There were parts of this book that I liked and parts that made me scratch my head. I was intrigued enough to push myself a bit to keep reading. I enjoy gritty characters and this novel was full of them. They were genuine and not altogether likable, but the author does a great job of bringing them to life throughout the course of the story. In the end, I cared that they found what they were looking for in one way or another.
This book will not be everyone's cup of tea. It's best for readers who don't need steady action or entertainment, but want to get under the skin of the people they are reading about. You won't fall in love with them or wish they were friends, but you might learn something about how life experiences create many different responses in individuals and how they function with each other.
One of my favorite quotes of the book comes from the thoughts of Ray, an older, tough guy biker who is unable to communicate with his lover, Staci, other than fighting and making up with sex. "He'd know some pieces of work, he thought, taking a deep drag and exhaling. But this gal, who'd been pulled through the mud, who'd been high and lost, she stayed angelic, or maybe even got more angelic. Ray thought it was bullshit, her recovery talk, her self-esteem books, the lectures on cassette tapes she listened to over and over. But there was something beatific about the effort. He didn't always feel like this, the way he felt this morning, generous and able to give her credit where credit was due.
Sometimes these very things he was musing on and loving her for were the very things that made him sick of her. But aren't we strange, thought Ray, looking now out the window, aren't we all so strange..."
Yes, we are strange and yet we all need love and acceptance in some form and will find it where it presents itself. Therein lies the beauty of this story.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. ( )

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. ( )

Libaire gives us three misfits. Ernie, Staci, and Ray are a trio of outlaws who cook meth for sale and live for the moment. Libaire solidifies their status as outlaws, not too subtly, by giving them a couple killer motorcycles. These characters think little of society’s expectations. Right and wrong; moral and immoral; good and bad mean little to them. Their world turns on its head, however, when the commune where they live in Oklahoma burns to the ground following an unfortunate accident cooking up a batch of drugs. They decide to flee to Texas with a stash of money stolen from the commune. They take along Coral, a young woman who had been abandoned at the commune by her stepsister for being mentally defective.

Coral does not speak but communicates minimally with gestures. Yet, she has a mystic quality characterized by an uncanny ability to commune with nature. Although this is never explicit, it is tempting to place Coral somewhere on the autism spectrum. Her superpower as a savant of the wild becomes readily apparent when Slash is introduced into the mix. Slash is a cheetah that the trio obtain as a pet for Coral. Clearly, Slash represents the potential dangers presented by animal instincts. Libaire would like us to consider this as a counterpoint to the confines of conformity that Ernie, Staci, and Ray reject. Coral’s presence in the setting, and especially her bonding with Slash, become normalizing influences on the trio of misfits. Each is struggling with an evolving self-identity. Ray is a self-centered misogynist who is beginning to accept his need for a permanent relationship with Staci. Meanwhile, Staci is beginning to realize her own independence, especially from Ray. Ernie is a good-hearted doofus, whose main talent seems to be cooking meth. He becomes increasingly bothered by his attraction to Coral and the fatal possibility that she will reject him. Strangely, he sees Slash as his rival for her affection. Moreover, Slash seems to accept that role with several very human traits.

Libaire’s writing style is often quite lyrical, but her narration occasionally loses momentum with excessive repetition. The abrupt ending is particularly disturbing as it is just an extended epilogue with short descriptions of each character’s final situation. One gets a sense of ending an intriguing road trip by being dropped off at a random bus stop. “See ya’ latter and take care.”

Despite these shortcomings, Libaire’s introspective approach to how tension between societal expectations and individual freedom can lead to self-discovery is provocative, especially when one considers the potential dangers imparted by deep dives into animal instincts. ( )

You're an Animal by Jardine Libaire is the type of novel that takes me a little bit to get into but once I do, I am invested. Maybe because these characters have been ignored or disposed of by society, but I was pulling for them from the beginning.

I think another reason why I could get into this while some others might not is what I ask of from characters in novels. I don't care if I would or wouldn't "like" them in real life, this is a novel and I am observing what happens, even in the most immersive novels. So liking means next to nothing for me. I also tend to look at the core of the character, not just what they do or say. Of course, what they do or say plays into it, but just like in real life, many people say things because they are hiding their inner feelings, so I give these characters the same consideration I try to give actual people. Which leads me to...

I cared about what happened to them not because I liked them but because they are human beings struggling in the world, largely against obstacles not entirely of their own making. What I often find, and did find here, are characters who offer the opportunity to hope. If there is hope offered for characters like this, there is hope for everyone. And I enjoy that outlook, a lot more than one that dismisses them or their actions as being too boring or not likeable enough.

Also like in real life, it is the small things that make people care, about others as well as themselves. The quiet moments of just being together, of having common purpose and believing the others have your back just as you have theirs. That last aspect isn't an absolute, but the feeling is still one that helps us get through.

I would recommend this to readers who don't so much judge characters by some external standard but by what they try to do during the time we're with them. While I can't say I could readily relate to what they were going through specifically, I think most of us can relate to periods when we have felt out of sorts, out of options, and just trying to get by until tomorrow. In that sense I experienced a lot of relatable moments in the novel.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )