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Emma Jane Unsworth
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Animals Kindle Edition

by Emma Jane Unsworth (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 1,188 ratings
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“An utterly triumphant ode to female friendship, in all its intense, messy and powerful beauty” from the internationally bestselling author of Grown Ups (Elle).

It is the moment every twenty-something must confront: the time to grow up. Adulthood looms, with all its numbing tranquility and stifling complacency. The end of prolonged adolescence is near.

Laura and Tyler are two women whose twenties have been a blur of overstayed parties, a fondness for drugs that has shifted from cautious experimentation to catholic indulgence, and hangovers that don’t relent until Monday morning. They’ve been best friends, partners in excess, for the last ten years. But things are changing: Laura is engaged to Jim, a classical pianist who has long since given up the carousing lifestyle. He disapproves of Tyler’s reckless ways and of what he perceives to be her bad influence on Laura. Jim pulls Laura toward adulthood and responsibility, toward what society says she should be, but Tyler isn’t ready to let her go. But what does Laura want for herself? And how can she choose between Tyler and Jim, between one life she loves and another she’s “supposed” to love?

Raw, uproarious, and deeply affecting, Animals speaks to an entire generation caught between late-adolescence and adulthood wondering what exactly they’ll have to give up in order to grow up.

“An emotionally complex and often go-for-broke-witty book about the difficulty of letting go, of making choices for yourself, of discovering that the relationships you cling to hardest may be the ones that damage you most.” —The New York Times

“Three cheers for this take of alcoholic love between platonic soul mates.” —Lena Dunham
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  1. Print length
    257 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Europa Editions
  5. Publication date
    October 6, 2015
  6. File size
    1719 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

    Featured as one of The Huffington Post's “15 Fantastic Books By Women to Read This Fall”

    Praise for     Animals

    “[By Emma Jane Unsworth, a] young British writer full of talent, [    Animals] is an emotionally complex and often go-for-broke-witty book about the difficulty of letting go, of making choices for yourself, of discovering that the relationships you cling to hardest may be the ones that damage you most."
    —     The New York Times

    "Three cheers for this take of alcoholic love between platonic soul mates."
    —Lena Dunham, author of     Not that Kind of Girl 

    “[    Animals] is more complex than an ode to the party or a call to responsible adulthood, and [Unsworth’s] characters shine with humanity.”
    —    The New Yorker

    "A fevered tale of female friendship."
    —    The Observer

    "Hilarious, moving, and poetic."
    —    Glamour Magazine

    "Unsworth is a name to watch ... Animals is more than a hymn to partygoing - it is a sharp study of the endurance of female friendship over romantic entanglements and life's challenges."
    —Financial Times

    "Featuring two women in their early thirties whose voracious appetite for wine make Dionysus look like a lightweight...Unsworth captures the destabilizing doubts that your late twenties/early thirties can trigger." 
    —The Independent 

    "This is a book you'll be talking about for years to come. It marks Unsworth as a tremendous talent."
    —    The Guardian

    “An utterly triumphant ode to female friendship, in all its intense, messy and powerful beauty."
    —    Elle

    About the Author

    Emma Jane Unsworth's first novel Hungry, the Stars and Everything (Hidden Gem) won a Betty Trask Award from the society of Authors and was shortlisted for the 2012 Portico Prize. Her short story "I Arrive First" was included in The Best British Short Stories 2012 (Salt). She lives in London.

    Product details

    • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B079MF8R9M
    • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Europa Editions (October 6, 2015)
    • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 6, 2015
    • Language ‏ : ‎ English
    • File size ‏ : ‎ 1719 KB
    • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
    • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
    • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
    • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
    • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
    • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
    • Print length ‏ : ‎ 257 pages
    • Customer Reviews:
      3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 1,188 ratings

