This is a story about the day of the pig.

This was a horrifying, nasty little read. I think the author is really talented & I’ll continue to read his work-but this one wasn’t quite a fit for me in the way his others have been. I felt viscerally uncomfortable at points, which may have been the intention? So I think as a horror novel is succeeds, but I didn’t find it enjoyable.

Thank you so much Netgalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for the eArc!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⠀
I am kicking myself for not reading this sooner. I need to get a copy of this for my collection ASAP because I’m obsessed 😂
⠀
🚨Trigger warning for my vegan friends 🚨
⠀
Also a little disclaimer: I have no idea if Josh Malerman intended for this to be commentary on the cruelty animals face for humans’ pleasure but it’s there if you’re paying attention. If you want a horrifying story about a creepy pig, this is it. But I got way more out of this story. Anyway…
⠀
Pearl is a pig with only one good eye that lives on the Kobble farm in this small, remote farming town. The book starts out on the farm where a young boy slaughters a pig but he says that Pearl made him do it. When rumors start to spread about this pig who can supposedly talk to humans, a group of teenagers goes on a journey to see this pig themselves.
⠀
Things escalate quickly from there and I could not put this book down. I see a lot of people talking about how creepy/scary Pearl was. But what I saw was a pig getting revenge and I am LIVING FOR IT. All his life, Pearl has witnessed and experienced cruelty. Those days are over.
⠀
I absolutely loved this book and I recommend it to anyone looking for a gruesome horror story. But I’ll encourage you to open your mind a little to find deeper meaning in this story. 🐷

I think when Josh Malerman was writing 'Pearl', he must have had three little people running around his head: Orwell, King, and Jackson. And, like pretty much everything Malerman writes, the story requires a great suspension of disbelief and leaves you with no real explanation for the strange things that occur. Think the terrible never-seen antagonists of Bird Box, or the strange otherworldly cowboy-spirit-things in Unbury Carol - creatures with no real origin story who just appear in the tale and we, the reader, are expected to take them without question (or at least without expecting to actually get answers to our questions).

So in this particular story, we've got a pig who has developed a near-human intelligence and what's more, has also developed some crazy telepathic mind-control. We do, toward the end of the book, get Pearl the Pig's defining moment, that part of his past that started him on this path to being the freakiest pig every birthed. Which gives us a why of sorts, but not really a how. Classic Malerman. So old Pearl has grown and learned and honed his powers until the day comes ( THE DAY OF THE PIG) when he does his best to break free from his porcine bonds and...well, take over the world, or at least the world of the farm.

So tiny Orwell is there in the whispers of 'Animal Farm'. King is lurking in the shadows with Cujo in the way a normally friendly animal has now become unpredictably dangerous and a faceoff between man and beast must take place out in the middle of nowhere. And Shirley Jackson is perched just behind Malerman's ear, murmuring pages-long stream-of-consciousness slowly-losing-their-mind internal dialogues for the characters.

Which is to say, this book reminded me of a lot of other good books, but with Malerman's own way of presenting the completely unbelievable in a straight-face deadpan sort of way.

Now I'm rambling, so to close: I've never met a Malerman I didn't like, and while this isn't my favorite of his works, it's still a Malerman, which means its a great little story, weird and bizarre and uncomfortable and let me tell you, that pic does awful things and yet...Malerman *almost* has me feeling sorry for him just the same.

This was a different Malerman novel. Reminded me a bit of Stephen King. Over-all I liked it but it was definitely unsettling.

This book was totally creepy in a good we Josh Malerman way, which is a good thing. I’m still not sure what was real and what was Pearl.

Ok so let me say, when I saw it was Josh Malerman, I jumped for it. I loved the Bird Box and all. This, this book was completely different than what I had expected it to be. For starters...Pearl is a pig. Now, whenever I think of stories that have to do with Pigs, I think of Charolette Web and Wilber the pig. For as sweet and loveable that Wilber is, Pearl is so far opposite, shes like on the other side of the universe.
This is an evil pig. Let me say that again, a EVIL pig. Like the stuff nightmares are made of evil. I don't even think Stephen King can come up with something like this.

Ok, the story itself is so not my cup of tea, but I do have to give credit where credit is due and Malerman did come up with a crazy original story and it works!

THank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Overall, I had a blast with Pearl and if creature features were ever your thing, you will most likely have just as much fun as I did. Highly recommended!

