I love a good ensemble cast, and this charming novel absolutely delivered!! At the start of the book, the various residents of Hilltop Place—both human and hedgehog—are going about their separate lives, each facing different challenges. One character is struggling to parent a newly adopted child, another trying to adjust to permanent disability, and several are lonely in their unfulfilling relationships. But when they come together around protecting the neighborhood hedgehog population, their lives intersect in unexpected and delightful ways. The book gave me definite Frederik Backman vibes — if you liked Anxious People, you're going to love this one.

I was lucky enough to listen to an early copy of the audiobook (thank you to NetGalley!), and the narrator is positively divine. She does a brilliant job with all the different voices, and I especially loved listening to the British accents.

Can't wait to read what Kitty Johnson writes next!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio arc!

I loved this story!! It had me hooked from page one. I listened to it in one sitting lol. The story was great the live story was awesome. Can’t wait to read more by this author.

Thank you @brilliancepublishing and @netgalley for the ARC audiobook of Prickly Company by @kittyjohnsonbook, performed by @imogenchurchgobshite in exchange for an honest review!

🎧🎧 Book Review 🎧🎧 Prickly Company is a little bit of all of us, the quintessential human story encompassing it all. Beautifully written and narrated, humans build their homes around an established community of hedgehogs. Frances Mathews is on a quirky yet admirable mission to save the ecosystem and habitat of the sweet little animals and rallies the neighbors the best she can. However, everyone is dealing with their own personal and family issues from adoption, marriage and divorce, and a myriad of other turmoils that make life absolutely unbearable sometimes. An absolutely heartfelt and poignant novel!

Review is posted on Goodreads and will be on Instagram ahead of the publication date!

I had no idea that in the UK hedgehogs are as present as our squirrels. So cute!! I learned way more about them than I think I ever anticipated learning in this lifetime, but I'm not mad about it! This book is giving "Higley Town Heroes" but the adult version. I personally have engaged with my neighbors 99.9% less than this, but honestly I'm okay with that because there's a lot of neighbors with eyes for each other in this book! It's giving MTV's Wife Swap.

I was granted access to the audiobook version of Prickly Company and the narrator has a British accent in case that's important to you. The voice actor does a phenomenal job projecting the annoying behavior of all of the kids in this book. I was laughing along in horror at every chaotic thing that happened to these families and eventually found myself questioning all of their sanity. It's not funny in the sense of "one-liners", but because there's literally so much going on you can't believe it. Lots of volume changes in the audio, so keep that in mind. I didn't have to adjust the volume too much, but it does range from shouting to whispering given the nature of the book.

I thought it was so cool how the characters were connected. In addition to being in obvious close proximity as neighbors, they all relied on each other in some way. Their backstories were all so different. This was my first novel where one of the main characters was disabled. That disability did define a lot of his character which I know we don't always love, but his disability was a recent change so I suppose that made sense. A lot of his disability was intertwined with his PTSD from serving in the military.

A good amount of infidelity, both emotional and physical. It's definitely the kind that's "justified" by the author because they "with their person now". Eyeroll inducing, but whatever.

Content warnings: domestic violence, PTSD from military, infidelity

Thank you NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGallley for the ARC- I am reviewing the audiobook version. This is one of the better audiobook performances I have heard, this narrator does a great job of young adults, kids, older adults, men and women. She definitely helped me follow the story.
The cover really looks like contemporary romance to me- this is not a romance book, there is little to no romance. This is contemporary fiction, British, about a neighborhood and the various characters. Not enough surprises to call this a mystery/thriller either, although you have some of that. The characters are definitely interesting and well drawn, the dialogue is reasonable and believable. Touches upon themes of adoption, infidelity, emotional abuse, aging, loneliness, PTSD. Also- the overarching theme is hedgehogs. I learned a lot about hedgehogs, how they find food, their community, how they parent. There are hedgehogs in this neighborhood and the backdrop of the stories is following these hedgehogs. Hence the double meaning title- prickly company- hedgehogs and the company of people around you have prickly personalities.
Audiobook performance rating 4.5 stars
Book as fiction 3.5 stars