This is Annie Hartnett’s second book and there was no sophomore slump for this delightful, quirky read.

Emma Starling returns home after an incident at work and she loses her job. Emma is known for being a “healer” which she recently lost. Her father Clive is diagnosed with a degenerative neurological disease and through circumstance Emma is made his guardian, when her mother does not want the job. While at home, Emma also decides to take on a long term substitute teaching job for a fifth grade class. Her father, a retired college professor, claiming she should just do a “c” job.

I am not sure even how to write a review for this book as there is just so much to uncover, which makes this book so much fun. There are ghosts, a domesticated fox, the opioid crisis, a missing girl and self discovery all in this one book.

I absolutely loved this book so much, You will delight in following this family especially Emma and Clive. There are serious moments in this book, but how these story lines are handled are perfection and never seem to drag this book down. Trust me, just go out and read this, you will not be disappointed.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballentine Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the relationship between the father and daughter in this one. It reminded me a little of Proof, a play I saw in the 90's, which was later made into a film with Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins. Although Unlikely Animals is set in New Hampshire, it has a feel of tragicomic Southern fiction - the real-world problems of the town are offset by the quirkiness of the story and characters. Thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for gifting me a review copy of Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett. In exchange I offer my unbiased review.

A few years back I read and loved, Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett. It was a debut novel that centered on a family grieving and the young protagonist, Elvis absolutely stole my heart. Once again, Annie Hartnett has managed to write a story with uniquely memorable and delightful characters. Emma Starling, her dad Clive, brother Auggie & adorable mutt Moses are truly charming zany characters I came to care about. Clive, a college professor in New Hampshire and wannabe rock star is suffering from a cognitive brain disorder and can no longer teach, Emma once a shining star in her small hometown, known for her gift of healing, has returned to spend time with her ailing father & Auggie, a once promising high school athlete is now trying to get his life back together after too many stints at a drug rehab for pain killer addiction. And mixed in with these heavy topics is a missing girl, a chorus of talking spirits, a ghost, and a gaggle of adorable fifth graders. This book is quirky and offbeat but somehow Annie Hartnett pulls it all together to create a wonderful story of community, compassion, second chances, romance and the power of faith.
A really fun read.
While I was gifted a free digital copy for review, I purchased the audio to enhance my reading experience. The audio narration was excellent!!

Absolutely loved this read. Such heartfelt characters, and a fun and quirky read. This book was unique, and hit some hard stuff in an easier, lax way. Would be fun for a book club read!

This book was a surprising delight! From the description, I expected something quirky, but it was also touching and funny. I loved the cast of offbeat characters and all the mischief that ensued. A treat!

Fun and quirky novel! I loved the New England College town and Gilmore Girl-esque vibe of the locals. The cemetery Greek chorus just works! It gives such a rich background to the characters and history of the community. I want to read more by this author!

I enjoyed this story so much.. I once again didn’t know what to expect.. Annie Hartnett. Is a new author, to me & Unlikely Animals was such a pleasure to read. Emma Sterling, a natural born healer.. She left her hometown of Everton NH and Beverly looked back. She left her parents, her brother and her best friend.. She had big dreams and yet she didn’t get very far. She also kept her life in LA a secret. She let people believe what they wanted to & never thought much about how she was going to be honest with them. Unfortunately she doesn’t have much time to prepare to be o home. She is called home because her father is very sick and it’s time to see everyone again. She comes home and things changed and had stayed the same. The people were as quirky as ever.. but she was home. Her brother, is out of rehab and is doing well. Her mother is neurotic as ever and her fathers health is ok but his brain isn’t doing well. He is forgetting things and making life hard for everyone. While home Emma is humbled by the life family she comes home too. Hartnett did an amazing job telling each family members story. The descriptions of their ups, downs and insecurities are so real. They could be any person you know.. She intertwined all the main characters beautifully. I loved how the humans and the dead interacted to each other. Emma has a chance at a new life, redemption and it seems all the people in her life need the same change, the same growth and the same chance to be a better human. I read this story so quickly and loved it. This was a five star read for me. I want to thank Netgalley & Hartnett for my copy for an honest review. It was an absolute pleasure to read about Everton NH and all the people in it.

