Reviewing a Christopher Moore book is never an easy task. His novels are the opposite of straightforward - in plot, characterization, historic portrayals and everything else. Finishing this was like climbing off of a particularly dizzying roller coaster with magnificent views from the top. Let's roll out a few adjectives: hilarious, sensitive, depraved, vulgar, tender, amusing and disturbing -- all fit.

If you tend to be easily offended and like your fiction tidy and logical, this isn't the book (or author) for you. Loosely speaking, this is a glimpse inside the early 20th century world of Vienna and its artists, including Gustav Klimt, a main character. And the early days of psychoanalysis are also featured with Dr. Freud and Dr. Jung. Hitler makes a cameo appearance and at least one of the models is based on an actual person. Moore mostly sticks to what is known about historical figures and has an illuminating section at the end putting things in context. Klimt is presented somewhat sympathetically despite his well-noted womanizing which Moore talks about.

But we also hear about the Frankenstein monster, prostitution in Amsterdam in the late 18th century, and life for indigenous people in the frozen north. Not to mention the habits of polar bears and legends and myths of the Underworld. One of the very best characters in the book is a croissant eating shape shifting demon dog named Geoff.

Some reviews mentioned that this book was dark -- I didn't find it so despite the re-telling of many violent and disturbing past incidents. And it is often laugh out loud funny. But there are serious themes explored and some poignant moments. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I shamelessly begged my Harper Collins rep for an ARC of Christopher Moore’s upcoming novel Anima Rising, and now I have OVERWHELMING BOOK JOY.

I know it’s only March, but I think it’s going to be my favourite book of the year; I can’t see anything topping this for me!

Anima Rising is a wild ride of the type that can only be found in a Moore book. You’ve got an undead amnesiac, Wally the Viennese artist’s model, Klimt, Freud, Jung, henchmen, Inuit folklore, and Geoff, The Croissant-Eating Devil Dog of the North. It sounds like a lot, and it’s lot more than that.

I found myself re-reading pages because the writing is so good, and I also wanted to make sure I understood some passages, like when Jung is explaining archetypes- it’s only three pages, but it’s a three-page deep dive into Jungian theory.

I couldn’t put it down, and can’t stop talking about it- I think I’ll re-read it when the physical copies come out in May. (We’ve got lots on order at the shop and will let you know as soon as it arrives!)

Pardon my perfect fucking French, but holy hell, I fucking love Christopher Moore.

Oh the shenanigans Moore comes up with! Cross dressing history is basically all I can come with for this one. Look for notable historical (and ficitional) characters and the not so gentle jabs:)
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I am going to start off by saying I wish there would have been a warning of SA in the information about the book before requesting it and not just the warning at the beginning of the book after I requested it or I never would of requested this book.

I tried to read this book anyways because I requested it not knowing that there was going to be SA in it and the talk about SA quickly became to much for me resulting in me having to DNF this book.

That being said the writing was well written and I can tell that people who aren’t sensitive to the topic or SA will more than likely really enjoy this book.

Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for the arc.

I'm so grateful to have received an advanced reading copy from William Morrow & NetGalley. I thought I might combust if I had to wait until May 13, 2025 to read Anima Rising.

If you loved Sacre Blue, think Egon Schiele is a total creep, and enjoy an art history lesson that makes you giggle-- I highly recommend Anima Rising. Each time I put the book down to google if the outlandish thing I read had actually happened, it had! While I enjoyed reading, I do think it is important to know that Gustav Klimt, Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, Egon Schiele, and Oskar Kokoschka are featured characters and were real people who behaved poorly.

Their poor and sometimes predatory behavior is one of the main conflicts, and Mr. Moore focuses on the way the female characters rise and strengthen themselves and each other in spite of and because of the awful behavior of the men around them. Get it? ANIMA RISING?

Be sure to read the author's note. Moore blends traditional stories of many circumpolar peoples to serve the narrative. One of Moore's most popular books is a Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, so informed but irreverent is to be expected.

Read with caution:
Dub- con and Non-con, Use of the E word

3.5 stars - I have read Christopher Moore before and I knew this new title "Anima Rising" might be a bit. over the top, but it was more like a historical-horror mash-up, fever dream of a story, which was a bit hard to follow sometimes and more than a little absurdist to boot. I did like the historical figures here - Klimt & art, Freud & Jung, all good. The Bride of Frankenstein was a bit less successful, but I do get the underlying message. Overall, it was an okay read and I'm not mad at it. My thanks to Net Galley & the publisher for the advance readers copy - greatly appreciate the opportunity to review it.