A couple of things you should know about Pearl:

1. It was previously published in 2019 under the title On This, the Day of the Pig as a limited edition through Cemetery Dance Publications. So, this isn't technically a "new" Josh Malerman work.

2. The entire plot surrounds the titular character, Pearl, who is a telepathic, psychopathic pig on a rampage. Yes: a pig.

I didn't find either of these aspects of Pearl to be a turn-off. This is a Malerman work I wasn't previously aware of, so it was still "new" to me. And, as a lover of horror, I'm incredibly open-minded and firmly believe that just about anything can be made to be scary in the right hands. Malerman has a great track record when it comes to making weird things terrifying. This sounded to me like a twisted, glorious mash-up of Charlotte's Web and Animal Farm and I was here for it.

Unfortunately, I didn't end up enjoying the end product here. Not only did Malerman fail to make this concept scary, he also didn't go far enough the other way to make it tongue-in-cheek and satirical. And he didn't really make me care about the characters being terrorized by Pearl. So in the end, Pearl just left me feeling empty: not horrified and not amused, not invested in any particular outcome for these characters.

I love how Malerman's mind works, and I'll continue to read his future novels. But for this one, all I can really say is: "That'll do, pig. That'll do."

Thanks to Del Rey Books and NetGalley for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'll never look at a pig the same way again.
A creepy weird tale that has you thinking WHAT do these animals really think? How far does their intelligence go?

It’s no secret that I absolutely adore Josh Malerman’s writing. I will read anything that man ever writes. But unfortunately Pearl wasn’t one of my favorites.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this novel. I found the concept to be so fascinating and couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I also liked the different view points that the story was told from. The idea of a pig learning the human world so he could one day control it is terrifying.

Unfortunately this book was way to long for me. I almost wish it was written in novella form. I feel like it would have made a bigger impact that way. I also wanted more gory scenes like the death in the beginning of the book.

Overall this book was still enjoyable. I loved the ending! I would highly recommend this one to any horror lover. Josh Malerman has one of the most unique writing styles that I’ve ever read.
3/5 Stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

When I heard that there was a new book by Josher Malerman (author of Bird Box) coming out, I knew I had to dive in and read it! Here's the thing – Pearl is actually a re-titling of another story by Malerman, called On This, the Day of the Pig.

Consider Animal Farm meets Charlotte's Web, only in this case the pig is psychopathic and telepathic. That is the recipe used to create Pearl, and it is an exceptionally disturbing read. I'll admit that it was not one of my favorites (hence the shorter review style).

Honestly, I really struggled to get through this one. I was so surprised, as I had enjoyed a couple of other books by Malerman at this point. I guess it just goes to show that sometimes one ought to be a bit more careful before grabbing up a book by a known author?

A fun horror romp in the mud! This plot is something straight out of a wacky Stephen King meets Charlotte's Web mashup. This was a solid read, but I expected a bit more from it. A decent way to spend your time, but it's no Bird Box.

This book was an experience. It kind of made my brain hurt, but it was a super interesting read and certainly kept me engaged from the first page to the last one. I would say it's less horror and more experimental horror, but certainly creepy and does it's job.

I mean, I don't know what I expected from a book with a mind bending evil pig, but I guess my reading needs were met? To be honest, I picked it up because the premise was so..."What?". And it certainly lived up to it's blurb.

This was my first Malerman and I will stick around for more of his work.

I think I might be done with Malerman. Love the ambition of his ideas, but the execution leaves me wanting nearly every time.

What's this, then? A novel about a psychic male pig named Pearl? Hell yeah, sign me up!

Pearl was raised on a farm in the town of Chowder, just a short way from Goblin. Sherry was raised on that farm too and now she's back to visit her father, with her two boys in tow. On the farm are the usual animals, and a malformed pig named Pearl. Something is wrong with one of his eyes, but that's not all that's wrong with him. Sherry has been wary of Pearl her entire life, and in fact asked when she was still a girl, that her father plant some trees so she couldn't see Pearl's pen from her window. Have things changed regarding Sherry's fear of Pearl? Is her fear justified? You'll have to read this to find out!

Back in the horror boom of the 70s and 80s, creature features became some of my favorite books. The Rats. Night of the Crabs. The Howling. This book is not that. In fact, this novel might carry with it a message. When the dedication reads "This book is dedicated to every living thing on Earth, past, present and future." That makes me think that maybe Pearl is out to get justice for all of his farm animal friends that have gone on to someone's dinner table.

