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Strange Animals
A thought-provoking and darkly witty novel about freedom, motherhood, greed, and religion—a surprising new direction from the controversial author of Men, Women & Children and The Average American Male.
Chad Kultgen has established himself as one of the most honest and candid chroniclers of human relationships working today. Now, in an eye-opening departure, he turns his gaze on the collision between religious values and human freedoms in American society.
She found herself thinking how strange it was that although we are all animals with roughly the same mental capacity—and roughly the same access to information, both general and specific—we can come to such radically different conclusions about the nature of reality. She wondered if it would always be like this, or if at some point in the future a general knowledge base would be accepted by the whole of humanity on which every individual would base their view of existence. She hoped this would be the case and wished she could live to see it.
Karen Halloway is a philosophy PhD candidate, struggling to find a dissertation topic strong enough to make a mark on the world. When she discovers that she’s pregnant, she finds herself at a she has always known that she doesn’t want to be a mother, and feels her only choice is to have an abortion, though she knows that both her boyfriend and her highly religious best friend will object. Yet on the way to the clinic, Karen has the epiphany she’s been looking for—a way to turn her unexpected situation to her advantage.
Fiendishly suspenseful, intellectually provocative, Strange Animals is a surprising novel about freedom, choice, and desperate measures.
Chad Kultgen has established himself as one of the most honest and candid chroniclers of human relationships working today. Now, in an eye-opening departure, he turns his gaze on the collision between religious values and human freedoms in American society.
She found herself thinking how strange it was that although we are all animals with roughly the same mental capacity—and roughly the same access to information, both general and specific—we can come to such radically different conclusions about the nature of reality. She wondered if it would always be like this, or if at some point in the future a general knowledge base would be accepted by the whole of humanity on which every individual would base their view of existence. She hoped this would be the case and wished she could live to see it.
Karen Halloway is a philosophy PhD candidate, struggling to find a dissertation topic strong enough to make a mark on the world. When she discovers that she’s pregnant, she finds herself at a she has always known that she doesn’t want to be a mother, and feels her only choice is to have an abortion, though she knows that both her boyfriend and her highly religious best friend will object. Yet on the way to the clinic, Karen has the epiphany she’s been looking for—a way to turn her unexpected situation to her advantage.
Fiendishly suspenseful, intellectually provocative, Strange Animals is a surprising novel about freedom, choice, and desperate measures.
- GenresFiction
274 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 7, 2015
18 people are currently reading
333 people want to read
About the author
Chad Kultgen
14 books394 followersAfter two months in his birthplace Spokane, WA Chad Kultgen spent the majority of his life in a suburb of Dallas, TX called Lewisville. After high school, he turned down a full ride baseball scholarship to Trinity University in San Antonio, TX to pursue writing. He moved to Los Angeles, CA where he joined the likes of George Lucas, Robert Zemekis, and Ron Howard as a graduate of the prestigious School Of Cinema/Television at the University of Southern California.
His first job was writing for one of the most widely circulated trade magazines in the music industry, HITS. After two years of being entrenched with rock-stars and their entourages, Chad moved on to become a staff writer for one of American Media's most beloved supermarket tabloids. He created stories about flesh eating zombies, time-traveling stock traders, and
sandwich making house cats for the magazine that gave birth to Batboy, THE WEEKLY WORLD NEWS.
Chad's next endeavor found him selling his first TV show to VH1. The reality show POSERS featured Chad himself along with two of his real life friends posing as various unrecognizable celebrities to get behind Hollywood's velvet rope. VH1 made a pilot episode in which Chad posed as the bass player from the band Maroon 5 in order to infiltrate one of Hollywood's hottest and most exclusive nightclubs. Once inside he proceeded to drink free champagne and use his fake celebrity to escort five female stars of the adult entertainment industry back to his limo. Despite the success of the pilot internally, a perfectly timed regime change at VH1 left Chad with nothing but DVD of the night's events and the paragraph you just read for his troubles.
In addition to writing the pilot episode of The Average American Male, Chad's feature screenplay BURT DICKENSON: THE MOST POWERFUL MAGICIAN ON PLANET EARTH is currently in the process of being optioned by NEW LINE CINEMA.
His first job was writing for one of the most widely circulated trade magazines in the music industry, HITS. After two years of being entrenched with rock-stars and their entourages, Chad moved on to become a staff writer for one of American Media's most beloved supermarket tabloids. He created stories about flesh eating zombies, time-traveling stock traders, and
sandwich making house cats for the magazine that gave birth to Batboy, THE WEEKLY WORLD NEWS.
