What do you think?
Rate this book
Our Animal Hearts
Deep in British Columbia, at the turn of the 20th century, lies Winteridge: a small village perched on an enormous lake made famous by the monster said to haunt its depths.
Twelve-year-old Iris Sparks lives in Winteridge with her brother; her working-class Welsh mother, Llewelyna; and her blue-blooded father from England, a progressive bohemian who has brought his family to Canada for an adventure.
But amid the idyllic, Edwardian setting, there are dangers lurking. A blend of Welsh and Indigenous stories of a predatory lake monster take real shape for young Iris as she begins to unravel the truth behind her mother's dark fairy tales, and watches in horror as her mother increasingly succumbs to seizures.
As the First World War reaches its height, Iris must contend with the demands of a deteriorating mother and the harsh realities of a toxic love triangle. All the while, Iris's mind continues to exert its strange and awesome power, and she and her entire community must find a way to survive at the mercy of otherworldly beasts and a hungry darkness.
Twelve-year-old Iris Sparks lives in Winteridge with her brother; her working-class Welsh mother, Llewelyna; and her blue-blooded father from England, a progressive bohemian who has brought his family to Canada for an adventure.
But amid the idyllic, Edwardian setting, there are dangers lurking. A blend of Welsh and Indigenous stories of a predatory lake monster take real shape for young Iris as she begins to unravel the truth behind her mother's dark fairy tales, and watches in horror as her mother increasingly succumbs to seizures.
As the First World War reaches its height, Iris must contend with the demands of a deteriorating mother and the harsh realities of a toxic love triangle. All the while, Iris's mind continues to exert its strange and awesome power, and she and her entire community must find a way to survive at the mercy of otherworldly beasts and a hungry darkness.
352 pages, Paperback
First published May 29, 2018
5 people are currently reading
515 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
November 7, 2020
This book keeps reminding me of Jo Walton's Among Others, though when I've talked about that book with other people, I've come to the conclusion that I've forgotten chunks of it. Here's what I found reminiscent: there's an abiding love of books; Among Others is set in Wales and Iris' mother is Welsh; there are magical creatures, seen by the main character, that we have only her word to go on.
I'm somewhat familiar with the Okanagan area where this book is set. I remember vacationing there at my aunt's house when I was a child. The lake dominates the landscape, dark blue and cold.
Iris is enigmatic. She is both loyal and a betrayer. She is her mother's caretaker and is rapidly becoming her mother, complete with visions and health problems. Like all of us from time to time, she feels jealous, ambitious, responsible, irresponsible, scared, confident. She never doubts what she sees, that's the one constant in her life.
I'm still pondering the blue fish. It lives for decades in a mason jar with a lid on and without eating. I feel like I'm not quite grasping its significance. Thankfully I don't need to understand it all to enjoy it.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...
I'm somewhat familiar with the Okanagan area where this book is set. I remember vacationing there at my aunt's house when I was a child. The lake dominates the landscape, dark blue and cold.
Iris is enigmatic. She is both loyal and a betrayer. She is her mother's caretaker and is rapidly becoming her mother, complete with visions and health problems. Like all of us from time to time, she feels jealous, ambitious, responsible, irresponsible, scared, confident. She never doubts what she sees, that's the one constant in her life.
I'm still pondering the blue fish. It lives for decades in a mason jar with a lid on and without eating. I feel like I'm not quite grasping its significance. Thankfully I don't need to understand it all to enjoy it.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...
April 6, 2018
Disclaimer: I won a copy of this book via the Goodreads Giveaways program.
I generally find literary novels to be a challenge to review/rate because they often aren't the sort of thing that you 'like'. They're not asking to be liked or to provide entertainment in the same way genre fiction does. So when I say I didn't like this book, that's not meant as a criticism, exactly. It was an engaging, well-written piece of fiction and an excellent debut.
Iris is a preteen of British descent living in the Okanagan around the turn of the last century. Her working-class Welsh mother prefers to be called by her first name, drifts around their fanciful house with her pet peacock generally defying propriety, and tells alarming legends or fairy stories. Her father is upper-class English and generally absent. Iris's mother may be a seer, a character from legend, a madwoman, an abusive parent, an epileptic, an abused child, unfaithful, or a mother of monsters. Iris is her mother's daughter and lives in her mother's world of magic and monsters. It is not a kind world.
I would have enjoyed more emphasis on the supernatural elements, and less of the dark heart of man, but that's not the sort of book this is. It reminded me of Gone With The Wind - selfishness, pettiness, jealousy, cruelty and a lack of taking responsibility for one's actions wrapped up in a story about coming of age as your world falls to the violence and loss of wartime. This is not a book about the redemptive power of stories. It is not a story about using magic to escape or defeat darkness.
