When We Were Animals

When We Were Animals by Joshua Gaylord

"In the town where I grew up, when the boys and girls reached a certain age, the parents locked themselves up in their houses, and the teenagers ran wild..."


This is a dark coming of age novel.

Lumen lives with her widowed father, she's a well behaved girl, trustworthy, intelligent, and excels at school. But, she lives in a strange town. A town where when they reach puberty, the teenagers go through what they call "breaching". They run naked at night when the moon is full, all social restrictions are thrown to the wind and their animal instincts take over.

The story is told by Lumen, Alternating between her as a teenager, and then years later as a married mother.

At times it reads like a nightmare, happenings beyond your control, panic, fear, running, and nothing making sense. Which is essentially what it means to be a teenager. Feelings of uncertainty, of waiting, wanting something but not knowing what that something is, prevail for Lumen.

This book is beautifully written, honest and savage at times. The characters are not just believable but recognisable. Every adult reading the story will find something of themselves in there. My only negative comment would be that occasionally I felt it stopped short of how brutal, how ruthless teenagers without restraints can be.

I really enjoyed When We Were Animals and look forward to reading more by this author.


I give When We Were Animals four stars ★★★★
isbn 9781785030949
Published in 2015 by Del Rey
I received an uncorrected proof copy in a goodreads giveaway