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Our Wild Familiars: How Animals Are Adapting to Cities and Reshaping the Natural World
Synanthropes have always been an immutable part of the tapestry of our lives. They are the reason we hear birdsong in the morning and skittering throughout the day, and why we take such pains to fix lids to our garbage cans. But they are so much more than that, epidemic vectors, churners of soil, ecosystem evolvers, spiritual lodestars, and, sometimes, sharp-toothed marauders making their way through our most intimate spaces with cruel intent. But beyond their quotidian impact on our lives, synanthropes have a critical part to play in how our communities are shaped and how sustainably they function. These creatures are ambassadors from nature, arbiters of our planet’s future, and a key influence on our species’ ongoing evolution; and recently, something essential has shifted with them.
We are in a fraught era of environmental disruption, habitat destruction, and human population expansion that is ravaging formerly wild and untouched habitats. That’s caused us to become ever more inundated with synanthropes, which are bringing delight, chaos and danger to our doorstep. These species, so long dismissed, are forcing us to reckon with them—from the hundreds of thousands of raccoons in urban spaces that spread our refuse no matter how many "raccoon-proof" bags and bins we invent, to the invasive kudzu plants that grow a foot a day, enveloping houses, telephone poles, trees, and any other structures into their green abyss. Now, as urban spaces increasingly become wild spaces, we have a continue to resist them by any means necessary, or take the opportunity to promote a more harmonious coexistence.
Through vivid storytelling, Our Wild Familiars brings to spectacular life the world’s most successful synanthropes, from bats, raccoons, and crows, to some of its weirdest, including the Giant Pacific Octopus. Acting as a guide to the curious, Werb reveals how the cracks in our millennia-long efforts to shield ourselves against the outside world might just lead us to a new and necessary balance with nature—or to an ever more savage future.
We are in a fraught era of environmental disruption, habitat destruction, and human population expansion that is ravaging formerly wild and untouched habitats. That’s caused us to become ever more inundated with synanthropes, which are bringing delight, chaos and danger to our doorstep. These species, so long dismissed, are forcing us to reckon with them—from the hundreds of thousands of raccoons in urban spaces that spread our refuse no matter how many "raccoon-proof" bags and bins we invent, to the invasive kudzu plants that grow a foot a day, enveloping houses, telephone poles, trees, and any other structures into their green abyss. Now, as urban spaces increasingly become wild spaces, we have a continue to resist them by any means necessary, or take the opportunity to promote a more harmonious coexistence.
Through vivid storytelling, Our Wild Familiars brings to spectacular life the world’s most successful synanthropes, from bats, raccoons, and crows, to some of its weirdest, including the Giant Pacific Octopus. Acting as a guide to the curious, Werb reveals how the cracks in our millennia-long efforts to shield ourselves against the outside world might just lead us to a new and necessary balance with nature—or to an ever more savage future.
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First published July 14, 2026
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January 13, 2026🐀🐿️🦊🦝🐐🦇🐧🦑… I know I’m missing some of these synanthropes
September 17, 2026
Raccoons in Toronto, bats in Buffalo, octopuses in Seattle and rats everywhere. We may build cities that spell death for much of the native fauna, but there are always others who survive and sometimes even thrive. Nature surrounds and works its way into our urban environments. There is no escape, so we had better learn to live with it as much in peace as possible. We can't just treat urban wildlife as vermin and try to destroy it.
August 11, 2026
I don't read a lot of informational text, but I really enjoyed this book! Thank you to the publisher and to Goodreads as I won a copy of this book through a Goodreads Give-a-Way. This author is a very skilled writer and he is a serious scientist - a Ph.d and social epidemiologist. His book explores the relationships between humans and synanthropes (animals and plants that live/co-exist in urban areas). Author Dan Werb's presentation of the science and research was really inviting to me as a reader - his style reminds me a lot of Malcolm Gladwell's writing style - he weaves together the science and research with narrative storytelling so the book doesn't read at all like a dry textbook but instead it reads like a story with facts and details to draw the reader in and make the reader think. The book takes a look at how urbanization has caused animals and plants to adapt and, in some cases, thrive, in settings that house high numbers of humans. The book explores ways in which humans and synanthropes can co-exist. I learned so much from reading reading this book (ironically, I was in the midst of quite a few coyotes visiting my backyard at the same time I was reading this) and I felt like Werb offers positive solutions and first steps when exploring how humans are reshaping our world and local ecology as we continue to expand our cities and suburbs.