However, there is much to like. The setting - a tiny lakefront settlement in the Okanagan in the early 1900s - is tangible, rich, earthy and otherworldly by turns and all at once. I appreciated the nuanced portrayal of diverse communities, both their existence and the challenges they faced. I hadn't previously been aware of a significant Japenese community in the Okanagan working the orchards, and while the book doesn't quite cover both wars, it does stretch up to the Japanese internment tragedy. The First Nations community exist mostly as ghosts or a marginal presence, quite literally unseen or half-seen at the edges of things, and the tension between British-descent Canadians and immigrants, and other white (specifically Eastern-European) immigrants and their children was also handled well. Supernatural elements similarly feature a blending of influences, most strongly in the water monster in the lake, who is referred to by Welsh, First Nations, and Japanese terms.
This story is both beautiful - ethereal, intricate, magical - and horrific in its portrayal of humanity. Its excellent quality, historical detail, imaginative format, and philosophical positioning will likely make it a polarizing read, with both fervent fans and those who won't appreciate its uniqueness. I wouldn't be surprised to see it shortlisted in more than a few of next year's literary prizes.
I generally find literary novels to be a challenge to review/rate because they often aren't the sort of thing that you 'like'. They're not asking to be liked or to provide entertainment in the same way genre fiction does. So when I say I didn't like this book, that's not meant as a criticism, exactly. It was an engaging, well-written piece of fiction and an excellent debut.
Iris is a preteen of British descent living in the Okanagan around the turn of the last century. Her working-class Welsh mother prefers to be called by her first name, drifts around their fanciful house with her pet peacock generally defying propriety, and tells alarming legends or fairy stories. Her father is upper-class English and generally absent. Iris's mother may be a seer, a character from legend, a madwoman, an abusive parent, an epileptic, an abused child, unfaithful, or a mother of monsters. Iris is her mother's daughter and lives in her mother's world of magic and monsters. It is not a kind world.
I would have enjoyed more emphasis on the supernatural elements, and less of the dark heart of man, but that's not the sort of book this is. It reminded me of Gone With The Wind - selfishness, pettiness, jealousy, cruelty and a lack of taking responsibility for one's actions wrapped up in a story about coming of age as your world falls to the violence and loss of wartime. This is not a book about the redemptive power of stories. It is not a story about using magic to escape or defeat darkness.
However, there is much to like. The setting - a tiny lakefront settlement in the Okanagan in the early 1900s - is tangible, rich, earthy and otherworldly by turns and all at once. I appreciated the nuanced portrayal of diverse communities, both their existence and the challenges they faced. I hadn't previously been aware of a significant Japenese community in the Okanagan working the orchards, and while the book doesn't quite cover both wars, it does stretch up to the Japanese internment tragedy. The First Nations community exist mostly as ghosts or a marginal presence, quite literally unseen or half-seen at the edges of things, and the tension between British-descent Canadians and immigrants, and other white (specifically Eastern-European) immigrants and their children was also handled well. Supernatural elements similarly feature a blending of influences, most strongly in the water monster in the lake, who is referred to by Welsh, First Nations, and Japanese terms.
This story is both beautiful - ethereal, intricate, magical - and horrific in its portrayal of humanity. Its excellent quality, historical detail, imaginative format, and philosophical positioning will likely make it a polarizing read, with both fervent fans and those who won't appreciate its uniqueness. I wouldn't be surprised to see it shortlisted in more than a few of next year's literary prizes.
Read
August 29, 2025This novel is a beautiful, magical love letter to the Okanagan Valley. Set from the early 1900s to the beginning of the second world war, this story follows Iris, the daughter of British and Welsh settlers, in a small town nestled along Okanagan Lake. Iris' childhood is strongly informed by the Welsh folklore that her mother passes down to her, and also by the knowledge of a Syilx Okanagan man named Henry and Shinto practices from her Japanese friend named Azami. All these various worldviews weave together to construct a portrait of the Okanagan Valley where the more-than-human is central, holding deep power and mystery. Descriptions of setting are rich with nostalgia and awe, transporting the reader into the small settlement of Winteridge, which (based on descriptions) sounds like it might be what is known today as Carrs Landing. Despite this nostalgia, Our Animal Hearts doesn't romanticize or idealize life for early colonial settlers, but seems to take care and intention in emphasizing the injustices that defined this period, including the theft of land and violence against Indigenous peoples and racist policies against Japanese and other Asian populations. Ethereal, lyrical, and foreboding, I felt like I sank into this novel whenever I picked it up.
August 14, 2018
When I was a little kid, we often spent a week every summer in Penticton on Okanagan Lake. The things I remember the most are the cafe where we always ate breakfast, renting pedal surreys, and the Ogopogo.
Tomlinson's novel is set in a fictional community on the shores of Okanagan Lake, and does a wonderful job of expanding the world, layer by layer. She takes a place I know and love, and tweaks it to make it the setting for an atmospheric novel with gothic overtones. The Ogopogo is reimagined into something dark and mysterious, and peach orchards take on an ominous tone. The writing has a real eye for detail, and gracefully paints lush scenes for the reader.
