depicted in such a negative light that its almost ableist ( I say almost as I know the author is neuro diverse) there are other moments as well that are again ableist in language such as comparing noelles writing to a stroke victim, these sort of comparisons are highly problematic.
The second thing that bothered me was the descriptions of Crail. Low and behold, I also grew up in Crail and would nightly stare out over the North Sea. However, the authors' descriptions again ring false. You can see plenty of land over the firth it's not some great void of nothingness. And when the nights were dark, the light house from the Isle of May would blink consistently.
Other aspects of that little town ring wholly odd as well, such as the fun fair on the football pitch, Crail never has such a fair that and it's opposite the school that she is supposedly skipping. I understand this is a work of fiction. However, the barest amount of research has been done. It's not like expect things to be exactly right, but if you want to make things up, then why not create a fictional East Coast town.

Again, I reiterate prehapes I am very much not the audience for this, or maybe my familiarity with the places concerned are what's sucking me out of the story.It'ss by no mean necessarily ba, but I can only review my reception of it.

You will likely enjoy this if you enjoy a more grotesque style of supernatural "romance" There is nothing pretty here, in either the characters nor their pasts. It's cold and brutal and quite frankly lacking much joy.  It is still a great achievement as a debut novel, just unfortunately not one that personally have been able to enjoy.

a moody, sexy & compelling debut novel!! ❤️‍🔥

perfect for those of you looking for a book with a messy, destructive & damaged main character, with themes of religious trauma & dysfunctional mother daughter relationships aaaand a rather erotic relationship with a vampire!

Loved the cover art and was hooked by the books blurb. The gothic and sensual themes combined with the woven in religious trauma was done beautifully and had me obsessed from cover to cover. I’m so excited for the author to come into our shop this month!
This book was delicious and I ate it up.

This book was unlike anything I've read before. I was initially drawn to the concept of a recovering Catholic taking solace on a Scottish island with a vampire, but wow it was so much more than I imagined. I was entranced from the first page and I can't wait for Genevieve Jagger to gift us with more of her writing.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

this is a great debut from a very talented author and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future

Modern gothic meets feminist literary social commentary on religious trauma.

A woman travels to a remote Scottish island and meets a kinky vampire. They exchange steamy past experiences and with every exchange we learn a little more about Noelle and her troubled past.

Great commentary on the ways women are moulded to self police our behaviour and an interesting look at sexual liberation and subjugation.

At times I found the narrative hard to follow but overall this was an interesting, tense and intimate read.

Rhankyou 404Ink and Netgalley for this ARC.

Thank you to 404 Ink for this arc!!

Learning that this was Genevieve Jagger’s debut novel was astounding — this is a well-crafted, nuanced, and ambitious novel. I particularly liked that we are never quite sure whether Moses is actually a vampire; the ambiguity is a very smart choice that keeps us on our toes. I thought the themes of religion, sexuality, and parenting that were explored in this novel were done expressively and compassionately, and Noelle was a very vivid character to read through. 3.5/5!

As an adult, Noelle has a difficult relationship with Catholicism - it being both the foundation of her childhood and the collapse of her mental health and stability. Noelle wants to atone for her sins and transgressions; her multilayered guilt causes her to be self-destructive .All this, and a mysterious vampire who could be her salvation or her violence.

Fragile Animals is a captivating literary read about a trouble young woman navigating religious trauma and guilt stemming from a troubled childhood with an absent and cold mother. It's slow paced, introspective, and the prose is poetic. Check this out if you like quieter books that pack a punch.

If vampires are truly "back" and "in" for this year, this is the book that's done it. What a wild, GORGEOUS, and enchanting ride. I'd love a sequel, I'd love more. Definitely a contender for my book of the year.

I really enjoyed this. Usually I’m not really one to pick up a horror-type books but after hearing such buzz from so many of my favourite authors I was excited to give it a try and Jagger definitely delivered. A fascinating vampire sapphic story and I will definitely be reading more from Jagger.

Wow. First of all, Jagger’s prose is so weird and I’m in love. The way she describes the environment with living, breathing, human qualities sets such an unsettling tone. Almost like the setting itself is watching the story unfold.

I adored Jagger’s commitment to ambiguity. Noelle’s bisexuality, Moses’ undeath, the liminal nature of the setting…I felt that all these things added so much depth to the deeper discussion about how our binary morals and standards contradict the nature of complex humanity.

I think really the only thing that kept me from fully giving this 5 stars, is the fact that the summary states that Noelle enters into a sexual relationship with a vampire. For me, this felt like a pretty major spoiler and I so wish I could have experienced the story unfolding without the knowledge that Noelle and Moses’ relationship turns sexual. Because that sex scene…it would have hit SO hard if I didn’t know for sure it was going to happen.

I enjoyed the experience of reading this novel, and getting inside the head of the main character, but sometimes I found the structure a little awkward. The switching between her past and present was repetitive at times and took away from the progressing current plot, but it does establish a certain rhythm that I got used to. The ending was abrupt considering the build-up, but it was satisfying in a certain way. If you have any interest in vampire stories, I would recommend this novel. If you like stories about characters losing their religion, I would also recommend this.