Chad's next endeavor found him selling his first TV show to VH1. The reality show POSERS featured Chad himself along with two of his real life friends posing as various unrecognizable celebrities to get behind Hollywood's velvet rope. VH1 made a pilot episode in which Chad posed as the bass player from the band Maroon 5 in order to infiltrate one of Hollywood's hottest and most exclusive nightclubs. Once inside he proceeded to drink free champagne and use his fake celebrity to escort five female stars of the adult entertainment industry back to his limo. Despite the success of the pilot internally, a perfectly timed regime change at VH1 left Chad with nothing but DVD of the night's events and the paragraph you just read for his troubles.
In addition to writing the pilot episode of The Average American Male, Chad's feature screenplay BURT DICKENSON: THE MOST POWERFUL MAGICIAN ON PLANET EARTH is currently in the process of being optioned by NEW LINE CINEMA.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
October 2, 2015
So this one was clicking along pretty well but the idea just started to run out of steam. Then the book just sort of meandered along with an outcome that you could guess 150 pages from the end. Basically a treatise on the absurdity of religion and the inherent dangers that exist from those of us who believe they are doing the will of the invisible guy in the sky. And I realize that really exists in the world. And I might actually agree with his points; however, that doesn't necessarily dictate an "entertaining" novel. Again just barely above okay.
August 12, 2015
I've enjoyed all five of Chad Kultgen's novels. He's my favorite current author (and also the world's best squirrel photographer). This book cuts right to the heart of the pro-choice/pro-life debate by exposing the radical Christian right for what they are - corporate machines aimed at controlling women and denying freedom to all those with different ideologies. The narrative alternates seamlessly between the two main characters and builds momentum until their final confrontation. The book will haunt you. As always, Kultgen's work is aggressive and genuine.
October 1, 2015
Thought-provoking. Shocking. Controversial. Amazing. Kultgen's best work yet.
December 6, 2017
Its going to be difficult to review Chad Kultgen's STRANGE ANIMALS without getting too spoiler. But here goes...
STRANGE ANIMALS is not my favorite Kultgen book. Probably my least favorite. But it's still good, just pales in comparison to his other books in my opinion. This is a story about life and religion, science and zealotry, choices and divine intervention.
This is a bit more weighty for Kultgen. A fair amount of research went into producing this story and accurately portraying both sides and all the gray area in between. The ending didn't land exactly how I predicted but it was obvious mire or less how this is going to end.
Usually Kultgen tackles the relationship between men and women. This time it's about humans and God. A great read for any book club as there are so many interesting points to chew on. Stuff I'd love to discuss over some coffee or a beer. I came give any spoilers away so ask me about it when you're done reading it.
STRANGE ANIMALS is not my favorite Kultgen book. Probably my least favorite. But it's still good, just pales in comparison to his other books in my opinion. This is a story about life and religion, science and zealotry, choices and divine intervention.
This is a bit more weighty for Kultgen. A fair amount of research went into producing this story and accurately portraying both sides and all the gray area in between. The ending didn't land exactly how I predicted but it was obvious mire or less how this is going to end.
Usually Kultgen tackles the relationship between men and women. This time it's about humans and God. A great read for any book club as there are so many interesting points to chew on. Stuff I'd love to discuss over some coffee or a beer. I came give any spoilers away so ask me about it when you're done reading it.
November 13, 2017
Worth a read, but it was overall predictable.
January 26, 2019
I went into this book knowing very little about the actual plot, though after reading it I'd have to say that much like Chad's other works this one isn't so much plot driven as it is character driven, and in that respect I appreciated most of the story that it was trying to tell.
I didn't think that Karen as a character was all that defined, or at least it was harder for me to pinpoint the arc that she was on as the narrative progressed. That said I appreciated her, I liked how she was a person that appreciated logic based arguments and when she set up her experiment I was for the most part on her side. All that said, her part of the narrative was by far and away the part of the narrative that felt very by the numbers. There was only a singular moment that was really a surprise, but I felt that the narrative had also foreshadowed that happening. Almost to the point where it didn't really have the surprise of a twist that I feel it wanted to.