Tomlinson says she's been writing the book for years, which is perhaps why the character voice so effectively matures as the book goes on and a child ages into a young woman. Tomlinson builds characters with depth and ambiguity, and does an excellent job balancing believable motivation with the sense of inevitable tragedy of a good gothic.
Basically - I liked this book a lot and you should read it. There are lots of Canadian books that make place and landscape central to the story, and this one does a wonderful job of doing that for the southern interior of British Columbia.
Tomlinson's novel is set in a fictional community on the shores of Okanagan Lake, and does a wonderful job of expanding the world, layer by layer. She takes a place I know and love, and tweaks it to make it the setting for an atmospheric novel with gothic overtones. The Ogopogo is reimagined into something dark and mysterious, and peach orchards take on an ominous tone. The writing has a real eye for detail, and gracefully paints lush scenes for the reader.
Tomlinson says she's been writing the book for years, which is perhaps why the character voice so effectively matures as the book goes on and a child ages into a young woman. Tomlinson builds characters with depth and ambiguity, and does an excellent job balancing believable motivation with the sense of inevitable tragedy of a good gothic.
Basically - I liked this book a lot and you should read it. There are lots of Canadian books that make place and landscape central to the story, and this one does a wonderful job of doing that for the southern interior of British Columbia.
August 13, 2019
I am sobbing.
June 13, 2019
Our book club in Oyama, BC chose this book for our June pick. When we met to have our discussion, it was unanimous, everyone liked it and our discussion was quite lively. There was an immediate love for the richness of the writing. We all live in the Okanagan and felt connected to the novel being written about the area that we are all so fond of. We enjoyed the complexities of the characters and how they were connected beautifully, through the decades of the story, whether through tragedy, abandonment or fate. Our conclusion was that the book "read like a classic" and although some had difficulty with the magic realism, we all felt that it was a great read.
May 28, 2018
Fantastic debut! What a treat to read such a rich, atmospheric novel where I can see the setting not just in my mind's eye, but out my window! I've lived here for decades but Dania skillfully describes the beauty of the forests, the orchards and Okanagan Lake in new ways. But this in no idyllic tale. There are monsters; real, imagined and inherited which give this historical novel a Gothic tone. Retelling Indigenous, Welsh and Japanese mythologies, the lake monster N'ha-a-itk (Naitaka) (Ogopogo) is not the benevolent green creature with "cartoon eyes" we have come to know. He is the reason the main character, Iris Sparks, won't step foot in the lake. Danger lurks beneath the "molasses waves".
As WWI descends, it changes and challenges the Japanese, Ukrainian, and Indigenous characters as well as the Sparks family. There is a wickedness to many of them. Jealousies, lies and betrayals affect both those who leave and those who stay behind. It reminds me of Steinbeck's East of Eden and I have fingers crossed to see Our Animal Hearts on award lists later this year.
As WWI descends, it changes and challenges the Japanese, Ukrainian, and Indigenous characters as well as the Sparks family. There is a wickedness to many of them. Jealousies, lies and betrayals affect both those who leave and those who stay behind. It reminds me of Steinbeck's East of Eden and I have fingers crossed to see Our Animal Hearts on award lists later this year.
September 29, 2018
I loved this book! I wish I could give it ten stars! It’s so atmospheric and well-paced, I was gripped by every word and couldn’t stop until I was finished.
February 9, 2023
Beautifully written. Living in the Okanagan, I love how this story feels like home. There is an element of magic realism that feels magical, and real! A true coming of age story, the ups and downs of family, friendship, aging, and love feel honest and authentic.
December 1, 2018
“Llewelyna said once: we’re all just beasts with our animal hearts aglow. I know this to be true.” — Wowowow. I picked up this one up at the library completely by chance and am so glad I did. Set in the fictional town of Winteridge in the Okanagan, the novel tells the story of the capricious and lonely (and often selfish and deceitful) Iris Sparks, following her through her girlhood at the turn of the century up until the early 1940s. The characters in this story are layered and so undeniably flawed, and the childhood wonder and magic of Iris’ life is equally weighted with betrayal, bitter consequences, and the darkness in our own hearts. Shot through with ancient mythology, local folklore, and a menagerie of wild creatures, the story’s rich and tangible atmosphere crackles with mystery as it treads the line between myth and reality. Tomlinson’s writing is lush and evocative — her novel is a haunting Canadian gothic about family and loneliness, magic and myths, cruelty and consequences, the stories we tell and the things we believe. Also, some of the most gorgeous book design I’ve ever seen!! Will be thinking about this one for a long time to come.
Read
November 17, 2018Challenging. Magical. Spiritual. The Okanagan setting was the greatest character in this book. I never take the beauty around me for granted. This book deserves many accolades and many many readers.
July 11, 2018
Very eloquently written, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The setting of this book was described beautifully and really got into the characters. It had a lovely balance of reality and myth. The added Welsh folklore makes this book unique, as well as the style of writing and flare. I hold this book near and dear to my heart, it is pretty entrancing!
