Though slightly uncomfortable, dark, and incredibly graphic at times, Animal challenges readers to see beyond the perceived “craziness” of someone’s actions and instead look at the reasons behind them. “All that sort of baggage, you know, becomes anger. “I wanted to write about how female rage grows out of just years of being told certain things and being treated certain ways,” said Taddeo, referencing how women are constantly told to “smile” by strangers on the street, in an exclusive with book publisher Simon & Schuster.

Because if we’re reading between the lines (and we definitely are), it’s easy to see how every action of abuse and violence committed against a woman has an impact. Not only does Taddeo challenge the female narrative by tackling previously taboo topics like rage, sexuality, and trauma, she forces readers to take a hard look at the moments that shape and define the women in our lives. Lisa Taddeo in an exclusive with BookClub + Belletrist “The second women do anything using sexuality, it’s like, ‘Oh, my God can you believe she did that?’” says Taddeo. “I’m not trying to elicit shock, but I am trying to elicit a visceral response,” Taddeo says about her deliberate writing style in an exclusive interview with Belletrist + BookClub. Refusing to gloss over the harsh realities of womanhood, Taddeo confronts female stereotypes in a male-dominated world by creating a slightly unreliable female narrator who is all too in touch with the formidable parts of herself.

Joan’s travels lead her to the hills above Los Angeles where she is forced to confront the event that has haunted her since childhood, and she finds her own form of revenge through her own sexuality. Taddeo’s novel follows Joan, a self-described “depraved” woman who experiences a horrific act of violence from a former lover that triggers her to set across America in search of a woman named Alice- someone she hopes can help her make sense of her troubled past.

Animal lisa taddeo book review