I'm sorry. No. This book was not for me. I didn't understand the dynamic being aimed for here. Some call this fairytale-esque but I don't know. It just doesn't do what it claims. There's not a lot here for readers who live outside the white, middle class urbanity demanded. I found Mary unlikeable and unreachable. I also like creepy, weird novels but this was too much. Thank you for approving me and sorry for leaving you negative feedback.

I found this incredibly difficult to rate and review. I changed my rating several times before I settled on 4 stars. This book is very different to anything I’ve ever read. This is a story about a woman called Mary who’s trying to find a way to cope after her marriage falls apart. This is a trope that is quite popular and has been written time and time again however I promise you’ve never come across it being done quite like this. I really enjoyed this book and I found myself having to keep reading to find out what would happen. This book has stuck with me ever since I read it and I can’t stop thinking about it. That’s no small feat.

Something about this one didn't work for me. I expected to love it, but the end result was more twee than meditative or groundbreaking, there's little subtlety and in the end it all felt a bit cloying. Not for me. I imagine many will love it though.

Very strange little book about a woman dealing with life's dramas through befriending a fox. Is this fox real, or not? Is the fox a metaphor, or is it just a fox? You can't trust her as a narrator, because she's dealing with trauma and life issues, but you can't help but get into her brain and perspective - which makes reading it quite odd. Very clever technique, though. I read to the end, and I still remember much of what happened, but I'm not sure I entirely enjoyed it.

Thank you for the advance review copy, took me long enough but enjoyed reading it and would recommend!

The writing is rich and atmospheric, and the settings and characters fully realised and multi-dimensional. The book has a fascinating concept, though it didn't engage me 100%, I'm not really sure why. I think maybe I was never drawn in enough to accept the metaphor of the fox, and kept flicking forwards to get to the human interactions.

This is a peculiar book - one woman's relationship with a fox as she breaks down. The bounds of sanity are severely tested as the fox becomes her sole focus, while she isolates herself further from the people that surround her. It's cleverly written, particularly when it comes to the Fox's point of view, and is quite unnerving as you wonder how far Mary will go to protect her 'relationship'. It is an interesting read but uncomfortable at times.

I was hoping to read this authors work and get into the book but sadly this was not for me at all. Nothing to do with the author, just not my type of book

I gave this book a try, however, I couldn't get into it, almost from page one. I think I was expecting something completely different to what I was presented.

I'm not huge on domestic literary fiction and looking at other people's reviews, this one seems to be just that. I have so many books to read, I'm going to pass on this one.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read it, sorry I didn't enjoy it!

I found this compelling and odd and felt a bit weirded out by the end.. It is intriguing and disturbing and I’m sure I would read more by this author.

great book and very easy to read. It is a very strange but enjoyable read

The synopsis for this book is so unusual it pulled me straight in.
Marys life is in utter turmoil when she notices a fox keeps visiting her garden and unusually he isn't scared of her. Emotionally fraught and at her lowest she thinks she's been chosen by him to be helped as he seems to want to stick around and they build up an usual friendship as he delivers her amusing random gifts.
As Marys mental health deteriorates I became wary if the fox was real or a figure of her imagination.
This isn't a book you read where you will always feel comfortable, it will leave you pondering long after you have put it down. The tale is so unique, dark and thought provoking it's just so wacky and the author plays your emotions well with such talent.
My thanks go to the author, publishers and Netgalley for this arc in return for a honest review.

How to Be Human is the oddly mesmerising tale of Mary – recently split from her controlling fiancé, unsatisfied with her job, haunted by a loveless upbringing, and unsure of what path to take. “The magazines were full of stories of women choosing between their career and their maternal instincts. But what if you had neither? What if you were still waiting?” The book opens with her discovery of a baby on her doorstep – but who left it there, and why?

