3.5/5 - Interesting and very unique story about good and evil among us. Not the kind of monsters I expected to read about, but these "monsters" sadly do exist. I don't read a lot of YA but do tend to pick one up from time to time. This one was a quick read and very well done. I was pleasantly surprised.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

**Content Warning: Rape (brief mention), Child abuse (with sexual abuse being alluded to), Gore**

The monsters this book talks about are all humans who have done terrible things. In this town of Lucille all these monsters have been removed, and the town now claims to be completely safe. Which of course all the adults believe, having been part of the generation that removed these monsters. But it gets incredibly frustrating at how in denial they are, and how quick they are to dismiss the kid’s worries.

The main character Jam is predominantly nonverbal, and communicates mostly by using sign language. It was really nice seeing that since her main form of communication is ASL so many people in her life had taken the time to learn it as well, so they could also communicate with her that way. Jam tries really hard to not jump to any conclusions, and does try to focus on getting information first. Even with Pet coming in, she still tries to find other reasons, whether from denial or not she was always very careful with how she went about things. Jam’s healthy and supportive friendship with Redemption was fantastic, and I appreciate how far she’d go to keep him safe. And also just how caring Redemption is to her, that he knows exactly what things could trigger her dissociation or anxiety and makes sure to check up on her.

Pet was honestly just so cool! I’m so big on absolutely horrifying creatures being on the “good” side. I loved Pet’s super creepy design, every description of it was so detailed and it really does make you a tad nervous when you imagine it. Jam and Pet’s connection was excellent, I both enjoyed how caring it was of her and how blunt it was when they would communicate. I definitely found myself wanting so much more information on Pet, and the other dimension as well. But I fully enjoyed the mystery of it all.

So another little detail I really enjoyed was just all the character’s names. They all have very simple names (Jam, Redemption, Bitter, Whisper) but these names carry so much weight and meaning, while also being very unique. Like I said it’s a small thing, but something that really stood out for me.

Overall I loved the book, and part of me definitely wishes it was way longer. I really would love to see something like a prequel to this, that would maybe answer some questions. But if you enjoy odd creatures helping fight the wrongs in a society, then I definitely recommend it!

Akwaeke Emezi speaks to the world and shows the bravery of one to effect change and shine a light on the horrors of the world. I really enjoyed this book and I recommend it to anyone who wants to see the impact of fighting monsters. This author is one to look for.

"You humans and your binaries, Pet said. It is not a good thing or a bad thing. It is just a thing."

Jam is growing up in the town of Lucille in the near future where "monsters" aka All Things Evil are a concept of the past. Or are they? Via the assistance of a canvas-painting-turned-real-life-creature named Pet, Jam discovers that maybe, just maybe, all of the monsters haven't been eradicated after all. And it's up to Jam and Pet to suss out the monster that may be terrorizing Jam's bestie Redemption's house amidst a society that doesn't believe monsters exist anymore.

What a jam-packed (or should I say Jam-packed?) little story this turned out to be. To be fair, I haven't been a YA myself in quite some time (sigh), but this story line seems perfectly geared towards that target audience. It's just imaginative enough without seeming completely implausible. Man, I wish my own brain had a quarter of the creativity that Emezi's seems to possess. The inclusivity piece of this work is very well done here. The protagonist is a trans black semi-mute girl, and her friend's parents are in a loving polyamorous relationship. Emezi quietly shows the reader that all of the characters simply are who they are, without judgement or backlash from fellow residents of Lucille (the way things would be in real life, if it were up to me). Also, I loved how Emezi put words together - their writing paints vivid pictures in my head:

"It was hard to keep secrets; you had to keep track of them, regulate how the moved through your body, make sure they didn't swerve and jump out of your mouth."

Pet is one of the rare occasions where I would have loved to read 50 or 100 pages more of this story. How did Lucille get to be (supposedly) monster-less? What safeguards were put in place to ensure monsters would never return? What other aspects of Lucille society are different from our world today? Since Pet is told from Jam's point of view, and since she herself doesn't know the answers to these questions, I understand why they were omitted from the tale. But my inquiring mind still wants to know, dammit.

