Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

OMG!!! This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book.

I can't say for certain what it is about this book that worked for me the least... I don't know if it was the complete lack of plot or if maybe there was a plot and I just couldn't follow along well in the audiobook format. I am not sure. But honestly, I am super sorry to say that I did not like this book at all. To be fair, the ending was decent, but it just can't make up for how tedious reading the rest of this book felt.

I thought the synopsis sounding interesting and atmospheric, but this book was weird... and boring. To be quite honest, I don't know what this book was about other than some sex scenes and a woman who was oddly obsessed with her lover combining weird animal parts together. Their relationship is problematic and the characters are completely unlikable. This just overall was a miss for me unfortunately.

This is a gothic story following the life of a taxidermist's partner. It was definitely a bit weird, dark and slow. The audiobook itself was done really well but I just found myself spacing out. and not following along. The woman has a fetish for these stuffed animals that are combined to create weird things. I really didn't get it and didn't vibe with the book very much. I ended up not finishing the audiobook in time and I really wasn't disappointed about that. I was wanting to dnf for most of my listening experience.

This was a wild ride from start to finish. If they're not discussing various ways to preserve animal bodies, they're having intense sexual escapades, or they're slowly just losing their minds...
I don't even know how to describe this timeline jumping, sex-fueled, Frankenstein's monster retelling. Scarlet is such an unreliable narrator, I wasn't sure where we were in the story or if what she was saying was true. So much wild stuff happens, and that ending is just...insane. And I do mean that in a totally not mentally healthy kind of way. This was a quick audiobook, the narrator is delightful, don't listen to this while other people are around.

“Who was right and who was wrong?” -this book
This was one of the strangest things I ever read!
Loss and abandonment effects everyone differently. Scarlet seemed to be trapped, confused and forever searching.
I was inside her head for the length of the book and almost could not keep up with all her insecurities and warped sense of life. A lot of implied things happened and this isn’t so cut a dry but I appreciated the writing, the journey to madness.
It was a challenging read and very strange. Very different. I chose to listen to this book on audio and Justine Eyre narrated this one and she was excellent. I hope this was helpful.
Thanks IBPA via Netgalley.

This was a slightly 'Dirty' book

The store is interesting
A woman falls in love with a taxidermist
And depending on your understanding of lover she is or she isnt

I see a lover as someone you only have sex with
This is more of a relationship where they want kids and to get married

Nothing crazy happens
Just strange things related to his taxidermy job

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* i have no idea how i feel about this lmao, on one hand i feel like i knew where this was going and just kept thinking "pfft no" but uh yupp. not bad but for sure the weirdest book i have read all year lol

I don't think this one was for me. I couldn't really get into it and ended up deciding to DNF it pretty early on. Thank you for the opportunity to review it.

The Taxidermist's Lover was a great read by Polly Hall. Scarlett meet's taxidermist Henry, and they start a passionate love affair. She ends up obsessed with his taxidermy creatures and is haunted by her past. A year later, on Christmas Day, she recalls their intense relationship and tries to Scarlett finds herself reaching out to her only remaining family, twin brother Rhett, to make sense of the secrets that they share. I enjoyed reading this book and can't wait to read more by the author.

This gothic horror(?) was very interesting? I am still reeling a bit from it. It wasn’t scary? But had some heavy hitting topics (abuse, miscarriage, obsession, death) and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

The style of writing, more like a recollection in a diary or journal, lent well to the confusion, detachment, and light chaos of this story.

The narrator did a wonderful job. The FMC definitely was spiraling and at times very unemotional and detached, and you could really feel it.

I dont know how I feel about the actual story. Did I enjoy it? I think so. But half the time I was just sitting there open eyed and confused with whatever transpired. Also I have no idea what time period this takes place. Maybe it’s with the VERY goth nature of the FMC, but sometimes I thought it was the 1800s, sometimes present day. It was a bit confusing.

It’s dark, a fair bit twisted, and very interesting. It’s definitely goth, with the talk of death and taxidermy. And a nicely gothic spooky ending. Overall, not a bad book. If you like goth, you’ll probably enjoy the ride.

The Taxidermist's Lover by Polly Hall is a haunting tale woven together in the style of a gothic romance letter. The narration was beautiful and lent itself to the ethereal aesthetic of the story. This story begins with a history of Scarlett and her infatuation with the macabre, setting the tone for the plot to twist and turn from a unique romance into a much darker thing. The descriptions of the taxidermy abominations and Scarlett's increasing mental instability left me listening on the edge of my seat. This book is not light reading, instead leaving the reader breathless and disturbed. I still see the distorted creatures hiding in the dark when I close my eyes.

This to me was average i liked the cover and the description but didnt like the narrator felt like something was missing

Fabulous gothic romantic vibes! This book was intense and sensual, with a unique voice and structure. Scarlett’s obsessions with her husband and his taxidermy creations consume her completely and the reader gets a front row seat to every passionate and neurotic thought that goes through her head. I gave this 3 instead of 5 stars because I saw the ending coming a mile away and I wanted more of the Felix subplot.

I had high hopes for this but honestly, I just didn't care for it. It seemed to never want to get to the point, halfway through, we are still describing the relationships between the Taxidermist, the lover, and her brother. Three-quarters through and I still had no idea what this book was about other than Scarlette convincing her husband to make odd combinations of animals that nature never intended. Not sure if this was some kind of fetish for her or what, but I quickly became bored with her and the novel trying to shock me with the creations.

I'm sure this is perfect for many, but I was expecting a mystery or as some said a horror novel. While some of the descriptions were horrific, it was more that I found them distasteful than horror.

Just not for me.

Thanks to @netgalley, CamCat Books, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks, and Polly Hall for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Listed as genre horror/mystery/thriller at 40% I didn't see any of the three categories. It read like women's fiction. I had the audiobook and the narrator was perfect. She took this from a creepy titled book to a production.

The story is written from a wife to her husband perspective, and I loved it. I was pumped up and enjoying the show. Around 4o% there was a lull. The story came to a screeching halt for me. I lost interest.

The genre categories kick in later in the book, and I didn't see the twist coming, and rewound to listen again. All I can say without spoiling is Ewww.

Again, high praise for Justine Eyre. She performed beautifully.

Thank you NetGalley and Cam Cam Books for accepting my request to read and review The Taxidermist's Lover. I look forward to seeking other works by Polly Hall.

I enjoyed this audio even though it was very strange and depressing. I feel there should be a trigger warning for miscarriage for those that struggle. This definitely was a horror as the ending I did not see coming.

I don't even know where to start with this book!!! I requested an ARC because of the title. It was intriguing and alluring and also bewildering. I wasn't sure how much taxidermy would be involved or how on earth taxidermy could be equated in a romance .. I didnt read the blurb; I went in blind. And it was not just romance. Scarlett is an interesting character. It was very strange to be in her mind. She reminded me a little of Joe from Kepnes' You series... Which is when I quickly realized this is going to be a bit of a mysterious thriller!!! The story was interesting and kept me hooked. There were twists I definitely did not see coming... But I think the overall gem is Hall's writing. It was beautiful and exotic. She gave each character such dimension that I couldn't help but feel like they were real people in a very, VERY odd world.

A modern gothic tale full of questions and unease, this was a pleasure to listen to as an audiobook.

In The Taxidermist's Lover, we listen as Scarlett recounts the year she has spent with her great love, Henry the Taxidermist. She tells not only of her love and (quite sensual) relationship with him, but also of her encouraging his experiments with the art (and the repercussions of doing so). There is a bit of rivalry between Henry and another great taxidermist, Felix. There are questions about Scarlett's past, and her relationship with her twin brother. This all told in a beautiful gothic style, and read in a way that you feel it's a historical piece.

I thought this was really well done! Along with the whole piece just being well written in general, there are a lot of moments where you're unsure if the narrator is unreliable or if she's completely sane and the world of the novel is just more fantastical than you first realized. It's hard to tell what people's intentions are, what kind of people they are, but it's done in a way that's intriguing and not confusing or due to underdevelopment. This novel is several shades of grey, and it's lovely.

Overall I enjoyed this novel, I listened to the audiobook and experiencing it that way was quite lovely. I'd recommend this to those who enjoy gothic or modern gothic novels, those who like a little spice in their non-spicy books, and to those who enjoy not quite knowing up from down.

*I was given a copy of this title as an audiobook via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A gothic love story around the taxidermy theme, but not just any type of taxidermy. Henry is a taxidermis who creates new creatures by piecing different species together. Skarlet , his lover, is 20 years younger than him and encourages his obsession.
I found the whole book a bit tedious, halfway through I was wondering what the purpose or storyline really was. The macabre ending didn't help.
Definitely, not my kind of read.

This book oozes gothic atmosphere - set in the southwest moors of England, Scarlett is a woman who belongs in a century long past. She is a dramatic woman dripping with femininity and sensuality lost in her obsession with the macabre taxidermy creatures designed by her husband. Written in an epistolary style, Scarlett is writing to her husband as her passions turn to obsession, recounting their love, the evolution of his work, the mystery of her past and her descent into madness. Her words are intense and overwrought but beautiful, drawing you into the mundane moments, getting you lost in the fantastical ones, raising the hairs on your spine in the haunting ones and drowning you in the passionate ones.

I did this one on audiobook and the narrator had this beautiful, buttery British accent which helped set the tone of the story for me and had me struggling to turn off the narrative and get back to real life. If you love Frankenstein or Dracula this book will enthrall you with its similar gothic creepiness.

Thanks to Netgalley for access to this audiobook. All opinions above are my own.