August 13, 2026
A beautiful and magical adventure into our animal neighbors — literally, they're right next door. Sometimes considered pests, nuisances, or straight up mortal threats, these creatures have adapted to our spaces almost as much as we have. For better or worse, they're not leaving (and why should they?), so instead it's our turn to adapt and adjust in the hopes that we can coexist.
**I received my copy from Netgalley.
**I received my copy from Netgalley.
August 26, 2026
In my view, this book was intellectually rich and enchanting. Werb’s exploration of the animals who live alongside us—often so familiarly that we barely notice them—made me appreciate the ordinary creatures inhabiting our yards, streets, parks, and homes even more than I did when I started the book. I especially loved the book’s combination of natural history, cultural history, and anecdote.
Werb never treats these animals merely as biological specimens, but instead asks us to consider the complicated relationships humans have developed with them over centuries. The result is wonderfully curious and wide-ranging, filled with facts I immediately wanted to repeat to someone else (I might still repeat some to some of my friends).
Werb explores synanthropes (wild creatures that have learned to live and thrive alongside humans) and makes a compelling case that our cities are not separate from nature at all, but strange new ecosystems in which animals are adapting to us just as we are adapting to them. From astonishingly resourceful urban raccoons to crows, coyotes, baboons, bats, and even giant Pacific octopuses making use of human debris, Werb fills the book with examples that are fascinating in their own right while connecting them to larger questions about evolution, environmental change, and what happens when human and nonhuman worlds become increasingly difficult to separate.
What stayed with me most, though, was the book’s underlying invitation to pay closer attention to the nonhuman world we encounter every day. There is something unexpectedly moving about realizing how many animals have adapted their lives around ours—and how rarely we stop to consider them as fellow inhabitants of the places we think of as exclusively human. An absorbing, thoughtful, and deeply charming read.
Werb never treats these animals merely as biological specimens, but instead asks us to consider the complicated relationships humans have developed with them over centuries. The result is wonderfully curious and wide-ranging, filled with facts I immediately wanted to repeat to someone else (I might still repeat some to some of my friends).
Werb explores synanthropes (wild creatures that have learned to live and thrive alongside humans) and makes a compelling case that our cities are not separate from nature at all, but strange new ecosystems in which animals are adapting to us just as we are adapting to them. From astonishingly resourceful urban raccoons to crows, coyotes, baboons, bats, and even giant Pacific octopuses making use of human debris, Werb fills the book with examples that are fascinating in their own right while connecting them to larger questions about evolution, environmental change, and what happens when human and nonhuman worlds become increasingly difficult to separate.
What stayed with me most, though, was the book’s underlying invitation to pay closer attention to the nonhuman world we encounter every day. There is something unexpectedly moving about realizing how many animals have adapted their lives around ours—and how rarely we stop to consider them as fellow inhabitants of the places we think of as exclusively human. An absorbing, thoughtful, and deeply charming read.
August 18, 2026
Audio is a must! It is extremely well done☺️ For non-fiction and spending half my life in Toronto, I absolutely loved this!❤️ To my cousins with children on this app - I think your kids would enjoy some of these facts!😂
August 15, 2026
I learned so much from this book! Having never heard the term “synanthrope” before, it was such a treat to read all the whimsical (and some markedly less whimsical) stories about the wild animals that thrive amongst humans and our built architecture.
A fun, funny, though-provoking, and troubling read that needs to be on everyone’s 2026 to-read list.
Warning: graphic descriptions of animal death and cruelty
A fun, funny, though-provoking, and troubling read that needs to be on everyone’s 2026 to-read list.
