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Thirsty Animals
The world is running out of water.
Aida is forced back home to live on the farm with her mum. For now, they are safe with enough to get by.
But Aida's life continues to change. The service station she works at grows emptier with each day, and suspicious strangers arrive on the farm who are beginning to overstay their welcome. And with the horrific scenes she witnessed at the border - between those with water and those without - she wonders how it could get any worse.
And then their taps are turned off.
Everything Aida and her disjointed family have been preparing for, and Aida thought impossible, is happening. Now they must try and survive long enough for the rain to come.
Aida is forced back home to live on the farm with her mum. For now, they are safe with enough to get by.
But Aida's life continues to change. The service station she works at grows emptier with each day, and suspicious strangers arrive on the farm who are beginning to overstay their welcome. And with the horrific scenes she witnessed at the border - between those with water and those without - she wonders how it could get any worse.
And then their taps are turned off.
Everything Aida and her disjointed family have been preparing for, and Aida thought impossible, is happening. Now they must try and survive long enough for the rain to come.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published March 16, 2023
22 people are currently reading
809 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
December 18, 2022
Rachelle Atalla gives us another dystopian view of the future this time with a world running out of water. Aida is forced back home to live on the family farm with her mother Miriam and Uncle Bobby. She works in a service station six miles from the English border where things on that side are so bad there’s attempted mass migration to Scotland which is curbed by stringent restrictions. Supplies in the service station dwindle daily with drinks such as bottled water costing an arm and a leg. There’s been no rain for over a year and the previous five have been unbelievably hot leading to severe drought conditions, nothing can grow and so there’s nothing to feed the animals. One day, strangers arrive at the farm seeking help with Miriam being especially suspicious of them. Are her concerns valid? Can things actually get any worse?
The premise of the novel is good as it presents a view of the world that is sadly all too possible to accept given the heat of our previous summer but it’s inevitably dark, bleak and depressing at times. However, despite this I get pulled deeper and deeper into the storytelling as I really begin to care about Aida and her family. The water situation is the raison d’être for all the reactions and dynamics that arise which causes understandable fear and suspicion of strangers. There’s plenty of tension and characters anxiety pulses off the pages. The danger of the situations both within and without the farm escalate with some things being beyond their control and so their helplessness and powerlessness is palpable with shocking, sinister overtones. In places I find it heartbreaking and sad particularly the inevitable consequences for the farm of the lack of water. The plot builds and you get some revelations you don’t see coming that really jolt you. The ending is dramatic but feels right.
This is a very thought provoking read, it’s inevitably not an easy one but the dynamics the author creates are fascinating especially between Aida and Miriam who are both very complex characters and not immediately likeable. It is extremely well written and I do get used to the lack of punctuation for the dialogue! (It’s punctuated apart from that!!)
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
The premise of the novel is good as it presents a view of the world that is sadly all too possible to accept given the heat of our previous summer but it’s inevitably dark, bleak and depressing at times. However, despite this I get pulled deeper and deeper into the storytelling as I really begin to care about Aida and her family. The water situation is the raison d’être for all the reactions and dynamics that arise which causes understandable fear and suspicion of strangers. There’s plenty of tension and characters anxiety pulses off the pages. The danger of the situations both within and without the farm escalate with some things being beyond their control and so their helplessness and powerlessness is palpable with shocking, sinister overtones. In places I find it heartbreaking and sad particularly the inevitable consequences for the farm of the lack of water. The plot builds and you get some revelations you don’t see coming that really jolt you. The ending is dramatic but feels right.
This is a very thought provoking read, it’s inevitably not an easy one but the dynamics the author creates are fascinating especially between Aida and Miriam who are both very complex characters and not immediately likeable. It is extremely well written and I do get used to the lack of punctuation for the dialogue! (It’s punctuated apart from that!!)
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
March 28, 2023
Climate fiction painfully and brilliantly close to home
Couldn’t put it down after I got into the story, a really poignant look at what people can do for each other and be for each other.
Couldn’t put it down after I got into the story, a really poignant look at what people can do for each other and be for each other.
January 4, 2023
I challenge anyone not to cry while reading this book!
