Big thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC of this book. I am leaving an honest review.

Creepy debut from Marie Tierney. The writing is chilling and sometimes grotesquely descriptive (in a good way!). The unusual lead character, with her fascination with the dead and dissection, drew me into the story, and the macabre plot kept me reading. Adding this author to my list to follow!

Marie Tierney's "Deadly Animals" intertwines the innocent curiosity of childhood with the chilling elements of a murder mystery. Despite its intriguing premise, the book fell short of its full potential.

I wasn't disturbed by MC Ava Bonney's obsessive interest in roadkill and decomposition (although I can see why some people might), it was more the pacing of the book. Some parts of the story dragged unnecessarily while others were rushed.

One of my biggest disappointments was the predictability of the mystery. I figured out who the killer was halfway through the book, which took away the suspense and made the story drag on longer than needed. There was a lack of genuine twists that made the latter half of the book feel tedious.

Additionally, some characters felt superfluous, such as Trevor, Ava's mom's boyfriend. While it's clear he meant to serve as a red herring, he lacked any development. I don't think he had any dialogue and was just an annoying background character.

In conclusion, Deadly Animals had the ingredients for a compelling thriller/mystery but ultimately failed to deliver a cohesive and engaging story.

Definitely an interesting plot but I couldn't get into it as much as I hoped.

The writing had an eerie vibe and I love dyhe inclusion of the young girl obsessed with pathology.
I didn't like how the perspectives shifted so much and it was difficult to differentiate at times. Also, the killer was very easy to predict from the beginning.

Thank you to the publisher for a copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co. for the eARC! This book was exceptional and unlike anything I’ve read before! As I was reading it I began to wonder if that was the direction we were heading but was unsure if it could be pulled off. Tierney did an incredible job of building a plot and characters that keep you attached to the page and unable to put it down. I appreciate the plot and the twists provided. I’m excited to read more from this author!

The book immediately captivated my attention from its opening pages. I concur with a fellow reviewer in asserting that it would make for a compelling read during the Halloween season, as there were moments where I found myself questioning the nature of the antagonist - whether they were a mere mortal or a supernatural entity. While I do have a minor critique regarding the length of certain sections, I am eager to explore more works by this author and will certainly be recommending this book to others.

This serves as a prime illustration of my 14-year-old self. At present, I have evolved into a scientist.

This book is an absolute triumph! I loved the turn that the story took despite the fact that it was completely unexpected and a little bizarre. Ava is such a fascinating character and her relationship with Detective Seth Delahaye was pitched perfectly, using the POV of a teenager to tell the story makes the story so much more interesting than if it had been from the POV of Seth all the way through. I really think that Deadly Animals is the most unique thriller I've read this year - it's almost a horror thriller but the bones of it is still a murder mystery/police procedural which is everything I could ask for in a novel.

14 year old Ava has a fascination with death and all things morbid. I really wanted to like this story but it just wasn’t for me.

Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney is a mystery unlike anything I’ve ever read.
Ava Bonney, age 14, has long been fascinated by death, decomposition and all things medically scientific. She records her ‘interests’ in her many red notebooks, oftentimes in the dead of night when she goes searching for roadkill and/or other recently deceased animals.
On one of her many nights wandering the streets, she discovers the mutilated and dead body of a classmate. Fearing the police won’t believe her or take her seriously due to her age, she places an anonymous call to the precinct.
After this young boy’s body is discovered, more murders of young boys take place leading Detective Seth Delahaye to the conclusion that a child predator is on the loose.
Detective Delahaye, with frequent input from Ava whom he has come to respect and trust, hunts for this brutal and ritualistic killer. When the identity and motives of the child killer are revealed, Ava, and all of Birmingham, are shocked and devastated.

I love this book so much. To the very first page to the end it had you very intrigued wanting to know what will happen next.

Loved it and definitely worth reading and sharing! I found this book unique and with some very interesting facts of the anatomy as well as the type of illness one has.

Not going to lie, I was a little surprised with the main character being a teenager - I assumed maybe it would be a better fit for YA? Upon further reading, the darker themes and motifs proved the exact opposite. This one was a slower read for me because some parts were downright creepy, and I'm an avid thriller reader! The writing style and characters made for a strong storyline, but it would have been better suited for a bigger true crime fan with a stronger stomach than I am..some parts felt more gruesome and in tune with a horror genre than suspense. That being said, the fact I responded so strongly just goes to show that Tierny is onto something and will be a writer that we all need to keep an eye out for! Thanks for the ARC!

