Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Winter Animals
Winter Animals: Remarkable think THE SECRET HISTORY written by Raven Leilani Jenny Mustard | Ashani Lewis
2 posts | 2 read
'Excellent . . . Ashani Lewis is superbly talented.' Katherine Rundell Be one of the first to discover this award-winning writer's decadent and addictive sapphic debut, a must-read for fans of The Secret History and White Lotus. In one of America's Happiest Cities, thirty-eight-year-old Elen is trapped under the shadow of the snow-capped Cascade Mountains. Her husband has left her. Her belongings are in the boot of her car. Her days are filled mostly with silence and drinking. When she meets four English teenagers in an empty bar, she is enamoured. Luka, Clover, George and Lyn are wealthy squatters, drifting between ski resorts and breaking into empty AirBnBs. When they bring Elen into their fold - and into their messy, entangled relationships - she senses a violent secret that fuels the four's never-ending disappearing act. Dazzling, cultish, and intensely committed to creating their own utopia, they force Elen to ruminate on the irresistible pull of bright young things. She doesn't understand what they want from her, but how can she leave when she has nowhere else to go? A dark meditation on the dangers and seductive power of youthful idealism, and the slippages between friendship and love, Winter Animals is an extraordinary debut examining freedom, friendship, desire and excess. 'Winter Animals is a remarkable novel: atmospheric as hell, beautiful, and delightfully intelligent . . . Think The Secret History written by Raven Leilani. I devoured it and am left wanting more, Ashani Lewis is a rare talent!' Jenny Mustard, author of Okay Days
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
review
squirrelbrain
post image
Pickpick

Elen‘s husband has left her, she‘s drinking heavily and she‘s just been kicked out of her house when she meets 4 wealthy English teenagers who spend their lives skiing whilst squatting in empty Air BnBs.

Apparently early blurbs over-hyped this to be a mix of Secret History and White Lotus but, fortunately they‘ve dialled back from that, as it‘s nothing of the sort.

For the most part I found it quite interesting, hence the light pick ⬇️

squirrelbrain …but, once again, we get a ‘nothing‘ ending that just fizzles out. It reminded me quite a lot of Cline‘s The Guest. With unlikeable characters, they either need their comeuppance or they need to turn REALLY bad at the end, not just fade away. Both books almost had really interesting commentary on wealth and class, but neither followed it through to a satisfactory conclusion. I did prefer this one to The Guest though. (edited) 3mo
squirrelbrain #netgalley Published on 1st Feb in the UK. 3mo
Soubhiville Excellent review! 3mo
See All 12 Comments
MicheleinPhilly I hated The Guest‘s ending. HATED IT! 3mo
Megabooks Great review! Not sure I‘m sold on it, though. 💜 not a fan on The Guest! 3mo
Megabooks @MicheleinPhilly same, same!!! 3mo
squirrelbrain Yes, I hated The Guest‘s ending too @Megabooks @MicheleinPhilly - this one was almost the same, but I felt like the rest of the book before it had a *little* bit more to say. I was torn between a pick and a so-so for this, so I probably wouldn‘t bother reading it. 3mo
Hooked_on_books Thanks for this review, as I‘ll definitely be avoiding this book! 3mo
Caroline2 Couldn‘t agree more re endings. They need to get their comeuppance or turn really bad. Authors seem to be shying away from committing lately. Really annoying!!! 3mo
quietlycuriouskate I've got Squirrel Mail! Thank you, Helen ❤️ 3mo
squirrelbrain They do, don‘t they @Caroline2 - it shouldn‘t be allowed to NOT finish writing a book properly! 3mo
squirrelbrain You‘re welcome @quietlycuriouskate ! 3mo
70 likes12 comments