Warning: graphic descriptions of animal death and cruelty
September 5, 2026
I listened to Our Wild Familiars, narrated by the author, and almost immediately learned a new word: synanthropes—organisms that live alongside humans and thrive in the environments we've created. From there, Dan Werb took me around the world to learn about raccoons, bats, coyotes, rats, baboons, kudzu, tigers, Giant Pacific octopuses, and, briefly but no less fascinatingly, the wild boars roaming the streets of Madrid.
What I loved was the way Werb challenges the idea that nature exists somewhere "out there," separate from the places humans inhabit. Cities are ecosystems too and the animals and plants adapting to them aren't simply intruders invading human spaces. We have transformed their habitats, created new ones, and provided opportunities that some species have become remarkably good at exploiting. The question becomes not simply how we keep wildlife out, but how we design communities in which humans and other species can coexist.
Werb's discussions of urban ecology and ecological urban design gave me terminology for ideas I've felt passionately about without necessarily knowing what to call them. In that respect, he was preaching to the choir with me, but it's a sermon I think more people need to hear. As human development continues to reshape habitats, learning how to accommodate the species living alongside us rather than treating their presence as a problem to eradicate feels more and more necessary.
Werb is also an engaging narrator of his own work, and I found the combination of science, history, field research, and stories about individual species riveting. This is my favorite kind of nonfiction: the kind that teaches me new things, gives names to ideas I've already been thinking about, and leaves me wanting to learn even more about the world outside my door.
What I loved was the way Werb challenges the idea that nature exists somewhere "out there," separate from the places humans inhabit. Cities are ecosystems too and the animals and plants adapting to them aren't simply intruders invading human spaces. We have transformed their habitats, created new ones, and provided opportunities that some species have become remarkably good at exploiting. The question becomes not simply how we keep wildlife out, but how we design communities in which humans and other species can coexist.
Werb's discussions of urban ecology and ecological urban design gave me terminology for ideas I've felt passionately about without necessarily knowing what to call them. In that respect, he was preaching to the choir with me, but it's a sermon I think more people need to hear. As human development continues to reshape habitats, learning how to accommodate the species living alongside us rather than treating their presence as a problem to eradicate feels more and more necessary.
Werb is also an engaging narrator of his own work, and I found the combination of science, history, field research, and stories about individual species riveting. This is my favorite kind of nonfiction: the kind that teaches me new things, gives names to ideas I've already been thinking about, and leaves me wanting to learn even more about the world outside my door.
July 27, 2026
Author and scientist Dan Werb takes us into the world of synanthropes (new word for me!): animals and plants that have found a way to survive and often thrive in urban human communities. He discusses the history of synanthropes (they’ve been around since humanoids began gathering in small clusters) and the future, and how we humans should rethink how to live side by side with them.
My favourite chapters were the ones that studied particular animals that have made cities their homes. Seeing that I live on the edge of Toronto, my absolute favourite just had to be the chapter on raccoons seeing that we are known as the raccoon capital of the world. These wily guys drive many Toronto citizens nuts, so it was fascinating to read exactly how they’ve adapted so well and to learn how intelligent they are (more intelligent than rural raccoons!). Just how did they figure out so quickly how to open those “raccoon proof” compost bins that the city distributed so confidently a few years ago? Raccoons have laughed in our faces when we think we’ve outsmarted them. Who needs an opposable thumb? Not a raccoon!
The chapters covered animals such as bats, the Giant Pacific octopus, NYC rats (their constant evolution is fascinating!), tigers... and so many more. So much to learn about how they’ve adapted and how we have to learn to adapt and share our space with them.
This is a very “readable” non-fiction science book and a must-read for anyone who lives in an urban setting and wants to learn more about striking the balance with nature and why our future depends on it.
My favourite chapters were the ones that studied particular animals that have made cities their homes. Seeing that I live on the edge of Toronto, my absolute favourite just had to be the chapter on raccoons seeing that we are known as the raccoon capital of the world. These wily guys drive many Toronto citizens nuts, so it was fascinating to read exactly how they’ve adapted so well and to learn how intelligent they are (more intelligent than rural raccoons!). Just how did they figure out so quickly how to open those “raccoon proof” compost bins that the city distributed so confidently a few years ago? Raccoons have laughed in our faces when we think we’ve outsmarted them. Who needs an opposable thumb? Not a raccoon!
