At first, I didn’t think I was going to like this. It is a weird premise for a book. But wow, I was wrong. This prose was beautiful and understated. And it had me thinking of Tim Burton meets Vada from My Girl set in Australia. I just wanted to reach out and hug Charlotte. You really feel for her and eventually her family as you learn their tragic history. I had no idea how Germans, Japanese and Italians were treated in Australia during WWII. I was able to read this in one sitting and it’s going to sit with me for awhile.
TW: As the title suggests, there is a lot of death involved.

This may have hit a little too close to home.

I have had my share of loss in my life especially the loss of my sister a few years ago so I highly identified with our main character Charlotte or “Lottie.”

This book is beautiful in prose and a unique way of telling a story. I already love poetry so this was a home run in more than one way for me. Everything from the description of the dead animals and her interactions with her “specimens” to Aunt Hilda finding her hobby disgusting and unusual captured my attention from the first word to the last. I felt the emotions shared by each character which is something I look for in every good novel.

Anyone feeling misunderstood or alone should read this book. It will help you feel like you’re less strange than you’ve been told.

I gave it four solid stars because that’s what I believed it deserved. NetGalley provided an electronic copy to me via the publisher The Text Publishing Company (Australia) for an honest review which I provided here and on my instagram LetRachelRead.

Thanks!

The writing was beautiful, but, unfortunately, that was not enough to keep me invested in the story.

I requested this because the taxidermy aspect sounded interesting. Unfortunately, I didn't find the characters very interesting, and I couldn't engage with the story.

I was not expecting The Art of Taxidermy to be a novel in verse, so I was a little surprised when I started reading it. Before this year, I'd never read a novel in verse and I'm still not really sure what I think of them. Style wise, I don't know if this one worked for me, but that doesn't mean it won't work for other people! Content wise, I found this book to be super compelling! I loved the story line and the twist about Annie, but more importantly, I love that the book made me think about taxidermy. Like, I'm sure most people, I know nothing about taxidermy. This book made me think differently about taxidermy, as a celebration of life instead of a weird sort of hobby fetish thing that helps folks celebrate their kills. I appreciated the change in perspective. If you can handle books written in verse, I think it's worth checking this one out!

I didn't realise this was a verse novel, and I wasn't sure if I was completely on board with it as it felt a little gimmicky. That having been said, I did like the uniqueness it lent the story, so it was a case of swings and roundabouts - and once I got a couple of chapters in, I stopped noticing it as much.

"The Art of Taxidermy" follows Lottie, who is searching for a way to connect with her dead mother. Cue an obsession with death and preservation in the form of taxidermy. Lottie's father supports her hobby, thinking it a sign of a scientific mind, but her Aunt Hilda is hellbent on destroying Lottie's creations.

This book explores some huge themes - grief and how we adapt to it, loss, trauma - and does it well, for the most part. I did find the story a little repetitive in places, and some of the descriptions of the dead animals are fairly graphic, so this may not be the book for you if you're squeamish, but if you like your novels with a dark edge, you'll enjoy reading this unique and well-written novel.

NOTE: I was provided with a free ARC copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Art of Taxidermy follows a young girl who becomes interested in death, and later taxidermy, after the death of her mother. Now living with her father- who tries to help, but is ultimately struggling with his own grief- and her aunt- who doesn’t think these are suitable interests for a girl- Lottie hides her pursuits and struggles to find her place in the world.

This book was written in verse and there are certainly some beautiful extracts and poems throughout the book. However, unlike some other verse novels I have read, this one failed to make an emotional connection with me and the plot (or lack of plot) made it a slog, to the point where I didn’t want to read, as I really didn’t want to finish the book.

Moreover, while I appreciate Lottie’s interest in taxidermy (and the author showing that girls can do this to), I do think that her interest came out of her mother’s death and this wasn’t really dealt with in the novel.

This one wasn’t for me, and I probably wouldn’t purchase it for my library.

