this felt like a modern day Frankenstein story, and I really enjoyed going though it. The atmosphere had the right amount of tension and I really enjoyed the horror elements..

The taxidermist lover
TW// Mention of rape, incest, emotional abuse.
This book follows the story of Scarlett, a woman who develops an obsession to her husband’s taxidermy creatures. We follow Scarlett while she narrate to her husband how her obsession began and how it developed in time. One could easily interpret her reaction and sensibility, to what she calls something close to “the soul of the death animals trying to scape”, as her journey and struggles dealing with mental health issues. Although, I wouldn’t know if that’s really part of any plot twist, because I stopped reading at 50%.
The lack of trigger warnings in this book lead to read it, and want to read it, while not being aware of tropes and storylines I do not like, specifically incest. I do not like incest as a trope, I don’t think is good, and taking into account how present this was in the first half, I’d have loved for this book to include a trigger warning, as for the rape scene and the emotional abuse. However, as a reader and a reviewer, I know I have no entitlement to what the author decides to put in their story, it’s their creation, and I am the one who decided to read it. Thus, I am also the one who can decide when to stop reading it.
This book has an audience, but must be people already familiar with the genre and all the tropes that could be explored.

Taxidermy has always been fascinating to me. I don’t know why but there’s just something about it that’s so bizarre and intriguing at the same time. I’ve found an old book about it from the late 1800s and a lot of things in this book reminded me of that.

While this dealt with an interesting subject, I just wasn’t blown away as other readers were. What I thought was going to be a quick and hauntingly beautiful read, turned into a very tedious one quickly. It was an okay read that reminded me a bit of Frankenstein.

When we first learn about Scarlett and her insane obsession with Henry’s taxidermy mash-ups it throws you off enough to draw you in. But Scarlett’s obsession never escalated enough for it to be exciting or scary. It stayed at this slightly elevated level without moving from that line. So it felt like it was the same thing but a different day. And repetitiveness in books gets kind of boring after a while.

The only redeeming quality to the book was the end. It was pure insanity and I enjoyed the big reveal. Even though I knew it was coming. I just didn’t realize how it was going to come to the surface. That was the most impressive part of this entire story. The read might be worth it just for the last twenty percent.

The Taxidermist's Lover was a hit and a miss for me. It was an okay read with an amazing ending but I wanted more throughout. It really wasn't what I was wanted or expected with this reading. With that being said, I think that this Author has room to grow and I'm excited to see where she takes us next. I know she has more dark stories to tell and I can't wait!

A lushly written exploration of love, death, passion, and secrets. Hall's hauntingly eerie imagery draws you into a world like no other. I couldn't put it down!

I didn't know what to expect... it was a little bot of everything.
The protagonist, is married to a much older taxidermist. Upon her instructions, he invents new creatures by sticking elements of animals together (like a swan and a poodle).
The booky was spooky and it was interestingly written in a mix of diary and dialogue.
While some of it was truly beautiful and lyrically written, a lot of it was just rehashing. I guess that is what happens when a woman really only sees her beau. So much of this book is the polar opposite of my life, quiet, rural and complete devotion to one man.
The ending was unexpected and gruesome, though understable if you get into her frame of mind.
Parts of it I loved, parts of it dragged on.
I am not going to google images to see if these monstrosities are actually made (though people are bored and do weird stuff, so likely, but I recommend you don't google them either).

This book is magical. It's a novel narrated in the second person that tells the story of Scarlett's love and infatuation with Henry, a man much older than her, who is a taxidermist.
As soon as they know each other they decide to live together and marry shortly after.

She is obsessed with his work and proposes to give him a new approach: instead of embalming and recreating existing animals, he begins mixing creatures to create new beings.
we are then witnesses of a parade of impossible creatures as we learn about Scarlett's past, her twisted relationship with her twin brother, the death of her parents, among other confessions.

The book, in addition to a novel, is a lyrical work. It is so beautifully written, the descriptions are so emotionally charged that reading it is, without a doubt a treat for the soul and the senses.

I loved it!