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" This is an excellent, heartbreaking book. There were times I got lost in the story and missed the poetic beauty of the book and other times I got lost in the poetry and missed the story, but it kept me interested and moved the entire way through. So many scenes and lines will stay with me for a long, long time, perhaps especially as a mother of my own 6 1/2 year-old boy, "and then I was seven". "
- Jane, 2/10/2014
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" Three boys battle through a poor and violent childhood together with their own brand of love and loyalty. We The Animals is unique and realistic, with a young narrator who is revealed as smart, gay, self-destructive, and crazy. Overall, however, the narrative style didn't really appeal to me. It felt too withdrawn from the insanity of the story, but perhaps that was the author's intent. The narrator stayed on the edges, looking in on his life, in an effort to protect himself from his own childhood, but in the end the effort became too much, and he just snapped. "
- Christy, 1/30/2014
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" This is a novella about the fierce love of one family in upstate New York. Although their is poverty, beatings, sadness, I haven't read such beautiful descriptions of familial love in a long time. There is nothing bitter in the author's tone. Reading about these three brothers grow up as I watch my own two sons tear around my house make me long for the sibling I never had. "
- Beth, 1/14/2014
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" Not what I thought at all! Can't decide if I liked it or not. "
- Catherine, 1/12/2014
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" The book told of an intense and vivid boyhood in a way that i experienced quite viscerally through the simple and effective writing. "
- Janet, 1/12/2014
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" Wow. This tiny little book rips your heart out and then stomps on it. "
- Andrea, 1/1/2014
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" Great coming of age story written in beautiful prose. The ending isn't as strong as the rest of the novel, but it's a great read and is also short if you're not looking for a long fiction novel. "
- Daria, 12/27/2013
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" not my kind of book "
- Bana, 11/17/2013
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" Excellent story of three brothers growing up as a tight-knit unit amidst the hardship of a turbulent home life in Brooklyn. Very well-written and heart-breaking. "
- Barb, 10/12/2013
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" Tender, raw, spare, honest, gifted writing. He writes most of the book in first person plural, which makes the ending, when he finds his own identity and writes in the first person especially poignent. "
- Annette, 9/4/2013
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" A little too "out there" "
- Bethany, 8/28/2013
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" Sad, short, mediocre book. A 5 on my 10 scale. "
- Louise, 8/9/2013
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" Smacks of an autobiography. Incredibly well-written - prose is sparse and shocking. Torres is someone to watch. "
- Erikafriedlandernetscape.net, 6/25/2013
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" 4.5 stars really. Really awesome writing - paints great pictures. The ending took an odd shift, but I understood why the author did it. "
- Liz, 6/20/2013
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" Breath-taking. Brutal. heart-wrenching. Disturbing. Beautiful. Not your typical coming-of-age story. Not your typical prose. Highly recommend. "
- Lonni, 6/9/2013
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" Raw, beautiful, gritty and phenomenal, Justin Torres' "We the Animals" is a truly unforgettable story. "
- Kristy, 6/4/2013
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" Felt cut short at the end but otherwise excellent. Torres' prose is spectacular and engages despite there not being much of a plot line. "
- Melissa, 5/30/2013
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" The first two-thirds are engaging and well written, but the last third is sudden and distracting. "
- Robert, 4/23/2013
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" Well written. Not sure how I feel about this book. "
- Ree, 2/24/2013
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" great writing, difficult and disturbing story/subject. "
- Kim, 2/15/2013
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" Beautiful. Sad. Makes you feel childhood all over again. "
- Katie, 10/5/2012
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" Disturbing and beautiful all at the same time. I feel completely heartbroken. "
- Laura, 2/26/2012
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" Meh. Could have been so much better. Ended up with a weird ending and an in unimpressionable read. "
- Todd, 11/13/2011
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" I thought this book was terrible. The best thing I can say about it is that it was mercifully short!
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- Sandy, 11/8/2011
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" Pellucid prose and crisp imagery are the hallmarks of WE THE ANIMALS, a sequence of vignettes formally reminiscent of Cisneros' THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET and Paley's THE DISTURBANCE OF MEN, Anderson's WINESBURG, OHIO and Hemingway's IN OUR TIME.
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- Jordan, 11/4/2011
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" Beautifully written, but perhaps a little too lyrical for its length and raw subject matter.
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- Trent, 11/1/2011
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" wow, gripping little book. listened to it on audio and it was amazing
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- Kim, 10/30/2011
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" Raw, beautiful, gritty and phenomenal, Justin Torres' "We the Animals" is a truly unforgettable story.
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- Kristy, 10/29/2011
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" Good writing, and I got halfway through in about 30 minutes, but not too interested in a depressing story about an abusive father.
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- Edwin, 10/27/2011
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" short novel, but really good. bittersweet story.
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- Stephanie, 10/27/2011
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" Just read. Really short. Seems like it needed to be longer to really draw me in.
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- Jessica, 10/26/2011
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" Short, well written, powerful but disturbing.
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- Hilary, 10/24/2011
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" Coming of age story of three brothers
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- Robin, 10/24/2011
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