The chapters covered animals such as bats, the Giant Pacific octopus, NYC rats (their constant evolution is fascinating!), tigers... and so many more. So much to learn about how they’ve adapted and how we have to learn to adapt and share our space with them.
This is a very “readable” non-fiction science book and a must-read for anyone who lives in an urban setting and wants to learn more about striking the balance with nature and why our future depends on it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I read a lot about animals, but this eye-opening book tackles something I’d never heard of, synanthropes. There are pets and wild creatures, but what about the ones in between? Those who live in proximity to humans and have adapted to urban environments who are somewhat still wild and undomesticated? Werb’s book explores how they are now something different. Cities have influenced not just their behavior, but also even their physiology. Some parts are heartbreaking because they deal with the conflicts, violence and death that necessarily happen when these two worlds coexist. Unlike other books, Werb doesn’t take an absolute path of eliminating all threats, or choosing non-human animals over people, but a third option: adapting urban centers to welcome all residents and eliminating zones where conflict may arise. Raccoons, bats, octopuses and rats are amongst the species studied here. My favorite part is about baboons living in apparent harmony with feral dogs, and how their mutual relationship has evolved. I was dumbfounded. The writing is approachable and easy to read, and I’ve been talking about this book to anyone who will listen. Highly recommended.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Crown Publishing.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Crown Publishing.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This fascinating and well-researched book explores the significant role of synanthropes—wild creatures who live alongside humans—in our lives and ecosystems. It highlights how these species act as indicators of environmental change and influence our planet's future.
The book has more depth than breadth, covering a few species in detail, which is not quite what I expected. I was a little disappointed that so much of the book focused on how animal colonies thrive (often to the point of becoming pests) by eating human garbage.
I think, honestly, the book was addressing two different issues—how animals adapt to human-made environments (e.g., the sections on racoons and the giant Pacific octopus), and how humans can mitigate the imbalances we've created (e.g., the sections on kudzu and baboons). While both are interesting, I kind of wish they'd been two separate books, so both topics could have been explored more broadly. Still, it's an engrossing read that should appeal to anyone interested in ecology and how humans can coexist with the natural world.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
The book has more depth than breadth, covering a few species in detail, which is not quite what I expected. I was a little disappointed that so much of the book focused on how animal colonies thrive (often to the point of becoming pests) by eating human garbage.
I think, honestly, the book was addressing two different issues—how animals adapt to human-made environments (e.g., the sections on racoons and the giant Pacific octopus), and how humans can mitigate the imbalances we've created (e.g., the sections on kudzu and baboons). While both are interesting, I kind of wish they'd been two separate books, so both topics could have been explored more broadly. Still, it's an engrossing read that should appeal to anyone interested in ecology and how humans can coexist with the natural world.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thanks to netgalley for an ARC!
I am not, not, not a nonfiction person but have been pushing myself out of my boundaries lately. I pick up a nonfiction book and maybe read a chapter a day, but truly it takes forever. But not with this book I devoured it! I love all the fun facts I have bouncing around now. The breaking it up into interconnected sections really helped it stay fast paced but also didn't jar me with new topics every chapter.
Some favourite fun facts and quotes were:
- Rats evolved to tolerate warfarin which is insane!
- "Gossip is a dagger that destroys: it’s also the glue that holds gazes together"
- If a bat sings a different song than another, they wont mate.
- Often orcas expect their first baby to die because they offload half of your toxins everytime they have a kid, imagine the consequences of this for how humans work and have kids!
I am so looking forward to recommending this to nonfiction friends, and fellow ecology/biology teachers!
I am not, not, not a nonfiction person but have been pushing myself out of my boundaries lately. I pick up a nonfiction book and maybe read a chapter a day, but truly it takes forever. But not with this book I devoured it! I love all the fun facts I have bouncing around now. The breaking it up into interconnected sections really helped it stay fast paced but also didn't jar me with new topics every chapter.
Some favourite fun facts and quotes were:
- Rats evolved to tolerate warfarin which is insane!
- "Gossip is a dagger that destroys: it’s also the glue that holds gazes together"
- If a bat sings a different song than another, they wont mate.