The action is fast paced, horrific and fun. There's no preaching about being a vegetarian or anything like that, but I do think that might be the message of the story? For me, I read it for the pure creature feature fun and it surely did provide that. What's not intriguing or fascinating about a psychic pig? One that can get into your mind and make you do things you'd never otherwise do? "Sing to Me" Pearl says. And the people do. They really do.

Overall, I had a blast with Pearl and if creature features were ever your thing, you will most likely have just as much fun as I did. Highly recommended!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-copy in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*

**When I requested Pearl from NetGalley, I didn't realize that I already own it under its original title, ON THIS, THE DAY OF THE PIG. No big deal for me though; this way I was able to keep my hardcover pristine.**

Thank you Delrey via Netgalley for the arc. 3.75⭐️ rounded to 4⭐️

There lived an old man in a small town called Chowder. He had a favourite pet, a pig—Pearl. Pig is a he, but he is named Pearl because his deformed eye looked like the mother of pearl. Its his favourite pig, he talks with him, teaches him words, sings for him. Its not too weird you might think, until the old man’s grandkids come to the farm and one of them hears a voice.

The pig is telepathic. It has a hidden agenda, its sits like humans and stares like it hates all sapiens. I’d say we have reached the peak point of weirdness with this book. I mean I cringed and let out a squeak every time Pearl said “Sing for me.. Sing for Pearl”.

If you have read from Malerman before, you know how cut to the chase yet ambiguous his writing is. Pearl is in no way different. Loved reading through the chapters to know why Pearl has these tendencies to screw up human minds and why he hates humans. But, I felt there were fillers used at places to lengthen the story. Took off a star for that reason. I truly think this book would be better as an audiobook tho. Highly recommend still.

I really enjoyed Pearl. I’ll be honest the premise was a little, silly perhaps. However, the writing immediately drew me in and the characters - Pearl included - were captivating. I couldn’t put this book down! I flew through the story and was genuinely terrified. This is the kind of horror story that sticks with you - I’ll never be able to look at another pig the same way again.

Honestly, this book was pretty bad. I loved the author’s Birdbox, but this one was a far cry from that one.

With allusions to Charlotte’s Web, we meet the ultimate evil in the form of a pig named Pearl. This pig is no Wilbur, and is able to somehow get into the minds of all, bending them to his will.

It was bizarre, weird, lacked that supposed quality evil stories possess. Such a disappointment really!

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this newly published book.

An exciting and haunting story of a psychic pig determined to take over the farm, Pearl is a novel that explores what it means to be human and what a creature will do to ensure its own survival. In it, Josh Malerman reaffirms that he is a master of the third-person point of view, expertly navigating the story through various characters (including said psychic pig). While you may not know what's real or not as the book's climax comes closer and closer, you'll know one thing for sure: Someone will sing for Pearl.

Kopple Farm has a special pig. The farmer gives it extra attention, telling it about the world and the ways of men. The other pigs seem to listen to it, always waiting to see what it wants them to do. Pearl is a very very special pig.
People in town have heard rumors about Pearl. They find it hard to pass the farm without feeling drawn to the pig pen. Pearl knows this, and has been waiting patiently. When three teenagers sneak on the property, Pearl knows its time to shine.
Pearl is a very very special pig. When you meet him, you will want to prove your worth to him. To do that, all you have to do is sing for him.....


Pearl was first published in 2018 as, On This, The Day Of The Pig. Once you have read the book, the original title makes sense and has an ominous feel to it. But, Pearl is the better choice. This book is about Pearl. Pearl is an amazing pig, worthy of a book title.
All my life, pigs have been portrayed as happy little pink things. Wilbur was "Some Pig", Babe excelled in sheep herding, and my toes were little piggies that went to market. Josh Malerman has warped my view of pigs for life. Pearl is like no other pig. He is smarter then most humans, able to reach into the minds of others and gain control. He can make humans worship him, fear him, and want to kill. Pearl is freaking scary as hell.
This is a bizarre and terrifying story to read. At times I was so caught up in it, so shocked by the scenes that unfold, that I stopped and read portions out loud to my husband. I felt I needed to share the insanity with another human, to feel like I wasn't going through it alone. My poor husband listened with a concerned look on his face. lol. Pearl managed to creep into the uncomfortable places of his mind as well.
This is an excellent horror story. I recommend it if you like strange, vivid imagery coated in blood. Malerman is so very good at what he does.