Pet
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST - STONEWALL BOOK AWARD WINNER - ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by The New York Times - Time - Buzzfeed - NPR - New York Public Library - Publishers Weekly - School Library Journal A genre-defying novel from the award-winning author NPR describes as "like [Madeline] L'Engle...glorious." A singular book that explores themes of identity and justice. Pet is here to hunt a monster. Are you brave enough to look? There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question--How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist? A riveting and timely young adult debut novel that asks difficult questions about what choices you can make when the society around you is in denial. "[A] beautiful, genre-expanding debut" -The New York Times "The word hype was invented to describe books like this." -Refinery29
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Community Reviews
3.5 Stars
There is no right thing...There is only the thing that needs to be done.
This was a good read. I like the different reps in this book. It started off slow, but once Pet showed up it made it quicker. Once the story line got to Redemption, then I was actually reeled in. The message of this story, wrapped in a utopian fantasy, is actually sad but important to shed light on.
Good and innocent, they not the same thing; they don't wear the same face
There is no right thing...There is only the thing that needs to be done.
This was a good read. I like the different reps in this book. It started off slow, but once Pet showed up it made it quicker. Once the story line got to Redemption, then I was actually reeled in. The message of this story, wrapped in a utopian fantasy, is actually sad but important to shed light on.
Good and innocent, they not the same thing; they don't wear the same face
"Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi is a truly phenomenal read. ✨
The way the book delves into concepts of morality, good versus evil, and the performative nature of goodness is both unexpected and brilliantly executed. Emezi fearlessly tackles the idea that monsters aren't just mythical creatures but can exist in everyday life, often camouflaged as the people we least expect. The exploration of what it means to be a monster in human form is thought-provoking and unsettling in the best possible way.
This book is a captivating and insightful masterpiece, deserving of five stars across the board.
wow that book was just... wow. i devoured it and would love to have read it in school to have a classroom analyze it all with me.
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