I really enjoyed the writing in this book. Ava as a character is someone I understand and I liked being inside her head. The themes of the novel felt a little adult for such a young protagonist, but sometimes bad things happen to young people, as this novel excels and showing, and so giving us the story through Ava’s perspective most of the time fit. The metaphors and similes used throughout were unusual in a good way. John even mentions once that Ava is an unusual person and provides vivid descriptions, something that I felt through the narration of the story, even though it wasn’t told in first person. The author does a fantastic job of making that awkward, unique teenage perspective clear.
At one point it felt that there was going to be a supernatural element to the story, but it was done in a way that was well achieved and subtle. A lot of authors go very heavy handed on the supernatural, but this was just sprinkled in enough to be believable. And then when things did start to come together, it was fun to see it all happen. There were hints throughout the book for the savvy reader, but not so much that I spent the whole time feeling like I had it all figured out.

I enjoyed this book. I thought the characters and the narrative structure were very interesting. I would recommend this book to those interested in this genre. I would be interested in reading more from this author.

I absolutely LOVED this. This is exactly what I want when I pick up a mystery/thriller, and as a DEBUT this is even more impressive.

If you like watching small town crime HBO mini-series, then this is the book for you. This had multiple POVs, small town drama, an overall eerie atmosphere, and many very interesting animal facts. I loved the mystery here, and I love how everything was slowly revealed through the multiple POVs, keeping the reader one step ahead of the characters. I was on the edge of my seat for the last 40% of this book, read it in 2 days, and was very satisfied with the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC, I will definitely be buying a physical copy of this ASAP.

This book wasn't really my genre I guess, I'm fine with young adult but the fantasy portion was not cup of tea. I did like the two main characters but the obsession with dead things was odd.

Ava Bonney is a precocious, bright and talented fourteen year old. She goes to school, completes her homework and carries out her chores like every other kid in her small British town. However, Ava has a secret -- she loves collecting dead animals and studying them as they decay under the cover of night.

On one such nighttime excursion, Ava stumbles upon an interesting specimen. Upon a closer look she realizes this is not just another crow or fox, it is the body of missing boy Micky Grant. This discovery leads Ava down a twisty path of anonymous calls to the police, secret investigations, and confronting what makes us human.

At first I found this book to be a little hard to get sucked in to, which by all accounts should not have been the case because it has everything I loved! I think the biggest factor was that the language used is quite British and therefore the author utilized common British slang and colloquialisms that I simply didn't know. It took me a minute to understand what the hell a "gint" and "nonce" were, for example. Once I was able to clear that language barrier, the book moved swiftly and by the last few chapters I was doing everything I could to not rush it through.

I've read some complaints that people disliked figuring out who the killer was early on in the book, but I didn't mind it. In fact I think that was the point of the story! Instead of being in the dark with the other characters, we the readers had the distinct advantage of knowing who it was and therefore could palpably feel the tension rise as the characters failed to figure out what we already knew. I enjoyed this angle tremendously!

Be warned: there is violence and abuse against children, some descriptions of blood and gore and obviously descriptions of the death of animals.

Personally this wasn't for me, it was a bit too slow to get going and I guessed the killer too early on so the ending just wasn't exciting for me.

This is the author’s first novel and it works well, holding readers' interest and keeping an investment in the outcome throughout.
I gave it the following SCORE:
Setting: Birmingham, England, 1981
Characters: 14-year-old, precocious Ava Bonney, who has an incredible self-taught knowledge of biology and anatomy, particularly in animals and, more precisely, in dead animals, plus her group of young friends, Seth Delahaye, an understanding and cooperative DS, and a supporting cast of evil-doers.
Overview: Ava regularly sneaks out at night on a busy highway to collect, categorize, eulogize, and bury dead animals, until she discovers the body of a human. Her persistence in following the death, coupled with growing concern that this is the work of a serial killer, combined with the failed attempts by the investigating detectives, leads her and her best friend into personal danger.
Recommendation: I rate this book 4 stars
Extras: This tale is a little different than most of this type, mainly because of the intelligence and caring for animals shown by the protagonist. Don’t let the title scare off animal lovers because it is quite the opposite, more of a testimony honoring our beloved creatures. It’s the humans, as usual, that are the problem.
Thanx to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for the opportunity to provide this candid review.

This book was very hard to put down! I was hooked from the very beginning. The way Marie Tierney developed Ava was amazing. Ava was so brave and smart and I loved how she only wanted to be herself even if that made her weird. The story was one of a kind and very interesting and easy to follow. The story line was clean and not confusing in any way. The relationships built in this book could go forever and it was so fun seeing them all develop. I would love to see how Ava continues on with her journey and would love to see her and Detective Delahaye work together again! When I first started the book I never anticipated where it would take me but it was a very great and interesting ride!

This book is beautifully written with a compelling protagonist. While challenging to read at times due to the content it is not overly gruesome however animal lovers be warned. I look forward to more of this authors work.