While I didn't finish this, I did enjoy the parts I read. I worked in politics for about a year and the Birds Aren't Real conversation came up one day. When I initially started this book, I assumed it was written to be series, rather than satire. I was kind of excited to read the argument for the cause from the actual people who believed in it. It wasn't until I read the mention of Mike Wazowski that I realized what the point of the book was. I may go back and finish, but in a world where books are constantly being published, I just don't have the time.

Birds aren’t real by Peter McIindoe and Connor Gaydos in this book it explains how the director of the CIA Alan Dellis insisted on getting rid of all avian creatures in America and creating look-alikes that instead would be surveillance cameras and much worse. This book will not be for everyone but OMG was it for me. I especially liked all the engineers heading to area 51 in their van singing those silly songs oh that made me laugh so much but when they call their self the busketeers I laughed so loud I woke my husband up.. the LOL moments don’t stop there. Once you’re convinced you want to be a bird truther there’s even an instruction on how to create your first gathering to advocate against the surveillance and so much more this is a funny book and one I definitely recommend. It is rare to find these books and so when I do I am so happy but it seems I get through them so quickly must wait for the next one but bittersweet or not I am glad I got to read this one. I love that they use truth to prove their point about this fictional conspiracy theory which only added to the humor there was so many funny things in this book and anyone with a truly sarcastic sense of humor will love it. Books like this don’t come around often so I am glad I got to be an early reader for this one. I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Eye rolling ridiculous but many laughs with Birds Aren’t Real.
What imaginations by authors McIndoe and Gaydos. They have ideas, solutions, proposals, schemes, and conspiracy all wrapped up in this one.
From how the birds were killed to questioning if Trump is a pumpkin head result from the bird poison.
Fast read with quirky outcomes.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC read in exchange for my review.

It feels a little too real for me to be comfortable with the satire, but I know a couple of people it will hit the right chord with simply because it's so ridiculous. I found the dry, honest-sounding voice it's written in entertaining in small doses, but it got tiresome when I tried to read several chapters in a row.
In the end, it's a funny idea told in a type of humor that's not for me but I can recognize as good. Although, I would have maybe enjoyed it more if it were told in fewer pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the read!

I am so thankful to the publisher, NetGalley, and the Author for granting me advanced access to this one before June 11, 2024. This one wasn't for me, but I am still really thankful for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I thought this was going to be more of a documentary style look into the movement of people that think birds don’t exist. What I ended up reading felt more like a conspiracy driven rant.

This book is excellent satire. I read whole passages aloud to my husband so we could laugh together. It makes consipiracy theories fun again. And is very liberal with U.S. History.

Is it repetitive? Of course - it has a pretty overt message that it's trying to hammer home. It's not subtle, that's for sure. But it definitely gets its message across, and it's funny while it does so.

Thank you to NetGalley, Peter McIndoe & Connor Gaydos, and [publisher] for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I chose this title because I've heard of the Birds Aren't Real conspiracy and wanted to learn more. I had no idea which way McIndoe would run with it, if this was meant for serious Bird Truthers or if it was satire, you find out pretty quickly. I read quite a bit of the novel on my first sitting and was constantly laughing out loud. After starting and stopping a few times, the jokes didn't get me LOLing as consistently, but there were still a few laughs to be had. The good news is that this book is short enough to be able to enjoy it in its entirety in one sitting, which I think is the best way to read BAR.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of "Birds Aren't Real." This book was a meeting that could have been an email - too long and just sort of....kept going. I appreciate what the author was trying to do, but felt it could've been achieved in a much-shorter format. I DNF around 50%.

Imagine someone tells you a really funny joke; they tell it, you laugh, good time had by all, right?
Now imagine the teller continues for another hour with the same joke, going on rambling tangents, filling in waaaay more backstory than necessary, and speculating on character motivation.
The joke would wear thin pretty quickly...as it does with this book.