The book had an interesting concept and some well written poetry. The plot was a little slow moving and felt repetitious at times. I thought that way it dealt with grief and moving forward was inventive.

The Art of Taxidermy

I am always a little hesitant of books written in verse as there seems to be a recent surge in the genre. Often times I feel that the stories told do not match the genre and would have been better told as prose but this is absolutely not the case with The Art of Taxidermy. The Art of Taxidermy follows Lottie and tells the story of how she “fell in love with death”, exploring loss within Lottie’s family and how they all grieve/ cope. Poetry was the perfect medium to show this, specifically Lottie’s observations and descriptions of nature as Kernot’s style reads like a story, almost like a beautiful fairytale (just without the princess). Kernot found ways to include scientific names, animal terminology, sketches, and some history towards the end of the book, that educate the reader while still keeping them intrigued in Lottie’s story. The Art of Taxidermy brings beauty to death.

I feel it is important to note that the poems do at times get a little descriptive about death and decay which may make some readers queasy or uncomfortable, but this is necessary to understand Lottie’s character. There were also a few times where I had difficulty distinguishing between quotes and narration when a poem included quotes but this was easy to move past. I still loved this book and gave it 4 out of 5 stars (but probably closer to 4.5 out of 5 stars).

Charlotte, or Lottie, is fascinated by death. Her mother died when Lottie was young. She collects animal carcasses. She wants to make them beautiful again. Her aunt thinks she’s killing the animals, she thinks is not right for a young woman. Her father is a professor and doesn’t see the problem with her fascination. But when her aunt throws out her babies, Lottie’s world comes crashing down. Can she convince her family that she isn’t sick in the head?
This was a story of love and death and coming to terms with what life brings.
I didn’t know what to expect from The Art of Taxidermy at all. I only knew it was a novel written in prose. But I really enjoyed this one. It was a quick read but I really enjoyed following along with Lottie on her journey dealing with her mother’s death. I’d recommend this to anyone that likes a dark, meaningful read written in a unique style.

This was a heartbreaking book and when I requested it on Netgalley, I did not expect it to be in verse but I think it was done really well. I got really into the story and sped through it in a couple of hours.

I didn't realise that the writing of this book will be different. It was definitely a good reading experience. I really enjoyed how the author dealt with writing about grief in this book. It's raw and powerful, a very different approach to most books I've read that talk about grief.

I have to say though that it took me a while to truly enjoy it but overall it is a beautiful book!

The main thing that attracted me to this book was the gorgeous cover. The second thing was the addition in the summary about it being a book exploring the ways people grieve. I didn't realize it was written in verse, a format I'm not too familiar with, but despite that, I still found myself being enthralled by Lottie's story and her journey as well as that of her family.

The Art of Taxidermy follows Lottie as she discovers the preserved remains of dead animals and takes them as her treasures along with her sister, Annie. It also follows her the members of her family from the eyes of Lottie and the different ways they grieve the death of their loved ones. Lottie herself has lost her mother, but she finds comfort in the remains that she finds. Lottie's Aunt Hilda doesn't approve of this because it isn't proper for a girl to play with dead things, but Lottie's father does. He takes her to the museum where she learns about taxidermy and the art of bringing things that were once dead back to life. This starts her journey throughout the rest of the story and the lessons she learns. There's also a bit of historical fiction in this since Lottie's family are from Germany and lived in Australia during World War II.

Lottie's continuous desire to find dead animals and their beauty is something that is gorgeously done in this book. From the way the author crafts the poems to the words she chooses, it brought a beauty to death that was also from the perspective of a grieving 12 year old girl. It also isn't afraid to talk about the death of a loved one and the different ways we cope with it. The Art of Taxidermy, though short, still manages to explore four different people and we see how they each grieve. One of them closes up about their lost one, another goes to the place to mourn them, one chooses to ignore the dead's belongings and hides them, and another tries to know who they were and understand them when they were alive.