Now James' story was by far the aspect of the book that I was drawn to. Maybe because I'm a dude, or maybe because I'm a Kansan, I don't know. The bias was definitely there. Even his aspect of the story I feel is very by the numbers, and I think that after a few chapters from his perspective it was very clear what was going to happen.
I for one though was okay with that. Having read all of Chad Kultgen's other books I've found that the first two acts of his stories are always solid and then they sort of fall apart when he has to write a conclusion. So while the conclusion felt very predictable, it fit the narrative and it didn't try to be anything that it wasn't. In the end I found it to be very fitting.
All that said though I don't think that this book is for everyone, and my rating is very biased. I think that both characters are rather flat and almost one dimensional, James reading more like a caricature of a devout Christian than an actual person. Perhaps this is what Chad was going for, as other of his works have presented similarly flat characters for the purpose of critiquing them. either way, James as a devout Christian bordered on offensive at time. That's to someone that is by no means religious, but it was fine because Karen was atheist to a fault that sometimes listening to her speak was about as enjoyable as being in James' head.
The book also deals a lot with themes of abortion and the nature of God is repeatedly brought up. There was an ongoing theme of side characters and their thoughts on God and the nature of sex and marriage that was repeated throughout the narrative and while at first I found it distracting in the end I found that it was probably one of the better parts of the book.
If you're okay with extensive discussions of abortion and characters that don't fully ring three-dimensional I do think that this is probably the best place to star with Chad Kultgen. There aren't gratuitous sex scenes [ this book does have a sex scene, but it's brief ], aggressively misogynistic main characters, or third acts that completely fall apart. If you find yourself enjoying this one then It think that his other books are worth looking into.
I didn't think that Karen as a character was all that defined, or at least it was harder for me to pinpoint the arc that she was on as the narrative progressed. That said I appreciated her, I liked how she was a person that appreciated logic based arguments and when she set up her experiment I was for the most part on her side. All that said, her part of the narrative was by far and away the part of the narrative that felt very by the numbers. There was only a singular moment that was really a surprise, but I felt that the narrative had also foreshadowed that happening. Almost to the point where it didn't really have the surprise of a twist that I feel it wanted to.
Now James' story was by far the aspect of the book that I was drawn to. Maybe because I'm a dude, or maybe because I'm a Kansan, I don't know. The bias was definitely there. Even his aspect of the story I feel is very by the numbers, and I think that after a few chapters from his perspective it was very clear what was going to happen.
I for one though was okay with that. Having read all of Chad Kultgen's other books I've found that the first two acts of his stories are always solid and then they sort of fall apart when he has to write a conclusion. So while the conclusion felt very predictable, it fit the narrative and it didn't try to be anything that it wasn't. In the end I found it to be very fitting.
All that said though I don't think that this book is for everyone, and my rating is very biased. I think that both characters are rather flat and almost one dimensional, James reading more like a caricature of a devout Christian than an actual person. Perhaps this is what Chad was going for, as other of his works have presented similarly flat characters for the purpose of critiquing them. either way, James as a devout Christian bordered on offensive at time. That's to someone that is by no means religious, but it was fine because Karen was atheist to a fault that sometimes listening to her speak was about as enjoyable as being in James' head.
The book also deals a lot with themes of abortion and the nature of God is repeatedly brought up. There was an ongoing theme of side characters and their thoughts on God and the nature of sex and marriage that was repeated throughout the narrative and while at first I found it distracting in the end I found that it was probably one of the better parts of the book.
If you're okay with extensive discussions of abortion and characters that don't fully ring three-dimensional I do think that this is probably the best place to star with Chad Kultgen. There aren't gratuitous sex scenes [ this book does have a sex scene, but it's brief ], aggressively misogynistic main characters, or third acts that completely fall apart. If you find yourself enjoying this one then It think that his other books are worth looking into.
December 1, 2020
DollarTree Books Review Series:
Chad Kultgen bears the ills that affect all lazy transgressive authors, that is to say he slathers his lazy writing with a fresh coat of 'irony' to keep critics disoriented and not in the fun way. Kultgen (though i should refer to him as Chad, because virginity is a flaw in this books logic) uses tell-don't-show in a way that baffles me. whenever a character is introduced, Kultgen uses a paragraph long list of all their personal morals and belives to signal to us if the character is an evil christian or a logical atheist. no one in Strange Animals is a person, instead everyone is a stand-in for a movement without much inner depth.