June 18, 2019
One of the most enchanting, magical, utterly beautiful books I’ve ever read. A lonely, wild, haunting, entrancing treasure filled with brilliantly poetic writing. Beautiful.
July 13, 2018
I just loved this novel! I lost myself completely and in the best way possible in the engaging prose, striking imagery, and captivating characters. The novel made me want to study each moment and every character; it even made me nostalgic for University classrooms, long lectures, and all night essay writing. The layers, the historical references, and the many stories represented and presented left me thinking deeply at many points throughout this complex narrative. My favourite thing about this novel is the way Tomlinson explores reality and myth, placing them on two ends of a spectrum that her characters glide across, back and forth. Throughout the novel, reality and myth run parallel and are interwoven beautifully. Finally the spectrum is dissolved and Iris, her mother, and the reader find themselves in a powerfully new and liminal place where reality and myth are one.
Our Animal Hearts is a complex, detailed, and masterfully written mosaic. It is an artful narrative that sticks with you long after you devour it.
Our Animal Hearts is a complex, detailed, and masterfully written mosaic. It is an artful narrative that sticks with you long after you devour it.
July 9, 2018
A totally unique read! It was so interesting to read a novel set so locally, in a place where I have spent time but not though overly about from a literary sense. I love magic realism, so the existence (or not?) of the monster of the lake, plus the other visions that plague the characters brought even more depth to the setting. Combining one family's issues with the true and tragic decimation of the local nomadic Indigenous population, the deaths of WWI and the influenza epidemic all made of a heart-wrenching but beautifully executed novel. I'm excited to see where this author goes.
May 22, 2019
The language and use of myth in this book was incredible. The way the harsh Canadian landscape blended with the eerie and dark ancient creatures was unsettling, but also captivating.
I must admit I struggled with the increasingly unlikeable Iris (there was a point to this in the novel, and she's not entirely unsympathetic, but I personally have trouble with protagonists I don't like) and the overall gloom that continued to mount in the novel (again, I think this was a deliberate reflection of the state of the world during the war, and my dislike of it is a personal taste). But when I think of this as a dark fairy tale with commentary on womanhood, war, mental health, and family, I realize it's a very nuanced novel that tackles well-worn topics in a new light. I was a little dissatisfied with the ending.
I must admit I struggled with the increasingly unlikeable Iris (there was a point to this in the novel, and she's not entirely unsympathetic, but I personally have trouble with protagonists I don't like) and the overall gloom that continued to mount in the novel (again, I think this was a deliberate reflection of the state of the world during the war, and my dislike of it is a personal taste). But when I think of this as a dark fairy tale with commentary on womanhood, war, mental health, and family, I realize it's a very nuanced novel that tackles well-worn topics in a new light. I was a little dissatisfied with the ending.
July 10, 2019
My boyfriends mum leant me this book and WOW! Dania is an outstanding author. I’ve spent most of my life in the Okanagan Valley it it explained the Ogopogo and the awe around it so well. I would highly recommend this book to anyone (even if you’ve never been to the valley before). I would re-read this book over and over again.
October 21, 2023
Incredibly creative and beautifully crafted tale weaving indigenous, Japanese, and Welsh lore. There were so many layers woven into the story that my imagination ran wild with such vivid prose.
January 17, 2022
A good story, told in a leisurely way by a narrator who may or may not be reliable. My only critique - the author went a little overboard with the mythic references and allusions (fish, lake people, lake monster, orphan thief (?), mother-daughter stuff, Mabinogion, Shintoism etc. etc.) - the book would have been more powerful if that had been tightened up somewhat with more of a focus. But overall, a good choice (read it for my book club).
August 24, 2019
2.75 stars
I don't have very strong feelings about this book either way. Except that it took forever to get through, almost a month. And I'm in a huge reading slump, so.
What did I like? The characters, they were all very well fleshed out and felt real, including the protagonist. Her mom was interesting too. I loved the setting, I loved those bits of fantasy where you weren't sure if it's actually fantasy or just Iris seeing things that aren't there. The bits about the lake monster and the lake people and everything magical was the most interesting part of the book imo. Overall, I feel like it works very very well as a historical novel, it portrays the times it takes place in really well.
The only negative is that there was no actual cohesive plot, it was just bits and pieces of the protagonist's life. At times it was really interesting, but most of it dragged horribly and I felt tempted to skip some parts. I feel like it's the case of "it's not you, it's me". Oh, and my expectations ie the prose were too high I think, cause I got this one from recommendations of someone who's prose I adore. It was just there, enough to describe things but nothing fancy, nothing to reread and analyze.
I don't have very strong feelings about this book either way. Except that it took forever to get through, almost a month. And I'm in a huge reading slump, so.
What did I like? The characters, they were all very well fleshed out and felt real, including the protagonist. Her mom was interesting too. I loved the setting, I loved those bits of fantasy where you weren't sure if it's actually fantasy or just Iris seeing things that aren't there. The bits about the lake monster and the lake people and everything magical was the most interesting part of the book imo. Overall, I feel like it works very very well as a historical novel, it portrays the times it takes place in really well.
