Ernie, Ray, Stacey, and Coral. become a band on the run of sorts after the house where they were cooking meth explodes. Yes, they've got some cash but it isn't theirs and they know someone, either bad guys or good guys, i.e. law enforcement is coming after them. So off they go through Texas where they work on their found family and then add a cheetah (sure, why not?). Their back stories come out slowly but the one least explained is Coral, who does not speak or, possibly, hear. It's an unusual book that more or less defies genre. The characters are intriguing and Libaire has made some bold choices. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Interesting.

It took me a little while to get into this book. At the beginning, the story was a little confusing with a lot of characters. It got more interesting when the focus shifted to Ernie, Coral, Ray and Staci. The characters weren't unlikable, but I also couldn't relate to them. Coral, in particular, was a very strange character. The writing was good but I don't know if I would go out of my way to read the author's other books. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

There were times when this book engaged me, and times when I really had to reach hard to pick it up and continue. The premise, intriguing. The execution, thin. Four people flee an illegal compound and hole up in a Texas rental. When their backstories are explored, the book is at its strongest. But, all together, it skims what could make it more cohesive, and the most interesting character is not given any interior life to hold my interest. I don't usually comment on the ending of a novel since I think that's unfair, but here, it is rushed, inconclusive, and ultimately disappointing. There was, however, some beautiful writing ("They walked into a house missing its authority. The mold the lichen the rot -- it wanted in . . .") ("...when you love somebody, best thing, hardest f****** thing, is to leave them be. Let them come to you. If it's going to happen, let it happen.") ("...like a beach motel in the dead of winter with two sole guests who could hear each other's televisions but never spoke or interacted.") It was such passages that kept me going.

Life changes for four people who live in an Oklahoma commune when their home literally explodes. As luck would have it, they’re not at home when this disaster occurs, but they’re now homeless and left holding a bunch of cash. The money is really not theirs to spend, linked as it is to an illegal drugs transaction. But who’s left to question this?

On the road and looking for somewhere to stay, they eventually find a place to rent in Texas. They’re an eclectic bunch: a rough biker, an ex-stripper, a well-meaning misfit and a girl, Coral, who doesn’t talk to anyone (it’s assumed she’s a deaf mute, but the other members of this group are never quite sure).

The characters promise to be interesting bunch. We learn a little about their backgrounds as the story plays out but, in truth, never quite enough to fully satisfy me. Coral’s background is potentially the most intriguing but it’s also the one least explored. In fact, because of this I really failed to engage with her; she’s a big presence in the group but her behaviour is often hard to explain and (to my mind) even harder to endure.

The narrative here is actually pretty thin, it's is a character driven tale but one in which the characters are actually never fully drawn. I found this really frustrating. On top of that, I found it hard to understand many of the decisions they made and the actions they took, both collectively and individually.

It's a really quirky tale that does have its good points: I grew to like most of the key players and was interested to see how their ‘adventure’ would play out. But ultimately I have to say I found it all rather disappointing, with insufficient here to wholly engage me. In the end it all rather petered out, leaving me with a sense that there simply wasn't enough story in the story.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book. I liked the premise I wasn’t a big fan of the jolted and harsh writing style. And as much as I tried, I couldn’t really feel for the characters. There wasn’t enough here to hold my interest and make it to the end.

I wanted to like this a little bit more than I actually did. The buildup and beginning was solid and engaging but then I felt like it fizzled out. I love a "found family" story but at times I felt like it was a little surface level which felt at odds with the prose. I felt like the character development just stopped at one point but the book kept on going.

This story takes me back to the ‘60s when people from all sorts lived together in communes. Yet, the timeline is closer to the present.

It’s a bunch of misfits who are working together on a 100-acre farm raising bees, canning foods and selling drugs. Many were hiding from something. All was good until there was a meth lab explosion and the place burned down.

Ray, Staci, Ernie and Coral were returning from a quick trip of errands when they noticed a huge fire, smoke and police cars where they lived. They made a quick decision to head in another direction: Texas.

Ernie just happened to have $10,000 that was supposed to be given to the farm owner’s nephew, Tim. He figured he could get it to him later. Now they had money to rent a house on a large wooded lot. It was once a kid’s camp and now unoccupied.

The story is a work of imagination with the characters that can be easily visualized. Ray and Staci were a couple for years sorting out feelings. Ernie was released from prison for drugs and simply surviving. And then there was 17-year-old Coral who was deaf and didn’t say a word. They were basically stuck with this girl.

