This very quirky story is told in part by a Greek chorus of the dead speaking from the Maple Street Cemetery in Everton, New Hampshire. They are very invested with those still living in the town, even though they are forbidden from interfering, according to the shadowy rules of being dead.

Protagonist Emma Starling, 22, has just returned from allegedly being in medical school in California (she dropped out) because her father Clive is dying from a brain disease. Besides periodic lapses in memory, Clive sees and interacts with hallucinations pretty regularly. His doctor said, as the cemetery group reported, “he couldn’t be sure exactly what the disease. Was until an autopsy, which was definitely out of the question as long as Clive remained alive…”

Emma had been encouraged to go to medical school because she was thought to have the “charm” - to be a natural-born healer. She hasn’t seen her family in two years. She explained that “the healing touch had gone wonky.” Then it seemed to have left her altogether.

Upon returning home, she discovered that her father was obsessively involved in trying to find Emma’s best friend from high school, Crystal Nash, who had been missing for several months. Most of the town assumed she was dead from the opioid addiction crisis ravaging the town. But Clive wouldn’t give up, and when Emma came home, she joined his pursuit.

Clive was also being advised by one of the ghosts who communicated with him, Ernest Harold Baynes, who went by Harold. Harold, who died in 1925, had once (in real life) been the official naturalist of Everton’s Corbin Park. Periodic excerpts from his books, “repurposed” by the author according to her Afterword, punctuate the narrative as well.

Emma settles in, getting a job as a substitute teacher for the fifth grade class at the local elementary school. The full-time teacher had left after her husband was accused of being in charge of a drug ring, dealing to students, inter alia. (One of those he allegedly dealt to was Emma’s younger brother Auggie, who got addicted to pain killers after a football accident in school. Auggie was now struggling with addition recovery.)

As the plot develops, we learn of Emma’s struggles with her “destiny” as a “natural-born healer”; her parents struggles with their marriage and with sanity; Emma’s guilt over Crystal; and the need for all of the characters not just of healing, but of hope.

Evaluation: Despite dysfunction on all kinds of levels, the characters in this book are lovable, and the plot unique enough to sustain interest and even wonder.

The narrator of Unlikely Animals is an unlikely character and I loved reading this book told from their perspective!

Unlikely Animals is a delight, full of family dysfunction, mystery, love, friendship, addiction, recovery, comedy, a vast array of quirky characters, and yes, unlikely animals. Maybe the author would be interested in writing another book with more details about some of the residents of Maple Street Cemetary and townsfolk of Everton?

I would definitely recommend this book!

Thank you, NetGalley, Random House-Ballantine, and Annie Hartnett for the advanced reader digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Three stars for Unlikely Animals

Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett is a unique family tale that I enjoyed by the end, but the book could benefit from additional guidance from an editor’s pen to give it a more cohesive storyline.

The unusual premise of Unlikely Animals caught my attention: College graduate Emma Starling returns home to New Hampshire to help care for her father, whose mysterious brain disease causes him to hallucinate small animals and befriend the ghost of local naturalist Ernest Harold Baynes. If the book was limited to Emma’s reacclimation to her hometown and her father’s strange illness, I would have liked it much more. Unfortunately, Hartnett combined an interest in a private hunting park and Ernest Harold Baynes with an existing novel she was writing about fifth graders, and then threw in a little romance, drug dealing and addiction, a missing person mystery, and occasional commentary from spirits lingering in the town cemetery.

While I eventually appreciated the arc of August Starling’s character from recovering addict, the first person narration from spirits in the cemetery remained consistently disruptive to the flow of the story. Even the format of the comments from the cemetery are distracting, with the speakers’ full names and birth and death dates repeatedly noted. The plot would be better off without the frequent interjections from dead people who are unnecessary to the development of the plot. Keep the ghost of Ernest Harold Baynes, but eliminate the rest.

I enjoyed the conclusion of the book, though, completely charmed by the spontaneity of kids. I can easily imagine the ending and several other parts of the book as a Netflix series and would enjoy seeing a script adaptation tidy up the story.

If you like quirky tales reminiscent of the old TV series Northern Exposure, you may find Unlikely Animals to be an enjoyable read. Just be prepared for an abundance of storylines, and try to relax in the knowledge that the author does manage to tie up all of that meandering in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Annie Hartnett, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for the advance copy of Unlikely Animals in exchange for my honest review, which will be posted on my Facebook page, Deborah’s Book Club Facebook group, the Girls Who Love Books Facebook group, Goodreads, and Amazon.