The only negative is that there was no actual cohesive plot, it was just bits and pieces of the protagonist's life. At times it was really interesting, but most of it dragged horribly and I felt tempted to skip some parts. I feel like it's the case of "it's not you, it's me". Oh, and my expectations ie the prose were too high I think, cause I got this one from recommendations of someone who's prose I adore. It was just there, enough to describe things but nothing fancy, nothing to reread and analyze.
July 2, 2018
This is a novel about the stories we tell, about the stories that get passed down, about the stories we cannot escape, and about the stories that entangle and entrap us. To me, the most striking element of this story, from a craft perspective, was the utterly-imperfect narrator, a girl who grows into a woman and tells the reader, with stunning frankness, about all the ways that she harms other people in her own selfish pursuits. But the writing is so skillful, Tomlinson's understanding of the human psyche so astute, that we can't hate her, that we can only see ourselves in her. This is story rich in sensuous details and myths. It is a risky story in that Tomlinson, a white settler-colonist writer, addresses racism and bigotry toward the Japanese, Ukrainians, and Indigenous people, and I think she succeeds in writing a story in which marginalized characters are not stereotypes and are not defined by their marginalized identity. Otherness is at the heart of this story, and Tomlinson shows us so many different measures of otherness, and this is certainly anything but a white-savior narrative. The writing is beautiful and evocative. I loved this book.
August 29, 2018
This book just felt so complete. No part wasn't thought out, detailed, and full of (sorry, gonna say it) heart. The main character is perfectly flawed and Dania Tomlinson avoids tropes that can so easily slide into and dominate small-town pre-war stories. I absolutely LOVED the mythology and even though I think I might need to go back and try to understand it a bit more sometime in the future, Our Animal Hearts makes me want to do exactly that. Really happy I read this and I hope that Tomlinson won't take another 10 years to release her next book...! It's clear that she has some stories and will take the time to tell them the right way.
October 20, 2018
Beautifully written and crafted. I loved this book. Stories within stories, using landscape and culture to add depth. I would recommend this book to everyone.
January 29, 2021
I found this book in a little free library down my road in my small town in the Okanagan. I gravitated to is straight away: I am currently doing a challenge to read books from every country (follow my journey @BeyondPageOne on Instagram) and was searching for my Canadian book. How perfect was it to stumble upon this gem, which could hardly be any closer to home for me? I could certainly relate to the descriptions of Okanagan landscapes and living, despite the 80+ year age difference. Beautiful cover as well.
I absolutely loved the folklore of the novel which seamlessly integrated the real and mythological worlds Iris and her mother faced until they became one. This mythological climate was a gorgeous mix of Japanese, Welsh, Indigenous and Canadian stories, which I think reflects well on the makeup of BC. One very interesting element was the climate of war which was added to the story which of course I have never experienced in our little community, and I honestly have little knowledge of how our town looked in real life during that time. Reading this one rendition aided me in accessing that version of the Okanagan.
I found the characters easy to visualize, and each had their place in the story. Reading other reviews for this novel, it was often pointed out the dislike for Iris and her actions: she doesn't correct the wrongs she makes, and at times was difficult to connect with. While I agree that Iris' feelings and actions would not align with my own, and I did not feel particularly close to her, I would like to note that we don't have to like the protagonist to have a beautiful story, which does a great job of explaining why she is the way she is.
I loved the rawness in this book as well, there was not much sugar coating, which reflects well on the time period, the dark subjects and the creepy stories integrated into the book. I found it to be almost poetic in the richness of the writing, which is fantastic for a first novel.
The reason I gave it 4/4.5 stars out of 5 is the overall plot. I found it moved quite slowly and lacked...something. I think I found it a bit scattered between love triangles, war, a mentally-unstable mother and lake monsters, and lacked some of the suspense/mystery that I was expecting. This is just my opinion and there was some great substance to the novel.
Thanks for this lovely local read! Sad to part with it but I will be passing this on to another little library for others to enjoy!
I absolutely loved the folklore of the novel which seamlessly integrated the real and mythological worlds Iris and her mother faced until they became one. This mythological climate was a gorgeous mix of Japanese, Welsh, Indigenous and Canadian stories, which I think reflects well on the makeup of BC. One very interesting element was the climate of war which was added to the story which of course I have never experienced in our little community, and I honestly have little knowledge of how our town looked in real life during that time. Reading this one rendition aided me in accessing that version of the Okanagan.
I found the characters easy to visualize, and each had their place in the story. Reading other reviews for this novel, it was often pointed out the dislike for Iris and her actions: she doesn't correct the wrongs she makes, and at times was difficult to connect with. While I agree that Iris' feelings and actions would not align with my own, and I did not feel particularly close to her, I would like to note that we don't have to like the protagonist to have a beautiful story, which does a great job of explaining why she is the way she is.
