I really enjoyed this outing from Jenny Slate, I always find her writing cozy and inspiring. Her writing style is so unique and I will be the first to admit that sometimes while reading she loses me for a moment, I can't always follow her train of thought, but when I do relate to something it will often penetrate some deep core memory and touch me so deeply that it rocks my world a little bit. I will always go along for the ride just to experience those moments of insight.

This collection which takes us from singledom to life with a partner and baby is extremely touching. And the cherry on top are the interludes that make me genuinely bust out laughing, a wit!

Thank you to Net Galley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is a very niche book that will appeal to some, but certainly not all. I felt that way about her previous memoir, Little Weirds. It was so refreshing and different from anything I'd ever read. And while that remains the case here, there were too many parts of the book that didn't resonate for me personally.

If you're going to read a Jenny Slate book, you absolutely have to listen to the audiobook. I don't know that either of her books would have meant as much to me if I hadn't heard her pouring all of herself into narrating them. She is a breath of fresh air. And I loved reading her thoughts on being unhappily single, finding the love of her life, being pregnant, becoming a mother. She takes us through some major life changes and does so in a way that is very authentically Jenny Slate.

While it may not all make sense to me, I can appreciate that her perspective is entirely her own. I loved her commentary on Ghostbusters, as well as the section written from the POV of a raccoon, reflecting on how her now-husband had fed and taken care of a fellow raccoon. Lots of very whimsical (and highly vulnerable) thoughts compiled into one unique lifeform (see what I did there?).

intro + the last few chapters had me so emotional. the rest was so strange (in a lovely way) and wouldn’t do it for me if it was anyone but Jenny Slate i think. i love her stuff as audiobooks and hearing it how she meant it to be heard

Lifeform is a beautiful continuation from Slate's Little Weirds, bringing us along with her as she embodies new roles, responsibilities, and associated worries of life. What a pleasure it is to peek inside her life in this gentle, cozy, and elegantly weird collection.

I’ve been ride or die Jenny Slate since obvious child and this book is perfectly her. She’s funny and quirky. This was a great read.

I really like Jenny Slate's work: Marcel the Shell, Obvious Child, her voice acting. But wow, I just could not get into this book. Her writing style is weird, not in a funny way but more in an off-putting, stuck in her own head way. Just not my cup of tea.

I love Jenny Slate and Lifeform had some high expectations for me following Little Weirds, and I loved it so much. She's so whimsically adorable and heartfelt. It's funny, moving, and captivating.

I wish I could like this but it felt so stunted to me. Might be better suited as an audio listen the first time.

I'm such a Jenny Slate stan that I think I will love anything she writes, but I'm not sure I relate to a single person's musings as much as I do hers. "Little Weirds" is one of my favorite books of all times, and this, to me, lives up to that high bar. Perfection. I highly recommend the audiobook.

This book felt like a hug. It felt like hanging out with a good friend who trusts you completely. I love Jenny Slate and feel like she is inside of my brain sometimes with the way she writes. Her writing is whimsical, comical, sweet, savoury(?) and heartfelt. I adored everything about this book and after reading both this one and Little Weirds, I will forever be a Jenny Slate stan, forever picking up every single book she puts out. Thank you so much to the publisher for sharing this one with me, I am a different person now than I was before I read this. Thank you.

I didn't see where Jenny Slate was going with this one. Some moments are genuinely funny, and others show through to her vulnerable experiences falling in love and having a child, but the voice wasn't there for me, and many of the segments didn't reach me as a reader. Jenny Slate is a funny and talented comedian, and I'm sure there is something here, but it didn't reach me. I won't be recommending unless in very specific instances.