I loved everything about this heart-wrenching, terrifying novel. The fear experienced by characters was so real to me that it actually made me thirsty whenever I read it, just to imagine how frightening a severe global drought would be. This isn't just a clichéd story about the resilience of human nature, it shows how quickly civilised society can unravel and how selfish and cruel people can be when put under extreme pressure.
Without a doubt, this is a book that will stick with me for a while...
I loved everything about this heart-wrenching, terrifying novel. The fear experienced by characters was so real to me that it actually made me thirsty whenever I read it, just to imagine how frightening a severe global drought would be. This isn't just a clichéd story about the resilience of human nature, it shows how quickly civilised society can unravel and how selfish and cruel people can be when put under extreme pressure.
Without a doubt, this is a book that will stick with me for a while...
July 18, 2023
This was pretty bad. It gets a very generous second star because I did want to finish it to find out what happened, but it was a total waste of time.
This novel joins the growing ranks of climate fiction, presenting a very narrow and very on-the-nose view of the consequences of climate change, namely extreme drought. It takes place exclusively on a cattle and sheep farm (during a drought! lol) in Scotland, with the rest of the UK and seemingly the rest of the world having collapsed as water availability dwindled. It follows main character Aida, her tough mother, and her great-uncle and his partner over the course of a summer where Scotland also runs out of water and civilisation more or less collapses. There’s three mysterious climate refugees who turn up in the beginning and most of the plot revolves around the growing problems with the newcomers.
Firstly, this writing quirk of having no quotation marks needs to fucking die. It works for exactly one type of book, namely the very lyrical introspective character driven sort where there’s not much dialogue to begin with. This one and Trespasses, the other recent novel I read which didn’t have any, are absolutely not made for this at all considering they’re both very dialogue heavy and plot driven. So yeah, already off to a bad start.
Where it really crash landed was the way the main character Aida was presented. Aida is supposed to be 21 but comes across as about 15. She’s immature, stupid, and passive. Disliking characters is normally not a good reason to dislike a book, but if I dislike them because they’re dumb then yeah, valid. I know she’s supposed to be (rightfully) nihilistic about the state of the world, but because all she said, thought and did was so vapid I didn’t think she really had the mental capacity for nihilism.
Props for having a few characters call her out on her general idiocy, but unfortunately we were still stuck with her POV.
The writing also wasn’t good enough to really create a sense of what a lack of water means in practice. Even at the end, when the taps have been turned off, no one on the farm actually seems to be thirsty? All throughout people are making cups of tea and our dumbass main character takes a fucking bath like a day before the local reservoir runs dry. Just imagine if the water supply went down during this current heatwave we’re having right now. Within a few hours you’d be dizzy, tired, and could think about nothing but where to find something to drink. Now imagine this goes on for several weeks like here in Thirsty Animals? I don’t think Atalla was able to picture this at all. Her characters kept talking about the lack of water, but I never got the sense they were at risk of dying of dehydration whatsoever (which they would’ve been, constantly).
The best cli-fi book I’ve read is still It Doesn't Have To Be This Way, so if you want to be hopeless and depressed reading about climate change, read that one instead. Or just read the news. Nothing more depressing than that.
This novel joins the growing ranks of climate fiction, presenting a very narrow and very on-the-nose view of the consequences of climate change, namely extreme drought. It takes place exclusively on a cattle and sheep farm (during a drought! lol) in Scotland, with the rest of the UK and seemingly the rest of the world having collapsed as water availability dwindled. It follows main character Aida, her tough mother, and her great-uncle and his partner over the course of a summer where Scotland also runs out of water and civilisation more or less collapses. There’s three mysterious climate refugees who turn up in the beginning and most of the plot revolves around the growing problems with the newcomers.
Firstly, this writing quirk of having no quotation marks needs to fucking die. It works for exactly one type of book, namely the very lyrical introspective character driven sort where there’s not much dialogue to begin with. This one and Trespasses, the other recent novel I read which didn’t have any, are absolutely not made for this at all considering they’re both very dialogue heavy and plot driven. So yeah, already off to a bad start.
Where it really crash landed was the way the main character Aida was presented. Aida is supposed to be 21 but comes across as about 15. She’s immature, stupid, and passive. Disliking characters is normally not a good reason to dislike a book, but if I dislike them because they’re dumb then yeah, valid. I know she’s supposed to be (rightfully) nihilistic about the state of the world, but because all she said, thought and did was so vapid I didn’t think she really had the mental capacity for nihilism.
