I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

To be completely honest I wanted to read this book because the cover is gorgeous. I had no idea that the book was going to be poetry/prose. Huge fan of the cover, not the biggest fan of the contents. A little odd with how much fascination Lottie has for dead things and taxidermy.

DNF @ 28%. After trying and failing to read this book for 3 weeks I decided it was time to put it down. Usually it's just timing and I'll pick up a book again but this one put me in a slump.

This book was extremely fascinating, and loved the concept. I’m not sure I would re-read but it is a book that was worth it to read at least once! I really liked Lottie as a character

For a book that raves about its heartbreaking content and emotional writing, I was thoroughly unmoved and bored by the story. I found the plot didn't gel and it was slow moving, and I just didn't get the emotion I expected from it.

I wasn't aware that this book was written in verse, however, I loved the lyrical quality to it. I also enjoyed the exploration of grief and how to channel it. The theme was kinda depressing but that's to be expected in this sort of read.

The Art of Taxidermy is a novel about grief and growing up with the shadow of it. Lottie has lot her mother and has now begun collecting and "fixing" dead things. Her aunt is horrified, since taxidermy or an interest in dead things is nowhere near appropriate for a young girl in the 1960s. Her father, however, might see that there is more to her interest than just grief. Kernot shows us Lottie's growing interest while also slowly developing the world around her. Lottie makes a Aboriginal friend through whose presence both Lottie and the reader are confronted with a very different but equally traumatic loss of identity. Kernot also adds another layer of loss and grief by delving slightly into Lottie's family history as Germans, especially into her father and grandfather's stay in a detention camp during the second World War. Kernot shows us that loss and grief are all around us and it makes for a very raw reading experience at times.

This book is one of those pieces that I fell in love with as soon as I started reading it! I love it is written and how fun it is to read instead of being sad, as the title would suggest. I am very thankful to have been able to read this book and suggest it to others!

I think that the students in our school library need to hear lots of diverse voices and read stories and lives of many different kinds of people and experiences. When I inherited the library it was an incredibly sanitised space with only 'school readers' and project books on 'the railways' etc. Buying in books that will appeal to the whole range of our readers with diverse voices, eclectic and fascinating subject matter, and topics that will intrigue and fascinate them was incredibly important to me.
This is a book that I think our senior readers will enjoy very much indeed - not just because it's well written with an arresting voice that will really keep them reading and about a fascinating topic - but it's also a book that doesn't feel worthy or improving, it doesn't scream 'school library and treats them like young reading adults who have the right to explore a range of modern diverse reads that will grip and intrigue them and ensure that reading isn't something that they are just forced to do for their English project - this was a solid ten out of ten for me and I'm hoping that our students are as gripped and caught up in it as I was. It was one that I stayed up far too late reading and one that I'll be recommending to the staff as well as our senior students - thank you so much for the chance to read and review; I really loved it and can't wait to discuss it with some of our seniors once they've read it too!

A tender, beautiful meditation on loss, grief and healing. The verse format works wonderfully in its simplicity and every word is sharp and pristine and perfectly chosen.

The title and premise of this book put me off at first. It was well-written, but for me, my hunch was correct. To be honest, it wasn’t even the intense visualisations of dead animals that were too much, but the fact that I just found the overall theme depressing

I'll admit when I requested The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon Kernet on Netgalley I didn't realise it was a book written in verse. I did fall quite easily into the flow of the writing though and it was an exceptionally quick read. This novel follows Lottie, who at 12 years old is still struggling with her mothers death and develops a scientific interest in taxidermy and the preservation of dead animals.

It's a beautifully written book which closely examines how children handle grief and how they often interpret death as a whole. I think it does something that a lot of books about grief aimed towards children don't often do, which is to not sugarcoat anything but also to portray grieving in many different ways at different stages in life. It's quite a morbid topic and it does contain some scenes that describe dead animals quite descriptively, but it does handle it very well and would still be suitable for a middle grade audience.

My only drawbacks were the fact that I couldn't quite work out when this book was supposed to be set. There's a lot of mentions of wars and family member being imprisoned but I still couldn't quite figure out which era they were in. This book was also set in Australia and I was disappointed by the lack of descriptions of the country but maybe that's because it's written in verse rather than a traditional narrative. It also tended to become a tad repetitive and this meant that I was bored at times when reading.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book of verse and prose and wowzies. This was a really hauntingly beautiful book. Centering around love, death, loss, heartbreak, and all the emotional waves of life and how to deal with them.

Death here is beautiful here, not scary. I absolutely loved this book.

Full confession first - I actually had no idea The Art of Taxidermy was a verse novel when I started it. I actually found myself enjoying the lyrical writing, it was very reminiscent of Ellen Hopkins style. Not only did it remind me of her style, but they both touch on similar topics of grief and loss. In my opinion, at times the plot was repetitive and it dragged the book down. Still worth the read though!

So not I'm not going to lie, this book was. beautifully written but I didn't enjoy that it was written in verse. Now this is a personal preference, I just have never really read a book in verse and realized I didn't like it. The story overall though was touching and explored grief and how everyone's expresses it differently. So while this book wasn't for me it was still a good book.

After reading the blurb I knew I had to read this novel. I liked it immensely. The character of Lottie is really interesting and engaging, I wanted to follow through her journey with grief. While this sounds like a tough subject matter and it is at times heartbreaking there is a lightness of touch in Kernot’s writing that bridges the gap between sorrow and joy. There are moments of sadness and moments of joy, A verse novel is not something I was overly familiar with but I really enjoyed this one.

I love a book written in verse but have very high expectations of them after reading and adoring books in this style, written by the likes of Sarah Crossan.

The Art of Taxidermy is a moving story of death, grief, family and friendship. When Lottie loses her mother, she fills the hole with animals. Dead animals. Taxidermy becomes her way of making sense of death, encouraged by her father. Lottie is not the ‘girly girl’ her aunt wishes her to be, but Lottie stays true to herself throughout, which is a great message.

As it is written is verse, I flew through the book quite quickly, and enjoyed the whole reading experience.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read and review this title. I will review this title at a different date.

Beautifully written, heartbreaking story. Really unique way of writing, and I found the story stuck with me and made me very emotional.