Little Bird is a delightfully weird, dark, sardonic fairy tale. Josie, an alcoholic recluse, confronts physical and psychological demons when a talking skeleton shows up in her backyard and forces her to confront her own mediocrity and failures. I quite enjoyed it, although the protagonist seemed hellbent on being the antagonist of her own story, which made parts of it frustrating to read.

I always find it interesting when an author writes unflinchingly about the flaws of their own characters, and Meuret certainly gave Josie enough flaws to keep me engaged. I found the plot a little boring in the middle, but the humor and originality kept me going long enough to get over that brief hump. The end was gratifying enough to have made this book worth reading, and I'll definitely be recommending it to a couple of my friends. It's not for everyone, for sure, but if you like dark humor and fantasy, you'll probably enjoy Little Bird.

Not quite sure what to think about this book. I enjoyed it though.

I wouldn't label it as horror, it has some supernatural elements to it.

Reminds me a bit of The Midnight Library, but for adults. She was going through grief, dealt with gaslighting from a former spouse, and was an alcoholic. This supernatural character came from nowhere and helped her find her way. Different storyline, but very similar aspects.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loved The Midnight Library. Even those who found it lacking, like me, would enjoy this.

I will say this was not what I was expecting; but it's a good, short read.

This was quite a quick read, and pretty well written. I liked the idea of the story, and I loved the cover. Wasn't in love with the book though

Birds of a Feather.

Josie, a crotchety and self imposed hermit has closed herself off from everyone except for interacting by email. And that’s only for her business - dispensing advice and professional problem solving to her customers so they can deal with THEIR surly clients.

The wit, the irony! I was beside myself sniggering while I read this because Josie herself couldn’t have been more bad-tempered.

Disdain for everyone except her little dog Po, Josie spends her free time away from her computer drinking. Po is the only reason she goes outside.

When an infestation of weeds and vines begin growing in her backyard, it coincides with the appearance of a new nosy neighbor Sue. Plus, a talking skeleton takes up residence on her back fence. All three are resistant to Josie’s irritable demands to leave.

Her interactions with the delightfully snarky skeleton made the book! The skeleton, Skelly, as she’s asked to be called, is more than a match for the sarcastic Josie and their repartee is skillful writing at its best.

However, there’s something deeper at play here. Skelly, Sue, and the increasingly invasive vines have an agenda. But what is it?

I love unique stories. Josie and her contentious relationships were illustrated perfectly and while I didn’t always like her, I was hoping she’d pull herself out of her funk.

Is there a Cozy Horror category? I don’t know if experienced Horror readers would find this satiating, but If you like to dabble, this is fun and readable without being scared out of your gourd. However, there are darker elements so it’s not completely benign.

TW for excessive alcohol consumption.

For animal lovers, Po, the adorable chihuahua comes to no harm.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tiffany Meuret, and Black Spot Books for my electronic review copy in advance of publication on June 7, 2022.

1/19/22 Edit: I couldn't stop thinking about this book so I upped my rating to five stars.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Little Bird was a very strange book. To put it lightly, I went into this with zero expectations. All I saw was a gorgeous book cover and an interesting synopsis. After diving into this, and meeting Josie, it was easy to see that I wasn't going to understand a lot of what was going on.

So, in a lot of ways, this was entertaining. Josie is not in a good place. She's barely coping with the unfortunate death of her father. To make the day go by, she works and drinks a lot of freaking vodka. At least she has her dog Po, right?

Well, everything was going well until a mysterious vine and skull come into the picture. At times, what was happening didn't feel real. Mostly because this girl was constantly drinking and drinking. So, I kept thinking maybe this is just a really bad and creepy dream. It wasn't.

In the end, this book was definitely interesting and kept me on my toes. I wasn't expecting the book to end this way, but it also doesn't surprise me at the same time either. It was strange through and through.

Since her divorce, Josie has very carefully controlled her life: she lives on a street where no one knows her, only keeps in contact with clients she hates, dotes on her dog, and definitely doesn’t have a drinking problem. Everything is completely under control, and she likes it. Really. The last thing she needs is a sentient skeleton in her backyard, offering ominous prophecies like she cares about them. The problem is, that might not be her choice anymore.

