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 KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE CENTURY
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
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 KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE CENTURY
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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Readers say *Pet* by Akwaeke Emezi is a powerful, imaginative exploration of hidden evils within a seemingly safe world, praised for its emotional dep...
As a survivor of child abuse I found this book to be really cathartic. A glimpse into what could be if we listened to survivors, if accountability and honesty and healing were more valued.
I loved Emezi’s prose, and although it can seem a little forced at times it made for some incredibly strong moments.
A really brave book.
Pet was an imaginative, emotional and socially progressive depiction of a reality where basically "sin" or "monsters" no longer exist in the world because all of the "angels" got rid of them. So in the reality that Jam exists in, she has never encountered true evil or a monster. She and others of her generation and younger are told paired down versions of the past where monsters were strangers, friends and family.
However, curiosity on the subject, particularly on angels leads her to do some research on these mythical entities. Of course in her present day, there are still angel agents who uphold the law, justice and the safety of the community just in different ways.
Things for Ham's life are immediately flipped on its head when a massive creature steps out of one of her mother's paintings calling itself an angel set on hunting down an evil that is close to her best friend, Redemption.
The symbolism and lyrical way the author weaves the evil characteristic of our world from racial hate crimes to domestic violence and crimes against the LGBTQIA+ community (to name a few) I found to be so powerful. I feel like the symbolism in the story carries such weight and importance in a way that is easily digestible for young and older minds. I believe this is a YA book but there isn't too much in this story that would make it non-middle grade friendly from what I've seen.
I thought it was interesting. I found that I was always eager for the "hunt" to begin and for Pet to go into action. From my lived experiences in my world, I could understand some of the clues Pet was attempting to plant for Jam. Since her world has been free of monsters her whole life, there was a lot that she just couldn't understand about the potential evil that brought Pet to her world.
The parallels of Jam and Redemption needing to go to the library to even look up the definition and kinds of evil was really telling; the adults of her world were so sure that their community was cleared of evil and monsters that they let their guards down. Some of them ignored and dismissed the evil among them. But this was at the risk of the kids and the younger generation.
Gosh, I loved this book. And I loved Pet's character soo much. It was scary, imposing, inpatient and rough around the edges, but it never lied to Jam and it always protected her. Although the subject matter of the story centers on child abuse and predators in the family, I would read this book again.
However, curiosity on the subject, particularly on angels leads her to do some research on these mythical entities. Of course in her present day, there are still angel agents who uphold the law, justice and the safety of the community just in different ways.
Things for Ham's life are immediately flipped on its head when a massive creature steps out of one of her mother's paintings calling itself an angel set on hunting down an evil that is close to her best friend, Redemption.
The symbolism and lyrical way the author weaves the evil characteristic of our world from racial hate crimes to domestic violence and crimes against the LGBTQIA+ community (to name a few) I found to be so powerful. I feel like the symbolism in the story carries such weight and importance in a way that is easily digestible for young and older minds. I believe this is a YA book but there isn't too much in this story that would make it non-middle grade friendly from what I've seen.
I thought it was interesting. I found that I was always eager for the "hunt" to begin and for Pet to go into action. From my lived experiences in my world, I could understand some of the clues Pet was attempting to plant for Jam. Since her world has been free of monsters her whole life, there was a lot that she just couldn't understand about the potential evil that brought Pet to her world.
The parallels of Jam and Redemption needing to go to the library to even look up the definition and kinds of evil was really telling; the adults of her world were so sure that their community was cleared of evil and monsters that they let their guards down. Some of them ignored and dismissed the evil among them. But this was at the risk of the kids and the younger generation.
Gosh, I loved this book. And I loved Pet's character soo much. It was scary, imposing, inpatient and rough around the edges, but it never lied to Jam and it always protected her. Although the subject matter of the story centers on child abuse and predators in the family, I would read this book again.
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi is not just a book you read. It’s a book that reads you back—probing, unflinching, and unafraid to peel away the softest parts of your moral certainty.
I haven’t argued with myself this much over a book in a long time. What is the right thing to do when a monster is uncovered? Do you end it swiftly, knowing the damage it’s caused? Or do you keep it alive so a disbelieving world can finally see the truth for itself? But even then—what is there to say they’ll believe? Or will they, as societies often do, turn away in collective shame and silence, too cowardly to admit that monsters have always walked among them? Why would hearing from a monster itself suddenly break the cycle?
Lucille is the kind of place I wanted to live in, until it wasn’t. Yet, Lucille was a society that took a monster’s confession and chose to believe its victim and was prepared to believe the victims, if any, in the future. But that’s not the world we live in, and no amount of monsters confessing makes our society believe its victims. So, should we end these monsters?
This book leaves no easy answers, and maybe that’s its genius—and its cruelty. Pet doesn’t offer comfort. Pet doesn’t let you look away. It’s beautiful, tender, and furious all at once. It’s a call to arms—asking not just if we’ll recognize the monsters, but if we’ll recognize our own silence as complicity.
I think this was a great book overall. I really enjoyed the creativity behind the main character, Pet, and the evolution of Jam’s story. The Author did a fabulous job of painting a whole picture.
Trigger warning: Sexual assault, child molestation, cursing
Trigger warning: Sexual assault, child molestation, cursing
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