Expected publication date: April 12, 2022

Sigh. Another DNF for me. I got 40% through and had to put it down. It was just way too slow for me but this reminded me of TJ Klune books so if you like his books then you might like this.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I have never read a book quite like this one. The characters are weird but charming, and very likable I loved that the ghosts narrated the story. I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free e-copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The best thing about getting old is forgetting things. Well, certain things. I read a book blurb when I’m deciding whether to put it on my TBR, and then that’s it. I usually forget it pretty quickly. Then when I’m perusing covers and titles in my quest to pick my next book, I know everything on my list has been prescreened by someone I really trust. Me. Then I can go in cold and not have anything spoiled for me. I love it!

So when I picked Unlikely Animals off my Net Galley list I had no earthly idea what it was about. It took me to about 20% or so to get oriented as to what I was reading. Where was this going? It all finally clicked for me, and I found I did indeed have a pre-approved gem in my hands! I loved this quirky little slice of life set in the fictional town of Everton, New Hampshire. Each chapter starts with a little message from Mr. Ernest Harold Baynes, dubbed by the author as “the real life Dr. Doolittle of New Hampshire,” along with a photograph of the good doctor with a wild animal. What a delight! Furthermore, the novel is narrated by the denizens of the graveyard on Maple Street in Everton. They can see and hear the people in Everton, but they cannot interfere with their lives because if they go too far, they will go up in a poof of smoke. Mr. Baynes doesn’t care. He’s dead too and he’s going to help out Clive Starling who is dying of a degenerative brain disorder that makes him see things and forget stuff.

The other major (living) characters are Clives’s daughter Emma (a former natural healer who has lost “The Charm”), his son Auggie (a recovering drug addict), and Clive’s wife, Ingrid, who has a lot on her plate and is getting tired of it all. We also have a 5th grade class of kids and a bunch of cool animals like Clive’s pet fox ordered from Russia by Mr. Baynes. These are all excellently drawn characters. Adding to the mix is an intriguing little mystery surrounding the sudden disappearance of Emma’s former best friend and Clive’s former bartender Crystal.

The story is lovely and full of heart. The Starling family is broken and estranged, and they are all struggling in one way or another. They are dealing with shattered dreams, loneliness, erosion of love, loss of direction, and illness. Their journey to healing involves unearthing buried love, forgiveness (a LOT of forgiveness), and help from a number of odd places, including the dead, the animals, a 5th grade class, and a wild production of The Titanic that has scenes almost on par with the rollicking nativity scenes in A Prayer for Owen Meany.

If you are looking for a delightful, heartfelt, out of the ordinary tale with characters you can love and suffer and laugh with, this one is for you. Highly recommended.

I would like to thank Net Galley, Ballantine Books, and Ms. Annie Hartnett for the ARC. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

Sometimes the right book comes along at the right time and for me, Unlikely Animals had was just what I needed. It's a sweet story about a family, struggling with some weighty things (dementia, opiate abuse, affairs) in a small town in New Hampshire. The story primarily follows Emma, a young woman who returns home from a supposed stint in medical school to see her ailing father. Upon returning home, she discovers that her childhood best friend is missing, presumably another casualty of the devastating opioid epidemic. We follow her as she reluctantly reestablishes her life in the small town, aided by her definitely-losing-his-mind father and a charismatic group of elementary school kids. What I loved about this book is how Hartnett created a group of characters that thoroughly flawed, but in a way that you continually root for them to succeed. Residents of the local cemetery play a narrative role that was unexpected but charming. The book had solid writing and a plot mystery that kept me engaged and entertained throughout its pages. I'll definitely look to pick up additional works by the author. Reminded me of Phaedra Patrick and the quirky character development seen in many of Frederick Backman's works. Overall a fun read.

Start with a young woman who possesses the power to heal with her touch. Add in some whimsical , joyful and peculiar animals, a missing best friend, an obscure real-life Doctor Doolittle named Ernest Harold Baynes, and a dysfunctional family that strives to care for each other.

And while you’re at it, include a chorus of dead townspeople – now ghosts – who will vanish in a puff if they interfere too much with the living. Overlay the New Hampshire opioid crisis that is robbing too many people of their lives.

