Wow, this book! Not sure how to accurately describe my feelings about this one. Kinda felt like being punched in the gut, having my insides ripped out and then being left there, reeling from the shock of it all. When We Were Animals is raw, dark and surprising real. It’s so beautifully written and I’ll do my best to describe it without giving anything away. Our MC, Lumen, lives in a small, isolated town where teenagers experience something called “breaching” once they hit puberty. During the full moon cycle each month, the streets will become empty by nightfall and doors will all be locked as “breachers” run wild through the streets. They become animalistic and strip off their clothing, they fight each other and engage in unabashed sexual activities, they riot and vandalize and basically engaged in any and all activities you’d NEVER want your child to participate in! Nobody knows why, when or how it started and it’s treated as a sort of rite of passage into adulthood. All children will go through it, although Lumen and her father believe (hope) that she won’t, that she’ll be able to bypass it altogether. Lumen’s mother never breached so they’re hoping, through genetics, Lumen won’t either.
This story and especially the style in which it’s told, won’t appeal to everyone; you’ll either love it or hate it, there won’t be any in-between. There are some very heavy and graphic subject matters depicted here that are done to and by teenagers yet I never once felt the author crossed the line, it was all described so purely and beautifully and I was honestly fascinated by it. I can only further describe this story as being a depiction of what would happen if you stripped away our humanity and returned us to our natural animalistic ways. The basic story-line has some similarities with the movie The Purge, the main differences being here we’re dealing with teen’s ages 13-16 instead of adults and rather than 1 night a year, this town experiences “breaching” for 3 days each month. If this isn’t enough to get you to sit up and take notice then there’s also an underlying mystery full of twists and turns, plus an ending I never would have predicted!
I adored Lumen’s character and saw so much of my teen self in her. All of her struggles, her longing, her feeling like there’s no “right” place in the world for her therefore she must be ”bad” or “wrong” in some way. I also loved that the story is told through Lumen’s POV as an adult while she looks back on her childhood and teen years leading up to her “breaching”. Young Lumen started out as such a docile girl who was often times overly willing and compliant. I was riveted by the transformation of her character from a young sweet girl into the woman who was narrating the story. Another big plus for me was the relationship between Lumen and her Dad. It was written so well and really captured what happens in a single parent/single child dynamic. For years you are each other’s whole universe, nothing else is needed nor does it matter because it’s the two of you against the world. But as children grow up that relationship is bound to alter and change, other people become important in a teenager’s life and the single parent finds they suddenly have a life again. It’s a natural process yet not an easy one to get through and I loved how the author chose to capture it here.
I would love to ask Joshua Gaylord how he came up with the idea for When We Were Animals and why he chose to write it from a girl’s POV, I’m rather curious because it’s done so well. He really captured the essence of teen girls and how they can be shockingly beautiful and cruel at the same time. At its heart this is a coming of age story but delivered in such a way that is so savage and unique. This is definitely a book I won’t soon forget, its story will stay with me for a very long time! I would have loved to read this with my book club, there are so many bits and points to dissect and discuss. Highly recommend but only for those not bothered by teens, sex and violence and who enjoy books that cross over into the weird and bizarre.
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