like any compulsive reviewer, i did a lot of research on Kultgen before reading Strange Animals. basically, his most popular novel, The Average American Male, is 246 pages of 'I hate my wife' and frankly quite Incel-y beliefs. almost every review says he's a misogynist and the only people not, well, have their own claims of being misogynist themselves.
so how is Chad Kultgen, a suspected misogynist atheist-big brain, going to tackle the delicate subject of abortion from a woman's perspective? well, not well. Kultgen's thesis is that the Christian-right are hypocrites that don't actually care about fetuses but instead care about controlling women's bodies, and i don't fundamentally disagree, there are some (some, not all) Christians who behave this was but by having all the Christian characters be terrible apologizers or murders Kultgen doesn't offer a nuanced perspective.
lastly, the main plot point the story hinges on is ridiculous.
TW for r-slur, f-slur, r*pe jokes, hate crimes, and infanticide. (note: none of these things are handled with much grace).
August 10, 2017
You know a book has been well worth reading when you willingly only get three hours of sleep before work the next day in order to devour the last few chapters. A book that can be classified as such is Chad Kultgen's 'Strange Animals'.
I tried to drag this novel out for as long as I could in fear of what I knew would be the inevitable outcome of the protagonists eventual meeting. I felt that Karen and James were both illustrated in such a way that the base argument of the novel came through clearly (perhaps too stark of a contrast in some instances but effective nonetheless).
Kultgen depicts Christianity in such a way that it becomes a laughable concept for those who are of the disposition to recognize it as such and I found myself physically rolling my eyes at certain passages where left-wing Christian dialogue is concerned. Thus siding with Karen even more as things progressed despite the fact that I found her self-pitying in some circumstances weak in contrast to her initial zest and selflessness. However I tried not to let my own views and opinions get in the way of how I interpreted the novel as a whole and came to the conclusion that both protagonists seemed equally unlikable in their own rights. Maybe this was done to convey the idea that perhaps all kinds of extremists represent their respective causes to such an extent as a means to assign importance and purpose to their own meaningless lives.
Due to the fact that I was able to predict the outcome of the arc of the novel halfway through I never expected the ending to hit me nearly as hard as it did. I feel a book has served its purpose when it leaves you feeling its effects even hours after closing it.
Highly readable, gripping, thought-provoking and haunting. If anything this is a novel I feel every girl should give a chance despite their religious orientation or opinions on pro-life/pro-choice. I look very forward to reading more of Kultgen's work in the near future.
I tried to drag this novel out for as long as I could in fear of what I knew would be the inevitable outcome of the protagonists eventual meeting. I felt that Karen and James were both illustrated in such a way that the base argument of the novel came through clearly (perhaps too stark of a contrast in some instances but effective nonetheless).
Kultgen depicts Christianity in such a way that it becomes a laughable concept for those who are of the disposition to recognize it as such and I found myself physically rolling my eyes at certain passages where left-wing Christian dialogue is concerned. Thus siding with Karen even more as things progressed despite the fact that I found her self-pitying in some circumstances weak in contrast to her initial zest and selflessness. However I tried not to let my own views and opinions get in the way of how I interpreted the novel as a whole and came to the conclusion that both protagonists seemed equally unlikable in their own rights. Maybe this was done to convey the idea that perhaps all kinds of extremists represent their respective causes to such an extent as a means to assign importance and purpose to their own meaningless lives.
Due to the fact that I was able to predict the outcome of the arc of the novel halfway through I never expected the ending to hit me nearly as hard as it did. I feel a book has served its purpose when it leaves you feeling its effects even hours after closing it.
Highly readable, gripping, thought-provoking and haunting. If anything this is a novel I feel every girl should give a chance despite their religious orientation or opinions on pro-life/pro-choice. I look very forward to reading more of Kultgen's work in the near future.
March 27, 2016
Strange animals is a dark joyride through a dangerous neighborhood. The story unfolds slowly because of the rich detail of each character's thoughts on the main points in the book. The characters aren't initially likeable much like other characters in his books but you grow to know them and love (maybe love is too strong. You grow to respect them for their staunch support of their various beliefs.) This book is a must read for anyone who has ever wanted the things they fight against in their own lives to "put their money where their mouth is". It is also a call for everyone to rethink separation of church and state and reproductive rights for women. This book really makes you think and presents both sides with extremes. Much like you see in real life. I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the discussions with other people based on this book. Bravo Chad! Another win!