Mix it all together and you have the makings of a quirky, charming, small-town saga where (as the author states in her author’s notes) everyone is rooting for everyone and loving a place.

The place is Everton, New Hampshire. The “everyone” is Emma, a 22-year-old medical school drop-out, her opioid-addicted brother Auggie, their father Clive (who is dying of a brain disease that can only be diagnosed upon his death), and a number of supporting characters, many of whom are in the fifth grade. Emma’s in a pickle.

She doesn’t know where her life is going, her best estranged friend, Crystal, is missing, her father is hanging up posters all over town, and to top it off, she has lost the power to save his life (and in a more existential way, her own).The question that haunts the novel is: how do we once again believe in the miraculous when our earliest hopes and dreams have deserted us?

At first, I thought that I was reading a cross-over YA novel. But before too long, I recognized that the novel was a sort of fairy tale filled with poignancy and offbeat humor and sprinkled with the kinds of exaggerated oddities that define a beloved small town.

Intertwined with a treasure trove of Ernest Harold Baynes photos (Baynes actually lived in Meriden, a village of Plainfield) and his repurposed writings, this lovingly crafted book casts a spell that is sorely needed in these current times of stressful times.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and NetGalley for enabling me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review. This review is being shared on Goodreads.

Emma Starling has to return her small-town home of Everton, New Hampshire. Her father, Clive's degenerative brain disease has gotten to the point that he's losing his memory and hallucinating unlikely animals (as well as deceased naturalist Ernest Harold Baynes). Emma also has to find a way to tell her family that yes, she has completely blown off med school in California and no, she never regained "The Charm" from her childhood--a very real and healing touch that led some to believe Emma had magical powers.

All havoc breaks loose upon Emma's arrival back to Everton, because she also learns that Crystal Nash, her childhood best friend, is missing.

What ensues in Annie Hartnett's latest debut is a deeply human story about a quirky, imperfect family in an even quirkier, imperfect town. It's laugh-out-loud funny in a way I haven't experienced in ages, it's emotional, and most of all, it beckons its readers to dive into their sense of empathy. I deeply loved (almost) every single character in this book, and the masterful way that Hartnett told a story that is equally plot-and-character driven. By the end of this heart-warming story, you'll have fallen in love with not only the Starling family but the town of Everton as well.

Oh, and did I mention that our narrators are none other than Everton's dead, telling Emma's story from beyond (or within?) the grave?

"Unlikely Animals" is such a special, special story; I implore you to read it.

*Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for my advanced reading copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

I've always thought that eccentricities make people more human—we're all weirdos in our own way, after all. And this book is full of well-drawn characters who are delightful weirdos. Inspired by real places, people, and events, the author weaves a compelling story that kept me turning the pages. I rooted for the main character, and was charmed by the animals (both human and non) that are woven throughout the story. This is the book for you if you like: quirky small towns, eccentric historical figures, New England, quarter life crises, precocious schoolchildren, ghostly Greek choruses, family dynamics, and/or foxes.

This story was so fun to read, it was very original with amazingly quirky characters, both dead, alive and in between.
It follows the lives of the Starling family, Emma,who was a Natural-Healer who has returned to small-town Everton, New Hampshire, Emma’s brother Auggie, a recovering addict, her mother Ingrid and her father Clive, who has a degenerative brain disease that allows him to see hallucinations of animals and some ghosts, mainly that of naturalist Ernest Harold Baynes (b. 1868–d. 1925) and his pet fox.
When Emma returns home to help care for her father she finds out that her best friend from high school and partner in their healing business has gone missing, and no one seems to be looking for her except for Emma's father who constantly puts up missing posters.
Its a story which through all of it's challenges,the people of the town unite, people find new purposes in their lives and other start to see what they have lost.
Throughout the story the dead from the towns cemetery talk to each other back and forth about what is happening in town, but they have rules which they cannot break.
There are also some great photos of the naturalist, his wife and fox.
I highly recommend this book, if you like a bit of originality and quirkiness.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing group - Ballantine for a copy of this book.

A little slow for me at first, but this book turned out to have a wonderful plot with interesting and complicated characters. Readers who enjoy magical realism should definitely add this to their wishlists!

Thank you to GoodReads and Random House for allowing me to read a digital ARC for my honest review.