- Often orcas expect their first baby to die because they offload half of your toxins everytime they have a kid, imagine the consequences of this for how humans work and have kids!
I am so looking forward to recommending this to nonfiction friends, and fellow ecology/biology teachers!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Orcas donning salmon heads as headgear? Baboons straddling dogs akin to a horse and rider?
If these mental images are met with a resounding, "What the...?", then this book is for you.
The author's writing style engages the reader by interspersing interviews with noted scientists and others with his analysis. However, the conversational tone he uses coupled with providing tangible points of reference (ie. sounds most people hear, things most people envision) make this read relatable. It's one of those reads that challenges the mind, leaving the reader in awe at the ingenuity of animals.
Found this read to be on par with Ed Yong's "An Immense World", Susan Orleans "On Animals", and Mary Roach's "Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law".
"Raccoons, Bats and Baboons, oh my". Truly, an exceptional read.
This ARC was provided by the publisher, Crown Publishing | Crown via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
#OurWildFamiliars #NetGalley
If these mental images are met with a resounding, "What the...?", then this book is for you.
The author's writing style engages the reader by interspersing interviews with noted scientists and others with his analysis. However, the conversational tone he uses coupled with providing tangible points of reference (ie. sounds most people hear, things most people envision) make this read relatable. It's one of those reads that challenges the mind, leaving the reader in awe at the ingenuity of animals.
Found this read to be on par with Ed Yong's "An Immense World", Susan Orleans "On Animals", and Mary Roach's "Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law".
"Raccoons, Bats and Baboons, oh my". Truly, an exceptional read.
This ARC was provided by the publisher, Crown Publishing | Crown via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
#OurWildFamiliars #NetGalley
July 15, 2026
This book has a fascinating premise, the fact that wild animals like raccoons, octopuses and baboons are thriving in cities and urban environments.
The author does a great job of making science approachable without oversimplifying it. I especially loved the individual stories about different species -- the Giant Pacific Octopus was my favorite. I definitely came away looking at my own neighborhood wildlife a little differently, especially living in a city where elk, bear, bald eagle, fox and cougar sightings are not uncommon.
However, the book felt quite repetitive to me, with each chapter being very similar to the next, but featuring a different animal, so I struggled to maintain interest and momentum throughout the book. Overall an interesting topic but the presentation was a bit too slow for me.
3.5 stars
The author does a great job of making science approachable without oversimplifying it. I especially loved the individual stories about different species -- the Giant Pacific Octopus was my favorite. I definitely came away looking at my own neighborhood wildlife a little differently, especially living in a city where elk, bear, bald eagle, fox and cougar sightings are not uncommon.
However, the book felt quite repetitive to me, with each chapter being very similar to the next, but featuring a different animal, so I struggled to maintain interest and momentum throughout the book. Overall an interesting topic but the presentation was a bit too slow for me.
3.5 stars
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Our Wild Familiars was a fascinating and informative read. I forgot that wild animals that learned to adapt in human communities are called synanthropes. This was such an interesting read with fun facts and scientific insight. It’s also an engaging and well-written book. My favorite part was about the raccoons since I love those trash pandas so much despite their flaws.
Overall, this book has deepened my understanding of synanthropes and their importance within our ecosystem. I highly recommend it.
Thank you NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the ARC(advanced reader copy) in return for an honest review
Overall, this book has deepened my understanding of synanthropes and their importance within our ecosystem. I highly recommend it.
Thank you NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the ARC(advanced reader copy) in return for an honest review
September 3, 2026
I really enjoyed the first half of the book. With the exception of raccoons in Toronto, my home town, I wasn't familiar with the stories of animals that had adapted to life in big cities: bats in Buffalo, Giant Pacific Octopuses in Seattle. It was heartwarming to to read of the humans who are making efforts to help the animals survive in these unfriendly environments.
I was considerably less impressed with the second half, where the author seems to lost interest in the topic and moved on to social and ecological issues instead. The lengthy section on tigers in India had little to do with the animals and nothing at all to do with adapting to cities.