Quirky is definitely the right word for this book. I can honestly say I have never read a book even remotely similar in neither premise nor writing style, but I enjoyed it so much. Told from the point of view of the deceased, longtime and recent, Unlikely Animals gives the unique perspective of an eccentric family in a small town. I laughed, I cried and thoroughly enjoyed the ride!

I had a hard time engaging with this story when I began reading this book. Once I reached the halfway mark and began the second portion of the book it went very quickly. I believe this occurred due to the various narrators and trying to determine the dialogue source.

I enjoyed this book once I settled into the narrative. The characters were for the most part quirky, with their individual issues to resolve. The storyline was unique and well written.

I received an arc of this book and voluntarily provided a review.

Really enjoyable dysfunctional family story with lots of redeemable characters. I really loved the ghost characters as well.

This book BLEW ME AWAY. It is quirky, it is quiet, it grows on you (as do all the characters), the writing is beautiful and whimsical, the characters are flawed and human and they’re each in a journey. There’s a mysterious disappearance, a mysterious neurodegenerative disease, a mysterious gift of healing, a motley ensemble of ghosts that act as the omniscient overseers of the town, all weaved in with some fascinating snippets of a “modern day Dr. Doolittle” who was apparently a real person that actually lived in New Hampshire. You would think all these different elements would make for quite the confusing kitchen-sink of a novel, but you’d be wrong. The book SEAMLESSLY interweaves all of the stories and the characters into an astounding book. It is unlike anything I have ever read, and I loved it. It is ultimately the story of a family, and of love (of your neighbors, of your friends, of your family, etc.).

5/5 stars. Good luck to anyone trying to pin this down with keywords, but without a doubt, it’s one thing: fantastic.

I adored this book. The amount of humor was just so perfectly placed among the actual trials and tribulations of real life. It was light and heavy in all the right spots. I loved that this book is based on actual places and people (and animals). It was just the most delightful read and I can’t wait to read more by this author.

Title: Unlikely Animals
Author: Annie Hartnett
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: April 12, 2022
Rating: 3.5 ⭐

Special thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for gifting me a copy of this book! All opinions are my own.
➡️ From Penguin: "Natural-born healer Emma Starling once had big plans for her life, but she’s lost her way. A medical school dropout, she’s come back to small-town Everton, New Hampshire, to care for her father, who is dying from a mysterious brain disease. Clive Starling has been hallucinating small animals, as well as having visions of the ghost of a long-dead naturalist, Ernest Harold Baynes, once known for letting wild animals live in his house. This ghost has been giving Clive some ideas on how to spend his final days.
Emma arrives home knowing she must face her dad’s illness, her mom’s judgment, and her younger brother’s recent stint in rehab, but she’s unprepared to find that her former best friend from high school is missing, with no one bothering to look for her. The police say they don’t spend much time looking for drug addicts. Emma’s dad is the only one convinced the young woman might still be alive, and Emma is hopeful he could be right. Someone should look for her, at least. Emma isn’t really trying to be a hero, but somehow she and her father bring about just the kind of miracle the town needs."
➡️My thoughts: If you were to cross A Man Called Ove with a fantasy novel and Dr Doolittle, you would get this book. It's quirky and strange and oddly delightful. A family in the midst of big struggles, a lost daughter come home, am opioid crisis, and a father who talks to the ghost of the Dolittle-esque Harold. Oh, and did I mention the imported pet fox Rasputin and the big rescue dog Moses? If you like books that are slightly odd but different in the best way, check this out.

This zany cast of characters created such a fun dynamic. I loved the mix of heartfelt moments and comedy and featuring a rescue dog is a quick way to my heart!

I do feel like a few too many things were tackled which led me to be less invested in the storyline and made the pivotal moments less central and heartwarming.

Some heavy subjects are tackled in a way that I feel like could bring hope and healing with a little magic and love in this story of finding oneself through family.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Penguin Putnam for the ARC!