March 2, 2019
3/2/19: Still as offensive, thought-provoking, and controversial the second time around.
I'm a fan of Chad Kultgen because he writes about uncomfortable subjects, this time focusing on the abortion/pro-life debate and mainstream religion. Although the ending is exactly what you'd expect, it's quite thought-provoking and overall the story has a different feel compared to his previous novels. More, please!
I'm a fan of Chad Kultgen because he writes about uncomfortable subjects, this time focusing on the abortion/pro-life debate and mainstream religion. Although the ending is exactly what you'd expect, it's quite thought-provoking and overall the story has a different feel compared to his previous novels. More, please!
September 26, 2015
Not my favorite Chad Kultgen book. (I've read them all)
But, 23x 1 star reviews that are from people who didn't buy the book, out of 50 reviews?? Not to mention a lot of them are 20 words or less. Just wanted to point that out. This book should have far better ratings than what is showing.
I really don't have much else to say. I thought this was a 3.5 and am rounding up. Would love to see more atheism fiction in the future by Chad.
But, 23x 1 star reviews that are from people who didn't buy the book, out of 50 reviews?? Not to mention a lot of them are 20 words or less. Just wanted to point that out. This book should have far better ratings than what is showing.
I really don't have much else to say. I thought this was a 3.5 and am rounding up. Would love to see more atheism fiction in the future by Chad.
September 14, 2016
Definitely not my favorite Kultgen. I liked the way he described every encountered person's religious ideology, but halfway through the plot was too predictable. Great ideas inside, but not carried out in the full Kultgenesque way.
October 21, 2015
Phenomenal concept. Brilliant characters. Blunt, beautiful writing. Only issues I had were that it ended too fast and the ending was too predictable.
June 7, 2016
I must say that I didn't love this book; it was just okay. I felt that it was super obvious.
December 21, 2016
Mildly interesting philosophical discussion about conservative Christianity vs Pro-Choice, but the ending to book was obvious less than halfway through and the story dragged on and grew tiresome.
March 20, 2017
Thought provoking but overly simplistic and extremely predictable.
September 15, 2022
Warning: This is NOT your Average American Kultgen novel. Stylistically, its got hallmarks of the author we've enjoyed previously, but as the book jacket warns us, this is a departure from his other books. This book has most of its exposition explained by a 3rd party narrator, though we hear from the protagonist and antagonist a lot. Personally, I missed the first person narration of Kultgen's previous novels: it made them seem much more real and not stock/cardboard/impersonal constructs like in this book. Sure, they were flawed, sometimes hilariously/disturbingly so, but that added to the novel's obvious criticism of contemporary society. Strange Animals, on the other hand, read much more like a school assignment that was made more engaging by adding a story. Finally, the inevitable, unsurprising ending seemed abrupt, but upon reflection, the destination of the story was clearly less important than the destination for the author. In all, Kultgen fans will recognize his handwork, but might be disappointed by this new direction. I wish this had been more thought-provoking, but I think as a society, we've become numb to these sorts of stories that are all too often fact instead of fiction...
November 4, 2024
I love a gimmick, and when every character you meet gets a little paragraph where it explains what they think of God/The Universe/Sex Before Marriage, it’s pretty fun! The thought experiment was also pretty fun. Tldr PhD candidate Karen (her name is Karen, she’s not a “Karen”) has an unexpected pregnancy and decides to run an experiment where she asks for £100 million from pro lifers or she’ll abort the child.
If you couldn’t already guess I also love batshit crazy plot ideas.
But when you spend 150 pages building up to an outcome that your reader would be an idiot not to see coming and then simply … execute the outcome, it falls short. I was seeing it coming and seeing it coming and thinking oh boy guys he’s gonna do something unexpected and then- nothing! Exactly what I expected! I was like aw really? you chose the most straightforward way to end it? I don’t think every story needs to twist, but in this case it would have been more impactful (both message-wise and plot-wise) to subvert expectations.
One last thing, I could feel that a man wrote it. “It” being a very woman-centered narrative. Make of that what you will.
These are the things that Charlie understood to be true.
If you couldn’t already guess I also love batshit crazy plot ideas.
But when you spend 150 pages building up to an outcome that your reader would be an idiot not to see coming and then simply … execute the outcome, it falls short. I was seeing it coming and seeing it coming and thinking oh boy guys he’s gonna do something unexpected and then- nothing! Exactly what I expected! I was like aw really? you chose the most straightforward way to end it? I don’t think every story needs to twist, but in this case it would have been more impactful (both message-wise and plot-wise) to subvert expectations.