The plot moves quickly. Yet, there are parts that can only happen in books. It was a different take on the power of relationships. Oddly, italics are used rather than quotes for the dialects. Also, the chapters are not headed by names, dates or numbers but words including food groups. It makes me think the author was hungry when writing this book.

My thanks to Hogarth Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy with an expected release date of August 8, 2023.

Wasn't really a fan of this book. It captured me at the start, about a group of outcasts-either in hiding or escaping their former lives into a communal living arrangement. However, I just didn't like the characters. Coral shows up, a silent non-verbal strange girl who forms an unnatural bond with the leader's child, because the natural mother can't seem to nurse or bond with the infant. Then a group of four, including Coral are forced to leave due to thier settlement burning down, establish a new life together on a farm. They do all they can for Coral, to make her happy, particularly after having to leave the infant child to the point of obtaining a 'pet tiger' for her. Coral forms this again unnatural bond with the animal that is far fetched. I had to read the book to the end to determine how it would end, but again, I just didn't like the characters.

I am really sorry to say that this book was not a great read for me .I didn't connect with the characters, and just didn't enjoy it.

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family. And sometimes that family ends up being four outcasts who have to band together after their meth-lab compound burns down.

Excellent character development, but overall a fairly depressing story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This one was really not for me. If you like a raw and gritty story (if, let's say, you liked Patrick deWitt's The Sisters Brothers more than his French Exit) it might be for you.

Set in a hard-scrabble, sunbaked, bee-bothered, meth-cooking commune in Texas -- until the meth cooking ends how meth cooking always seems to: with an explosion. Then four members of the commune are on the run. This isn't drastically different from the off-the-grid, non-traditional life they were leading before, but it's still tense, and growing tenser.

Though they're all outsiders, and outsiders by choice (more or less) who have opted out of "normal" society, they still long for community and connection, which is a really nice message of this book. I very much don't want to be a part of their community or connect with them, which made it a struggle to read.

I give this book props for being different. For some reason, I liked this group of misfits maybe because I consider myself a misfit. I could definitely relate to Coral as I am also deaf (but not mute as I didn't start to lose my hearing until I was in my late 20s).

The story is narrated by three characters that aren't mute (Ernie, Stacie and Ray) but we do get Coral's perspective sometimes via internal thoughts. They are on the run from a compound where a meth lab just exploded and because they had to leave in such a hurry they have taken the leader's money with them. They find a house to share and hide out in and as things go well there (at first) they find their new normal.

The chapters are long ones and I don't usually like that but the story was engaging enough that I hardly noticed. The story is very character driven but what a bunch of characters they are. I loved that Texas, the house and the garden were all kind of characters as well, not to mention Slash.

There was one thing that might bother other readers and that's the fact that dialogue is in italics but I kind of dug it. The story is a gritty one and filled with raw emotion. One thing I wish there was more of was the background o

It took me a minute to get into this book but once I did, I really grew to appreciate what Jardine Libaire accomplished with this novel. In a world replete with media and content and stories of all kinds, it is quite a trick to create a truly original character and I can safely say that
Coral is a character I have never seen before. I was really taken by the relationships that Coral forms with the other runaway misfits, the life they try to make for themselves, and their journeys of self discovery. And Coral’s relationship with the cheetah is just the cherry on top. Enjoyed this book quite a bit.

After White Fur, I was really looking forward to reading Jardine Libaire's latest, a moving and joyous examination of what it is to be human and the inner need to belong so strong that creating a supportive family from pieces rejected by the rest of society is a thing of beauty that emotionally tugged at my heart. Circumstances may dictate the precarious and feral nature of living, but it offers the potential to be truly free, being who you are and can be, perhap precisely because there is nothing left to lose. This is something many may envy, limited as most of us are by being gripped by social norms and conventions, not easy to throw off, and how many would even have the nerve to take the risks of shaking them off to step into the unknown? What I can say is that I would never dream of even contemplating acquiring the kind of pet that the misfits here bring into their home!

In Oklahoma, a large group of people live apart in a commune on a compound with a edgy and tense atmosphere. A quirky bunch with tough life experiences, they include Ernie, a couple, the hard living Ray and Staci, and a abandoned traumatised teenager, the mute Coral who never speaks. Their lives splinter apart with the drug lab exploding. This has them escaping on the ultimate transport associated with freedom and escape, motorcyles, taking with them stolen money to begin again. They finally settle on living in Texas, forming their own particular shape of supportive family, facing the inevitable obstacles that come their way. Cora has her own gift of being able to instinctively relate to the wild, with each of them having opportunities for growth and to develop as people and in their relationships with others.

