“Bad Animals”, by Sarah Braunstein, is immediately arresting! Librarian Maeve Cosgrove has been accused by sixteen-year-old Libby of watching her have sex with a boy in the library bathroom. Although she is cleared of that charge, she is laid off from the library job that she loves due to budget cuts.

Maeve starts to unravel, and the plot thickens!

Maeve’s favorite author Harrison Riddles, with whom she’s been corresponding, comes to town to write book about Willie, the husband of one of Maeve’s coworkers who escaped the Sudanese genocide as a boy.

Maeve forges a relationship with Harrison and Willie, in part to get her job back at the library.

"A lot of people get caught up in gray areas. Myself included. We just end up waiting. We think. We never act."

An odd set of circumstances leads a small town librarian to interact with her favorite writer, and, well . . . things kind of spiral from there.

Wow! What a case of right-book-at-the-right-time. I've been feeling taken advantage of by my boss, and certain coworkers, and I desperately needed this book at this particular time of my life. Braunstein's story is a very in-depth character study of a dissatisfied woman and the choices she makes. If you don't like Maeve, you're probably not going to like this book. But, I get it, that feeling that everything is out of control, and, dammit, maybe it's time to do something about it.

Following Maeve, a librarian* in Maine, one can squint and call this a weird girl book. As with many weird girl books, we get to see a raw Maeve, who leans into her desires and anxieties alike. Not only do we get to see Maeve's actions, but we get to see how she decides to take and understand her actions - making it hard to fault her for the strange things she does or see her as the true hero of the story. As with Maeve, the other characters are treated with attention to their quirks (while there are many characters it never felt overwhelming to me, probably because the narrative is always grounded in Maeve). Like life, the book takes the reader places that are sometimes exciting and compulsively readable and other times were spiraling, repeating, and anxiety inducing. I loved the author's dedication to nuance and the reality that the world is very complicated. Also worth noting that the summary of the book calls it "sexy", but I never once would have called this book sexy. Maybe sexually charged, but not sexy. Overall, people who love a weird (aka raw, conflicted, complex) girl book will want to add this to their collection

Thanks to NetGalley and W. W. Norton Company for the ARC!

I was immediately drawn to the plot of this one. The initial first few chapters quickly drew me in but it went fairly downhill from there. I found the character of Maeve to be slightly stereotypical and the story seemed mismatched and confusing at times. The story fell flat for me and found myself unable to connect with the characters, as hard as I tried. I am very appreciative for the opportunity I had to read this one as an arc.

"BAD ANIMALS presents an intriguing premise, yet leaves me questioning its ultimate message. While the plot held my attention, I found myself uncertain about the significance of the characters we followed. Maeve, an empty nester finding solace in her Maine library job, faces upheaval after a scandal leads to her layoff. As she becomes embroiled in a famous author's project amid personal turmoil, the narrative straddles between Maeve's journey of self-discovery and a portrayal of midlife ennui and infidelity. Unfortunately, the story lacks the depth and clarity needed for resonance. Though I hoped to connect with the characters, their development fell short. A touch of editing and clearer direction could have elevated the experience."

Bad Animals is a slightly off-beat take on a surprisingly complex small-town librarian who finds her life upended after an accusation of impropriety, this novel resonated with me.

“Her thoughts were like a knot she set out to untie, like a fine-gauge necklace chain, knotted and knotted, knots in the knots. She wanted only to be alone with her mind, to work that chain as with a needle.”

There’s not much better in my reading life than sitting down to a book with no preconceptions and finding a little treasure of a story inside. It’s as if you unwrap the story slowly, dust it off and feel happy that it reveals something valuable. An unexpected gem.

This is the experience I had while reading Bad Animals, a new novel (and the first I’ve read) by Sarah Braunstein. Middle-aged Maeve has had a lot of changes, with her daughter leaving home to study and her much-valued role as mother irrevocably changed. But her job at the library means the world to her, connects her. She feels valued. Then an accusation by a young patron brings her world tumbling down around her in fragmented pieces.

Let’s watch Maeve as she tries to maintain her equilibrium on such horrible, shifting ground. At first I found her a bit of a mystery. Is she unlikeable? Is she intrusive, a bit creepy? Is it her frisson of paranoia that has me on edge as I read? Or is she just a person who’s a bit abnormal in the ways that we all are, to some individual degree? It seems it’s not just me who’s worried about Maeve: her husband also drops clues to her potential for instability, for breakdown.

This novel is a textbook case of “show, don’t tell.” Maeve’s character is built slowly through the story, and instead of feeling alienated I grew to like her very much, and sympathise. The writing was sharp and concise, and I raced through it. In the end it was a great character study of a woman navigating in new and uncertain waters, that got better as I read. I came away marvelling at how we are all just doing our level best with our own quirks and instabilities.

Thanks to W.W. Norton and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

Not a bad read overall. Kind of messy and muddled at times. Maeve was just 100% unlikable, even more so than those she tried to blame for each and every one of her petty problems.

BAD ANIMALS is an odd book, I have to say. I enjoyed the plot, and it certainly kept my attention. But at the end of the story, I wasn't sure what point the author was trying to get across and why we focused on the characters we did. Maeve is an empty nester, finding meaning in her library job in Maine until a scandal at work forces the library to lay her off (or is it just budget cuts? It's unclear to her, and us).