This is my first Christopher Moore. I have been tempted to read his books many times, especially Lamb, but I have never followed through until now. This book – Anima Rising – was available on NetGalley and I requested it because it promised to deliver a story featuring Gustave Klimt, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. I was interested to learn that these three, among several others, were prominent names in Vienna, Austria at the same time in the early 20th century. Absurdist that he is, Moore weaves a crazy tale of an almost drowned girl (wait until you find out who SHE is) found in a Danube canal by Klimt and taken back to his studio. Judith (so named because she reminds Klimt of Judith from mythology who cut off Holofernes’ head) joins Klimt’s other muses/models living and lounging half-dressed in his studio. As part of Judith’s search to “find herself”, she is put under hypnosis by both Freud and Jung. What she comes to find out about her background can’t be true, the dates are impossible…or ARE they? I won’t try to summarize this other plotline because it’s so fun to realize it as it comes to be explained. Suffice it to say that Judith’s identity and her background story will be familiar to most readers, as a classic wild and crazy tale first introduced in the early 19th century.

This book was a lot of fun and, based as it is on actual famous figures of the time, imparts a lot of learning into its 400 pages. Klimt has long been one of my favorite artists. He comes off in Moore’s book, not very favorably, as a man possessed with art and young women (which Moore claims to be true to life). As far as Freud and Jung are concerned, their famous feud is hinted at, but is more off-screen than on. This is one book I’m happy to recommend to readers curious about Klimt and/or into absurdist literature. This was my first Christopher Moore, but it won’t be my last. I had a ball in the time I spent in his fictitious world of Austria in the 1910s.

Much thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for giving me access to this e-ARC. This book publishes in May.

Gustav Klimt stumbles upon a woman's body, appearing to be dead. He starts to sketch her when he finds she is alive. This mystery woman has no idea who she is so Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung try to help. Through conversation, she remembers that she had been locked in a crate by no other than Victor Frankenstein. Who would have thought to write a book about these four but I am here for it. Strange and quirky... exactly what I love in a good book. Christopher Moore never disappoints! Thank you to Net Galley and William Morrow for an advanced copy!

It is my first Christopher Moore and definitely not the last. I enjoyed the scene (Vienna before World War I). I enjoyed the characters (Klimt, Freud, Wally, Ella and the others) and I had to pause the reading to search them in real life. I enjoyed the humour even if I was not sure first about the swearing.
It is the first book I have truly enjoyed for month and I have talked to everyone I know about it and I will buy a print copy for my personal book shelf when it comes out.

I’ve been a fan of Christopher Moore’s work since I stumbled upon Fluke at a bookstore when it came out. I love his ridiculous, crazy stories and the random historical figures that tend to pop up. “Anima Rising” is what I usually expect but more sexual and dark than normal. It was a creative twist of characters and plot points but it just wasn’t one of my favorites. I know affairs with models was a common artist thing, but this one grossed me out a bit (especially a scene with a brother and sister talking about it). However, this is the first of his books that I remember seeing trigger warnings at the beginning, so I guess that says something in itself.

For me, Christopher Moore is back. I was a huge fan of Moore's older books, Lamb being my favorite. Somewhere around Sacre Bleu & Shakespeare for Squirrels, I began to lose interest. The books became too convoluted. This one is convoluted too. I had a little trouble with the letters from the Arctuc at the beginning, but once the action moved to early 20th century Vienna, I was all in. I loved the interspersing of actual historical figures into a fanatical storyline. I appreciated the historical detail & Moore's notes afterward. If you enjoy art history, sarcasm, and fantasy, you will love this book.

*Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the advance reader copy of this book.*

I adore Christopher Moore. I really do. His new releases mark the high point of my year. I first read his Pine Cove Books back in middle school. Since then, each of his new releases immediately appear in my hands on their release dates, shooting straight past the aghast looks of the hundreds of other books on my to-be-read list.

Anima Rising is one of his best books in years. I think it might even rival my absolute favorite, "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal."

I know I know. That seems unimaginable, I'm sure. But trust me here.

