The Great American Melting Pot is at it again in Kate Milliken’s absorbing debut “Kept Animals”. We have Hollywood Royalty with endless wealth, the plastic surgeon to the stars, a multi-millionaire ranch owner, a hardscrabble horse whisperer with a bitter partner, and a multi-generational undocumented family. Add a coterie of hormonal teenagers who are busy mixing legal and illegal substances and bodily fluids early and often. What could possibly go wrong?

Milliken has woven it all together into a rich and engaging story centered in Topanga Canyon, California and the Wyoming portion of the Snake River. The settings are characters themselves. Tragedy runs through all the threads - most often self-inflicted through willful intent or negligence. Animals of all shapes and sizes are an important part of each phase of the heartbreaking vignettes.

Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the eARC.

A very novel approach to the telling of a life's story. Three girls growing into young women as their worlds circle each other but seldom touch. The main story revolves around a horse ranch and the many different personalities that interact with each other. As circumstances always do, the young women are forced to change how they see themselves and each other. Kate Milliken has written an entertaining story that will have you hoping for more happiness and less drama. Definitely worth your reading time.

I read the first 30% or so and quickly tried to glide through the rest. I was so bummed, because I was so excited for this title. The characters in this one unfortunately felt really weak and bland to me, and the story was far too drawn out. I just felt very disconnected from the story in general. Such a bummer!

The things we do as kids can affect us as adults, Especially if there is something different from "normal" about us. Well written,

I’m sorry to say this is a DNF for me at 54%. I stayed with it because I thought it was well written. What finally made me finally put it down was I realized I didn’t care about a single person in the book. Because I could not connect with any of them, I couldn’t stay interested.

Set against a backdrop of an ecological disaster, Kept Animals follows Rory, a young queer teenager who is stuck between two women and the tragedy that follows. With great character building and an immersive California 1990's vibe, the author pulls the reader into the emotional turmoil while confronting topics like sexuality, the sins we inherent from our parents, and classism.

A special thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

(Original review posted on GoodReads.)

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

This was really good! I was intrigued by this book from the outset — the early ‘90s California setting, the complicated relationship between three girls (Rory, June, and Vivian), and the mystery of what happened one fateful night.

And this book did not disappoint. The story flips between the past and the present, the past through various different characters and the present through Charlie, Rory’s daughter. Charlie is trying to come to grasps with her mother’s shadowed past, and it’s this that propels the narrative.

Rory is the main focus of the story. Coming from a low-income dysfunctional family, Rory is a budding photographer who longs to get out and see the world as much as she loves working as a stable girl. She’s also a repressed lesbian.

Over the course of one year, Rory gets drawn into the worlds of two vastly different girls June and Vivian — and all of the complexities that come with that. June, the daughter of a rich doctor, is crushing hard on Rory, but Rory is more interested in the elusive Vivian, her next door neighbor and daughter of a famous actor. Their lives become intrinsically linked following a tragedy. It’s messy and complicated and Rory finds herself in the middle of a lot of connected plot threads.

I liked how well-written all the characters were. There are certainly villains in the story, but everyone is written as a fully realized character, with flaws and complexities. This is a world in the midst of upheaval, and everyone reacts accordingly.

Rory, of course, is especially nicely defined. Her struggle with her sexuality felt natural and honest. Truly, I saw many shades of “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” (one of my all-time favorite books) here, and I could even imagine Cam and Rory being best friends if they ever met.

The mystery aspect is also well done, with all of the plots tied nicely together at the end. The closer we drew towards it, the more I felt a sense of dread. I had a sneaking suspicion as to what happened the further I got it, but I was still surprised by the execution. Although I can imagine some people may find the ending a bit too pat with some resolutions, it worked for me.

I can’t say I could find much, if any fault in this book. It was a solid read with interesting characters and an engaging plot.