One last thing, I could feel that a man wrote it. “It” being a very woman-centered narrative. Make of that what you will.
These are the things that Charlie understood to be true.
May 22, 2017
Chad Kultgen writes books that make people angry. That's why I've loved his earlier books. This book is probably no exception. It's about abortion, the Christian Right, feminism, and hypocrisy. I think it's a little less inflammatory than his earlier books, but still aims for the jugular. Honestly, these are topics I consider "resolved", speaking as a Canadian. But I can see how in America Kultgen is pouring gasoline on a fire and dancing around it while laughing.
I prefer book reviews that tell me nothing about the book, because I hate spoilers. So, no spoilers.
This was a real page turner. I wanted to know where it was going and so I just kept reading. This rarely happens to me. The characters are real enough. Does the book take one side of a debate and argue for it? Sort of. In a more subtle way than I would have expected from Kultgen.
The main character of the book is working on her PhD in philosophy, and the book is about ideas. And how people seem to hate ideas.
Definitely worth reading.
Why 4 stars and not 5? I'm not sure. It's a very readable book. There are a few moments that seemed convenient for the plot, but they weren't too pushy to ruin the entire book.
I prefer book reviews that tell me nothing about the book, because I hate spoilers. So, no spoilers.
This was a real page turner. I wanted to know where it was going and so I just kept reading. This rarely happens to me. The characters are real enough. Does the book take one side of a debate and argue for it? Sort of. In a more subtle way than I would have expected from Kultgen.
The main character of the book is working on her PhD in philosophy, and the book is about ideas. And how people seem to hate ideas.
Definitely worth reading.
Why 4 stars and not 5? I'm not sure. It's a very readable book. There are a few moments that seemed convenient for the plot, but they weren't too pushy to ruin the entire book.
September 16, 2020
Chad Kultgen’s Strange Animals reads like those true-life case-history sections in a self-help book. This girl had this problem and she really believed, and she couldn’t see this because of that, and she tried to solved it all this way. Meanwhile this guy… But the detached narration becomes oddly compelling after a while, as the protagonist tries to remain entirely detached from the emotional realities of her research project. Detachment gives the reader space to read without judging, as if this person were just as unreal as those on the imaginary psychologist’s chair. It allows the reader to separate from the anger they might feel toward these characters because “of course I don’t think that…” Until somehow everyone has become all too real, and the pages fly by because you have to see what will come of it all.
Strange Animals is not an easy read. It’s judgmental, dark, sometimes foolish. But it’s also empathetic and thought-provoking. And I’m glad I read it.
Disclosure: It looked intriguing and lived up to its promise.
Strange Animals is not an easy read. It’s judgmental, dark, sometimes foolish. But it’s also empathetic and thought-provoking. And I’m glad I read it.
Disclosure: It looked intriguing and lived up to its promise.
June 24, 2024
goodwill book was good woah
see and i KNEW HE WAS GONNA SHOOT THE BABY!! god i could feel the tension between the situations and the fact that they both inevitably made a strong impression and demonstration on the Christian far right is so important. def some interesting thought provocation on religion and human purpose. i like how simple the writing is as a strong backdrop for these almost black and white concepts (what humans truly believe) i enjoy the writers slight criticism of certain groups while also hovering in the realm of detached storytelling. also for a male author he can really give a unique look into a pregnant woman giving birth so here are your flowers chad kultgen 💐
also the cover is sickkkkk
see and i KNEW HE WAS GONNA SHOOT THE BABY!! god i could feel the tension between the situations and the fact that they both inevitably made a strong impression and demonstration on the Christian far right is so important. def some interesting thought provocation on religion and human purpose. i like how simple the writing is as a strong backdrop for these almost black and white concepts (what humans truly believe) i enjoy the writers slight criticism of certain groups while also hovering in the realm of detached storytelling. also for a male author he can really give a unique look into a pregnant woman giving birth so here are your flowers chad kultgen 💐
also the cover is sickkkkk
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 30, 2019
Probably a 3.5.
I have friends I will be interested in discussing this book, and a number of those I absolutely will not. As you might guess upon reading the book description,(go ahead, go read that, I'm not going to re-write something the publisher has already provided) those friends are pretty specifically divided into non-religious/religious and pro-choice/pro-life.