The angels who run Lucille kicked all the monsters out before Jam was even born, so she has never known racism, sexism, or transphobia. Her life of perfect love and acceptance comes to an end when she accidentally bleeds on her mother's eerie new painting and summons Pet. Pet is terrifying to behold, but even scarier is its pronouncement: there is a monster in Lucille, and Pet has come to hunt it down. Jam's vibrant home is a splash of life in an otherwise undeveloped setting. An almost fable-like exploration of the monsters lurking inside men.

This was such a different read, and honestly such a different book! It definitely swings more toward the younger side of the YA spectrum, which is fine!

The town of Lucille has been without monsters for years. They were all taken care of by the angels in the uprising. Or so everyone thinks.

Jam is a sweet, transgender main character (who I could 100% believe to be on the autism spectrum, as well) who accidentally brings her mother Bitter's paintings to life. And it's not a sweet painting, either. Pet is what we would consider monstrous, but in a biblical sense, it's angelic (hence why every angel starts with "be not afraid", because they were SCARY). Her best friend, Redemption, is a fighter who doesn't keep violence in his heart.

When Pet says that it's hunting a monster, no one wants to believe it. No, all the monsters-the corrupt, the cruel, the evil-are all gone. Send Pet back to its home, please and thank you.

Pet is right.

This story is short, but also so thought-provoking. What would a world without evil look like? What would have to happen for all the "bad guys" to go away?

An interesting read for sure, I give Pet 4 out of 5 razors. Thank you to NetGalley and Make Me A World for providing a copy in exchange for review.

There is so much about this book that I could probably scream about right now. I could go on and on about the wonderful characters, the interesting and almost too-relevant past of the world of Lucille, and Pet themselves. But instead, I will urge everyone to read this very important book when it's published September 10th.

From the very first blurbs before the story even began, I knew that this book had an important message to get through to people of all ages.

It is said that there can be no darkness without light, Pet is here to prove that saying absolutely correct.

HOW DO YOU SAVE THE WORLD FROM MONSTERS IF NO ONE WILL ADMIT THEY EXIST?

This book poses such an amazing question, one that history has proven time and again, that ignorance is not bliss. Take the Soviet Union, they said that there was no murder in the utopia of the Soviet Union, and because of that, a child serial murderer by the name of Andrei Chikatilo killed at least 50 people (mostly young children).

In Pet, Akwaeke Emezi proves to be a powerhouse in progressive, push the envelope, and trip out awesome storytelling. Trust, you haven't read anything like this book. Meet Jam - a black transgender teen who lives in a town called Lucille with their parents, Bitter and Aloe. Jam lives in a town purported to be a utopia that has eradicated corruption, murder, sexual predators, prejudice, et all.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -JFK quoting Edmund Burke who in turn was paraphrasing John Stuart Mill. Evil thrives in plain sight when people refuse to look at it.

Akwaeke Emezi is such an amazing story teller. I’ve never read anything quite like it Pet. The concept and the story behind this utopia of Lucille just blew me away. I am still process and working on a stronger view before release, but man! I am highly recommending the read weather you like YA or not. There is so much to unpack and analyze.

Many thanks to Make Me a World and Netgalley for gifting me this DARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhousekids for the advance copy of this book. It is out next Tuesday! All opinions are my own.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 for the truly unique story. Jam, a selectively mute transgender teen, lives in Lucille, where all evil has been banished. I mean, at least everyone is pretty sure. But when one of her mother’s paintings spawns Pet, a hunter from another dimension, Jam learns that monsters still lurk in Lucille. The writing felt a touch uneven at times, with Jam reading younger than she is, but I was enraptured with this story and am excited to see what students think of it. It is truly an original. Recommended for mature 7th graders+.

It just didn't get it! Who was the intended audience? There seemed to be a lot of politics shoved in just to be current but had no real relevance to the plot. (Jam's sex change, Polygamous? parents). The "monsters" seemed to address things that are hot button topics in our current political environment but the author was unable to resolve the issues so just left them. Why mention them at all?

The fact that the author/publisher decided not to include a third formatting for internal dialogues made it confusing. Quotations seemed to mean spoken dialogue and italic signed dialogue but sometimes the internal dialogue is in italic and sometimes it's not... It should just be in bold instead or something else. I also didn't understand why Jam's parents didn't speak in a proper English when the other characters spoke fine. Was this a cultural difference that wasn't explained?