Before we can probe this mystery we are brought back in time, to Mary returning home and finding a resplendent fox reclining on her lawn. She takes his presence to be a sign he has chosen her – but for what purpose? As Mary becomes increasingly obsessed with her connection to the fox – who brings her gifts, who she lets into her home, and who is claiming her garden as his territory – her connection to reality becomes more questionable. By the time we catch back up to the baby on the doorstep, we have no way of knowing if the baby was placed there by her struggling new parent neighbours; her ex-fiancé who is still enraged she doesn’t want children; by the fox; or by Mary herself. It doesn’t really matter who did it – consequences are real even when the actions themselves are mysterious.

I’m not entirely sure why now, but I expected this book to be quite like The Portable Veblen (but with foxes, not squirrels). However, Mary’s loosening grip on reality is not kooky, it is dark and uncomfortable. The writing throughout is luscious, including the evocative passages where we slip into the fox’s point of view. How to Be Human is a complex, intriguing book that defies easy placement in a genre, and well deserves a read.

How to Be Human is published by Hutchinson Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House). I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Mary gets home from work one day, not long after her husband has moved out, to find a magnificent fox on her lawn. His ears spiked in attention and every hair bristling with his power to surprise – she is entranced. Somehow his wild presence has bought magic back into her very controlled life and she longs to see him again. She begins to leave food out for him and he begins to leave her gifts too. Gradually he makes himself at home. Much to the consternation of her neighbours who start to plot getting rid of him.

Then one day it seems he has left a very unusual gift. A gift that changes everyone’s lives.

This is an unusual book – I wasn’t exactly sure by the end of it what had happened and what hadn’t. But in that lies it’s brilliance. it explores the nuances between sanity and madness, civilisation and savagery, right and wrong, love and abuse.

I was sucked into this from the first page and as soon as i’d finished it I put it straight into my re-readables pile -who knows? Maybe next time I’ll even figure out what actually happened!

5 Bites

NB I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in return for an honest review. The BookEaters always write honest reviews

I could not find comfort in this book. The opening paragraphs set a scene in which I wanted no part of. The book was compelling in a sense and yet I couldn't finish it. The relationship between woman and fox seemed to border on sexual. Maybe that was metaphorical but I just didn't enjoy it. I rarely leave a book unfinished, but I'm afraid I couldn't finish this.

i can see why people would love this but i cannot find common ground with this book

I liked this book, but I'm not sure why. It isn't like anything I have read before, being surreal and slow-moving at times. It seems like the protagonist begins as a depressed, repressed and sometimes insane young woman. But she is very human. Her Fox creates a strong contrast in the beginning which gradually fades as they begin to trust each other and become more alike. The writing is rich and evocative. Worth a read, if only to give yourself strange dreams.

Have you ever spoken to your pets, convinced that they really, and I mean REALLY understand you? Pets do not judge, they do not care if you are in your sweatpants with no makeup and they always show unconditional love.

So, Mary verbalising her problems to a fox is no different than people talking to their pets however towards the end the author really pushed the line of acceptability and the reading experience became a bit unpleasant. Particularly hints at a sexual connection with the fox was unnecessary..

Mary is newly single, in danger of losing her job, indifferent to housekeeping, with a tolerance of her neighbours whose baby she can hear crying through the walls. Her life seems at the verge of crumbling until she spots a fox snoozing in her garden.

She has always been a solitary child and grew up as a very lonely and submissive woman, allowing life to push her any way it wants.

Initially Mary’s unhealthy fascination with the fox acts as a catalyst to see her life and failed relationship with Mark through new eyes. Throughout most of the book I could clearly see how Mary has grown stronger in her belief in herself. But then the author chose to let Mary slide deeper into delusion and all that good work showing a slightly unhinged woman finding a foothold in her life, started falling away. What a pity, I really enjoyed the book up to the 60% mark.

I would have liked the understand the dynamics between Mary and Mark better as their failed relationship is one of the driving forces behind Mary’s delusions. Things are hinted at but never explored.

I did enjoy the fox’s narration included here and there. Almost like a stream of consciousness which I found unique and very well done.

I think the writing was fine but this is not a book I will actively recommend.

A very unusual and wonderful read.
I enjoyed the writing style and the story very much and will think about it for some time.