Props for having a few characters call her out on her general idiocy, but unfortunately we were still stuck with her POV.
The writing also wasn’t good enough to really create a sense of what a lack of water means in practice. Even at the end, when the taps have been turned off, no one on the farm actually seems to be thirsty? All throughout people are making cups of tea and our dumbass main character takes a fucking bath like a day before the local reservoir runs dry. Just imagine if the water supply went down during this current heatwave we’re having right now. Within a few hours you’d be dizzy, tired, and could think about nothing but where to find something to drink. Now imagine this goes on for several weeks like here in Thirsty Animals? I don’t think Atalla was able to picture this at all. Her characters kept talking about the lack of water, but I never got the sense they were at risk of dying of dehydration whatsoever (which they would’ve been, constantly).
The best cli-fi book I’ve read is still It Doesn't Have To Be This Way, so if you want to be hopeless and depressed reading about climate change, read that one instead. Or just read the news. Nothing more depressing than that.
March 17, 2024
I have probably read enough novels about environmental breakdown at this point, or so my friends have exasperatedly told me for years. Nonetheless, such fiction keeps pulling me in. Thirsty Animals exceeded my expectations and I found it addictive to read. It's set in a near-future Scotland where prolonged drought has caused severe water shortages. I consider it apocalyptic climate change fiction rather than being dystopian, as it's about society breaking down and a family attempting to survive on their own resources. As the novel begins, the protagonist Aida works at a service station where bottled water is security tagged and costs £14.99 a bottle. Minor details like this make for a distinctly convincing scenario. Yet for all that the plot is horribly plausible in some ways, I found it unnecessarily melodramatic in others. Aida lives on a farm with her extended family, who are soon joined by several strangers. These mysterious additions certainly add tension, while remaining essentially cyphers.
Thirsty Animals is compulsive to read as the deterioration of the water shortage is well-paced and vividly written. The drama of survival plays out in a compelling fashion within the limited space of the farm. Once communications are cut off, Aida and by extension the reader doesn't know what's going on elsewhere - although it's definitely not good. I found the family dynamics more interesting than the new arrivals, although the latter did provoke some striking scenes.
How to end a climate change novel is a topic I have a lot of interest in and Thirsty Animals did something a little different to most.
Thirsty Animals is an appealing addition to the family-attempts-to-survive-climate-change shelf, with Something New Under the Sun (which also focuses on water shortages), The High House, Dreamland, The Sunlight Pilgrims, and Blue Skies.
Thirsty Animals is compulsive to read as the deterioration of the water shortage is well-paced and vividly written. The drama of survival plays out in a compelling fashion within the limited space of the farm. Once communications are cut off, Aida and by extension the reader doesn't know what's going on elsewhere - although it's definitely not good. I found the family dynamics more interesting than the new arrivals, although the latter did provoke some striking scenes.
How to end a climate change novel is a topic I have a lot of interest in and Thirsty Animals did something a little different to most.
Thirsty Animals is an appealing addition to the family-attempts-to-survive-climate-change shelf, with Something New Under the Sun (which also focuses on water shortages), The High House, Dreamland, The Sunlight Pilgrims, and Blue Skies.
July 28, 2023
Excellent. Atmospheric and all too real.
January 3, 2023
A dystopian novel about survival and family.
Aida lives with her mother and uncle in a farm in Scotland, water is scarce and life is difficult.
A family arrive with a pregnant daughter and they are given shelter on the farm.
A frightening story of a possible future due to global warming.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
Aida lives with her mother and uncle in a farm in Scotland, water is scarce and life is difficult.
A family arrive with a pregnant daughter and they are given shelter on the farm.
A frightening story of a possible future due to global warming.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 10, 2024
Found the writing style a bit stifling at times. Felt that there was a lot of detail when it wasn’t needed, for example Aida’s medication taking was described in detail every time. Otherwise I enjoyed this book, especially the characters, they all had their own distinct personalities. I even almost cried at a few parts, really felt for the characters.
February 23, 2023
A thought-provoking read that sees the world slowly run out of water - and a great example of a 'what if' novel.