I gave the book to my son to read as well to see if it was just me. He didn't make it 1/4 way through before tossing it aside.

Pet reads like a book for younger audiences, but the content is definitely YA. It deals with some difficult subjects, and so it would be ideal for a teen or young adult who is looking for a book with a lower reading level. Jam lives in Lucille, a place free from monsters, who were, as we soon learn, ordinary people who did terrible things, like child abuse or various other crimes. There should have been a little more world-building, I really could not visualize what the world looks like at all. Where Emezi's strength lies is in the characters. The names are fantastic, and the relationships feel very realistic. So many times in children's books, especially YA, parents are either hopelessly incompetent or perfect beings that do nothing wrong. Emezi was able to strike a balance between those two and create believable parents who are loving, but also flawed, as all humans are.
The ending gets a little murky. I'm not sure what the purpose is to call someone a monster, but then propose rehabilitation. I'm not against rehab, of course, but it's contradictory and muddles the moral of the story.
However, even with the uneven ending, Emezi has created a wonderful new character in Jam, and I will be interested to see if she writes more based in the world of Lucille.

I thought this was a nice and interesting novel for a middle school age child. It has a positive message about the importance of speaking out and standing up for those who need help, and that anyone can and sadly does, do bad things. I could see this being a series, and if so, I would enjoy reading more. My largest criticism about about the book is that I would love ot have more back story about the angels that came to save the town of Lucille, and the monsters who were destroying it. It is an interesting and compelling world, as well as the character of Jam, and I would like to know more about it and her.

Firstly, I would like to thank the publishers of Make me a world for giving me an advanced e-copy of this book for my review. I really don’t like giving negative feedback in general because I know the author and a whole team of people take a lot of time to put a book out there. Having said that, I really did not like reading the book and was very disappointing with it.

What I liked about Pet is how it highlights that even an idyllic world could be filled with monsters. Rather than facing the monster, people choose to ignore it and overprotect their loved ones to shield them from pain. I also liked the author’s style of writing, as it was simple and fairy tale like for the most part. I think that was what made me continue reading this book.

My main problem with the story was that it started off very well, but then halfway into the book, it just slowed down and nothing happened. The story just became predictable where you know what is going to happen and how the protagonist is going to save the day. Hence, I didn’t think it was very interesting because there were no twists and turns. The reader finds out who the real monster is, and the main characters just fight him, the end.

Also, I didn’t understand why the author brought up the conversation of Jam undergoing sex surgery when she was young. I guess the idea was to showcase a place and time where the characters could do such things and not feel conflicted over it. However, I did not understand what the point of it was, as it did not add anything to the story.

Moreover, I really had a problem with the names in this story. Initially, there are only 3 or 4 main characters, but halfway into the book, more characters are introduced and all have named like Bitter, Jam, Redemption, Hibiscus, Moss etc. and it was kind of confusion to keep track of who each person was. The names themselves also did not have any relevance to the story or to the personality of the characters. Initially it seemed like fun and interesting, but yeah it soon became just confusing to read. Also, I wish the author provided a backstory Jam’s parents before she was born as it was interesting.

If the author had focused more on the plot, I think this would have been much better. Overall, Pet was disappointing to read and I would give it only 2 stars.

In Pet, a black trans teenage girl named Jam lives in a utopian town, Lucille, where monsters have been eradicated by angels:

"It was the angels who took apart the prisons and police; who held counsels prosecuting the former officers who shot children and murdered people, sentencing them to restitution and rehabilitation. . . the angels banned firearms . . . the angels took the laws and changed them, tore down those horrible statues of rich men who'd owned people and fought to keep owning people."

But one day, Jam's mother's painting comes to life in the form of a literal avenging angel, Pet. Pet isn't your pop-culture image of a blonde, hunky Renaissance angel; Pet is a biblical angel, whose appearance is terrifying enough to warrant the common command "Don't be afraid." Pet is in Lucille to hunt a monster, one who apparently hasn't been eradicated. Jam recruits her best friend, Redemption, to help her track down the monster threatening the peace in their town.