Firstly, although this is labelled ‘horror’, I’m not quite sure why. There are definitely a few creepier moments to this, sometimes eerie, but nothing that feels enough like horror to deserve the label (much to my delight).

Josie is an unreliable, and often unlikeable, narrator filled with anger, regret, and struggling with depression and alcoholism. The book treats all of these with a degree of respect that really adds weight to the narrative, and the reader gets to explore these aspects of her personality with her as she slowly comes to terms with them, denies them, spirals, and tries to pick herself back up again with a little help from unexpected sources.

Although we’re in third person with this, the brusque often sarcastic writing style is a perfect match for Josie’s thoughts and personality and does a great job of introducing us to her life. However, it isn’t a style for everyone. The conversational tone and sometimes shallow descriptions and focus have proved a problem for some other reviewers, and I do understand why. It makes the eerier moments – when the tone becomes more lyrical and the reader get to see beyond Josie’s fear – stand out all the more for me.

Ultimately, I surprised myself by enjoying this book. Families of choice, worlds beyond worlds, a philosophical skeleton telling fairy tales and musing on the nature of humanity… I had fun with this. It isn’t for everyone, but I’ll still be recommending it.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ✰
Genre: Magical realism, Urban fantasy
Trigger Warnings: Alcoholism, depression, grief, cancer mentions, death of a parent.
Would I recommend this? Selectively, yes.
Would I read a sequel? Maybe. I think it’s stronger as a standalone, though.

Little Bird is the story of an unhappy, sarcastic, isolated drunk woman who pushes people away and who's only company is her dog. But, in amongst this darkness there is a need to be loved and cared for, which suddenly appears in the shape of two new arrivals in Little Bird's life.

This is a quirky, fun, bizarre and uplifting tale, quite unlike anything I've read before but it's a great read and all told in a refreshing, modern style.

The cover and tagline had me intrigued, but I was unsure exactly how this book would blend horror and magical realism. Having finished it, I’m still not entirely certain I get it.
The story opens with our introduction to Josie, a rather reclusive character who does all she can to minimise interactions with others. Somewhat struggling with the death of her beloved father, Josie keeps her life together with the help of strict routines, her dog (Po) and copious amounts of vodka. When she finds herself visited by a new nosy neighbour who seems determined to befriend her, Josie is concerned at what is to come.
What she could never have foreseen is the arrival in her home of vines that seem to grow with her state of mental health and a skeleton who promises to leave her alone if she tells an original story.
The character of Skelly was, for me, a kind of barometer for Josie’s mental health. I liked that Skelly tries to help Josie regain a sense of purpose, but the whole thing was a little strange.
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Josie Lauer is a newly divorced woman who has secluded herself inside her house. Her life revolves around her work, her Chihuahua, Po, and unfortunately her bottles of alcohol (vodka preferably). Everything changes when a mysterious shrub starts to grow in her backyard and a new neighbour moves into the house next door.

It is complicated for me to give my opinion on this book, because I have nothing to complain about it per se: it is well written, the story is original, but I did not manage to get hooked... I like to feel emotions when I read a book, to feel the wheels in my brain spinning, to feel my heart racing in my chest, but with this book I felt like I was crossing a sea on which the wind had forgotten to blow. No waves, just a dead calm.

I think I failed to grasp the essence of the story, what it was supposed to convey to me. I just didn’t get it, and that’s okay, because I probably wasn’t intended to be the target of this book.

I do want to note, however, that the cover of this book is gorgeous and really want to praise Tiffany Meuret’s writing style.

That’s why I give it a 3/5.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of the book.

I was originally drawn to the book by the cover art then I realized it was a new (to me) author so I had to check it out. and the blurb sparked my interesting so download I did.

Overall, I was pretty happy with the story and characters. I found it unique and different. At times, it was a bit of a slow burn an I got anxious to understand more faster than the story flowed. Note a TW for alcoholism by the main character, Josie. I loved the supernatural elements and don't get me started on her cute dog, Po. The writing could use a bit more polish but I look forward to more books from this author.

Fyi-Thanks to Netgalley & Publishers for allowing me to read an advance reader copy.

Trigger Warning: Alcohol abuse, death, violence

Josie spends her days working from home and her evenings in the companionship of her dog, Po. She follows it by a nightly ritual of drinking herself to oblivion. Not coping with the loss of her father nor her recent divorce.
One day she notices a growing shrub in her “desert” backyard followed by an uncanny apparition of a skeleton, name Skelly.
Josie’s life of not coping with loss becomes even more convoluted with the introduction of her next-door neighbor and Skelly who refuses to leave her alone.

It's a strange story and more apropos to be read in October. It definitely gave me Halloween vibes.
Josie was weirdly very relatable and human even with the magical realism in this story. This book is very sad at times but in spite of Josie’s struggle, her love and care for Po is very endearing. I loved how their story was portrayed. I would read this book solely based on this piece alone.

I was also drawn to this book by the cover, the flowers, colors and even Po and the skeleton front and center… loved it. Because this book is classified as Horror it might put off some people from reading it. But I would actually say this book falls more into the fantasy genre. I recommend reading this book blind with no expectations…to be experienced by a nice fireplace (real or pretend) in low lights and some candy… won’t disappoint.

I received a copy of this book from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Little Bird tells the story of Josie Lauer. She's a small business owner who's isolated herself after a series of devastating losses.
She's got her routine down: work playing with her dog, and drinking herself into oblivion. That is until one day when a plant appears in her barren back yard. The plant isn't just any plant, its home to a talking skeleton and takes over Josie's life.

This was a really interesting concept for a book. It came across as a magical realism discussion of grief, life story, and isolation. Now that I've had some to reflect it really seems like something Gabriel Garcia Marquez would write in quarantine. There is a small cast of characters- Josie, Skelly, Sue (the mysterious neighbor), Josie's mother, and Po the dog.

Josie is a deeply flawed character that really breathes throughout the story. She know she has issues, but doesn't really take responsibility for anything thats happened. A large portion of the novel is about her coming to grips with her issues and lack of support network., Sue is very much a side character. She acts every similar to mentor/helper in a tradtional hero's journey. She tries to explain to Josie what's happening regardless of Josie's ability to process.

My favorite character however, is very much Skelly. Skelly is the name given to the talking skeleton who appears in Josie's back yard. Skelly is straightforward and a wonderful foil to Josie. She refuses to let Josie go and repeatedly tells Josie what she has to do to make everything stop.

I would recommend this book for those familiar with magical realism and Marquez. I would also recommend this to people looking for a mix of horror and contemporary that focuses on a lot of the feelings we've been feeling during lockdown.

Thank you so much to Black Spot Books and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated.

The last 20% of the story is what bumped this from a 3 star read to a 4 star for me. The writing gets more serious, and we fully see what Josie's (the MC) life has become. The ending suits the characters and the writing style well, and feels like a proper conclusion.

To back this up a bit, this book is divided into days instead of chapters. The entire story takes place in just over a week. We are introduced to Josie who comes off as very sarcastic, crass, and has a grudge against the world. It is definitely difficult to sympathize with her at all in the beginning due to her abrasiveness, and honestly how dense she is in some scenes can be frustrating. However, as we learn more about her background it becomes clear why she behaves this way, and morphs into quite a sad character.

The first genre this book is listed as is horror, and I'd have to disagree. I think first and foremost it's a dark comedy. The way the character's interact with each other, and the writing style itself just gives a humorous edge to everything. This did take a little getting used to in the beginning for me, but I think that's just because most of what I read is on the super serious side.

Overall, this turned into a pleasant surprise for me, and I enjoyed it much more than I expected.

Me, at the beginning of this book: Woah, this is super weird but I’m REALLY into it…

Me, at the end of this book; WOW that was so weird but so much fun and I LOVED it!

The cover is gorgeous and originally drew me in but the story is fast-paced and kept me hooked. I had no clue what was going on until close to the end but also couldn’t stop reading.

I want to thank #netgalley for letting me read an E-Arc of #LittleBird.

This book is fantastic I can't exclaim enough how much I have enjoyed this book! Skelly is absolutely wonderful, she is witty and sarcastic. Josie is somehow very unlikeable and yet tolerable. Josie is well aware of her glaring faults well one really big one and could really care less what others think about it except of course for Po. Enter a weird plant that seem to be sentient and a Skeleton named Skelly. Then of course is Sue, the strange overly friendly and may be a bit too nosey of a neighbor. However this neighbor seems to know a little more about the sentient vines and snarky skeleton.

