The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker
My rating: 4/5 cats
this is a straight-up monster of a book.
it’s like one of those carnivorous plants that secretes a delicious sticky nectar to lure in its prey which, once adhered, can be feasted upon at the plant’s leisure. it’s one of the most immersive books i’ve read in a long time, and i was utterly ensnared, but while i was devouring the pages, i could feel the story getting under my skin and digging into my brain where it’s going to stay for a long time.
i’d heard good things about this debut through the grapevine, but i didn’t know much about its content other than the wispy buzzwords of female friendship, art and the creative process, lesbian themes… and i feel so fortunate that i went into it more or less blind, because there are big, narrative-redirecting events here, and every one of them caught me off guard and made me do that shocked-pause thing that is the closest i get to experiencing an emotional response to a book. this is going to be a vague review, so i don’t take any of those discoveries away from other readers.
it’s a gutsy book, very unladylike in all the ways i appreciate. it’s kind of like the blowsy, dissipated older sister of Fangirl. these are characters who stick with you, as layered and complex as any ‘real’ women you know, and the trajectory of their relationship as friends and (business) partners is exquisite. it’s less of a novel and more of a presentation, where everything is all splayed out under unflattering lighting – the reader is exposed to an intense and frequently uncomfortable look at these ambitious, driven, occasionally cruel, characters, and the way the dark corners of their lives are used to fuel their psychological-striptease brand of visual art. it’s all the good stuff i crave: the white trash diaspora, family secrets, childhood trauma, bad romantic decisions, rage, fame and the negative side of celebrity (or notoriety), rivalry, self-doubt, co-dependence, self-destruction, and the fluctuations of a tremendously intense relationship over time.
it’s so damn assured for a debut, so confident, and while the pacing is a little hit-or-miss, and it’s maybe a little overpacked for its own good, for the most part, this is an emotionally explosive read that makes me want more more more and now now now from this author.
oh, and the annotations in this one were fantastic! here are two of them. they’re cute and funny and really give you a sense of her personality. and her awesome taste in film.
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oh my god – i just got my SECOND literary subscription box from quarterly, and it is amazing! somehow, against impossible odds, both boxes have had three books that i have neither read nor own yet, but that i still really really want to read. book angels do exist!
however, the physical box this time out is too small for maggie to sleep in, and she is displeased. displeased, but still determined to get in there.
incidentally, you can see that last box they sent in the upper-left hand corner, which maggie still sleeps in. but not this time, cat. not this time.