I loved the rawness in this book as well, there was not much sugar coating, which reflects well on the time period, the dark subjects and the creepy stories integrated into the book. I found it to be almost poetic in the richness of the writing, which is fantastic for a first novel.
The reason I gave it 4/4.5 stars out of 5 is the overall plot. I found it moved quite slowly and lacked...something. I think I found it a bit scattered between love triangles, war, a mentally-unstable mother and lake monsters, and lacked some of the suspense/mystery that I was expecting. This is just my opinion and there was some great substance to the novel.
Thanks for this lovely local read! Sad to part with it but I will be passing this on to another little library for others to enjoy!
August 10, 2019
First of all, I thought the author did a superb job of rendering the details of the life and landscape of early-20th century British Columbia. I've never been even remotely close to that area but Tomlinson gave me such a vivid portrayal of it that I feel drawn to visiting. The interweaving of folklore, mythology and religious practices from different cultures was also done skillfully through the eyes of Iris and her interactions with various characters. The writing style is elaborate with some really striking metaphors but without becoming burdensome. Because of this, I found the book surprisingly easy to read though dense with meaning.
That being said, I really couldn't stand the main character. I empathized with her at first because of the neglect she experiences from her mother as a child and could thus appreciate her tendency to become possessive and jealous of people and things, as well as her tendency to become passive-aggressive instead of expressing her feelings and desires honestly. However, I became increasingly impatient with her as the story went on; she continued doing increasingly terrible things and regretting them without going through any kind of character development beyond that. She doesn't reflect on her actions, she doesn't make any real attempts at becoming a better person or getting out of her increasingly miserable situation. Because the story is basically a recounting of her life over many years, I expected her to grow up, but, essentially, at the end of the book she is not so different from her eight-year-old self at the beginning of it. She seems to show some hints of character development towards the very end, but they are vague and deeply unsatisfying.
I felt the book could have really shone if Iris had managed to tackle the immense issues laid at her feet. Instead, she is little more than the ghosts in her mother's fairytales. The author might have intended this effect, but I feel it was unwarranted considering that the rich host of characters and events in Iris' life presented her with numerous opportunities to learn and grow which she let spoil and go to waste.
For this reason, the story felt a little hollow to me and this is the reason for the three-star rating, despite the book being a truly luscious and intriguing exploration of landscapes, people and events.
That being said, I really couldn't stand the main character. I empathized with her at first because of the neglect she experiences from her mother as a child and could thus appreciate her tendency to become possessive and jealous of people and things, as well as her tendency to become passive-aggressive instead of expressing her feelings and desires honestly. However, I became increasingly impatient with her as the story went on; she continued doing increasingly terrible things and regretting them without going through any kind of character development beyond that. She doesn't reflect on her actions, she doesn't make any real attempts at becoming a better person or getting out of her increasingly miserable situation. Because the story is basically a recounting of her life over many years, I expected her to grow up, but, essentially, at the end of the book she is not so different from her eight-year-old self at the beginning of it. She seems to show some hints of character development towards the very end, but they are vague and deeply unsatisfying.
I felt the book could have really shone if Iris had managed to tackle the immense issues laid at her feet. Instead, she is little more than the ghosts in her mother's fairytales. The author might have intended this effect, but I feel it was unwarranted considering that the rich host of characters and events in Iris' life presented her with numerous opportunities to learn and grow which she let spoil and go to waste.
For this reason, the story felt a little hollow to me and this is the reason for the three-star rating, despite the book being a truly luscious and intriguing exploration of landscapes, people and events.
June 20, 2018
I received a finished copy of this book from Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review - Thank you so much Penguin!
When I first came across this book, I was immediately interested. A lot of family (including one of my parents) is from Wales, I thought that it was really cool to be able to immerse myself in some of the Welsh folklore from their part of the world. I've also never been able to really find any Welsh fiction, as most fiction from that part of the world is usually from a more well known place, like England. So, naturally, when I came across this I jumped at the chance to read it and see how it was.
This book was definitely dark. I was expecting it to be a bit on the dark side, because that's how a lot of welsh folklore goes, but I wasn't expecting it to be as dark as it actually was. It had a lot of deadly creatures, a lot of scary stories and a lot of sadness and death.
This book takes place over the course of a few decades, from the beginning to the middle 1900s. It covers times when there was a lot of segregation between people from England and the surrounding area and Japanese people. It also covers the first World War, and the Spanish Flu that came around after it.
The entirety of this book is very dark, but in an interesting way. Every once in a while I do really enjoy something that is dark and sinister, and this fits the bill. It kept my attention and had me reading it late at night, and it was very different from the books that I usually read.
I loved the characters in this book. I really enjoyed how they were so different from each other, and I loved how those differences were portrayed.
The setting of this book was also amazing - the early 1900s on the West Coast, with forests and dark bottomless lakes, where lots of creatures and beasts can hide. The setting really helped move the story along, and I really enjoyed how the author was able to tie the setting and the folklores of the story together so well.