I was considerably less impressed with the second half, where the author seems to lost interest in the topic and moved on to social and ecological issues instead. The lengthy section on tigers in India had little to do with the animals and nothing at all to do with adapting to cities.
July 21, 2026
This was so fun and interesting. My favorite part was the section on NYC rats. They've always fascinated me and at least I know now I'm not alone! (If anything, the author and I are kindred spirits.) Who knew they were evolving so fast, as their teeth are now able to eat pizza since it's become such a regular part of their diet, and evolved into different species within the island of Manhattan?! "Uptown" rats and "downtown" rats!
It was also wild to hear about the free-roaming baboons of Saudi Arabia. Never would I have ever guessed those would be wandering the streets (or sands).
It was also wild to hear about the free-roaming baboons of Saudi Arabia. Never would I have ever guessed those would be wandering the streets (or sands).
August 1, 2026
Fantastic information on every page. I am a huge consumer of science books written for the average non-scientific mind. The science in Our Wild Familiars was so easy to understand and woven seamlessly into the narrative. Excellent storytelling without info dumping.
If you are curious to know why wildlife appears to be more prolific in your city or your neighborhood, this is 100% the book to read.
If you are curious to know why wildlife appears to be more prolific in your city or your neighborhood, this is 100% the book to read.
August 7, 2026
I liked how this story was told in an engaging, but still easy to understand way. Some non-fiction science books can be hard to follow sometimes, but this book was very understandable. I definitely felt for some of the synanthropes described in the stories he described, and learned more about the way they are adapting to the growing modern world. I was expecting a little more though, in terms of what can be done and how critical a problem this is becoming.
August 22, 2026
This book was absolutely fascinating! I loved it. I always enjoy reading about animals and their relationship with humans, and this one is both informative and entertaining. It starts out with wild city dwellers that we know, like raccoons, coyotes, and bats, but moves on too rarer or more exotic critters such as the giant pacific octopus, the baboons of Saudi Arabia, and the Bengal tiger of the Sundarban mangrove delta. This was a book that reminded me why I love nonfiction.
September 1, 2026
An interesting book about a topic I’m already pretty interested in—our relationship with the animals we share the world with. I really appreciated the hopeful take on humanity’s impact and the idea that we can learn to be better neighbours to our animal friends.
The writing was a bit dry for me, and I did find myself getting bored at times. Thankfully, I listened to the audiobook, which made it easier to push through. Overall, I enjoyed the ideas more than the writing, but I’m glad I listened.
The writing was a bit dry for me, and I did find myself getting bored at times. Thankfully, I listened to the audiobook, which made it easier to push through. Overall, I enjoyed the ideas more than the writing, but I’m glad I listened.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
Our Wild Familiars was a really informative read. I’m not usually one to read non-fiction, but this sucked me in from the first few pages. I learned so much and I developed a new perspective on the relationship between humans and wildlife. It’s amazing how adaptive animals are and it gave me a new appreciation of some of these amazing species. Highly recommend!
July 30, 2026
Delightful, funny, insightful, and eye-opening. This book not only changes our relationship with the wild world around us, but it also connects us to the animals right outside our door (or in our garbage cans), and for me, I have a new respect for them. Not a bad thing, as they are here to stay. As an animal lover, this is a gentle reminder that we humans may not run the world after all.
August 25, 2026
This is a fun book. I didn't agree with all of his generalizations and conclusions, but the book should encourage any reader to think differently about how other animals cope with and thrive in human development. He concludes with thoughts about how to improve our mutual interactions and dependencies.
August 22, 2026
Loved this fascinating, gorgeous, and ultimately hopeful book about animals that are succeeding among us. We're so lucky to have nature in among us, and I hope we continue to find ways to accommodate them.
Want to Read
July 25, 2026See author interview, Los Angeles Times Book Club, 7/25/2026.
August 9, 2026
4.5 rounded up to 5. Engagingly written.
August 12, 2026
Great read
August 15, 2026
4.5⭐. I loved this book. It gave me much more than I was expecting, although I don't know that the style would appeal to a great many. Not sure. I hope to write a review soon.
August 18, 2026
Must read for people into urban ecology and sustainability
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews