This book made for an interesting change of pace. These days, I usually get my zoology kicks from nature documentaries and reserve my leisure reading for sci-fi and fantasy; it was fun to switch it up for a while. Rasa has a a keen a for detail, and although she is somewhat prone to anthropomorphize the subjects of her research, I think this practice actually helps to make the narrative more engaging. I was alternately reminded of the behavior of my clowder of cats and the harsh, violent lives of characters in a Norse saga.