Matt McAvoy Book Review

This is a book obviously written from the heart, by an author clearly passionate about its subject matter.  Although Janna writes with a certain amount of detachment, you can see the heartache she feels at the injustice of mankind’s perceived dominion over animals; our inhumanity toward all nature’s creatures, including each other.  In this book, the protagonist Laura finds herself falling in love with a truly dreadful person, ignoring all warnings – so much so that you find yourself almost shouting at her in frustration to get away from him, for the man is just a downright nasty piece of work in every way, with no redeeming features.  Janna has created a villain who is absolutely relatable, because he isn’t a work of fiction; there are thousands of Brets all over America (I do apologize for singling out America, but I do so because Bret and his peers are those people who normalize and celebrate trophy hunting, in a country where the preferred big game is not native, and where there is no ecological benefit; they do so for sport and they should know better).  Hunting in this book is presented from both sides: as the psychopathic act it actually is, versus those who think it harmless fun, and perhaps even a God-given right, to slaughter the world’s most beautiful creatures, travelling thousands of miles to do so – the more endangered, the more exhilarating. 

You can clearly see, from reading this review and the blurb, that there are triggers in this book, and you might find yourself very upset – which is of course the point.  Even so, I would recommend that you read it, for a number of reasons.  Firstly, Janna is a tremendous author.  I mentioned detachment in her style, but I feel perhaps this is intentional, for if she used the language I suspect she would really like to use about Bret, she would be far short of objective as a writer.  Secondly, thankfully she holds back on the graphic grisliness – though, that said, it is disturbing enough reading the accounts of wounded elephants being chased to their hopeless end (all the more upsetting for the admiration this elicits amongst a particular social group), and of mass theriocide for no better reason than corporate greed.  These things are most disturbing because we know these amoral people exist, in huge numbers; the world is infested with them and they live amongst us, oblivious to the heinousness of their presence.  Janna holds back from saying this, but she doesn’t hold back from the karma which I’m sure she fantasizes about – I won’t give it away, but you won’t regret reading this simple tale.

Strangely enough, this was actually a very enjoyable read, which I got through in two relaxed sittings.  Janna is a really nice author to read, with a calm and soothing diction; I felt like the book was lulling me through its pages, and there was no chore to reading it at all.  Perhaps the continuous slipping of tense, from past to present, hindered my concentration a little bit at times, but even that I didn’t mind too much; it felt a little like broken English, which is nice sometimes to read.  Overall, this was a very pleasant way to spend a few hours, even despite its upsetting subject matter.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, and I recommend the book very much.