Libaire writes a delightful and offbeat novel of survival, the feral and the search for identity, riddled with light, hope, and drama, not to mention Slash, the cheetah. There are beautiful everyday descriptions and details which allowed me to picture the lives of our misfits, with Cora the key and heart to the four of them gelling together. Given the hard cards life has dealt them, their capacity to be wonderful and supportive is a sight to behold, despite their flaws. This is for those readers looking for something different to read, it is an engaging and uplifting look at the human spirit, life off the grid and those who fall off the edges of our society. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

You're an Animal is a fantastic story about four people who are outcasts who end up together after the commune they were living in burns down. The story was really a slow burn for me, I enjoyed it all the way through but will admit I felt a little let down at the end. Maybe it was because I wanted it to go on so I could enjoy the company of Ernie, Coral, Ray, and Staci. The characters were so well written that even though they did awful things at times, I really ended up caring for them. Getting inside their headspace was really interesting. The setting was perfect with added tension knowing that they were running from the law. This is a great story, I can't wait to read more by this author.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel. Unfortunately I just couldn’t get into it. Subject matter was outside of my norm and I just couldn’t relate to the characters. Probably more on the reader than the writer…just not for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the copy of You’re An Animal. This book was not for me. None of the characters were interesting or sympathetic and the writing was emotionless. Dialogue was in italics which made it harder to read. The story was good, but I wanted to sense more real feelings from the characters.

"You're an Animal" by Jardine Libaire is a compelling look into the world of four misfits and outcasts as they seek to find their place in a world outside of their compound. Ernie, Coral, Ray and Staci show the best and worst of human nature as they try to create their own sense of family after a fire destroys the only home and family they've ever known.
Libaire focuses mainly on character development in this book, as the plot was slow to begin with, which made the first half of the book a tedious chore to slug through. However, as we learn more about each character and how they grew outside of the compound, we learn to accept the story as it is. With each character being from the same group and yet being so vastly different, the actions of each were unpredictable and made for interesting character development. Add in a wild animal and the question arises, how are we so different from wild animals ourselves?
Libaire's novel maybe could have benefited from a more defined plot but the foray into human nature and how we develop on our own is truly worth a look into.
Thank you for NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Jardine Libaire for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

I just couldn't get into the story or care about the characters. I am sorry, but hope others will like it more

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Aug. 8, 2023
Ernie and his group of misfit friends are living on the grounds of an empty summer camp in Oklahoma when seventeen-year-old Coral, deaf and mute, is dropped off and abandoned. Coral is quickly accepted into the community, although she is slow to adapt, hiding out in her bedroom or in the expansive woods on the property. When a drug lab explosion levels the summer camp property Ernie, along with his friends, the strung-out couple Stacie and Ray, take Coral and escape on two motorcycles, fleeing the compound. Now the four are forced to start over, using the drug money they were in the process of returning when the property exploded. Renting a rural property, the four outcasts develop their own type of community and slowly begin to learn the meaning of the word “family”.
Jardine Libaire’s new novel, “You’re an Animal” will remind readers of Emma Cline’s, “The Girls”. The four protagonists, living off the grid on an abandoned property, forming fraught relationships, has a lot of similarities to Cline’s novel, with the exception of the religious “cult” that Cline centred on (which was, in my opinion, the best part).
“Animal” is narrated by Ernie, Stacie and Ray, alternatively, and each chapter is identified with a title instead of a number (which has been happening more as of late. A new trend is on the horizon, I think!). All of the characters are wrong-side-of-the-track misfits, but they are likable and honest. Coral is the most interesting of the bunch, and I would’ve been curious to know more about her background or hear the story from her perspective (although as deaf-mute illiterate, this is obviously impossible).
This story was slow at the beginning and I constantly felt like I was waiting for something to happen. There were a few engaging plot points that piqued my interest, but “Animal” is a character-driven novel, so don’t expect a complex plot. Libaire’s novel is beautifully written, though, and connects with the reader on an emotional level.
Libaire’s “Animal” has well developed characters and flows well. This is the first novel I’ve read by Libaire although she does have two previous novels under her belt (“Here, Kitty, Kitty” and “White Fur”). Her writing style is unique and she has definitely piqued my interest. I look forward to her next novel.