I so wanted to like this book but it just didn't work for me. I didn't like the style or the characters but I did enjoy the writing.

Unlikely Animals is the perfect title for this book. It hooked me almost immediately and was a quirky, fun read. From the Dr. Doolittle-esque references to the deceased voices of the town chiming in, it was a beautiful small town story that I completely fell in love with.

Emma, a natural-born healer from a small town in New Hampshire, heads out to California to pursue college and medical school. After her first year, she drops out of medical school and moves back to her small town. Her father, a metal musician/poetry professor is suffering from a degenerative brain disease and is hallucinating animals, her brother is a recovering drug addict and her mother is trying to manage it all. On top of it all, Emma learns her best friend that she hasn't spoken with since she left for California is also missing, and her father is determined to unravel the case.

Let me start by saying, there are a lot of hard topics covered here, including the ongoing opioid epidemic. However, Annie tackles the subject with grace and has created such a wonderful band of characters and a powerful storyline. I couldn't put it down. I could go on and on, but I'll stop here. The bottom line, add this beautiful book to your spring reading list.

4.5/5 stars
Thank you Random House, Ballantine, and NetGalley fo the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Annie Hartnett's new book, Unlikely Animals, is as sharp as a tack and a unique addition to the literary world. The characters are charming, albeit a bit quirky. The plot is endearing as well as riddled with hidden gems. And, most importantly, the storyline solidifies the love of family, love of shared memories and the importance of enjoying the life you are given and the people you are lucky enough to call yours.

This charming novel takes the reader into the fictitious, New Hampshire of town of Everton, where a family is trying to find itself, both collectively, and as individuals.

Narrated by the dead locals from the Everton cemetery, their other-worldly perspective, combined with the menagerie of animals that become somewhat of a central collective character, this curious, dark, humorous tale will steal your heart.

Throughout the story, author Annie Hartnett takes her readers on an unforgettable journey. I read in wonder, as the powerful presence of living creatures, the comfort of our pets, the never dying memories of the loved ones who’ve gone before us, the many faces of enduring love, and the perils and joys of childhood ran alongside the heavy topics of terminal illness, dementia, an opiod crisis, and finding one's path in life. In the end, the reader may wonder if we are infact the unlikely animals. A truly unique reading experience that will bring marvel to those who delve in.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Clive Starling has dementia and is dying. He believes that the ghost of Ernest Harold Barnes, a real life Dr. Doolittle, visits and chats with him. Clive wants to copy Ernest and purchases a fox because Ernest had one. Clive also hallucinates about animals and it becomes too much for his wife Ingrid. Their live in son has recovered from drug addiction and their daughter has returned to visit her family after a long absence. This fictional novel has actual locations and the ghosts of real people. It is an unusual story filled with quirky situations and characters.

5 stars! Highly recommend.

Thoughtfully researched and written book. It was a relaxing read, with the focus on the importance of community, family and relationships. We all have our own dark times and difficult periods, and the novel highlights the importance of support and how that can help us move forward and grow as a person. We saw the development of Emma, Auggie, Ingrid and the children in school when emotional devastation really hit the community from the scandals. Our characters were pushed out of their comfort zone often, but together healed each other, learned to appreciate each other, and cherish the community they have. I loved the perspectives of the "ghosts," and the anticipation and build-up they also created through their remarks. Including them truly embodied the culture of Everton and it was sometimes a nice relief.

If you like fantasy, mixed with some history, romance and a look at how dementia affects not just the person who is suffering from it; but all the people who are close to him and some humor, this book is for you. It is hard to determine from what point of view this story is being told because it changes from the conversations of the residents of the Maple Street cemetery to third person omniscient. Mixed in are paraphrased chapters and pictures from the book of the actual naturalist Ernest Harold Baynes. The ending is just a little too farfetched for me, but I did like some of the humor. For me , the best park of the book is the author’s notes on her research. If I had read that first, I might have enjoyed the book more.

Emma who is born with the power to heal moves back home with the dog she found to spend time with her fading health father. She no longer is able to heal so she is no help to her dad who sees ghosts of a famous naturalist and small animals. She finds that her best friend from high school is missing and pretty much no one is looking for her except her dad.

I love the ghosts who narrated the story. You would think the subject matter would make this a tear jerker but it's the complete opposite. There are just so many good things about this book.