Thirsty Animals is set in Scotland, about now-ish. As the book begins, there is already trouble. The price of water is rising, and people are desperately travelling north in search of safer (and wetter) havens. But there is no rain.
Our main character, Aida, is forced to return home to the rural farm where her mum lives. It's not what she wanted from life, but it's safe enough, for now. The taps are still working, but water is switched off overnight. No one knows what's coming next.
Then strangers turn up at the farm, in dire need of help...
It's a tense read, but the tension builds up slowly at first as the reader gets sucked into the world that Atalla has created. There are foundations to be built, so that we understand Aida and all the other inhabitants of the farm. So that we understand why they let strangers stay, why they don't ask some of the questions that maybe need asking. It takes time, and some might find it frustrating, but I found it intriguing - getting clear sight of everything as the pot begins to boil over, as the water situation gets worse, day by day by slow day. At around the 50% mark, the plot begins to speed up, the tension rises and the situation escalates.
I found myself gripped by a sinking feeling of doom. Perhaps it didn't help that I read it as UK supermarkets were running out of common fruit and vegetables - showing so clearly how quickly the world as we know it (or casually take for granted) can come to a stop.
However, for much of the read, I didn't know how I was going to rate the book. I love a good 'what if' but I also need glimpses of hope in my fiction. Despair alone doesn't cut it for me.
No spoilers, but I was able to find my moments of hope in the end. This one will stay with me for a while. It won't be everyone's cup of tea (e.g. the dialogue has no punctuation, as with Atalla's The Pharmacist) but I loved this read.
Thirsty Animals is set in Scotland, about now-ish. As the book begins, there is already trouble. The price of water is rising, and people are desperately travelling north in search of safer (and wetter) havens. But there is no rain.
Our main character, Aida, is forced to return home to the rural farm where her mum lives. It's not what she wanted from life, but it's safe enough, for now. The taps are still working, but water is switched off overnight. No one knows what's coming next.
Then strangers turn up at the farm, in dire need of help...
It's a tense read, but the tension builds up slowly at first as the reader gets sucked into the world that Atalla has created. There are foundations to be built, so that we understand Aida and all the other inhabitants of the farm. So that we understand why they let strangers stay, why they don't ask some of the questions that maybe need asking. It takes time, and some might find it frustrating, but I found it intriguing - getting clear sight of everything as the pot begins to boil over, as the water situation gets worse, day by day by slow day. At around the 50% mark, the plot begins to speed up, the tension rises and the situation escalates.
I found myself gripped by a sinking feeling of doom. Perhaps it didn't help that I read it as UK supermarkets were running out of common fruit and vegetables - showing so clearly how quickly the world as we know it (or casually take for granted) can come to a stop.
However, for much of the read, I didn't know how I was going to rate the book. I love a good 'what if' but I also need glimpses of hope in my fiction. Despair alone doesn't cut it for me.
No spoilers, but I was able to find my moments of hope in the end. This one will stay with me for a while. It won't be everyone's cup of tea (e.g. the dialogue has no punctuation, as with Atalla's The Pharmacist) but I loved this read.
April 2, 2023
In my opinion she should've took both of her chances to shoot them but that's just me 🙂
Met Rachelle myself upon the relase of this and she was lovely
Met Rachelle myself upon the relase of this and she was lovely
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2023
“Thirsty Animals” that’s what we come down to in the end. This compelling and compulsive read was masterly crafted. Left me thinking about it long after reading. The way Atalla’s characters behaviour and morals start to shift as the crisis of the drought reaches its terrifying crescendo was unique.
I found it both beautiful and anxiety inducing in equal measure. A much for climate fiction readers.
Aida was the perfect protagonist for this plot, to me it felt she had the most important view of her world, a juxtaposition of knowledge of what life with disregard for vital resources was like, and the way in which a frugal existence was thrust upon her and her family.
It felt akin to the voices that many young people have in the world today, a sense of belonging to a world that is ending, having to live with the consequences of our elders actions. A real dystopian world that unfortunately is closer to reality than mere fiction.
I found it both beautiful and anxiety inducing in equal measure. A much for climate fiction readers.