When I first came across this book, I was immediately interested. A lot of family (including one of my parents) is from Wales, I thought that it was really cool to be able to immerse myself in some of the Welsh folklore from their part of the world. I've also never been able to really find any Welsh fiction, as most fiction from that part of the world is usually from a more well known place, like England. So, naturally, when I came across this I jumped at the chance to read it and see how it was.
This book was definitely dark. I was expecting it to be a bit on the dark side, because that's how a lot of welsh folklore goes, but I wasn't expecting it to be as dark as it actually was. It had a lot of deadly creatures, a lot of scary stories and a lot of sadness and death.
This book takes place over the course of a few decades, from the beginning to the middle 1900s. It covers times when there was a lot of segregation between people from England and the surrounding area and Japanese people. It also covers the first World War, and the Spanish Flu that came around after it.
The entirety of this book is very dark, but in an interesting way. Every once in a while I do really enjoy something that is dark and sinister, and this fits the bill. It kept my attention and had me reading it late at night, and it was very different from the books that I usually read.
I loved the characters in this book. I really enjoyed how they were so different from each other, and I loved how those differences were portrayed.
The setting of this book was also amazing - the early 1900s on the West Coast, with forests and dark bottomless lakes, where lots of creatures and beasts can hide. The setting really helped move the story along, and I really enjoyed how the author was able to tie the setting and the folklores of the story together so well.
October 22, 2018
I found this novel deeply unsettling and now I find myself very affected by it. I think it is a classic example of the sublime: beautiful and terrifying. What is most terrifying though, is not the stories of creatures or the infiltration of spirits, or the crack between the worlds. No. What is most terrifying, is the subtle ways in which characters inflict life-altering harm. The cruelty at the heart of this novel is startling.
Compelling a reader to enjoy and admire a book like this is a feat indeed. Our Animal Hearts does not read like a debut and I was surprised to find that this is Tomlinson's first. She has honed her craft already and with the exception of a few awkward sentences, this is a very well written book. I cannot say I enjoyed the ending because I am unconvinced that Iris deserves redemption; however, perhaps that is the challenge this narrative poses. How much is too much? At once point do we cease to offer the possibility of forgiveness to one who never really atones, never really confesses, never makes amends? OR is that the lesson: redemption is always possible regardless of the monsters haunting the waters of our past.
Compelling a reader to enjoy and admire a book like this is a feat indeed. Our Animal Hearts does not read like a debut and I was surprised to find that this is Tomlinson's first. She has honed her craft already and with the exception of a few awkward sentences, this is a very well written book. I cannot say I enjoyed the ending because I am unconvinced that Iris deserves redemption; however, perhaps that is the challenge this narrative poses. How much is too much? At once point do we cease to offer the possibility of forgiveness to one who never really atones, never really confesses, never makes amends? OR is that the lesson: redemption is always possible regardless of the monsters haunting the waters of our past.
March 21, 2019
I wanted to review Our Animals Hearts by Dania Tomlinson because it features a mythical sea creature rumoured to live in the depths of the Okanagan Lake. I’ve swam in that lake, and as the ever-ready detective I am, kept my eye out for this loch-ness like animal/fish. Many people will know this creature as The Ogopogo, but Tomlinson gives us a fictional account of how the myth of the Ogopogo came to be, back when it was originally known as ‘Naitaka’ by the first indigenous peoples of that land. Before any white settlers came to that valley, there were nomadic tribes that roamed the area, familiar with the various animals they encountered in their travels. Although we only hear from one member of those tribes, readers are introduced to many of their myths through him, and even more stories of Welsh and Japanese mythology through other supporting characters.
We experience the story through the eyes of Iris, a preteen who lives in a small fictional community called Winteridge, situated on the banks of the Okanagan Lake. We follow her in 1904 through to 1941 as she grows from a precocious young girl desperate for her mother’s attention to a young woman caught in a sordid love triangle with the people employed on her father’s orchard. Iris’s mother Llewelyna is a larger than life character; she tells unsettling stories of magical creatures and their (usually) violent interactions with the human race, and she suffers from episodic seizures that leave her bedridden for days at a time. Iris’s father travels frequently, unsettled by Llewelyna’s condition, leaving Iris with an ailing mother and a community suspicious of her ‘visions’. Tensions between the Japanese workers, the British settlers and the Ukrainian immigrants slowly increase as WWI dawns, creating a story that explores cultural clashes at that time as well as the surprising overlap in the spiritual beliefs of each group.
Our protagonist Iris is a difficult character to describe. She is drawn in a very believable, authentic way, but that’s also upsetting to admit because she does some pretty horrible things throughout the story. I felt sorry for her because it was clear she was in desperate need of more affection, so went looking for it in all the wrong places . But she was also very independent, taking care of the people around her when they needed it the most. She walks a fine line between the spirit and the human world throughout the novel, for instance easily accepting the presence of a jaguar by her side for months at a time simply because she assumed she was doing penance for some misdeeds in the past (although this didn’t stop her from committing terrible acts afterwards). It’s not just her though, lots of people act selfishly, but one can hardly blame them when considering the conditions they experience.