4.5 Stars
This is a strangely delightful fruit salad of plots. In different hands in might be a mess to have so many different things going on, but it actually worked well for me. Perhaps it was because the narrators were the ghosts of the local cemetery who were able to see all the different threads in a way a human narrator could not. But I think it's also because the stories were so bittersweet and sometimes painfully and wonderfully earnest.
There's plenty of quirk here-I laughed out loud, startling my sleeping baby, when reading a fox's train of thought in the lead up to attacking a giant chicken.
And there's plenty of heart- from what we owe to the family we're given and the family we choose, to what makes a good life.
I look forward to talking about this book with customers.

Honesty is the best policy, right? So here goes. I did not think I would like this book. Ghosts, nature, animal hallucinations? Nothing about this book seemed like it would be in my wheelhouse. Well, folks. I was wrong. I loved this book.

At its core, Unlikely Animals is a story about a complex family relationships, the struggle of dealing with a family member’s illness, figuring out who you are and want to be, and also the impact of the opioid crisis. Sure, there are the other things I mentioned, but they are beautifully and humorously weaved throughout the story. In particular, I loved the collective narration voice of the ghosts from Maple Street Cemetery.

This book was funny and sad at the same time, and I was there for it every step of the way. As a character driven book, it could not have been more of a page turner for me. I needed to know how these stories would turn out, and I’m so glad I took a chance on it.

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC.

Quirky story with a cast of unusual characters and animals!

I loved the “residents” of the Maple Street cemetery as they narrated the story and watched over the people of Everton:

~ “Oh man, we thought at Maple Street, how we missed the excruciating pain of being alive.”


I could relate to and appreciate Emma’s emotions as she watched her father’s health decline.

~ “She climbed in and felt a straining feeling in her chest as if her heart were really trying to break itself in two. By the spring. Her dad might be dead by spring. Anticipatory grief, it’s called, when you’re sad about something that hasn’t happened yet.”


The animals were a crazy joy!

~ “That’s why we like living with animals so much; they exhibit their joy so outwardly, remind us how to be better alive.”

I highly recommend this book if you are looking for something different to read. It’s not a page turner but each chapter had me smiling, sighing or worrying about what Clive would do next.

Almost a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ book for me, but the chapters about Ernest and Louise Baynes were a distraction that I didn’t understand until I read the author’s notes at the end.

Advanced reader copy courtesy of the publishers at NetGalley for review.

If you're looking for something completely different than anything you've ever read, look no further, this is the book for you! Emma Starling has moved back home to a small New England town to care for her ailing father suffering from an advanced brain disease. He is an over the top animal lover and with this brain disease has also come hallucinations of the animal variety. I was expecting this to be an end of life, making up for lost time, redemption story of sorts. This book has so many layers, so much heart, and so much attention to detail. Everything added up together it makes up one really unique book. Family dynamic, self discovery, and even a little mystery mixed in. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine Books- Random House for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. 3.5 rounded up stars.

When I started reading Unlikely Animals, I wasn't sure if this would be interesting. It seemed a bit chaotic and a little flat. However, it really grew into a beautiful story of a struggling New Hampshire town and the families that live there. The way it all ended, tied together, was definitely a surprise, and the style in which it was written was, actually, pretty enjoyable.

The point of view was through the ghosts in the Maple Avenue graveyard- all members of the town that know everyone and know everything about everyone. The voices of the ghost were a bit dry and flat, but as you continued to read you realized that, if a ghost were to narrate, it's probably what it sounded like. Since it was narrated from a third party viewer, it provided more context to the thoughts and conversations people had, both internally and externally. I thought the character development and interaction was well done, but again, the tone in which it was narrated gave the impression that everything was superficial- it made it difficult sometimes to connect with the main characters of Emma or Auggie (it did make me hate Ingrid though so if that was the author's intent it was well done!) There were some sensitive topics discussed - kidnapping, mental instability, suicide, death, and overall the opioid crisis in New England - but I thought they were handled tactfully.

This book was a bit of a slow read- I had a lot going on so it took me a week to finish it, but it also didn't really draw me in until about 65% of the way through. With that being said, I did overall enjoy this book and would recommend it to anyone who would like a multi-view point read with light humor.

I loved my time reading Unlikely Animals! It is an amazing read, and I cannot wait to see more from this author!