Aida was the perfect protagonist for this plot, to me it felt she had the most important view of her world, a juxtaposition of knowledge of what life with disregard for vital resources was like, and the way in which a frugal existence was thrust upon her and her family.
It felt akin to the voices that many young people have in the world today, a sense of belonging to a world that is ending, having to live with the consequences of our elders actions. A real dystopian world that unfortunately is closer to reality than mere fiction.
January 23, 2023
Rachelle Atalla proves herself the master of slow-burning tension with her second novel, Thirsty Animals. Set largely on a farm in Scotland near the border with England, the story follows Aida and her family as an all-too-plausible societal collapse ensues following a catastrophic drought. The arrival of unknown visitors to the farm rachets up the tension, and allows Atalla to explore a number of themes and issues such as acceptance, paranoia, the treatment of refugees, and how far people will go to survive. I'd recommend this brilliant novel to anyone for the complexity of its characters, the steadily building tension of the plot, and the brutal yet hopeful depiction of humanity at its best and worst.
July 26, 2024
i have mixed feelings with this book: the idea was good and i was excited about it, the tension was settled right at the beginning brilliantly... but i kept waiting for something to happen the whole book, the tension never resolving. it was very slow, suffocating, and i understand that might be the point of it and i didn't get it; i just expected something more. maybe it was the characters, the slow plot... i'm not sure but books from this author always lack something for me, and i hate giving them lower rates than they should have because her ideas are brilliant imo :/
October 22, 2025
I feel like I was reading a different book to everyone else - the majority of the reviews for this are glowing. I can’t understand it. This book is massively under-edited and the ‘plot’ is ridiculous. Some reviewers did comment on how annoying and selfish the protagonist is - and she is - but her mother is even worse. The characters’ behaviour is idiotic and inexplicable, particularly considering the circumstances: random car journeys for no good reason when there is a fuel shortage, using precious generator fuel to watch DVDs?? These indulgences seemed aimed at a younger readership perhaps. And most inexplicable of all, why the final hunt for hidden money, when there was the mention of a hidden water supply earlier in the book?? Considering the story’s premise, the latter would have made far more sense. I read to the end because I wanted ultimately to see how it would all play out, but it was an unrewarding reading experience.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2023
Not the kind of book I'd usually read but I still enjoyed it. Some of the stuff that happened seemed scarily close to reality and I can easily see the events of the book happening if the world ends up in a similar situation. It doesn't need a sequel but I would read one, I just wish she'd use speech quotes.
April 24, 2024
Audiobook- first dystopian novel I’ve read (listened to). Was an interesting topic, I did see a couple of the plot lines from far off so would give it a 4.5 star. Wishing I head read this though as was very good.
Purchased The Pharmacist but Rachelle to read also
Purchased The Pharmacist but Rachelle to read also
April 21, 2025
3.5. In het begin vond ik het een beetje saai maar vanaf de helft wordt het echt wel heftig en daardoor ook interessanter. Niet echt een boek om vrolijk van te worden, maar wel mooi en (soms) nog een klein beetje hoopvol...
January 22, 2023
I was lucky to get to read Thirsty Animals before its release in March! It follows a family stranded at their farm during an extreme drought in Scotland. I was incredibly stressed throughout but couldn’t stop reading. If you also like a sense of foreboding and anxiety with your fiction, I highly recommend!
October 14, 2023
3.5 stars
August 13, 2023
4.5 stars.
A really plausible dystopian novel. Well worth a read.
A really plausible dystopian novel. Well worth a read.
January 28, 2024
i fear i have peak too soon and already read my favourite book of 2024
December 18, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5 stars!
I don't know where to start with this book to be completely honest. I found it to be such an intense, gripping and emotional read and I was not prepared for how dark it would get. The characters were well portrayed, and the developemnt of these throughout the book was written well. The story line I thought was well paced.
This is one of those books that keeps your mind ticking over well after you've finished reading. It left me feeling really heavy, and brought up some harsh emotions and triggers for me personally but I did feel some lighter emotions too. This would not be a book that I would usually pick up myself, but it will be a book I will be thinking of for a long time to come and I did enjoy reading it.