The Art of Taxidermy is a story about coping with death and the beauty surrounding it. It tells us that mourning for our dead is okay and there are different ways we cope with it as humans. It tells us keeping them alive is how we celebrate the dead and remember them. This is the primary plot of the story, and it does it well.

Overall, The Art of Taxidermy is a beautiful read with whimsical read and gorgeous illustrations that will keep the reader enchanted throughout it. I would recommend this to people who are fans of verse writing and those seeking a quick read that still holds a powerful message.

This was a beautifully written book dealing with death and grief. I feel that people, especially Americans, are way too squeamish and scared of death. It is one of the most natural things in the universe; everyone dies. Yet if people talk about it too much, or are interested in death related hobbies such as taxidermy, others deem them weird, death obsessive, or even mentally ill, as was the case in this book. Lottie’s aunt thought she was being too weird, that she had issues, that she wasn’t being lady like. But Lottie was dealing with grief and death in her own way. She loved the bones and the animals she collected. She realized that death can still be beautiful and understood, and she knew that this was helping her to cope. She didn’t think was she was doing was weird or wrong, and it wasn’t. It brought her closer to those she had lost, and helped her deal with their deaths. If more people realized that talking about death doesn’t make you automatically depressed, that it doesn’t make you weird, then maybe we can move past our fear of it.

An utterly engaging and intriguing narrative of poems about a child--later a young woman--and her ability to see beauty in death, despite the social and familial pressures not to do so. The writing is evocative and visual--and visceral--and the reading experience that it provides is unique and lasting.

As this book was written in prose, it took me a little while to adjust. Once I got the hang of it, the book flew by! I finished it in two days, and I ended up LOVING the writing style.

The plot of The Art of Taxidermy is very unique! A young girl develops an interest in the dead and how to recreate them through taxidermy. Many other characters take this hobby differently and our young narrator struggles to enjoy her craft and fit in with her family.

The story seems simple but throughout the novel, little twists are dropped. It was clever, beautiful, and quick! I am definitely interested to see what Sharon Kernot writes next!

Went into this not really knowing anything about it and I have to say it was unlike anything I’ve ever read. It was a whole take on grief and lotties obsession with taxidermy being about wanting to preserve and show the beauty in death.

Books written in verse are some of my favourites, and although normally books like this would have me sobbing, something about this just didn’t connect with me. However would still recommend it as was a quick and interesting read!

A unique, touching verse novel that explores a child's way of coping with death.

Charlotte is a young girl living in Australia, and her mother passed away long ago. The girl's life is lonely and simple, and she begins filling her time with collecting dead creatures she stumbles across in the Australian countryside—a dead crow, for instance. She cares for them, and later on develops an interest in taxidermy as means to preserve them—her own way of resurrecting the creatures, bringing lost ones back to life. Her macabre hobby doesn't sit right with her worried Aunt Hilda, who wants her to be a "normal" child.

I had no idea what a verse novel was when I requested this book, so for fellow uncultured peasants, allow me to explain that it means narrative poetry. I am not someone usually entertained by poetry as a medium, but this book was a comfortable read that touched upon subjects that interest me: death, coping with grief, the internment camps during WW2 and the treatment of Aboriginals in Australia. The prose flows just right, and there were some lovely passages that lingered with me.

There are a few passages that may be too gory for certain readers, so beware if you're the squeamish sort. But it's nothing extreme, in my opinion, and adds to the narrative rather than detracts.

This is a verse novel in which a young woman deals with her mother's death through taxidermy. Charlotte finds solace in revitalizing animals. She feels as if she is giving them purpose as well as bringing them back to life.

This book is beautiful and like none other I have ever read. Exquisitely written and worth the read. Cannot wait for it to be re-published!

**Disclaimer: I received an early copy of The Art of Taxidermy from NetGalley and Text Publishing for review purposes.  Thank you to them for this opportunity.