She then finds herself entangled in a famous author's new project. With her husband out of town, her daughter in college in California, and without much purpose, she makes some questionable decisions. It sometimes comes off as a coming of age story for a woman in her 50s, and other times it feels like a flat story of adultery and middle age boredom that isn't very groundbreaking. I really wanted to be invested I just wasn't and I certainly didn't connect with any of the characters. Needed a little more editing and a little more clarity.

This book was so weird and kind of felt like a fever dream. Usually this kind of book works really well for me and I love it, but I found myself confused and detached from this story. I believe this could be good for some. But for me it just did not work. Ultimately, I'd try this author again at some point because the writing itself was good!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this.
While this book has potential, it falls flat. The most interesting thing about this novel is the discussion of a white writer’s exploitation of the trauma of a person of color. Unfortunately, this subject is hardly explored and is overshadowed by the annoying protagonist. Maeve’s savior complex and immaturity never failed to irritate me. The Libby storyline ends up being confusing and underdeveloped. Overall, just ok.

I really loved this! Maeve was such an interesting character and I found myself totally immersed in her point of view. I think the writing style worked perfectly for me and it was the perfect mix of fever dream but grounded in reality.

A very well written novel with interesting characters that will make you really think about things in ways you may never have before. Highly recommend.

This is the first book I’ve read by Sarah Braunstein. What a page turner! I was not expecting this to be propulsive, based on the general description, but it was.

Maeve has worked at the library in her Maine town for 15 years as one of the staff, responsible for “culture”. She loves her job. A strange situation occurs in which Maeve is somewhat implicated, or named. Afterwards, something very upsetting about Maeve’s job occurs and she loses a sense of identity.

Maeve and her husband, Jack, are also empty-nesters now which adds to Maeve’s loss of identity. She learns one of her absolutely favorite authors, Harrison Riddles, is coming to the library for a reading - mainly thanks to letters Maeve wrote to Harrison.

When Harrison arrives for the reading and to hunker down and start a new book, Maeve gets involved in ways she couldn’t have ever predicted and even surprises herself. Some of the twists and turns of the plot really surprised me, to the point of feeling perhaps a little too far out there, but I went with it anyway in the end.

This is an enjoyable read.

Sarah Braunstein has created a Rorschach of a book! Reviewers seem to love it or hate it and for that reason alone it should be perfect for book clubs. Also perfect for rereading from necessarily another point of view.

3.5 rounded up
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
This is a book about Maeve, who is let go from her job at the library for an odd incident and then falls under the spell of her favorite author as he prepares a new book and a visit to her library.
This book took a minute for me to get into. I don't finish books I don't like and I did consider abandoning this one. Then at maybe 40 percent I suddenly found myself getting more hooked. I am not sure if the author was trying to write Maeve as someone with BPD? If so, I don't like that for reasons I won't fully get into here. Maeve has odd relationship patterns at times and I see the author trying to highlight that, but it didn't fully pan out for me there. I did end up enjoying this book, something about following Maeve and her grief at losing her job and this self discovery she goes on. Yes maeve is not always likeable, as I see other reviewers noting, and that's okay.
There were a few bits of the story I wish I had seen flesh out more, but I'm not an author so what do I know. I do know there were a lot of not fleshed out bits that left me feeling unsatisfied, but maybe that is reflective of life.
Overall an interesting read.

DNF'd at around 30%. I tried really hard, but could not force myself to read more. I hope this book finds its audience, but I am not among their number.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book!
While the author does a terrific job creating a realistic and believable protagonist, the plot seemed to jump around a bit. The initial problem Maeve faces takes an odd turn into a completely unrelated storyline, and while both are interesting, pulling them together was a puzzle for me. I also felt like the affair which becomes the central story feels very low stakes because both characters know it's going to end. That said, interest in the character kept me reading: overall, a mixed reading experience.

Oh, my. This novel. It's so unexpected. It's impossible to describe how it works. You just need to read it. Keep your expectations at bay. Push away your critical judgments away. Let this story tell itself to you. This is alchemic storytelling. It's about the trauma of everyday life, about being human, about how difficult it is to feel loved, to feel worthy. About how we scratch together semblances of an identity and cling to these long after they are of any use to us because without these fragile shells that we've constructed for ourselves we're just bags of water walking around. I'm completely bowled over by it. Read forward, with trust.

The reason I love NetGalley is because it's one of the few places the review goes directly to the publisher. I love being a part of this community—readers get to tell publishers what we want/don't want to see published. I believe, unfortunately, a lot of people are so grateful for free books, they don't realize the gift they've been given, and they post false/inflated reviews. I won't waste this opportunity.

W. W. Norton & Company, stories like this are not what we want to buy. I've never said this before in my life: I don't know how this made it through the extensive traditional publishing process without someone questioning it, and I'm being as polite as I possibly can.

There was no passion, no authenticity. Why do we care for Maeve? What was the point of the story at all? The book had so little going on, there were some random shock value things thrown in there to hopefully keep readers' attention, but they were simply cringe-worthy. The out-of-the-blue chapter focusing so much on racism was unnecessary and didn't fit—it was clearly, solely for the purpose of trying to hit a nerve in the social climate post-pandemic. And what was Maeve supposedly grieving? Her affair that meant nothing to the reader or her? Please, ask the authors you hire more questions about their intentions and passion for their stories and characters. It needs to show on the page.

Thank you for the opportunity to read the book and review. I'm hoping this review is seen by the proper people to ask the right questions about publications at your company in the future.

Hey all! This one was pretty darn great and left me with so many questions so I’d put this high but not quite a five star level. A gorgeous book club read to be sure a lot to go through. Thanks for the ARC, and cheers!