The truth is I’m not sure how to review this book. The premise is funny. I’d already heard of the Birds Aren’t Real movement, even recall seeing an interview or two over the last year or so. The segments were always quite amusing. And that’s kind of the issue here. While I found the premise of the book and the actual writing quite amusing, the length of the book is what kills it. It’s great for a short segment, but a full length book? It’s basically the same joke repeated again and again and while there are definite some laughs to be had it’s not long before the joke wears thin. The idea that in today’s world you can get people to believe almost anything is honestly quite true, and while I enjoyed it, I’d have enjoyed it more had it been half as long. Thanks so much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the chance to read an ARC of Bird’s Aren’t Real.

I am providing feedback here as a courtesy, but will not be publishing any review on my socials due to the ongoing marketing boycott against St. Martin's Press, as lead by Readers for Accountability.

The "Birds Aren't Real" movement is one of the wackiest social experiments--a moment that encapsulates the "alternative facts" and "fake news" society of the late 2010's in America. A well-conceived fake conspiracy theory can apparently go far, and I love the author/leader of the "movement"'s commitment to the bit. This book started off strong, but was certainly too lengthy. I would have loved to see this edited down into a zine or novella.

Thank you for the eGalley copy that was provided by NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. All opinions are my own.

Such an odd little book, but made me laugh out loud a few times. Would make a great gift - as long as they understand that it's satire!

Thank you @netgalley , @petermcindoe, @birdsarentreal and @stmartinspress for the ARC of "Birds Aren't Real" by Peter McIndoe and Connor Gaydos. I'm typically a very slow reader and I read this in one day. Totally hilarious and yet spot on for how easily people are swept into movements without doing their due diligence or research. That said, the authors did a lot of research and, very hilariously, provided their own spin on history. The review and assessment of all the presidents truly proves that these guys are not taking sides and everyone is fair game. But really the best part is the back story to why birds aren't real.

That said, it really shows how easily people get caught up in conspiracy theories. And conspiracy theories are a big part of the existence of antisemitism. So think about that while you read this book that shows how easily people can be conned into extremist groups and disinformation/misinformation to push an agenda

Highly recommend

A satire of the strange beliefs and conspiracy theories that we see at every turn these days. The very idea the there are a group of people who believe that birds aren't real. Some who believe they never existed, and others who believe they were wiped out and replaced by drones or other machines the government uses to spy on us. Amazing the way there is no limit to the imagination and our abilities to make ourselves believe what we want to believe.
This a satire of that exact belief. The history of how birds were removed from our world and replaced by the government with devices to use against the citizens. The idea is gold and starts out entertaining. However, this book could have gotten it's story and message across in 50 pages. As it droned on I found myself skipping whole sections to the point I ask myself why I was continuing. I feel that I was able to get the gist of the book, but did not finish. If you enjoy political satire and conspiracy theories, this may be one for you to look in to.

I’m giving it a five based on how in depth this author goes into convincing me that birds aren’t real. Some parts made me LOL! Some parts had me wondering wtf I was reading. I feel connected to the story immediately, and I can’t deny that I now wonder if birds are spying on me ;)

Have you ever seen a baby pigeon?
Conspiracy theorist will find this to be an interesting read as it is very detailed and covers a lot of what ifs.

Birds Aren't Real was a decent read of a satirical conspiracy theory from the internet. The book had me laughing out loud as it wove the tale of why birds aren't real and the conspiracy theory that started it all.

DNF
I requested this thinking it would be a funny read and maybe get to know why/how this conspiracy started. Well, it might do that at some point, but I can’t get past the fact that I’m 9% into the book and all I’m reading is a bunch of false information made up in relation to this conspiracy. I just cannot bring myself to read 200+ more pages of false information. I did go into reading this with an open mind, knowing this would be part of it, but this book was already far too long. Proceed with caution.

I wasn’t really sure where this was going. It went from humorous, to worrying, to slow and tedious. Not for me, but I know those who like to read about conspiracies will have a blast with it.