The earlier 2/3-3/4 of the book was definitely better than the end.
What did I like best? The construct that every time a character is introduced or comes in contact with the main characters, the next paragraph is a synopsis of that new character's religious, philosophical belief.
I have friends I will be interested in discussing this book, and a number of those I absolutely will not. As you might guess upon reading the book description,(go ahead, go read that, I'm not going to re-write something the publisher has already provided) those friends are pretty specifically divided into non-religious/religious and pro-choice/pro-life.
The earlier 2/3-3/4 of the book was definitely better than the end.
What did I like best? The construct that every time a character is introduced or comes in contact with the main characters, the next paragraph is a synopsis of that new character's religious, philosophical belief.
May 31, 2021
Some of the topics this book tries to deconstruct include religion, pro life vs pro choice and gun violence. I appreciate Chad's attempt in dealing with more controversial topics however this is not new for him so in that way it's a bit more of the same. Additionally, the plot was very predictable so much so that I wondered if that were his intent all along. Some characters had interesting things to say but were not at all interesting, they had no real depth to them and felt more like simple placeholders for particular viewpoints. I really was not invested in anyone at any point during this story and I was disappointed in that regard.
December 1, 2021
Not quite as impactful as The Average American Male, but still thought-provoking and edgy in the ways that I'd expected going in. Chad's writing has a way of drawing me in so that I normally end up finishing his books in a matter of hours, and I find that this particular style is very entertaining in its own unique way.
The plot is very predictable, but it does put you on the spot and force you to really think about your own stance on the matters it confronts. In a world where anyone can stand up and argue about anything with minimal repercussion or responsibility, I believe that more work like this is necessary to keep people accountable for their true opinions.
The plot is very predictable, but it does put you on the spot and force you to really think about your own stance on the matters it confronts. In a world where anyone can stand up and argue about anything with minimal repercussion or responsibility, I believe that more work like this is necessary to keep people accountable for their true opinions.
February 8, 2017
O livro conta a história de duas pessoas extremamente diferentes. Uma tem um ponto de vista pró-escolha e cética. Acredita que os cristãos não se preocupam em seguir os ensinamentos de Deus, e sim em controlar o que as mulheres devam fazer e como devem agir. Do outro lado, um cristão que se mostra a cada dia mais fanático, se limitando a seguir somente o que “Deus” pede para fazer. Uma história provocante, que me fez refletir se é possível compartilhar um mesmo mundo, cada um com sua crença, e todos em paz.
August 13, 2020
I did not like this book. I wanted to stop reading it the entire time I was forcing myself to read it. The only reason I finished was because my brother loved it and highly recommended it, so I wanted to give it a fair shot. The writing is awful. I had to skim so many paragraphs because it’s literally word vomit. The end was incredibly predictable and as I was reading the last couple of sentences, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. The concept of Karen’s story is interesting, but it could have been executed way better.
December 11, 2019
I feel like I should HATE Chad Kultgen sometimes, yet I want to inhale his work time and time again. This book tore me apart and I loved every bit of it. I think the parts I hate about his books is how accurate they are to the real world. The protagonist of the Average American Male series is most certainly your average american male!! And he sucks!!!!!
Anyways, I love and hate Chad Kultgen.
When is his next book?????
Anyways, I love and hate Chad Kultgen.
When is his next book?????
August 13, 2019
by far chad’s worst book... he is one hell of an author when it comes to talking about sex and relationships, but he did not make much sense in this one as he tried to tackle religion (coming from an atheist, btw)
the ending was far too predictable, and neither of the main characters were likable in anyway
the ending was far too predictable, and neither of the main characters were likable in anyway
September 12, 2024
This was the most insane book I've ever read. It was something I picked up when I was a freshman in high school at the local DOLLAR TREE. What in the world was I thinking. Anyways - It was insane, but also I've never forgotten the way I was shocked sitting in my homeroom when I read that last chapter. If you have it in you, you should read this fever dream of a book so I'm not alone.
March 2, 2025
I hadn’t read any of Chad Kultgen’s books since college, and I’d had this one sitting in my Kindle Library since 2020 only purchasing having been a fan of his other work and not knowing anything about the plot.
The relevancy of this story to today’s issues and political climate made it all the more fascinating and important yet poignant and haunting.
The relevancy of this story to today’s issues and political climate made it all the more fascinating and important yet poignant and haunting.
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