Julia Lynn Rubin

Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals is Wilder Girls meets The Female of the Species: a girl gets sucked into a secret society at an elite summer program, with deadly consequences...

A Novel

Primal Animals

Wes Michaud

It comes as no surprise to me that this book was amazing. (Seriously if you haven’t read one of Julia’s books you’re missing out) it was engrossing and it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it hence why I stayed up till 1 am to finish it. The characters were beautifully written and complex. The relationships between the characters were incredible and the way Arlee and the other girls cared about each other was amazing and the development of Winnie and Arlee’s relationship is beautifully done. This book and the characters is yet another one of julia’s Books that will hold a place in my heart

Christine Bruce

** spoiler alert **
           Much of the book is a great teen read. There's frustrating characters that are very believable as teenagers, as opposed to older characters that have been aged down to make the book marketable to a specific audience. Overall, most of the characters and their motivations are solid. But around 65% into the book, things started to get shaky, The writing took a turn for the lazy, and overall I found everything after that point to be a huge let down. 
When Arlee first arrives at the summer camp, she's immediately welcomed by her bunkmates and a couple other friends. She's also got a few people who are weirdly drawn to her in relation to her mother. We find out those people are interested in a legacy to a secret society at the camp when they invite Arlee to join their ranks. 
What follows is a blood ritual that... makes no sense, and Arlee becoming obsessed with the sisterhood for no reason. 
She knows absolutely nothing about the sisterhood, but constantly has thoughts like she's fully aware of what it's about. She feels drawn to them because it told her they're sisters. a kind of love overload upon her initiation that helps her feel welcomed. Because they said she is. But then out of no where, there's a crazy presentation with a dead baby horse and Arlee's bunk mates decide to open up to each other. It's a jarring shift in characterization and tone from the majority of the book. A scene that would have been tonally better placed earlier in the story. It just feels awkward and out of nowhere. Then there's the obvious implications that Arlee now has the acceptance of her bunkmates (which she really already had they just didn't tell her their deep dark secrets on day one, its been like... maybe two weeks at this point) she feels town about wanting to be in the sisterhood- and that hesitance becomes valid later, but at this point in the story makes no sense. There's no reason for her to suddenly not want to be part of the sisterhood, beyond "i have no friends now" and it gives an air of flightiness to a character that didn't really have that kind of personality before, and made me start to really dislike her. Her hesitation is 'proven justified' when she's asked to do something horrific, but there had been no reason for it before beyond connivence of her being untrusting of the sisters. 
After the 65% mark, there's also a sudden increase in 'woke awareness' a lot of really weirdly placed lines about being 'on the bones of indigenous and enslaved people' and it was just poorly placed and hollow sentiments. As though the author thought "if they celebrate fourth of july, they need to acknowledge the real history and show they are aware of systemic oppression" It was awkward and seemed performative. 
Overall, a book very well suited for an older YA audience (though the graphic level of death and violence is really on the adult side) that could lead to a pretty decent discussion of gender and violence. It just could have done with a bit more editing to iron it out.

Latitude Tamarind

I think the less you know about this book going into it, the better! It’s weird, it’s kind of experimental, it’s all based on vibes, and also there’s a lot of insects and someone that has a lot of anxiety. Also it’s sapphic. It’s kind of like Wilder Girls and also nothing like Wilder Girls. I do think you should read it if the description sounds interesting. Four stars.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Primal Animals

Author: Julia Lynn Rubin

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Diversity: Queen characters, Trans character, Bisexual MC, Adopted character

Recommended For...: young adult readers, thriller, mystery, LGBT, horror, summer camp

Publication Date: May 24, 2022

Genre: YA Thriller Mystery

Age Relevance: 17+ (religion, religious trauma, sexual harassment, sexual assault, medical gaslighting, anxiety, parental death, child abuse, kidnapping, transphobia, homophobia, sexism, underage alcohol consumption, drug use, language, gore, violence, death, murder, romance, animal death, animal gore)

Explanation of Above: Religion and religious trauma are mentioned briefly in this book. There are mentions of sexual harassment and one mention of a sexual assault. The book shows some medical gaslighting, anxiety, and mentions parental death. There are also some scenes of child abuse via emotional abuse and one slight mention and scene of physical abuse. Kidnapping is shown once in the book. There are mentions of transphobia and homophobia in passing of what’s going on in Texas. There is also sexism shown in the book, as well as a LOT of underage alcohol consumption and some drug use mentioned. There is some cursing in this book, as well as vomit and blood gore and a lot of violence shown and mentioned. There is death and murder in this book. There is some very slight romance in this book. There is also a lot of animal death and gore in the book, occurring to moths, foals, deer, cockroaches, and flies. The animal gore in this book is extreme and I highly advise those sensitive to it do not read this book or go into it warned.

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Pages: 304

Synopsis: Protect the girls

Arlee Gold is anxious about spending the summer at the college prep Camp Rockaway—the same camp her mother attended years ago, which her mother insists will help give Arlee a “fresh start” and will “change her life.” Little does Arlee know that, once she steps foot on the manicured grounds, this will prove to be true in horrifying ways.

Even though the girls in her cabin are awesome—and she’s developing a major crush on the girl who sleeps in the bunk above her—the other campers seem to be wary of Arlee, unwilling to talk to her or be near her, which only ramps up her paranoia. When she’s tapped to join a strange secret society, Arlee thinks this will be her shot at fitting in...until her new "sisters" ask her to do the unthinkable, putting her life, and the life of her new crush, in perilous danger.

Review: I felt like this was a good book. I immediately connected with the main character because of our shared fear of bugs and I liked the idea of the secret society. I thought the book did good in the world building and I liked the premise of it. I also liked the overall feel of the book. It did well to be a thriller and keep a mystery atmosphere rather than a horror one that sometimes thriller books fall into.

However, I didn’t like the book that well. I thought the book had a lot of characters at the beginning and that made it really hard to keep everyone sorted out. The book had a lot of twists and turns and a lot of them weren’t well plotted out. The character development wasn’t there and I just felt like the book could have been better if more expanded and more explained. It just felt like everything was way too rushed.

Verdict: It was ok, just not for me.


Zoe Smolen

Listen, I get why this book isn't for everyone - but it as for me. The reviews I saw were so varied that I was real nervous about picking this one up, but it was the collection of tropes for me. This book is graphic and I would highly recommend looking up trigger warnings. If you don't like gore - do not pick up this book. 

This book is a fun trifecta of unhinged teenage girls (my fave!), rich kids at summer camp, cults, and ambiguous endings. I am here for it. The atmosphere is spectacular - especially the bugs and how Arlee is afraid of them. 

I do agree with some other reviews that Arlee is the worst character, but I think the book still works that way. You can see why Arlee feels the way she does, acts the way she does, and still think she's wrong. 

Thanks to the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Primal Animals A Novel

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