The God of Animals: A Novel
by Aryn Kyle
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Book Summary Information
Author: Aryn KyleEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-03-04
ISBN: 1416533257
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Scribner
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Book Reviews of The God of Animals: A Novel
Book Review: A book you lose yourself in
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a beautifully written coming of age story about a 12 year old girl discovering that people are complicated and live their lives not in black and white, but in complex shades of gray. While it is NOT a book "about horses", it is set against a backdrop of a Colorado horse ranch and Aryn Kyle does a marvellous job of transporting the reader into that world. You almost can feel the oppressive heat and smell the horse manure.
Alice is 12 and lives on her family's horse farm. Her father is gifted with horses but emotionally isolated, her mother is a depressive who rarely leaves the bedroom and her older sister has run away with a cowboy from the rodeo. Alice is lonely but she never dips into self-pity. She finds it hard to create relationships with others and the one person that she really opens up to is a teacher from her school - but only over the telephone, never in person.
"The God of Animals" draws you in and keeps a firm grip on you. Alice felt so real to me. Most of the other characters, while interesting, are fairly one-dimensional - but I felt that was appropriate given that is how a 12 year old views the adult world. When someone who she has pigeoned as "good" does something "bad", she struggles to come to terms with that. Likewise she finds it hard to understand and accept her mother's and sister's behaviour.
I did feel that the book lost momentum at the end, as if Rand just didn't know how to finish it. I also would have liked more understanding or resolution about why her mother never left the bedroom and about her sister's behavior. But these flaws aside, I was impressed by the book and enjoyed it very much. Several days after finishing it, it is still very much on my mind, which to me is the sign of a good book.
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