I wished there had been more explanation and focus on the indigenous population of that area. As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, we only meet one man, “Henry”, who lives mostly in seclusion, but lends out his vast collection of books to the community who don’t have the luxury of a public library (one of the hardest parts about living there , in my opinion!). We catch glimpses of the spirits of the deceased natives who died of smallpox and other tragedies brought on by the settlers as Henry teaches Iris to see these ghosts who hide among the trees. Throughout the story their population remains largely silent, and aside from Henry’s infrequent appearances we don’t learn much about what came ‘before’. In addition to that minor storyline, we also get a glimpse into Canada’s WWI internment camps, and it’s only from reading other works of fiction was I familiar with this dark part of Canada’s past.
I’d recommend this book to those who seek a character-driven look at Canada’s history, although there isn’t much humour or lightness to this one, so please do keep that in mind. But for those who like to imagine what kind of scary things lurk in the depths of our lakes and oceans (like I do), and the various origins these myths unravel from, you’ll no doubt enjoy the mystery this book attempts to solve.
To read my other book reviews please visit my website:
https://ivereadthis.com/
We experience the story through the eyes of Iris, a preteen who lives in a small fictional community called Winteridge, situated on the banks of the Okanagan Lake. We follow her in 1904 through to 1941 as she grows from a precocious young girl desperate for her mother’s attention to a young woman caught in a sordid love triangle with the people employed on her father’s orchard. Iris’s mother Llewelyna is a larger than life character; she tells unsettling stories of magical creatures and their (usually) violent interactions with the human race, and she suffers from episodic seizures that leave her bedridden for days at a time. Iris’s father travels frequently, unsettled by Llewelyna’s condition, leaving Iris with an ailing mother and a community suspicious of her ‘visions’. Tensions between the Japanese workers, the British settlers and the Ukrainian immigrants slowly increase as WWI dawns, creating a story that explores cultural clashes at that time as well as the surprising overlap in the spiritual beliefs of each group.
Our protagonist Iris is a difficult character to describe. She is drawn in a very believable, authentic way, but that’s also upsetting to admit because she does some pretty horrible things throughout the story. I felt sorry for her because it was clear she was in desperate need of more affection, so went looking for it in all the wrong places . But she was also very independent, taking care of the people around her when they needed it the most. She walks a fine line between the spirit and the human world throughout the novel, for instance easily accepting the presence of a jaguar by her side for months at a time simply because she assumed she was doing penance for some misdeeds in the past (although this didn’t stop her from committing terrible acts afterwards). It’s not just her though, lots of people act selfishly, but one can hardly blame them when considering the conditions they experience.
I wished there had been more explanation and focus on the indigenous population of that area. As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, we only meet one man, “Henry”, who lives mostly in seclusion, but lends out his vast collection of books to the community who don’t have the luxury of a public library (one of the hardest parts about living there , in my opinion!). We catch glimpses of the spirits of the deceased natives who died of smallpox and other tragedies brought on by the settlers as Henry teaches Iris to see these ghosts who hide among the trees. Throughout the story their population remains largely silent, and aside from Henry’s infrequent appearances we don’t learn much about what came ‘before’. In addition to that minor storyline, we also get a glimpse into Canada’s WWI internment camps, and it’s only from reading other works of fiction was I familiar with this dark part of Canada’s past.
I’d recommend this book to those who seek a character-driven look at Canada’s history, although there isn’t much humour or lightness to this one, so please do keep that in mind. But for those who like to imagine what kind of scary things lurk in the depths of our lakes and oceans (like I do), and the various origins these myths unravel from, you’ll no doubt enjoy the mystery this book attempts to solve.
To read my other book reviews please visit my website:
https://ivereadthis.com/
October 15, 2025
This book is magic in all the best ways. Dania captures the Okanagan in a way that truly brings you into the valley, every piece thoughtfully curated to allow the reader to be transported to a time when the mountains were wild and the stories hovered between the fantastical and reality.
The main character is an anti hero who makes more wrong turns than right the older she grows. As her mother’s health deteriorates and she has no one to guide her through life, she struggles to differentiate between fact and fiction. Is it her imagination, stoked by her mother’s own spiritual relationship with the land, her trauma and mental illness, or is it real? The answer might be between the two, but that’s left up to the readers.
This book is beautiful, and you will be thinking about it forever after reading it.
The main character is an anti hero who makes more wrong turns than right the older she grows. As her mother’s health deteriorates and she has no one to guide her through life, she struggles to differentiate between fact and fiction. Is it her imagination, stoked by her mother’s own spiritual relationship with the land, her trauma and mental illness, or is it real? The answer might be between the two, but that’s left up to the readers.
This book is beautiful, and you will be thinking about it forever after reading it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews