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We Are Animals
'A feel-good story about how sometimes the best thing to do is just have faith that everything will work out in the end. It's the story we all need right now' – Popsugar
A cow looks out to sea, dreaming of a life that involves grass.
Jan is also looking out to sea. He's in Goa, dreaming of the passport-thief who stole his heart (and his passport) forty-six years ago. Back then, fate kept bringing them together, but lately it seems to have given up.
Jan has not. In his long search he has accidentally held a whole town at imaginary gunpoint in Soviet Russia, stalked the proprietors of an international illegal lamp-trafficking scam and done his very best to avoid any kind of work involving the packing of fish. Now he thinks if he just waits, if he just does nothing at all, maybe fate will find it easier to reunite them.
His story spans fifty-four years, ten countries, two imperfect criminals (and one rather perfect one), twenty-two different animals and an annoying teenager who just…
Will…
Not…
Leave.
But maybe an annoying teenager is exactly what Jan needs to help him find the missing thief?
Featuring a menagerie of creatures, each with its own story to tell, We Are Animals is a quirky, heart-warming tale of lost love, unlikely friendships and the certainty of fate (or lack thereof).
For the first time in her life the cow noticed the sun setting, and it was glorious.
A cow looks out to sea, dreaming of a life that involves grass.
Jan is also looking out to sea. He's in Goa, dreaming of the passport-thief who stole his heart (and his passport) forty-six years ago. Back then, fate kept bringing them together, but lately it seems to have given up.
Jan has not. In his long search he has accidentally held a whole town at imaginary gunpoint in Soviet Russia, stalked the proprietors of an international illegal lamp-trafficking scam and done his very best to avoid any kind of work involving the packing of fish. Now he thinks if he just waits, if he just does nothing at all, maybe fate will find it easier to reunite them.
His story spans fifty-four years, ten countries, two imperfect criminals (and one rather perfect one), twenty-two different animals and an annoying teenager who just…
Will…
Not…
Leave.
But maybe an annoying teenager is exactly what Jan needs to help him find the missing thief?
Featuring a menagerie of creatures, each with its own story to tell, We Are Animals is a quirky, heart-warming tale of lost love, unlikely friendships and the certainty of fate (or lack thereof).
For the first time in her life the cow noticed the sun setting, and it was glorious.
- GenresFiction
322 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 2, 2020
12 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
Tim Ewins
5 books24 followersTim always wanted to write a book. Eight years ago, he started writing a book called How to Write a Book, but after starting the first chapter he realised that he probably wasn’t the right person to write that book.
Now, a stand-up comedy career, a brief acting stint (he’s in that film Bronson, somewhere in the background) and one theatre group later, Tim’s first novel We Are Animals is due to be published in February 2020 by Lightning Books, and he could not be more chuffed.
Tim has previously written for DNA Mumbai and had two short stories highly commended and published in Michael Terence Short Story Anthologies.
To have a book published is a dream he thought would never come true, maybe next he’ll write that book about writing books… Read more about Tim and his work at https://timewins.wordpress.com/
Follow him on Instragram @timewins and @quickbooksummaries
Follow him on Twitter @EwinsTim
Now, a stand-up comedy career, a brief acting stint (he’s in that film Bronson, somewhere in the background) and one theatre group later, Tim’s first novel We Are Animals is due to be published in February 2020 by Lightning Books, and he could not be more chuffed.
Tim has previously written for DNA Mumbai and had two short stories highly commended and published in Michael Terence Short Story Anthologies.
To have a book published is a dream he thought would never come true, maybe next he’ll write that book about writing books… Read more about Tim and his work at https://timewins.wordpress.com/
Follow him on Instragram @timewins and @quickbooksummaries
Follow him on Twitter @EwinsTim
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
February 26, 2020
Jan is at a beach in Goa waiting for fate to bring him and the woman he’s in love with back together. All Jan wants is to be left alone and wait. Then he meets a teenager, Shakey, who is visiting Goa. Shakey wants to spend time with Jan. He wants to listen his story. And Jan, reluctantly at first, tells him about his travels and about the love of his life.
What a journey!!! I felt like Jan was telling his story to me and I felt like I was traveling with him.
I cried and I laughed and I fell in love with every single character! I also thought that the parallels with the animals were extremely clever and well done. The ending gave me goosebumps, it was perfect.
What a beautifully written book. I enjoyed every single minute I spent with Jan and the wonderful characters in this story.
I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.
What a journey!!! I felt like Jan was telling his story to me and I felt like I was traveling with him.
I cried and I laughed and I fell in love with every single character! I also thought that the parallels with the animals were extremely clever and well done. The ending gave me goosebumps, it was perfect.
What a beautifully written book. I enjoyed every single minute I spent with Jan and the wonderful characters in this story.
I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.
May 19, 2020
This is a delightfully comic yet tender story of long-lost love that spans fives decades and countless countries. After realising the sum of his life opportunities in the small harbour town of Fishton, Jan secretly stows away in a boat heading for foreign shores. What ensues next is a comedy of errors that leads to him meeting the love of his life - Ladyjan. Manjan and Ladyjan are young and hopeless vagabonds, both lost in their own way - one literally and one figuratively, it seems like fate keeps bringing them together. The question is - when they keep getting torn apart will they really always find each other?
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This lovely story had me laughing (and dabbing an eye) throughout. If you enjoy British humour, you will adore this sharp and quirky tale of love, friendship and yes - animals. Thank you so much to Tim for sending me a copy of his book in return for an honest review. I enjoyed every page, every chapter and every word of it! It’s so important to support new writers and this is a wonderful debut.
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You can buy this in ebook format from Amazon. I cannot wait to see what Tim writes next. A gem of a book!
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This lovely story had me laughing (and dabbing an eye) throughout. If you enjoy British humour, you will adore this sharp and quirky tale of love, friendship and yes - animals. Thank you so much to Tim for sending me a copy of his book in return for an honest review. I enjoyed every page, every chapter and every word of it! It’s so important to support new writers and this is a wonderful debut.
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You can buy this in ebook format from Amazon. I cannot wait to see what Tim writes next. A gem of a book!
March 8, 2020
I jumped at the chance to read this book because it was set in India–my home country. I was so happy to see that much of the action takes place at Palolem beach, Goa, one of my favorite beaches.
Essentially, this is a story of love, loss, and longing. “ManJan” travels the world with a feisty “LadyJan,” and they forge many friendships on the way. In a bizarre twist of fate, ManJan rediscovers each of these friendships as he revisits all the places he had gone with LadyJan. Only this time, he is looking for her and hoping that fate throws them together again.
I’m not sure how to go about describing the book because I’ve never read something like this before. The author writes in a most unconventional manner. He finds humor in the tiniest details, such as a cockroach constantly turning to its right, banging its head on the “same bit of boat” and wondering why it can’t escape.
At first, it seemed to me that the story was just absurd. But then it proceeded to become a most tender and endearing tale about friendship, love, and heartbreak. The pace is leisurely, and this may be a bit of a challenge if you’re looking for something to happen quickly. In the latter half of the book, you begin to see the connections between the seemingly isolated events happening in each chapter.
I loved the fact that there’s some commentary on homosexuality quietly tucked into the story.
Each chapter features a different creature. You read about a cow’s predilection to look at sunsets, crabs rolling sand balls (because that’s just what they do!), cockroaches taking wrong turns and getting confused, quails losing their precious eggs, and so on. The stories of the creatures have a sort of parallel to the happenings in the chapter.
The passion of youth (Shakey) and the fatigue of old age (Manjan) is well-contrasted. Manjan’s journey from “a poxy vest” to “a mustache” forms the basis of the story.
I particularly enjoyed the hilarious portrayal of things that are uniquely Indian, such as bathing in the filthy Ganges river, the holy status of the cow (until it is too old to be maintained), the “spiritual” aura of Goa’s beaches, and adults bathing in the ocean fully clothed.
We Are Animals is a sparkling debut by Tim Ewins laced with wit and humor and features some marvelous storytelling!
Essentially, this is a story of love, loss, and longing. “ManJan” travels the world with a feisty “LadyJan,” and they forge many friendships on the way. In a bizarre twist of fate, ManJan rediscovers each of these friendships as he revisits all the places he had gone with LadyJan. Only this time, he is looking for her and hoping that fate throws them together again.
I’m not sure how to go about describing the book because I’ve never read something like this before. The author writes in a most unconventional manner. He finds humor in the tiniest details, such as a cockroach constantly turning to its right, banging its head on the “same bit of boat” and wondering why it can’t escape.
At first, it seemed to me that the story was just absurd. But then it proceeded to become a most tender and endearing tale about friendship, love, and heartbreak. The pace is leisurely, and this may be a bit of a challenge if you’re looking for something to happen quickly. In the latter half of the book, you begin to see the connections between the seemingly isolated events happening in each chapter.
I loved the fact that there’s some commentary on homosexuality quietly tucked into the story.
Each chapter features a different creature. You read about a cow’s predilection to look at sunsets, crabs rolling sand balls (because that’s just what they do!), cockroaches taking wrong turns and getting confused, quails losing their precious eggs, and so on. The stories of the creatures have a sort of parallel to the happenings in the chapter.
The passion of youth (Shakey) and the fatigue of old age (Manjan) is well-contrasted. Manjan’s journey from “a poxy vest” to “a mustache” forms the basis of the story.
I particularly enjoyed the hilarious portrayal of things that are uniquely Indian, such as bathing in the filthy Ganges river, the holy status of the cow (until it is too old to be maintained), the “spiritual” aura of Goa’s beaches, and adults bathing in the ocean fully clothed.
We Are Animals is a sparkling debut by Tim Ewins laced with wit and humor and features some marvelous storytelling!
March 3, 2020
*I received a free ARC of this book with thanks to the author and Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources blog tours. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*
We Are Animals is an extraordinary story about some very ordinary people.
The story begins, and ends, on a beach (different beaches). Jan is a ‘moustache’ (older man, firmly entrenched in his opinions and resistant to change) and Sharkey is a ‘vest’ (young, full of spirit and spirits, and looking for himself at beach discos). Gradually the older man’s prickly disdain and the younger man’s gormless curiosity settle into a kind of holding pattern, and Jan begins to tell his life story, the story of his love for – and loss of – a girl (also called Jan).
Manjan’s story (to differentiate him from Ladyjan, his lady-love) is told in flashes back and forth. He starts with his very ordinary childhood in Fishton, England, and from there he recounts how he ended up travelling the world with a variety of very different companions, and how time after time Fate threw him directly into the path of Ladyjan, or she into his.
Nor was that the only coincidence that Fate had up her sleeve. Manjan’s whole story is in intricate web of unlikely coincidences, that see him travelling from England to Sweden, Russia, Poland, India, Goa (then round again) and yet keep bumping in to the same small number of people. It reminded me a little of Forrest Gump, only instead of innocently influencing world events, Manjan obliviously influences the lives of the ordinary people around him, often without even being aware that he has.
So far, so unlikely plotwise. What makes this story special, is the emotional pull it carries. Each ‘ordinary’ person that Manjan – and therefore we – meets has their hopes and dreams, sorrows and disappointments, and we find ourselves caring about them, even as they pass swiftly by. At one point I found myself crying over a small, nameless quail!
We Are Animals is a beautifully repeating pattern of small moments of happiness and sadness, mixed with plenty of humour, pathos and an unbelievable number of coincidences. It is also the story of how we touch each others lives, unknowing, as we move around the planet focused intently on our own priorities, like a cow intent on grass who finds herself on a beach, a cockroach banging up against the same wall repeatedly, or a quail who can’t stop thinking about her eggs.
Both amusing and profound, this book stands out from the crowd, and will stay with you long after the sounds of the silent disco fade.
Manjan now adopted a strict ‘no vest’ policy when it came to his story, but he had warmed somewhat to this particular vest. There was a chance that Shakey would listen. Manjan supposed that Shakey might laugh, but he doubted that he would wander off. In fact, he was beginning to doubt that Shakey would ever leave.
‘Sorry, can you start again? I wasn’t listening,’ Shakey said.
‘I hadn’t begun,’ Manjan replied.
‘Perfect.’
There was a severe lack of intelligence in Shakey, but there certainly wasn’t a lack of honesty.
Manjan sipped his wine and looked out to sea.
‘For the purposes of the story,’ he started, ‘let’s just assume that Ladyjan was fit.’
– Time Ewins, We Are Animals
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpres...
We Are Animals is an extraordinary story about some very ordinary people.
The story begins, and ends, on a beach (different beaches). Jan is a ‘moustache’ (older man, firmly entrenched in his opinions and resistant to change) and Sharkey is a ‘vest’ (young, full of spirit and spirits, and looking for himself at beach discos). Gradually the older man’s prickly disdain and the younger man’s gormless curiosity settle into a kind of holding pattern, and Jan begins to tell his life story, the story of his love for – and loss of – a girl (also called Jan).
Manjan’s story (to differentiate him from Ladyjan, his lady-love) is told in flashes back and forth. He starts with his very ordinary childhood in Fishton, England, and from there he recounts how he ended up travelling the world with a variety of very different companions, and how time after time Fate threw him directly into the path of Ladyjan, or she into his.
Nor was that the only coincidence that Fate had up her sleeve. Manjan’s whole story is in intricate web of unlikely coincidences, that see him travelling from England to Sweden, Russia, Poland, India, Goa (then round again) and yet keep bumping in to the same small number of people. It reminded me a little of Forrest Gump, only instead of innocently influencing world events, Manjan obliviously influences the lives of the ordinary people around him, often without even being aware that he has.
So far, so unlikely plotwise. What makes this story special, is the emotional pull it carries. Each ‘ordinary’ person that Manjan – and therefore we – meets has their hopes and dreams, sorrows and disappointments, and we find ourselves caring about them, even as they pass swiftly by. At one point I found myself crying over a small, nameless quail!
We Are Animals is a beautifully repeating pattern of small moments of happiness and sadness, mixed with plenty of humour, pathos and an unbelievable number of coincidences. It is also the story of how we touch each others lives, unknowing, as we move around the planet focused intently on our own priorities, like a cow intent on grass who finds herself on a beach, a cockroach banging up against the same wall repeatedly, or a quail who can’t stop thinking about her eggs.
Both amusing and profound, this book stands out from the crowd, and will stay with you long after the sounds of the silent disco fade.
Manjan now adopted a strict ‘no vest’ policy when it came to his story, but he had warmed somewhat to this particular vest. There was a chance that Shakey would listen. Manjan supposed that Shakey might laugh, but he doubted that he would wander off. In fact, he was beginning to doubt that Shakey would ever leave.
‘Sorry, can you start again? I wasn’t listening,’ Shakey said.
‘I hadn’t begun,’ Manjan replied.
‘Perfect.’
There was a severe lack of intelligence in Shakey, but there certainly wasn’t a lack of honesty.
Manjan sipped his wine and looked out to sea.
‘For the purposes of the story,’ he started, ‘let’s just assume that Ladyjan was fit.’
– Time Ewins, We Are Animals
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpres...
March 20, 2020
I loved how well this story weaved together – What starts off as a tale of lost love soon turns much deeper, showing how fate and chance can cause our paths to cross at just the right moment. Not just with the two Jans, but all the supporting characters, too. No matter how large the world may be, everyone in this story seemed to fall together in the right place, the right time. All the interwoven segments of the various animals just seemed to fit so well with the story, too. My heart still breaks for the little quail.
Coming from an area where a lot of my school mates took off on the infamous ‘Gap Year’, Jans blunt descriptions of the ‘vests’ he encounters on his travels did make me chuckle. Young, naive travellers all convinced they’re going to find their true selves on some tropical beach as they hand out night club flyers.
Reading through this as Jan and his various companions travel all over the world, it only strengthened my own passion for travel. It came across as such a realistic portrayal of travelling; all the characters you can meet, some nice and some not so much, the highs and lows of exploring but being away from home. It wasn’t some fairytale perfect holiday, which made it all the more enjoyable to read. Things go wrong, people get in trouble, relationships fall apart and fall together again.
Amongst all the little side stories within this novel, my favourite had to be the tale of Ebba and Olivia. I won’t spoil it here, but I will say it was both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. I can’t wait to see more from Tim Ewins and see what he writes next!
Coming from an area where a lot of my school mates took off on the infamous ‘Gap Year’, Jans blunt descriptions of the ‘vests’ he encounters on his travels did make me chuckle. Young, naive travellers all convinced they’re going to find their true selves on some tropical beach as they hand out night club flyers.
Reading through this as Jan and his various companions travel all over the world, it only strengthened my own passion for travel. It came across as such a realistic portrayal of travelling; all the characters you can meet, some nice and some not so much, the highs and lows of exploring but being away from home. It wasn’t some fairytale perfect holiday, which made it all the more enjoyable to read. Things go wrong, people get in trouble, relationships fall apart and fall together again.
Amongst all the little side stories within this novel, my favourite had to be the tale of Ebba and Olivia. I won’t spoil it here, but I will say it was both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. I can’t wait to see more from Tim Ewins and see what he writes next!
March 23, 2020
Okay, so I kind of just took a leap with We Are Animals and I’m glad I did. What a funny, heartfelt, and entertaining story!
I absolutely loved each of the characters, but Jan really took me on his journey. I laughed and cried with these characters and it takes a bit to get me emotional during a book.
Really loved everything about this book. It’s about small moments and ordinary people, which makes it just so compelling to read. I love the mix of emotions and absolutely loved the characters too.
Highly recommended!
Rating:
5/5☆
*I received a free copy of this book from Rachel’s Random Resources in exchange for an honest review on the blog tour. All opinions are my own and unbiased.*
I absolutely loved each of the characters, but Jan really took me on his journey. I laughed and cried with these characters and it takes a bit to get me emotional during a book.
Really loved everything about this book. It’s about small moments and ordinary people, which makes it just so compelling to read. I love the mix of emotions and absolutely loved the characters too.
Highly recommended!
Rating:
5/5☆
*I received a free copy of this book from Rachel’s Random Resources in exchange for an honest review on the blog tour. All opinions are my own and unbiased.*
March 21, 2020
It really is one of the better books I have read in 2020, it had humor, sadness and adventure. Being able to follow Jan's life in different perspectives and back and forth and from different time periods made the book even better. To follow Ladyjan, Manjan, Hylad (Nigel!), Michael and [Man]Jan's parents meant that you got closer to the characters and that you yourself were put down when someone was hurt. I had a few moments when I stared at the iPad and whispered no to myself, but also moments when I laughed - mainly to Jan who wanted to go on an adventure and thought he had traveled to Norway when he was in fact a distance (two towns i think) from his hometown. Really recommend reading this, I will probably read it again myself a couple of times!
June 3, 2020
"A story with just the right balance of absolutely bonkers and utterly profound". Full review on Have You Read This.
March 21, 2020
I Did enjoy this book, but I get the distinct feeling there was A Point to it which i have missed entirely. It was funny and quirky and i very much liked reading it, but because i couldn't really tell what the book trying to say the end wound up feeling a little lacklustre.
March 17, 2020
This book really got me. I hardly ever finish a book and think I'd like to read that again soon, but I would really like to read this again soon.
It's clever, funny, silly and deep. I don't know how to explain why, but it reminds me of Jonas Jonasson's 100 Year Old Man books.
I was sorry when this book ended. I am hoping for a Part 2!
It's clever, funny, silly and deep. I don't know how to explain why, but it reminds me of Jonas Jonasson's 100 Year Old Man books.
I was sorry when this book ended. I am hoping for a Part 2!
March 4, 2020
The imagery in this book is clever and enhances the everyday occurrences, making them something special. The description of the beach and its users seen through Manjan’s eyes is the first example of this. The people and the cow, all have an opinion and a purpose, as they share events from their lives. The animals' actions and thoughts mirror the people throughout the book.
Manjan’s story is poignant and serendipitous. The author makes many of his astute observations through the man who has spent much of his life waiting. There is a balance of humour and sadness, which lets the reader appreciate the emotion and comical aspects of the story. Retrospectively, you learn how Jan ends up the beach in Goa. The people he meets along the way are diverse, and all add to his life journey. The characters are well written, they are authentic and relatable, and make this character-driven tale interesting.
Even if like me, you haven’t visited the places in the book, or didn’t live through the late twentieth century, which I did. the immersive story lets you experience each place and time, through its animal and human characters, and vivid imagery.
The hopeful ending encompasses the quirky nature of the story, whilst achieving a sense of completeness.
I received a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.
Manjan’s story is poignant and serendipitous. The author makes many of his astute observations through the man who has spent much of his life waiting. There is a balance of humour and sadness, which lets the reader appreciate the emotion and comical aspects of the story. Retrospectively, you learn how Jan ends up the beach in Goa. The people he meets along the way are diverse, and all add to his life journey. The characters are well written, they are authentic and relatable, and make this character-driven tale interesting.
Even if like me, you haven’t visited the places in the book, or didn’t live through the late twentieth century, which I did. the immersive story lets you experience each place and time, through its animal and human characters, and vivid imagery.
The hopeful ending encompasses the quirky nature of the story, whilst achieving a sense of completeness.
I received a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.
February 15, 2020
I loved it. Seriously smart, heartfelt and original with a good dollop (love that word) of humour thrown in. I read it in one and will definitely reread it. 5 stars.
March 7, 2020
If you love quirky then you’ll adore this very different, witty, poignant, clever book.
Two unlikely companions are thrown together: one older, somewhat set in his ways these days although he’s been anything but conventional in his younger years, and one a younger, rather callow youth. But their being together allows us to hear Jan’s stories and encounter some wonderful animal characters.
The novel is about ships passing in the night, how lives are touched by even the briefest and apparently most innocuous of encounters. We too often blunder along, thinking only of ourselves and things we want, and this can have all sorts of knock-on effects on those around us. There are lots of marvellous coincidences in the story that add both fun and richness.
It’s such a readable and thought-provoking book that you’ll find it hard to put down. It’s a fresh, sweetly touching novel that will twang your heartstrings whilst making you smile.
Two unlikely companions are thrown together: one older, somewhat set in his ways these days although he’s been anything but conventional in his younger years, and one a younger, rather callow youth. But their being together allows us to hear Jan’s stories and encounter some wonderful animal characters.
The novel is about ships passing in the night, how lives are touched by even the briefest and apparently most innocuous of encounters. We too often blunder along, thinking only of ourselves and things we want, and this can have all sorts of knock-on effects on those around us. There are lots of marvellous coincidences in the story that add both fun and richness.
It’s such a readable and thought-provoking book that you’ll find it hard to put down. It’s a fresh, sweetly touching novel that will twang your heartstrings whilst making you smile.
March 13, 2020
A book that will stay with you long after you've finished reading. Highly recommend.
July 13, 2025
3.5
different from what i usually read. it's a little ridiculous but fun. the ending didn't satisfy me though.
different from what i usually read. it's a little ridiculous but fun. the ending didn't satisfy me though.
August 9, 2021
I just finished up an advanced copy of this book and I am so glad to have been contacted by Tim for our collaboration. I otherwise may not have heard about this novel for a little while, but like the novel says, it’s fate. I love the humor and realism in this story. It seems wild at times, but still very possible. And the humor sprinkled throughout gives the reader a nice pick me up throughout the entirety of the story. Another aspect of the book that I loved is that everyone is interconnected. “People are like coils and they always spring back to each other eventually.”
If you haven’t read this book yet, read it! And if you want an advanced copy, visit Dose of Literature on Etsy for a customized We Are Animals book box.
If you haven’t read this book yet, read it! And if you want an advanced copy, visit Dose of Literature on Etsy for a customized We Are Animals book box.
June 23, 2021
Entertaining read. It has a certain vernacular, other reviews have called it quirky or whimsical, but it’s voice is unique but it’s also tiring at 300 pages. It really never stops or changes lol. It looks to it’s left. It looks to it’s right. For 300 pages. It could’ve got to the same place maybe for 150.
July 28, 2021
Another useful one for the Matt Haig lot
April 1, 2020
This is not the simple, feel good novel about love and loss it could have been. It's much better than that.
You follow Jan as he travels through life and across the world in search of meaning, adventure and the people that mean the most to him. It's actually difficult to summarise the plot of this book without giving too much away - the unpredictability of the plot is one of its charms - so I will leave it to you to find out.
We Are Animals is supremely funny but it also seamlessly weaves it's way through the whole spectrum of human emotion. Characters begin to feel like old friends and you find yourself cheering them on, willing them to succeed in whatever seemingly impossible task they're trying to fulfill now. There are times of deep sorrow in this book but joy and hope continue to shine through.
You follow Jan as he travels through life and across the world in search of meaning, adventure and the people that mean the most to him. It's actually difficult to summarise the plot of this book without giving too much away - the unpredictability of the plot is one of its charms - so I will leave it to you to find out.
We Are Animals is supremely funny but it also seamlessly weaves it's way through the whole spectrum of human emotion. Characters begin to feel like old friends and you find yourself cheering them on, willing them to succeed in whatever seemingly impossible task they're trying to fulfill now. There are times of deep sorrow in this book but joy and hope continue to shine through.
May 3, 2020
What a funny, heart-warming and surprising book this was. This is the story of Jan, who after many years travelling and searching for his lost love (also) Jan, has set up a life in Goa, India to wait for her to come to him. Telling his story to Shakey, readers are transported through decades of ManJan’s life to where he is now. We learn of the places he’s been and the people he’s met to get to where he is now; looking left and right in a beach in India.
The novel is the right mix of humour and emotion. The story seems so absurd at its beginning, partly due to Shakey who seems the typical “Gap Year” teenager, but as it progresses it becomes so much more. It is one of love and loss and hope and fate, and how lives are touched and changed by passing encounters. It also highlights the missed opportunities, Jan has spend decades searching and waiting for LadyJan, but how much of life has he missed out on whilst doing this?
The writing is so clever and witty that I found myself laughing out loud at points. One of my favourite sections was a young Jan running away from the tedious job he expects to grow up to do, and the place where he ends up. There are some brilliant characters in this book, personal favourites were Shakey, Kalem and Hyland. Even characters who are briefly in the story we care about; we find out their lives and dreams in no more than a paragraph or two (including some of the twenty-two animals mentioned in this novel).
I would recommend We Are Animals if you are looking for something different and unique.
The novel is the right mix of humour and emotion. The story seems so absurd at its beginning, partly due to Shakey who seems the typical “Gap Year” teenager, but as it progresses it becomes so much more. It is one of love and loss and hope and fate, and how lives are touched and changed by passing encounters. It also highlights the missed opportunities, Jan has spend decades searching and waiting for LadyJan, but how much of life has he missed out on whilst doing this?
The writing is so clever and witty that I found myself laughing out loud at points. One of my favourite sections was a young Jan running away from the tedious job he expects to grow up to do, and the place where he ends up. There are some brilliant characters in this book, personal favourites were Shakey, Kalem and Hyland. Even characters who are briefly in the story we care about; we find out their lives and dreams in no more than a paragraph or two (including some of the twenty-two animals mentioned in this novel).
I would recommend We Are Animals if you are looking for something different and unique.
May 10, 2020
From its title, you may think this book is a retelling of Noah’s Ark, or it may even conjure up images from a certain song by Bloodhound Gang, making you wonder if there’s a naughty theme in there somewhere - but it’s neither of these. Not really anyway. It’s a love story - a love story of love stories. It has alcohol and sunsets, exotic places and simple pleasures. It’s the best kind of love story - one of friendship and strong bonds.
The central story is between two Jans, a boy and a girl, who become world travellers, both together and apart. But it is their togetherness that the book yearns for, and which one of the Jans (Manjan) is hoping to encounter again. For, at the opening of the book he is standing on a beach in Goa, waiting for a sighting of the girl (Ladyjan) who stole his heart and his passport in 1970, and whom he now hasn’t seen in thirty-eight years. As the sixty-four year old Manjan sits, sipping his red wine, a young traveller named Shakey approaches, inviting him to a silent disco, and what follows is a somewhat reluctant recounting of the significant bits of Manjan’s life to a somewhat distracted listener.
We Are Animals is a homage to both the enthusiastic and the weary traveller. It’s about escaping, and searching for something you think you want, but discovering something else. It’s about finding what you didn’t know you wanted and then losing the only thing that mattered. It’s about holding on and letting go. These themes repeat throughout the book and it’s quite cathartic. It has a certain and poignant truth to it that I found very life affirming.
The tale of Manjan and Ladyjan is humorously told by its author, Tim Ewins, a part time comedian. You have to be funny to be a comedian and Tim is exactly that. The prose is flawless in its wittiness. Gentle sarcasm, observational humour, and much attention to detail make his debut novel a joy to read. The main story is interspersed with tales - the joys and woes - of different animals along the way. They are all hugely lovable and their individual narratives are quite emotional. It’s such a touching portrait of life - of the ordinary person and the ordinary animal - caressing your feelings of empathy and compassion, while also tickling your insides with merriment. I’m a huge fan of humorous writing and here I’ve found a king. We Are Animals is a book that will break your heart a little, warm your cockles a lot, and have you giggling into your beverage of choice. Five stars.
The central story is between two Jans, a boy and a girl, who become world travellers, both together and apart. But it is their togetherness that the book yearns for, and which one of the Jans (Manjan) is hoping to encounter again. For, at the opening of the book he is standing on a beach in Goa, waiting for a sighting of the girl (Ladyjan) who stole his heart and his passport in 1970, and whom he now hasn’t seen in thirty-eight years. As the sixty-four year old Manjan sits, sipping his red wine, a young traveller named Shakey approaches, inviting him to a silent disco, and what follows is a somewhat reluctant recounting of the significant bits of Manjan’s life to a somewhat distracted listener.
We Are Animals is a homage to both the enthusiastic and the weary traveller. It’s about escaping, and searching for something you think you want, but discovering something else. It’s about finding what you didn’t know you wanted and then losing the only thing that mattered. It’s about holding on and letting go. These themes repeat throughout the book and it’s quite cathartic. It has a certain and poignant truth to it that I found very life affirming.
The tale of Manjan and Ladyjan is humorously told by its author, Tim Ewins, a part time comedian. You have to be funny to be a comedian and Tim is exactly that. The prose is flawless in its wittiness. Gentle sarcasm, observational humour, and much attention to detail make his debut novel a joy to read. The main story is interspersed with tales - the joys and woes - of different animals along the way. They are all hugely lovable and their individual narratives are quite emotional. It’s such a touching portrait of life - of the ordinary person and the ordinary animal - caressing your feelings of empathy and compassion, while also tickling your insides with merriment. I’m a huge fan of humorous writing and here I’ve found a king. We Are Animals is a book that will break your heart a little, warm your cockles a lot, and have you giggling into your beverage of choice. Five stars.
March 22, 2020
This was a delightful story about lost love and the stories we tell over and over. A feel good read that left me feeling happy. (Before that I was not as happy, and the story was much more effective than coffee, as I do not particularly like coffee.)
The writing style was humourous, but sincere. Overall, it was a touching story about how all of us have an animal desire for companionship.
The writing style was humourous, but sincere. Overall, it was a touching story about how all of us have an animal desire for companionship.
December 19, 2021
This is a difficult book to review for the simple fact it’s so deceptively multi-layered and yet quite straightforward, my words won’t do it justice.
This is a book that will make you laugh, make you cry, but most of all make you reflective and hopeful. It’s a quick book to read, and one that will stay with you forever- the kind of book where you underline passages and write them in your journal.
If you crossed Amelie with James Michner’s The Drifters (and cut out about 150000 words of crap - especially the last turd oops, I mean third of that book), and added a touch of the best UK nature writing (I’m thinking Robert MacFarlane), then you’d have something like close to We Are Animals.
The book follows the travels & life of Jan (Manjan) who leaves his predictable, insulated life in an English fishing village and follows his heart to Norway. There, he falls in love with the girl who steals his passport - also called Jan (Ladyjan)- in Norway, and they stow away on a boat and find themselves on a journey which leads to Russia. In Russia, Ladyjan flees her feelings for Manjan. Years later, they find each other in India, and then lose each other again.
Manjan ends up spending decades in Goa on Palolem Beach, waiting for Ladyjan to reappear. He relates everything I’ve told you so far, to Shakey, an English lad who’s surprisingly like Manjan’s younger self. By this time, Manjan is in his 60s, still looking for the love of his life.
Woven into each chapter is an animal character. I’m just going to say the cockroach and the quail will break your heart. The cow and the puppy will make you whole.
We Are Animals is partly a search for love and one’s place in the world, partly about the messiness of life, a message that life is not always the fairytale ending the movies give us, and most of all, a search for who we really are.
Many thanks to Lightning Books and Tim Ewins for the ARC.
This is a book that will make you laugh, make you cry, but most of all make you reflective and hopeful. It’s a quick book to read, and one that will stay with you forever- the kind of book where you underline passages and write them in your journal.
If you crossed Amelie with James Michner’s The Drifters (and cut out about 150000 words of crap - especially the last turd oops, I mean third of that book), and added a touch of the best UK nature writing (I’m thinking Robert MacFarlane), then you’d have something like close to We Are Animals.
The book follows the travels & life of Jan (Manjan) who leaves his predictable, insulated life in an English fishing village and follows his heart to Norway. There, he falls in love with the girl who steals his passport - also called Jan (Ladyjan)- in Norway, and they stow away on a boat and find themselves on a journey which leads to Russia. In Russia, Ladyjan flees her feelings for Manjan. Years later, they find each other in India, and then lose each other again.
Manjan ends up spending decades in Goa on Palolem Beach, waiting for Ladyjan to reappear. He relates everything I’ve told you so far, to Shakey, an English lad who’s surprisingly like Manjan’s younger self. By this time, Manjan is in his 60s, still looking for the love of his life.
Woven into each chapter is an animal character. I’m just going to say the cockroach and the quail will break your heart. The cow and the puppy will make you whole.
We Are Animals is partly a search for love and one’s place in the world, partly about the messiness of life, a message that life is not always the fairytale ending the movies give us, and most of all, a search for who we really are.
Many thanks to Lightning Books and Tim Ewins for the ARC.
May 11, 2020
I've managed to start reading again and am so glad I started whittling my TBR pile with Tim Ewins' book.
Shades of Tom Robbins! What a ride.
The same looniness, wisdom, and a cow.
Bravo!
Shades of Tom Robbins! What a ride.
The same looniness, wisdom, and a cow.
Bravo!
June 26, 2020
Great story
It has taken me awhile to read this with all the interruptions in my life. I am glad I found it and glad to have read it. I greatly enjoyed all of the interwoven stories. The author also effortlessly moves in between past and present. That is not something everyone can do well. I highly recommend this book and love how open the ending(s) is/are. I also love the evolution from vest to mustache.
It has taken me awhile to read this with all the interruptions in my life. I am glad I found it and glad to have read it. I greatly enjoyed all of the interwoven stories. The author also effortlessly moves in between past and present. That is not something everyone can do well. I highly recommend this book and love how open the ending(s) is/are. I also love the evolution from vest to mustache.
July 30, 2021
Today is my stop on the SquadPod blogtour for 𝗪𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗠𝗔𝗟𝗦 by Tim Ewins. Thank you to Elspells for organising this fabulous tour, for which I did purchase the book.
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𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. 𝗜𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁, 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆. 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲. 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲'𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘁.
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We Are Animals is such a lovely story, and a real gem of a book.
The main plot focuses on a man named Jan (Manjan) who falls in love with a woman named Jan (Ladyjan) and how fate brings them into each others' lives multiple times. But will they be reunited one final time so they can spend the rest of their lives together?
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𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀. 𝗛𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻'𝘀 𝗿𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗮𝘀𝗵.
'𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁? 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲'𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂.'
'𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟴. 𝗜 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟴...'
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The story itself spans decades, with Manjan recounting details of his life to a younger chap named Shakey, while they are on a beach in India, watching the sun set and drinking wine and buckets of vodka red bull.
There are elements of these character interactions that were genuinely hilarious, and that also reflect honestly on society, and how people behave towards one another - especially the divide between young people and older people.
I especially loved the fact that the story essentially starts with Manjan running away from home as a young boy to seek adventure, rather than facing a life packing fish into boxes as a job. Little does he know that he will end up right back where he started, and that this job will be a common reoccurance throughout his life regardless of where he lives.
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𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼. 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵𝘁𝗼𝗻, 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵𝘁𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵𝘁𝗼𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵.
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There are parallels and in-jokes throughout the whole story which add both lightness and humour, and also real poignancy and tenderness. Surprisingly for such a funny book, I did cry at several points.
Ewins has a real talent for conveying true emotion between the characters, and for making you care about what happens to them. They really feel as though they live outside of the story and that what you are reading on the pages of this book are just a small glipse into a broader and richer life.
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𝗛𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗝𝗮𝗻'𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝘁.
'𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗲.'
'𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗜 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲.'
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Interspersed between the main plot are stories from the viewpoint of lots of different animals.
While this might sound a little unusual, it actually worked really well, and it felt like these were flash fictions or short stories that were woven into the main body of the story.
They also added to the depiction of each characters' personality - if you were on a boat with a cockroach, would you try to squash it (like Michael) or save it (like Manjan)?
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𝗔 𝗰𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗮, 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀 ... 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘄 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀.
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One final thing I want to touch on, as it was genuinely one of my favourite parts in the book, is the relationship between Nigel (Hylad) and Michael.
I'll let you read the book rather than giving anything away as a spoiler, but this particular relationship (along with the relationship between Ebba and Olivia) was told with such tenderness, and the representation of these characters is so important.
Often older LGBTQIA+ characters aren't well represented in books, or they aren't represented in a truthful way, but their stories felt real and honest, and the book was so much better for it.
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𝗜𝗻 𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟬 𝗘𝗯𝗯𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘆. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲.
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There is so much captured within We Are Animals: lost love; biological and chosen family; the importance of friendship; crime and thriller, and; the macrocosm of life and fate versus the microcosm of each small life, that impacts others in so many ways.
Overall, the book did leave me feeling hopeful. Everyone will experience some loss and sadness in their lives, but through the connections we make, none of us are really all that different.
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'𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 ... 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸.'
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I would highly recommend We Are Animals by Tim Ewins, and would absolutely read more from him in the future.
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𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. 𝗜𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁, 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆. 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲. 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲'𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘁.
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We Are Animals is such a lovely story, and a real gem of a book.
The main plot focuses on a man named Jan (Manjan) who falls in love with a woman named Jan (Ladyjan) and how fate brings them into each others' lives multiple times. But will they be reunited one final time so they can spend the rest of their lives together?
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𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀. 𝗛𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻'𝘀 𝗿𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗮𝘀𝗵.
'𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁? 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲'𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂.'
'𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟴. 𝗜 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟴...'
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The story itself spans decades, with Manjan recounting details of his life to a younger chap named Shakey, while they are on a beach in India, watching the sun set and drinking wine and buckets of vodka red bull.
There are elements of these character interactions that were genuinely hilarious, and that also reflect honestly on society, and how people behave towards one another - especially the divide between young people and older people.
I especially loved the fact that the story essentially starts with Manjan running away from home as a young boy to seek adventure, rather than facing a life packing fish into boxes as a job. Little does he know that he will end up right back where he started, and that this job will be a common reoccurance throughout his life regardless of where he lives.
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𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼. 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵𝘁𝗼𝗻, 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵𝘁𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵𝘁𝗼𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵.
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There are parallels and in-jokes throughout the whole story which add both lightness and humour, and also real poignancy and tenderness. Surprisingly for such a funny book, I did cry at several points.
Ewins has a real talent for conveying true emotion between the characters, and for making you care about what happens to them. They really feel as though they live outside of the story and that what you are reading on the pages of this book are just a small glipse into a broader and richer life.
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𝗛𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗝𝗮𝗻'𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝘁.
'𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗲.'
'𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗜 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲.'
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Interspersed between the main plot are stories from the viewpoint of lots of different animals.
While this might sound a little unusual, it actually worked really well, and it felt like these were flash fictions or short stories that were woven into the main body of the story.
They also added to the depiction of each characters' personality - if you were on a boat with a cockroach, would you try to squash it (like Michael) or save it (like Manjan)?
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𝗔 𝗰𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗮, 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀 ... 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘄 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀.
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One final thing I want to touch on, as it was genuinely one of my favourite parts in the book, is the relationship between Nigel (Hylad) and Michael.
I'll let you read the book rather than giving anything away as a spoiler, but this particular relationship (along with the relationship between Ebba and Olivia) was told with such tenderness, and the representation of these characters is so important.
Often older LGBTQIA+ characters aren't well represented in books, or they aren't represented in a truthful way, but their stories felt real and honest, and the book was so much better for it.
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𝗜𝗻 𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟬 𝗘𝗯𝗯𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘆. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲.
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There is so much captured within We Are Animals: lost love; biological and chosen family; the importance of friendship; crime and thriller, and; the macrocosm of life and fate versus the microcosm of each small life, that impacts others in so many ways.
Overall, the book did leave me feeling hopeful. Everyone will experience some loss and sadness in their lives, but through the connections we make, none of us are really all that different.
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'𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 ... 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸.'
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I would highly recommend We Are Animals by Tim Ewins, and would absolutely read more from him in the future.
April 28, 2020
Absolutely fantastic! Just what I needed to read at the moment. It's fun, emotional, clever, funny and is such a feel good story! I loved it.
I hope Tim Ewins is writting his second novel because I'm looking forward to reading it already!
I hope Tim Ewins is writting his second novel because I'm looking forward to reading it already!
July 19, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the humorous style of writing. It would've been 5 stars but I dropped a star because I really wanted to see Manjan and Ladyjan reunite! The fact that I wanted this does show that these were characters to care about!
July 26, 2021
This is an enchanting love story that starts with a cow looking out to sea on a beach in Goa. Sharing her beach are a number of beach bars, a few tourists (mostly of the young gap-year kind, referred to as 'vests'), and one sixty-four-year-old man called Jan (hereafter referred to as ManJan) who is waiting patiently for the love of his life to return to him - a woman who is co-incidentally also called Jan (hereafter called LadyJan), who he has not seen for thirty-eight years.
As ManJan waits, sipping reflectively at his glass of red wine, he is approached by one of the 'vests' called Shakey, who is intent on selling him a ticket for the upcoming silent disco. ManJan is not keen, but Shakey is persistent, and they somehow end up falling into conversation about why ManJan spends his days waiting on this particular beach, so very far from his roots in the small sea-side town of Fishton, England.
And so unfolds the tale of the epic romance between the two Jans, interspersed with events on the Goan beach and little asides about the animal life, as ManJan narrates the history of their relationship - starting with the episode in 1970 when LadyJan stole his passport in Sweden, after he and his fishermen friends Hylad (not his real name, but a monicker that seems to have stuck) and Michael accidentally miss Norway and end up in the wrong country.
What follows is a globetrotting caper spanning Europe, Russia and India, incorporating all sorts of absurd situations, and weird and wonderful characters, in which destiny dictates the two Jans will keep bumping into each other until their relationship blossoms. But, as we well know, the course of true love does not run smooth, and the hard knocks inflicted by tragedy eventually prove too much to bear. How will the lovers ever find their way back to each other, and is Shakey just a pesky 'vest' or actually the catalyst that will reunite them?
In We Are Animals Tim Ewins manages to pull together an almost surreal collection of vivid characters, of both human and animal form, to produce a quirky, humorous novel about love, friendship, connection and the vagaries of fate.
The story is set on an epic stage with a whole smorgasbord (very apt for a big chunk of this story) of intriguing locations, from the quiet tedium of Fishton, all the way to the exotic, bustling streets of India, via all sorts of fascinating places in between. Against these backdrops, a cast of players drawn from all walks of life, give us a glimpse into their worlds, delving into their feelings, hopes and dreams, whenever they touch the lives of ManJan and LadyJan. I particularly enjoyed the way Ewins explores some very deep themes by cleverly combining the human and animal elements, with the animal vignettes so beautifully mirroring the emotional essence of the human situations throughout - quite brilliant.
I think it's fair to say that you do need to buy into Ewins' brand of humour, enjoy a smattering of absurdity, and appreciate the off-beat format to get the best out of this book. There are chuckles galore, balanced out with moments of loss, grief and heart-ache that come with any book that looks closely at the human condition, and the threads of the story come together delightfully at the end. Imagine, if you will, a case of Danny Boyle does Matt Haig, with delicious flashes of Douglas Adams, and you might be approaching something of the way the laughs mingle so well with the poignant and uplifting moments to produce something profoundly touching and really rather lovely - for me, it is a winning combination!
As ManJan waits, sipping reflectively at his glass of red wine, he is approached by one of the 'vests' called Shakey, who is intent on selling him a ticket for the upcoming silent disco. ManJan is not keen, but Shakey is persistent, and they somehow end up falling into conversation about why ManJan spends his days waiting on this particular beach, so very far from his roots in the small sea-side town of Fishton, England.
And so unfolds the tale of the epic romance between the two Jans, interspersed with events on the Goan beach and little asides about the animal life, as ManJan narrates the history of their relationship - starting with the episode in 1970 when LadyJan stole his passport in Sweden, after he and his fishermen friends Hylad (not his real name, but a monicker that seems to have stuck) and Michael accidentally miss Norway and end up in the wrong country.
What follows is a globetrotting caper spanning Europe, Russia and India, incorporating all sorts of absurd situations, and weird and wonderful characters, in which destiny dictates the two Jans will keep bumping into each other until their relationship blossoms. But, as we well know, the course of true love does not run smooth, and the hard knocks inflicted by tragedy eventually prove too much to bear. How will the lovers ever find their way back to each other, and is Shakey just a pesky 'vest' or actually the catalyst that will reunite them?
In We Are Animals Tim Ewins manages to pull together an almost surreal collection of vivid characters, of both human and animal form, to produce a quirky, humorous novel about love, friendship, connection and the vagaries of fate.
The story is set on an epic stage with a whole smorgasbord (very apt for a big chunk of this story) of intriguing locations, from the quiet tedium of Fishton, all the way to the exotic, bustling streets of India, via all sorts of fascinating places in between. Against these backdrops, a cast of players drawn from all walks of life, give us a glimpse into their worlds, delving into their feelings, hopes and dreams, whenever they touch the lives of ManJan and LadyJan. I particularly enjoyed the way Ewins explores some very deep themes by cleverly combining the human and animal elements, with the animal vignettes so beautifully mirroring the emotional essence of the human situations throughout - quite brilliant.
I think it's fair to say that you do need to buy into Ewins' brand of humour, enjoy a smattering of absurdity, and appreciate the off-beat format to get the best out of this book. There are chuckles galore, balanced out with moments of loss, grief and heart-ache that come with any book that looks closely at the human condition, and the threads of the story come together delightfully at the end. Imagine, if you will, a case of Danny Boyle does Matt Haig, with delicious flashes of Douglas Adams, and you might be approaching something of the way the laughs mingle so well with the poignant and uplifting moments to produce something profoundly touching and really rather lovely - for me, it is a winning combination!
March 5, 2020
The writing style reminds me of GOOD OMENS and ANIMAL FARM. It is very unique and whimsical.
The characters are lovable and they pull you into the story. They kept propelling it forward in a way that I couldn't put the book down.
The imagery in this book is also powerful. It gave me a strong vibe of an A24 movie.
And the symbolism... stunning.
I give this 5 out of 5 stars! Thank you to the author for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The characters are lovable and they pull you into the story. They kept propelling it forward in a way that I couldn't put the book down.
The imagery in this book is also powerful. It gave me a strong vibe of an A24 movie.
And the symbolism... stunning.
I give this 5 out of 5 stars! Thank you to the author for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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