The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon Kernot is a young adult novel in verse.  It falls into the genre of historical fiction as it takes place in Australia is a time period that follows World War II.  This book comes out on August 23rd, 2019.  I gave it 4 stars on GoodReads.
Here is the summary from GoodReads:
Lottie collects dead creatures and lovingly cares for them, hoping to preserve them, to save them from disintegration. Her father understands—Lottie has a scientific mind, he thinks. Her aunt wants it to stop, and she goes to cruel lengths to make sure it does. 
And her mother? Lottie’s mother died long ago. And Lottie is searching for a way to be close to her.
The Art of Taxidermy is a heartbreaking verse novel exploring love and death, grief and beauty, and the ways we try to make sense of it all.

I am always so impressed with novels in verse.  It amazes me the way that an author can convey so much emotion and details about what happens based on so many less words than the typical book contains.  However, sometimes details can be lost and things like flashbacks can be confusing.  I had some moments like that with The Art of Taxidermy.  Certain things that I thought had had happened, hadn't and there was the occasional flashback that did confuse me.  However, Kernot's use of language was absolutely gorgeous.  She had some really interesting figures of speech and I really liked the way that she played with words.  

The story itself was interesting.  It is primarily about death and grief and Lottie, the protagonist/narrator, dealing with these things and ultimately her fascination with death and decay.  It was really cool to me that Kernot was able to make a story about death so beautiful.  I really enjoyed watching Lottie grow and learn about herself and her interests, and it was really interesting to watch her learn about her family.  

The story was unique for me, because it occupied a perspective that I don't often read about or hear about.  The story, as mentioned previously, takes place in Australia after World War II.  Lottie's family is German, and they immigrated to Australia prior to the war because they didn't like how things were going in Germany.  The story discusses how Lottie's father and Opa were put into an internment camp called Loveday during the war, simply because they were German.  The book doesn't go in depth with this, but it's interesting to read about the lingering damage it left the family.  Additionally, Lottie is treated poorly at school because of her German heritage.  Personally, I have German heritage.  My Oma and Opa immigrated to Canada after the war, so it's a bit of a different experience and I was never bullied for having German heritage, but I could understand the reactions she had to how she was treated.  It was just a point of personal connection I had with her.

The description and imagery in this book is really good.  There was a lot of rather morbid imagery because, as one may have guessed from the title and summary, Lottie is quite fascinated with death and becomes quite interested in the idea of taxidermy.  At one point she decides to become a taxidermist and tries to learn how to do it on her own.  There is a lot of talk of her finding dead animals and wanting to keep them, so if you're squeamish, this probably isn't the book for you.  However, even just reading about Lottie's fascination is fascinating.  It's not a topic that I particularly relate to so it's really interesting to get a different perspective on it.

Ultimately, the depiction of grief is the real standout from this novel.  Lottie's mother is dead, and so is her opa and other figures in her life.  Lottie has to learn to come to terms with these things, and that's what the novel is about.  However, she's not the only one as the remaining members of her family also need to learn to cope with their losses.  These moments in the novel are particularly poignant.  

So, while this wasn't my favourite novel in verse that I've ever read, it was a lovely, well written story that educated me and it made me feel.  It was a quick read as well, and the pacing was really good.  So when August 23rd comes around, you should consider picking yourself up a copy.  Thank you again to Text Publishing and NetGalley for this opportunity, and thank you to you for reading this.

Blog review coming soon.

This book, written in verse, details Charlotte's experience with grief, loss, and the resurrection of life.
The Art of Taxidermy absolutely destroyed me. The haunting back story, the intimate look at a young girls handle on the death of her mother, and the disapproval of her Aunt.
Largely romanticizing life, this book follows Charlotte on a beautifully written journey as she comes to terms with a traumatic loss, through the discovery and practice of taxidermy.
Would highly recommend.
My rating : 4 stars