There were things I liked about this book, namely its magical realism elements, its lovely figurative language, and how it points towards restorative justice as a way towards healing. But I felt like the book was a little unclear on its message about the relationship between humans and monsters. (It didn't help that those fighting for justice are called angels--I assumed figuratively--and then there is a literal angel in the form of Pet.) From the worldbuilding quote above, it seems like monsters are monsters, statically so. They do something bad/oppressive, they're monsters who need to be eradicated and "hunted" by angels like Pet. At the same time, Pet (the apparent center of moral truth in the book) says that human actions are neither right nor wrong, they're just something that are done. This dissonance made it hard to pin down what Emezi had to say about humans who do horrible things--should they be rejected? Rehabilitated? What's the line between an angel, a human, and a monster? Is it really productive to use such heavily religious / moral language to describe human actions? The book is certainly thought-provoking in this regard.

As a YA novel, which this is marketed as, I think that Pet has some interesting moral questions and a likable protagonist, though I'd have liked to see more of Jam's character developed in the book. Towards the end, when they find the monster and uncover their crimes, it gets pretty dark (definitely a CW for abuse), but its themes would resonate with older or more mature readers.

Sometimes the picture you paint is always what it seems. What an interesting and very eye opening way to deal with family issues. The presentation of monster and good and evil to extract out underlying issues is nothing short of extraordinary.

PET is a YA novel marked by some very adult themes. I really appreciate the authors ability to blend very real world difficulties and challenges into a monsters and hunters storyline that should appeal to the demographic at which it is aimed. Reading this story I found it engrossing. In main character Jam we have an interesting, unique character who seems to posses some otherworldly intuitive abilities. Jam provides us with an interesting perspective as a transgender character. Living in a world that is so heavily tainted by issues such as racism and bigotry and in some cases pure evil, it would be nice to imagine that a place like Lucille exists, and that real world monsters don’t exist anymore. This is an appealing story that I would recommend to any age group above 13.

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this young adult fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

pet (Akwaeke Emezi)


Title: pet

Author: Akwaeke Emezi

Publisher: Random House Children's / Make Me a World

Publication Date: TODAY!! (hardcover/e-book)

ISBN: 978-0525647072

Source: NetGalley

I wanted to read this book because of the tagline "How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?"  I thought this would be fun.  Instead, this book was heart-warming, heart-wrenching, and vitally important.  Because this book focuses on the real monsters in our own world hiding behind the pleasant masks and titles and opinions of others.

This book was published by the imprint, Make Me A World.  I hadn't heard of them but went looking as soon as I was finished this book.  Their website says:

"MAKE ME A WORLD is an imprint dedicated to exploring the vast possibilities of contemporary childhood. We strive to imagine a universe in which no young person is invisible, in which no kid's story is erased, in which no glass ceiling presses down on the dreams of a child. Then, we publish books for that world, where kids ask hard questions, and we struggle with them together, where dreams stretch from eons ago into the future, and we do our best to provide road maps to where these young folks want to be. We make books where the children of today can see themselves and each other.  When presented with fences, with borders, with limits, with all the kinds of chains that hobble imaginations and hearts, we proudly say—no."

For me, this book certainly epitomizes this philosophy.  It asks hard questions, has hard answers, and still provides hope. 

Set in a future utopia called Lucille, the children have been told that there are no longer monsters.  There are no police, no politicians, no jails, no uneven distribution of wealth, or even much fear.  Diversity is welcomed.  The protagonist, Jam, is black, trans, and has selective mutism.  Families come in all shapes and sizes.  Parents actively care about and love their children.  Society at large believes in hope and comfort.  The adults made hard, horrible choices so that their children can grow up in a better world.

The problem with the society lies in the fact that in order to protect their children, the adults have chosen to ignore reality.  Selective education is in play.  Children supposedly don't need the harsh truths of the past.  The information isn't hidden, it just isn't taught and children are encouraged not to go looking.  The world is better now.  As Matey Acqua puts it:

"Pet is a story about how evil – any kind of evil – thrives in plain sight when people start refusing to look for it, to acknowledge that it can and does exist. It’s a story about how this refusal of any kind of discomfort, this hiding from the world’s truth, hurts and silences victims."

Discomfort is the key word.  This book showcases that when people chose to ignore the problems of the world and live in a bubble of their making, it allows evil more freedom to silently hurt without repurcusion.  Parents may want to shield their children but unfortunately humans are flawed and bad things can and will happen in the world.

For me, the highlight of this book seems to be the message that young adults can be a force for change and have a responsibility to stand up for each other and care about the world around them - good and bad.  I thought the author did an especially good job showcasing both positive future changes and the idea that people cannot grow too complacent or stagnant.

Part of this is reflected in how the story is set up.  There is a blend of magic which awes but cannot fix and mixed with the very harsh truths.  The "pet" referenced in the title is a magic being that comes out of a portal in a painting to hunt the evildoer.  His very existence challenges societal truths about belief.  It is a hard lesson for Jam who has to face her fears and decide what justice means to her.  Because after all, whatever happens, the victim and those around them will be changed and the hurt cannot be undone.

The highlights of this book were the diversity and Jam's relationships.  I adored how the evil looking pet challenges and changes Jam's perceptions even as I was sympathetic to Jam's struggles.  Also Jam's relationship with her best friend, Redemption, was beautiful.  This was a book with no romance between the teens and postive adult relationships.  I appreciated that.

The only minor flaw for me is that the child abuse in this book is glossed over just a tad in terms of what the symptoms are other than bruises.  I understand why this was done.  I am sympathetic to younger readers' sensibilities.  But I also wonder if there was a message lost to possible abuse sufferers in terms of identifying abuse in their own lives.  I don't have a good answer for this question but thought I would throw that out there.

Overall, I can say that this is a powerful book packed into a shorter length.  I am glad this is now out there in the world.  We need more books like this.

So lastly . . .

Thank you Random House Children's / Make Me A World!

Goodread's has this to say about the novel:

Pet is here to hunt a monster.
Are you brave enough to look?

There are no more monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. With doting parents and a best friend named Redemption, Jam has grown up with this lesson all her life. But when she meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colours 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?

In their riveting and timely young adult debut, acclaimed novelist Akwaeke Emezi asks difficult questions about what choices a young person can make when the adults around them are in denial.

To visit the author’s website go to:

Akwaeke Emezi- Author

To buy the novel please visit:

pet - Book

To add to Goodreads go to:

Yer Ports for Plunder List

Great read . Was very excited to receive this to review. Recommend! I have never heard of this author before so I was happy to receive this arc!

With their latest book, PET, Akwaeke Emezi does it again.

On its most basic level, this is story set in the near-future where the monsters of our present have been overcome and banished by heroic angels, some of whom are still alive, but who our main characters, best friends Jam and Redemption, mostly read about in books. After Jam awakens Pet, a fantastical beast on a mission, they set out to hunt a monster in Redemption's midst that he isn't even aware exists. The book blends the magical, the frightening, and the real with grace, candor, and bravery.

While this is a YA book, PET includes similar themes as Akwaeke Emezi's first book, FRESHWATER. Emezi is especially adept at including gender and sexuality throughout her work while not having the book be specifically about these topics. This is important and indicates the evolution of contemporary literature. While it's important to have books specifically about and focused on gender and sexuality, it is equally -- or perhaps more -- important for them to become just additional facets of stories and their characters as opposed to being the entire point.

Representation is imperative and it's encouraging to see the spectrum of genders and sexualities normalized in current lit. I appreciated that Redemption had three loving parents but that this wasn't the central focus or needed explanation, it just was. Jam herself is a transgender/gender-nonconforming/nonbinary character who is accepted by her parents without question. She is allowed the respect and autonomy she deserves to explore and grow.

The relationships are central to this story. Pet and Redemption's friendship is honest and sweet; traditional gender roles fall away and each is free to express themselves however they want with the knowledge that they will always be accepted and loved. A variety of families and relationships are represented in healthy and authentic ways. These depictions are refreshing, exciting, and imperative to the growth and evolution of literature, and once again, YA leads the way.

While this is a tale of monsters, it is also one of light, positivity, and goodness. It is written in Emezi's unique and poetic style. The characters -- even the young adults -- are fully realized, complex, and interesting to get to know. This book will appeal to anyone who enjoyed Emezi's first amazing book (and my pick for best book of 2018), FRESHWATER. Those who enjoy YA, fantasy, monsters, speculative fiction, LGBTQ characters and themes, or stories of friendship and heroism, will all appreciate this one.