An odd yet compulsively interesting short novel about grief, Little Bird is a fascinating look at self-destruction.

If you like quirky, sardonic humour, this book is packed with it. There are so many lines that made me laugh, which helped even out the bleakness of Josie’s life.

The novel is great at balancing social critique without becoming a harangue. The jokes about certain facets of life were clearly from Josie’s warped viewpoint, while also harbouring an element of truth. There’s also the absurdity aspect of the talking skeleton who, along with the odd concept itself, has its own little quips.

Up until the last fifteen percent, I was absolutely hooked and it’s definitely a book I wish were longer because it’s such a fun and entertaining read, despite the themes of grief, alcoholism, and self-destructive behaviour. It strikes a balance between delightful, strange, and sad. Josie's downward spiral could easily be anyone's.

The one thing I wasn’t super keen on was the ending. It didn’t really have the sort of twist I was expecting from the build-up, so it was a bit of a let-down for me. I was just kind of like - oh. I did like that it didn’t go in a completely obvious direction but it just didn’t have that oomph I was hoping for. But the journey is so worth it!

What I really liked about the novel was that you weren’t entirely sure whether all of this was really happening or if Josie was just losing it. The novel has a fantastic way of unravelling the story that keeps up a wonderful pace. It’s also not really a horror, definitely not a thriller, but also not contemporary fiction. It exists somewhere in the middle, something that I don’t think would exist if we didn’t have a small press to thank.

And Po, the chihuahua, was awesome. I loved what a huge personality he has (as do most small dogs) and, of course, I was worried for him the whole time.

This is a book that I think will come back to me then and again, to the point that I’ll definitely end up buying a copy for my shelves. Also, that cover is gorgeous!

Well that something completely different. I don’t know what box to put it in - comedy horror (it was amusing in parts), cosy horror, fantasy? It was certainly not scary or creepy. It was just…different!

Josie is an embittered, curmudgeonly woman approaching middle age. She misses her dear departed father intensely. She does not miss her ex husband Stuart. Josie lives alone apart from her beloved little dog Po. And vodka, she has a lot of vodka in her life. She revels in her aloneness and earns her living online as some sort of customer relations advisor, I wasn’t ever really sure what that role entailed but it’s not important. She rarely leaves the house, gets her groceries delivered and that’s just the way she likes it.

Poor Josie’s life is turned upside down when a new neighbour moves in and has the temerity to knock on her door - shock horror! Then the uninterrupted barrenness of her back garden is interrupted by a vine that has sprouted literally overnight. This vine grows out of control and soon it is accompanied by a talking skeleton (call me as Skelly) who seems to have some sort of mission for Josie but talks in riddles. Josie doesn’t want a bar of all this but Skelly and the vine are persistent and soon Josie learns more about herself than she is comfortable with.

I didn’t love this book but I didn’t hate it either. It was kind of interesting. Josie was an interesting character, she could have been any one of us if our circumstances were similar. The dialogue was certainly crisp and snarky which I enjoyed. I’m not sure what Skelly was supposed to be though, maybe I missed something in the reading, but that is why I couldn’t rate the book any higher. Nevertheless if you are into speculative fiction or just want something a bit out of left field you might well enjoy this book. It was a fairly quick read. Many thanks to Netgalley and Black Spot Books for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

3.5 rounded up.

Little Bird was not at all what I thought it would be but I still enjoyed it. I wouldn't classify it a horror, more sci-fi tho. Certainly was a story like I've never read before and I loved the uniqueness of it. Josie is a character that I couldn't quite like but I didn't quite hate and yet felt myself rooting for her. Liked her humor and sarcasm. Little dog Po was a delight and Sue was a good character to get to know. Very quick read that kept my interest throughout.

This is a fairly uncategorizable book. I did not find myself drawn to the alcoholic and miserable main character but enjoyed her recognition of the importance of some connection to the world outside of her house and her dog. The imagery throughout this novel is impeccable and dark, with elements of the bizarre increasing as we move to the peak of the story.

Overall, an entertaining read, but I'm not sure I will take much from this moving forward.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

magine you live alone in a house on a cul-de-sac in the desert and one day you notice a green plant has sprouted in your backyard. The sprout soon grows and grows into vines that stretch across the yard and then in the middle of the plant, a skeleton shows up and just wants to chat. This is what Josie and her chihuahua Po experience in Little Bird. This is a wonderfully strange story that takes Josie on an emotional roller coaster as she’s forced to face things in her past that she has been ignoring. This story tackles grief and loss head on through storytelling, memories and owning up to things from the past. Josie has suck to a very low point; her father has passed away, she’s divorced, has a bad relationship with her mother and drinks excessively. She’s not in the good place and is very hesitant to talk to the skeleton in her back yard to figure out what it wants. I really enjoyed this story and thought the author did a great job dealing with the complexity of the emotions Josie is dealing with while also fully acknowledging the bizarreness of the situation. Josie is a sad character and I was really rooting for her. I think most of us can understand a grief so palpable that it throws our life into a spiral for a bit. If you’re looking for something a little different, I absolutely recommend this book.

I really did not know what to expect from this story before reading it and unfortunately, I could not tell you much about it after I read it. I feel that I maybe missed a philosophical component to it. After rereading the summary I can understand that there was an underlying theme of found family but I just could not get on board with the bizarre storyline.

I was drawn to this book as soon as I saw the cover so couldn't wait to see what was inside. I found that, at just over 250pages, it was a quick read that I read in one sitting. Based around Josie, a middle aged, bitter drunk, and her little dog Po, it is certainly a unique, and kind of strange book! Sentient vines that can catch or cocoon you. As well as a skeleton, self named Skelly! It was quirky and light hearted in some places, and yet deep, and touching on some hard hitting topics, in others. If you like something a bit different and strange this is one I'd recommend

This was a surprising book in all the best ways. It deals with the difficult topic of grief in such a way it leaves you feeling whole instead of empty. A fabulous quick read and one I didn’t want to put down

I wasn't sure what to expect with Little Bird but I was pleasantly surprised! Skelly and her vines serve as a metaphor for what could devour Josie the hermit in her grief and inability to cope. Memorable characters in a book that addresses grief and the living condition with a great sense of snark.

Tiffany Meuret has written a fantasy horror book about grief. Josie has lost her father, and wakes up to find that her backyard is being taken over by by strange bushes and vines. They grow and twist and turn, and right in the middle, is Skelly, a skeleton who talks to Josie.

At the same time, Sue moves in next door to Josie and she's determined to be Josie's friend.

This is a very weird and strangely wonderful book. While there are several problematic things (namely Josie's drinking), this is excellent writing and storytelling.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

This is a quirky little fantasy about a thirty-something woman named Josie. She is recently divorced, foul mouthed and an alcoholic. Josie hates her job as a self-employed online customer service consultant, and she hates (most) people, but she loves her little dog, an adorable Chihuahua named Po. Working from home Josie rarely leaves her house, and the only actual human contact she has is when her groceries (mainly cheap vodka) are delivered by a chap named Kevin. That is pretty much Josie's life and she is happy with it. Only she is actually far from happy. She blames herself for the divorce, is estranged from her mother and she misses her late father more than anything or anyone. But Josie is so deep in her own despair she cannot see a way out, until one day a little green sprout appears in her otherwise barren back yard. Overnight the little sprout spreads and continues to grow until Josie's garden is full of lush, creeping vines, and in the centre of the foliage is something, or someone totally unbelievable. A skeleton, that wants to talk to Josie, and refuses to shut up until she listens.

This is a weird and wonderful, cosy, sweary paranormal story that is something a bit different. Quite sad at times but also full of heart. And that cover is absolutely gorgeous.

I wasn’t sure what to expect of this book and I don’t think I can tell you completely honestly what I think now I’ve finished, it was an intriguing premise, I enjoyed getting to know the characters and really liked the eerie setting but the storyline was a little off for me though I can’t work out why!
The cover is to die for though I love it!

Ooh what a beautiful cover this is - and yes, I am judging it.

It’s quite a simple plot, a situation where a lot happens and nothing happens all at the same time. Instead it’s a wonderful exploration of character and of self identity.

This is possibly one of the most bizarre books I have ever read. It’s such a surprise of a book, in a genre of itself. If you’re after a book different to any other, this is a good choice.

It’s a short book, quick to read, which is good because I think if it was any longer it would really frazzle your mind.

I love the interactions between Josie and Skelly, the skeleton in her garden. They’re so witty and sarcastic, two sides of the same coin. If I’m honest, my favourite character was actually Josie’s dog Po, he’s moody and aloof and uninterested and my ideal friend.

This was erm, very odd? Just a genuinely odd premise. Josie, an alcoholic hermit who works from home and lives with her lil dog, Po, suddenly finds herself interacting with a skeleton (Skelly) in her garden. There's also a lot of vines taking the garden/house over. And Skelly not only talks but judges. Also there's some deeper stuff at play and it all gets weirdly heartfelt??

Saw another reviewer describe this as 'cosy horror' n that sounds about right. Objectively it would be scary, yes, but in actuality this struck 0 fear in me at all. I did, however, have a very good time reading it.

Big thanks to NetGalley, Black Spot Books, and the author for the e-ARC.
Available to purchase on 7/6/22.

Oh and P.S. nothing happens to the dog. Don't fret x

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

Hmm. I have thoughts. This book gave me Tim Burton vibes up until around the 70% mark and then it kinda turned a bit. I wouldn’t consider this horror, per se. There were some absolutely comical parts - Josie is such a cynically dry person that a lot of her inner dialogue I found really funny. Po was obviously adorable. Skelly was intriguing and I was definitely interested to see what her purpose was…

But the book lost me a bit when Skelly took her under the vines. I’m still not even entirely sure I understand the ending - the purpose of replacing Skelly and being with her sisters.

The first 70% was 5 star for me (even though it wasn’t scary). The last 30% was somewhere around a 2 star. Was pretty underwhelmed by the ending, but overall I did enjoy it.

I wanted this to be a fun horror book, and at first I was really into it and couldn't wait to see where it would go, but then it turned goofy and got a bit boring for me. Our main character is not very likable, the skeleton was...odd in a way I was not a fan of. The story didn't work for me and I struggled to finish it.

Dolly Parton, a woman who we can all agree is unequivocally herself (and her best self, at that), once advised to "find out who you are and do it on purpose." I mention this not because Little Bird is about country singers or Tennessee, but because author Tiffany Meuret has so completely embodied this advice. Little Bird is a book that is itself, on purpose, and I am thoroughly impressed.

Little Bird is an odd book. It's the kind of odd that's the unique product of a single person's mind--not a committee, not some genre-regurgitation cabal churning out Tolkien-likes, and maybe not even a Big Five publisher. Tiffany Meuret has written a moving story of grief and alcoholism through the medium of...a talking skeleton, semi-sentient vines, and a very food-motivated Chihuahua.

See? Odd. But it works. Josie is a customer relations consultant, a job for which she has a kind of weary but amused contempt. She performs it remotely, alone in her house but for her little dog Po. She wants this to be enough, but it isn't, and she knows it. She drinks too much and avoids every attempt at non-work interaction, icing out her neighbor Sue as well as her mother and her ex-husband. The only person who might have been able to break through to her was her father, but he passed away and left Josie walled in with her grief.

Josie's anger and sadness are palpable as she tries and fails to address her problems. Most poignant is the way she knows she has issues, but all her resolutions to improve collapse like wet cardboard at the enormity of her sadness. This self-defeat might be frustrating in some other book, but Meuret makes it agonizingly clear how these patterns aren't annoyances but traps, deep pits that Josie can't seem to get out of, even though she dug most of them herself.

It helps that Josie's bitterness has made her snarky. She's funny, and it's hard not to be impressed by her wild defiance, even if the bravery is a thin front for her larger self-destructive impulses. And she'll need it, because into this tightly-controlled mess comes...plants. An explosion of strange vines that seem weirdly aware of what's going on around them start to spill over the bounds of her property. And worse, in the wake of the proliferation of flora is a human skeleton who retains some bizarrely human traits, like the ability to speak, and think, and sass Josie right back.

The skeleton--whose name, delightfully, is Skelly--has some decidedly super-human abilities, though. Her power is obscure but extensive, and she wants something from Josie. It's not even big! She just wants a story.

What story can Josie possibly tell after getting stuck in the same routines in the same house? How can she say anything of consequence through the static of alcohol and the deep silences of grief? She doesn't know. But she has three days to figure it out while even weirder things start happening.

I'd like to tell you that Josie is a postmodern Scheherazade, but that's not what this is about. I'd also maybe consider saying that this is some kind of Gandalf-at-Bilbo's-door thing, but...no, not really that. Is it horror, because of the overly persistent skeleton? Hm, no. What is this book? How can it so thoroughly defy every expectation?

I'm not saying there are no discernable influences or themes. Little Bird clearly wasn't produced in a vacuum. But in this era when art is more accessible and digestible than ever before, it's rare to find a novel that isn't iterating on those themes. Talking skeletons usually belong in the bad guy's camp, or at least in books about necromancy.

It's also not that Little Bird is flawless. I was skeptical at some of the leaps Josie made in interpreting some of Skelly's actions, and I'm left with some questions about what Josie's purpose going forward will be.

However, none of this really detracts from the fact that this book is good. It’s one of the most deliriously, relentlessly, defiantly unique books I’ve read in a long time. It resists tidiness. It resists categorization. Little Bird is itself, as hard as it can, on purpose.

What a creepy cover! This storyline had me gripped and I raced through it...well worth reading :) I can't wait to read more from this author!

Look, I may be biased but this book has a talking skeleton and so it gets five stars from me. I'm easy to please.

LITTLE BIRD by Tiffany Meuret is a delightfully weird little speculative tale with a sweet dog named Po, a plant-magic skeleton named Skelly, and a messy MC named Josie who's got an existential crisis and a drinking problem. Her life is falling apart, is Skelly here to help or a symptom?

The story sucked me in and kept me turning pages even after I was supposed to have turned out the light. Meuret's writing delves darkly into the heart of grief and trauma, of broken families and broken hearts. And there's just the right amount of black humor to carry readers through to the ultimately satisfying conclusion. Oh yeah, and sentient plants.

LITTLE BIRD is out on June 7th. Thank you Black Spot Books for the eARC!