I don't know where to start with this book to be completely honest. I found it to be such an intense, gripping and emotional read and I was not prepared for how dark it would get. The characters were well portrayed, and the developemnt of these throughout the book was written well. The story line I thought was well paced.
This is one of those books that keeps your mind ticking over well after you've finished reading. It left me feeling really heavy, and brought up some harsh emotions and triggers for me personally but I did feel some lighter emotions too. This would not be a book that I would usually pick up myself, but it will be a book I will be thinking of for a long time to come and I did enjoy reading it.
January 14, 2023
Thirsty Animals provides us with a dystopian view of the future that feels very current, and worryingly not that futuristic at all. It feels so real, so possible, which made it easy to sink into this story.
Like the author's previous book, The Pharmacist, the story focuses on the people and their everyday lives amidst the horror and the unknown. We only know what they know, and this sense of unease and constant underlying threat slowly builds up in such a powerful way. I found myself getting suspicious and falling into 'in group / out group' thinking so easily.
An atmospheric and thought-provoking tale of survival, perseverance and family. Recommended to all who enjoy realistic dystopian stories.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me an e-copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Like the author's previous book, The Pharmacist, the story focuses on the people and their everyday lives amidst the horror and the unknown. We only know what they know, and this sense of unease and constant underlying threat slowly builds up in such a powerful way. I found myself getting suspicious and falling into 'in group / out group' thinking so easily.
An atmospheric and thought-provoking tale of survival, perseverance and family. Recommended to all who enjoy realistic dystopian stories.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me an e-copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
January 26, 2025
As good a Scottish novel as I’ve read this century.
May 16, 2024
Spooky and interesting plotline! I think maybe a bit too spooky me for me to enjoy fully as some parts were really disturbing! But an interesting and thought provoking read.
January 7, 2023
Another masterpiece from Atalla.
I thought THE PHARMACIST was brilliant so I was very much looking forward to reading THISTY ANIMALS.
Another dystopian view of the future, that isn't all that 'out there', makes for terrifying reading. A world running out of water. Atalla writes nuanced characters with depth and skill. The fear is a constant threat written in the background of a story about Aida and her family living on the Scottish Boarders. When the threat becomes all too real, Atalla shows how society can break down around us.
Brilliant.
I thought THE PHARMACIST was brilliant so I was very much looking forward to reading THISTY ANIMALS.
Another dystopian view of the future, that isn't all that 'out there', makes for terrifying reading. A world running out of water. Atalla writes nuanced characters with depth and skill. The fear is a constant threat written in the background of a story about Aida and her family living on the Scottish Boarders. When the threat becomes all too real, Atalla shows how society can break down around us.
Brilliant.
July 21, 2024
It took me a long time to get into this book. Maybe it was the style, maybe it was how close to home this dystopian future seemed.
The mid-end whizzed by quickly though and I did enjoy the story - as much as you can a book about societal breakdown.
The mid-end whizzed by quickly though and I did enjoy the story - as much as you can a book about societal breakdown.
December 18, 2022
'Thirsty Animals' is a largely uncompromising story that I don't think I'll soon forget.
The date is never specified, although references to things like Twitter and an absence of any new technology suggest it's the here and now. I would've shifted the timeline to 2040 or so, personally. Still, that gripe aside, what gripped me about this novel is the feeling that the characters are frogs in a steadily heating pot of water; that unnerving sense of things inexorably unravelling, of trying to pretend things are normal until this becomes impossible.
Aida, the narrator, is a curious person. She has that passiveness that I've experienced with the narrators of Sally Rooney's books (though to be fair, Aida shows some guts at the end). She and her mother also - and this is an annoyance that had me leaning towards giving the book 3 instead of 4 stars - make some bizarre decisions in listening to Evelyn further into the story. I still can't make sense of it. It's the sort of thing that only People in Literary Novels do. And, to get my final criticism out of the way, the ending felt too neat. Horrors like the scene at the border camp felt brushed under the carpet (there's another bit of implausibility - I'm sure eventually things are going to get that bad, but I suspect it'll be a few years into civic/governmental collapse before 5-year-olds are being executed...?)
So, yes, I do have some issues with the novel. But the good stuff outweighs the bad stuff ultimately. We need novels like this.