Jenny Slate is a delightful, whimsical human being, and that shines through in this slightly off-beat, but wholly-authentic, collection of essays centered around her experience as a new mother. Even if the reader in question is not, and has never been, a mother, there's still something so relatable about each essay, a nugget of wisdom about how to find the joy in the little things, how to make even the most mundane of tasks an adventure, and how to accept that everything will not always be clean-cut and happen in the "expected" ways. (And, of course, to learn that that is just as okay!) Much like her work with Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, this collection is humor that is utterly suffused with heart, and the whole read was just so, so enjoyable.

i love jenny slate and her one of a kind whimsical wonderful mind! little weirds is one of my all time favorite books, and while i didn't love this one quite as much, it lived up to the high title of being one of my most anticipated books of the year.

I loved this book! I really enjoy anything Jenny Slate puts out. This was a great reflection on different stages of life but oh so funny. Wonderful on audio.

Fans of Jenny Slate's unique voice will find a lot to love in Lifeform, which finds her attempting to make sense of some of life's most complicated chapters. Equal parts hilarious and moving, the thing that shines through most of all is Slate's deep sense of connection, to her family, the natural world, and to the titular Lifeform growing within her.

I loved Little Weirds so, so much but I had more trouble connecting with this book for some reason. It could just be the difference between listening to her read her first book and reading this one in print. However, Jenny Slate is still as charming and delightful as ever with plenty to discuss after falling in love, being pregnant, and having a new baby. I think people will find plenty to connect with here and it's definitely still a worthwhile read if you have any affection or curiosity for Slate.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for providing this arc for me to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advanced reading copy of Lifeform by Jenny Slate in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars.

I don’t even know where to begin! No one writes like Jenny Slate—you really have to read her to understand what I mean. If you love undeniable whimsy and having your heart overflow with emotion, this book is right up your alley.

Lifeform is divided into five parts, a collection of essays that follow Slate’s journey through falling in love after divorce, pregnancy, motherhood, and beyond.

I’m not a mother myself, but that didn’t diminish the beauty of her writing for me at all. I appreciate her candor and anxieties surrounding the entire experience, as well as her reflections on everyday existential crises like mortality and insurmountable grief.

While her absurdism and stream-of-consciousness style can sometimes be a little tricky to follow, her emotional intelligence—along with her boundless charm, wit, and laugh-out-loud humour—make this a stunning read. Slate’s uncanny ability to perceive the world and spin it into compelling prose is nothing short of moving. As someone who also feels things intensely and in unquantifiable ways, I felt seen by this book.

If you’re into audiobooks, she narrates it herself, adding even more depth and joy to the experience of Lifeform. Jenny Slate is pure chaos, but in the most relatable way possible. I love her and this book!

Jenny Slate's new memoir is humorous, obviously, but surprisingly poetic as she enters a new stage in her life - motherhood.

While the musings aren't always linear, the story is still beautiful. While my favorite parts were the bits she did (a quick reenactment of a therapy session, a raccoon gossip sesh), I appreciated the more in-depth, almost spiritual in a sense, remarks on life. Not everything that was said resonated with me directly, but Slate's way of viewing life and its impact provided a new perspective. Having finished the book, I couldn't help but feel more optimistic towards life. I hope I can continue that optimism for a while.

There were a lot of things that I giggled at and touched my heart as a mom as I was reading through. There are a ton of changes and crazy things we do when we become a parent so I appreciated the humor and depth in the book that made it real. Motherhood is messy but beautiful!

I reallllly wanted to love this book as a mom but I just had a hard time getting through it. I was determined not to DNF because there were great parts about it though so I did finish! I loved her acknowledgements at the end because it really takes a village for a mom to get STUFF done and keep the dreams alive!

It made me want to potentially write letters to my children about my parenting experience but it just wasn’t a book I couldn’t put down or eager to keep coming back to.

Slate returns with another installment in sweet, enlightening, and raw insights about her life. For the celebrity memoir genre, Slate's misfit meanderings don't dawdle trying to prove themselves to an audience. While Slate is sufficiently aware of her persona in pop culture, she understands the same grace and levity with equally thinking about how her interpersonal relationships have its own legacy, most evident as Slate prepares and ponders for and about motherhood.