From the opening pages of "Anima Rising," Moore wholly captures his reader with a fictional scene in which Gustav Klimt, the real-life Austrian symbolist painter, notices a woman, presumably dead, floating in the Danube canal.

And does he call for help?

Of course not! He starts sketching her instead. While he draws, a newsboy notices him and calmly asks if Klimt killed her. While panic slowly sets in, Klimt and the boy hear the apparently-not-dead girl cough.

In Anima Rising, Christopher Moore shows off his research into the Vienna Secession art movement, amongst others, and he delightfully fuses his story with the classic tale of Victor Frankenstein.

Go ahead and pre-order this one now, so you can read this one the moment it hits the shelf. .

So off the wall you may feel you are walking sideways after this one. Artists, immodist models, infatuated males, a reanimated giant trying to steal a bride while killing off his creator's loved ones, his reanimated bride dealing with being alive and trying to find food that isn't breathing, and Sigmund Freud is lingering about with Jung showing up for the fun. Creative and genuinely funny, in a weird way.

I'm a massive Christopher Moore fan, and have read everything he's written (sometimes more than once). I really enjoyed his first foray into art history, "Sacre Bleu", and was really interested in this new venture. Unfortunately, it fell flat to me -- everything was a bit more shallow, lacking the deep love and reverence that some of his other satirical work is known for. The characters were fun and interesting but I really wanted more depth.

Christopher moore is hilarious, and Anima Rising might be his best yet! He tucks you right into his world with silly banter, engaging characters and an exciting plot.

It has been a long time since I've read a Christopher Moore novel, and even longer since I enjoyed one this much.. While I enjoy the Shakespeare forays, the art world is of more interest to me. At first glance, I thought well it's entirely unnecessary to include the Bride of Frankenstein in this story (that's not a spoiler, it's on the cover) but for me she was absolutely the best part. It was pretty genius actually and it allowed to the story to go so many interesting places.

I didn't laugh as much as I typically do in a Moore novel, and I'm not sure if I've changed as a reader of if the voice of this book was different. I did laugh out loud 3 times during the afterward, and the voice I know and love was there. The story was so good it made up for the missing laughs.

This book was creative and fun and had some amazing characters, including another great Moore "hell hound." The way Moore wove together Jung, Freud, the artists, the bride of Frankenstein and Inuit lore was remarkable!

Let's get this out of the way right at the top: pay attention to the included trigger warnings. While the SA depicted is not especially graphic, it is frequent and referenced almost continually. That said, if you are in a place where you can read a story with that as a facet, this book is worth your time although you will have to deal with the tonal whiplash from that to a typical goof-around good-time Christopher Moore book. His author note at the end is very thoughtful.

Thanks to NetGalley for the early copy. I always enjoy a Christopher Moore book. Whether its vampires, Shakespeare, Jesus, or famous painters, I know I'm always in for a funny ride, full of sex and gratuitous cursing. This book was no different, gave me exactly what I expected. Plus I learned a little about the real lives of some of early 20th Century Vienna's most famous residents. Oh yeah, it also had the Bride of Frankenstein. I'm not sure this would be the book I'd recommend to a Christopher Moore newbie, but anyone who has enjoyed any of his earlier books will surely like this as well.

Mr Moore has written an interesting book that blends the life of Gustav Klimpt and several other artists from Vienna in the early 1900s with the story of Frankenstein. In the process, he adds psychoanalysis with Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. It is a wild mix and he plays it well.

I have enjoyed Moore's writing since reading one of his early books that I found in my local public library. I think that book was "Island of the Sequined Love Nun." I then read every one of his books that they had on the shelf. This book has a few more portions that are disturbing, perhaps due to the current political situations in the US, as some of the issues seem to relate to this. But then it could simply be that history seems to be repeating itself.
The characters in the book were well crafted. I particularly loved Geoff the Malamute (dog.) His antics and "mistakes" were usually funny although sometimes deadly.
If you are triggered by violence and/or crude (but hilarious) language, then this book probably isn't for you. However, if you have the ability to laugh at the absurd and realize that "it is a book" then you may find it quite enjoyable. I read this in a matter of 2 or 3 days while still maintaining my usual responsibilities.

I've loved Christopher's Moore's books in the past but this one just absolutely can not hold my attention. I've gotten about 25% of the way in and can't make myself care enough to finish it. I only made it this far out of love for the author's previous work.