(With thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review)
The date is never specified, although references to things like Twitter and an absence of any new technology suggest it's the here and now. I would've shifted the timeline to 2040 or so, personally. Still, that gripe aside, what gripped me about this novel is the feeling that the characters are frogs in a steadily heating pot of water; that unnerving sense of things inexorably unravelling, of trying to pretend things are normal until this becomes impossible.
Aida, the narrator, is a curious person. She has that passiveness that I've experienced with the narrators of Sally Rooney's books (though to be fair, Aida shows some guts at the end). She and her mother also - and this is an annoyance that had me leaning towards giving the book 3 instead of 4 stars - make some bizarre decisions in listening to Evelyn further into the story. I still can't make sense of it. It's the sort of thing that only People in Literary Novels do. And, to get my final criticism out of the way, the ending felt too neat. Horrors like the scene at the border camp felt brushed under the carpet (there's another bit of implausibility - I'm sure eventually things are going to get that bad, but I suspect it'll be a few years into civic/governmental collapse before 5-year-olds are being executed...?)
So, yes, I do have some issues with the novel. But the good stuff outweighs the bad stuff ultimately. We need novels like this.
(With thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review)
January 18, 2023
I read an eARC of this book so thank you to Net Galley, the author and the publisher for allowing this.
I wanted to read this book because I read The Pharmacist by this author and I really enjoyed it. Thirsty Animals is set in Scotland when extreme drought has caused people to flee England to Scotland to try to find water. There’s very little water in Scotland but our main character lives on a farm where they are still managing to just about get by. Things steadily decline.
I can’t say too much about plot without revealing massive spoilers which is a shame because I really want to talk about it! I read this book in one sitting which just shows how engaging it was. I was gripped. It was a really tense, really disturbing book. I was utterly enraged at times by the behaviour of certain characters.
I’ve been reading more climate change fiction over the last couple of years and I think it’s important and this is a good addition to the genre. This book is quite scary because it doesn’t seem particularly far fetched. Very unsettling.
In both this book and The Pharmacist, the author has chosen not to use speech marks. I really don’t like this, I find it completely jarring. I was frequently having to stop to try and make sense of a sentence, work out who was saying what and what was/ wasn’t dialogue. This just kept throwing me out of a narrative that I was engaged in and I found it really distracting.
This book would have been a solid 4 star for the quality of the narrative and writing, but the way I had to keep stopping because of the lack of speech marks makes it closer to a 3.5. This is a great author and it’s frustrating being taken out of her exciting and tense writing to try and make sense of what you’re reading.
I would recommend this to people who enjoy dystopian novels or cli-fi.
I wanted to read this book because I read The Pharmacist by this author and I really enjoyed it. Thirsty Animals is set in Scotland when extreme drought has caused people to flee England to Scotland to try to find water. There’s very little water in Scotland but our main character lives on a farm where they are still managing to just about get by. Things steadily decline.
I can’t say too much about plot without revealing massive spoilers which is a shame because I really want to talk about it! I read this book in one sitting which just shows how engaging it was. I was gripped. It was a really tense, really disturbing book. I was utterly enraged at times by the behaviour of certain characters.
I’ve been reading more climate change fiction over the last couple of years and I think it’s important and this is a good addition to the genre. This book is quite scary because it doesn’t seem particularly far fetched. Very unsettling.
In both this book and The Pharmacist, the author has chosen not to use speech marks. I really don’t like this, I find it completely jarring. I was frequently having to stop to try and make sense of a sentence, work out who was saying what and what was/ wasn’t dialogue. This just kept throwing me out of a narrative that I was engaged in and I found it really distracting.
This book would have been a solid 4 star for the quality of the narrative and writing, but the way I had to keep stopping because of the lack of speech marks makes it closer to a 3.5. This is a great author and it’s frustrating being taken out of her exciting and tense writing to try and make sense of what you’re reading.
I would recommend this to people who enjoy dystopian novels or cli-fi.
September 29, 2023
"Immature young woman, prone to making bad decisions, comes of age in the midst of a life-threatening drought."
Well-written, drew me in, even though I often wanted to slap some sense into the protagonist. It gets an extra star because I love dystopian stories.
Well-written, drew me in, even though I often wanted to slap some sense into the protagonist. It gets an extra star because I love dystopian stories.
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