3.5
I really enjoy the whimsical feel of the book and loved how faced paced it was, I love the idea of uncontrollable plants that take over your life so I jumped at the chance to read. Skelly the talking skeleton was a great addition to the book and was so funny.

However, this is a great case of a book having an amazing premise but not executed amazingly, I felt like the writing was juvenile for the premise and the plot and wasn't entirely sure who the audience was supposed to be. I also didn't care all that much about the main character as I found her judgmental and a bit mean for no reason and I don't think the character development was there.

Overall I would recommend it but only for people who are new to the genre of magical realism, or new to reading and want a fast-paced book to start off with.

I received this arc free of charge from NetGalley but the options are my own

I didn't hate it but it didn't blow my mind either.

I loved the cover, that is unfortunately the only thing I loved. The story was classified as horror and other than Skelly there's not really anything that had me the least bit uncomfortable. Mystery maybe, but definitely not horror.

The MC was dense so freaking dense and stubborn, I really couldn't relate. Personally if I had a huge plant growth in my yard with a talking skeleton I wouldn't be hiding in my house crying about it. I guess that's what makes the story though.

The other character Sue, I kinda wish we had gotten a little more out of her, maybe her story or a shortened version of it.

All in all it was okay.

Little Bird by Tiffany Meuret.

Isn't that a gorgeous cover? Let it be known, i chose this purely because of the pretty cover. So gothic yet feminine. And hello cute little chihuahua!

This is a tale about Josie, Skelly the talking skeleton, Po the cute little chihuahua and Sue, the new neighbour. And this is quite honestly a dark strange tale.

Josie works from home, attending to clients through emails after emails. Josie is also recently divorced and just lost her dad to cancer. At the same time, she is a toxic drunkard. The kind who drinks herself silly till she blacks out. And out of the blue, along pops Skelly with this insane amount of creeping vines that seem to take after Josie's moods.

Heavily metaphoric, readers will learn that the appearance of Skelly and the vines are in relation to Josie and her bad well being. Not being able to move on and grief properly for her father's death. That sense of anger and disappointment on losing not only her father but also a husband. The fact that she was not able to come to terms with her predicament, Skelly appears as a form to allow Josie to see for herself how horrendous she has turned out to be. But it was not easy as Josie definitely just does not want to accept the reality of things. Thus choosing to black it out by getting piss drunk.

I loved how the metaphoric storyline bloomed in this magical realism setting. A part of me actually hates Josie for being such a stubborn unapproachable ass but on the other hand, you also can't help but to pity her. Quite honestly, Josie needed a therapist. And an intervention. But it's so sad no one around her could help her. The ending though, hmmm. I didn't really like how it went unfortunately. But as a whole, this was a painful story of a woman who needed help and unable to grasp reality.

This was a relatively quick read. Told over the course of about eight days, recently divorced Josie Lauer is grieving the loss of her father. She has not been coping well. As a result, Josie isolates herself in her home with her small dog Po, and bottles of vodka to keep her company.

Josie wakes up one morning to find that a small green bush has popped up in the middle of her dirt pit of a yard. It doesn’t take long for this tiny plant to grow and cover the yard in vines. Cue the nosey neighbor. Sue has recently moved to the neighborhood and has taken a keen interest in Josie and her plant problems. She frequently tries to insert herself in Josie’s business.

The vines continue to take over the yard and this is where the story takes a unique turn. Seated in the middle of the vines is a skeleton named Skelly. Skelly begins talking to Josie.

Things only get stranger from there. Without spoiling the rest of the book, I think this is one that you just have to read for yourself. It was an ok read. I’m still unsure about what I read and will probably be thinking about it for awhile.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A strange tale in the best way. It’s rare these days when you come across a story that feels unique in every way and this achieves it beautifully. It is dark but funny, serious but quirky, frustrating but fulfilling. Who knew that in a book about a talking skeleton and a garden out of control you could find such a gripping insight into the human mind at its lowest.