Review: Every Part of the Animal

Every Part of the Animal by Duncan Ralston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review of EVERY PART OF THE ANIMAL by Duncan Ralston

I am really enamoured of the protagonist, Bo Lowery, a real pioneer woman if I ever read of one. Bo is a prehistoric hunter-gatherer in 21st century rural Alaska, a mother-moose plus mother-bear plus mother-lion rolled into one. She will figuratively stand and let all sorts of disrespect roll off her like water off the proverbial duck, but boy oh boy, no matter who you are, you do NOT EVER mess with her son, Caleb. You don't threaten him, you don't threaten his home or his welfare. If you do, likely you won't ever threaten anything again.

Young Caleb is quite a person in his own right. Not quite ten years old, he undergoes a massive amount of character evolution between the beginning of the story and its end. Speaking of the ending, perfectly done. The story is tautly plotted, and the author has a subtle way of working in the various elements of the backstory, revealing them when their discovery is the most potent.

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