    About the author

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    Customer reviews

    3.8 out of 5 stars
    3.8 out of 5
    1,188 global ratings

    Top reviews from the United States

    Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    100 % worth the read. Gets a bit flowery towards the end but, by then, the author’s earned it. Enjoy!
    Helpful
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    Riah
    4.0 out of 5 stars :)
    Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Really nice book I enjoyed reading it while traveling.
    One person found this helpful
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    karen louise price
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad book - kept me reading - but perhaps only ...
    Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    A 3 1/2 would be fairer. Not a bad book - kept me reading - but perhaps only because it had parallels with some things I have experienced.
    Story is not deep, but funny at times. And of couse the reflective life changing event, then happy ending
    One person found this helpful
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    Nicquie N.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Book Club Must!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    I love this book! I laughed A LOT - these girls are crazy. I recommend this for a woman's book club!
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    Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Refreshing!
    Helpful
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    Amazon Customer
    2.0 out of 5 stars Could have been great
    Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Conceptually good, I really wanted to love this book. But it felt quite repetitive on nights out, drinking, taking drugs. I think I hoped it would be a bit grittier about the friendship and fiancé. Some lovely moments in there too though.
    Helpful
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    Lauren DeClue
    3.0 out of 5 stars this book will make you feel better about your life because these characters are truly shitshows
    Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    If nothing else, this book will make you feel better about your life because these characters are truly s***shows.
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
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    Sarah McCarthy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Awesome.
    2 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report

    Top reviews from other countries

    Miss Yadav
    1.0 out of 5 stars old used copy
    Reviewed in India on December 24, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    This book was an old used copy in poor condition but I paid for a brand new book.
    Report
    S. Hunt
    5.0 out of 5 stars Uncomfortable reading written brilliantly
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    I didn't expect to like this book it isn't my usual type of reading material but after catching the author in conversation the other day on the Internet I thought I will try that book. I ended up loving the book reading it in two days as I just couldn't put it down. I wanted to know what happened at the end so desperately. The lives of the two main protagonists really got to me and I wanted to find out the end of their journey. The characters are flawed and definitely push the boundaries of a lot of things to get what they want. Are drugs and alcohol the key to a happy, joyful life? I think this book is about growing up, friendships and family. It's also about pushing yourself to the limit and how you deal with the consequences of those actions. I don't think this book is for everyone especially if you do not approve of the constant abuse of alcohol and drugs. However this book does illustrate the consequences of over doing things and how things can easily get out of control. The two main characters are very different. They share a great friendship but is it a healthy friendship? Are they really any good for each other? This book explores that in great detail and also how a boyfriend thrown into the mix can easily upset the equilibrium. At times there were echos of Sally Rooney's Normal People, which also focused on what is a healthy or unhealthy relationship. This book also looks at what is love and what do we expect from a relationship. I loved the writing style. I found it a breathe of fresh air. I am pleased I gave this book a try.
    7 people found this helpful
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    Eloïse McCrohan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
    Reviewed in France on April 11, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    A masterpiece, capturing daylight and nighttime in a few moments. Absolutely brilliant.

    Would highly recommend. (Especially if you have a tendency to live too hard)
    Report
    R
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great, Unique Writing-Style...OK Story
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    I struggled with the rating- wanted to give it 3.5 stars- 4 stars for the first half + 3 stars for the second half..but 4 it is!

    EJU has a unique writing style and an impressive vocabulary. She describes everyday thoughts and things in a such a true and honest way. It's direct yet poetic. I immediately 'got' the two main characters. Some of it is laugh out loud funny, in my opinion. I giggled to myself on the tube over 'HE JUST CAUGHT YOU LOOKING AT HIS BELT BUCKLE'- maybe I'm weird but I can definitely relate to that!

    As someone who is attempting to write a book which focuses more on character than plot, and who has an appreciation of such literature, I did find the plot here somewhat lacking. Also, I don't believe every chapter should necessarily be a cliff hanger, but I found the endings to be too abrupt, leaving me cold and not particularly eager to turn the page.

    Another little niggle was that although Tyler was a vivid and very believable character, toward the end I found her antics a bit too much, they had wore me out- to the point where my eyes were compelled to roll when she came out with yet another random, off-the-wall statement.

    Overall, I enjoyed the first half of the book quite a bit, but sadly due to a lack of plot/variety, not so much the last half of the book.

    I'm glad I read it, and I will definitely be reading more EJU in the future because she really is a clever writer, there's just a bit of cleaning up here and there required- IMHO, of course : )
    8 people found this helpful
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    rschampion1
    3.0 out of 5 stars Witty but irritating characters
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Perhaps I needed to be more open minded but I just didn’t click with this one. I found the protagonists irritating and self indulgent. Maybe that was the idea? I like reading books where I can at least share some empathy for someone and in this case, I just didn’t. Nonetheless, the writing is good and it wasn’t a book I wanted to give up on.
    2 people found this helpful
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