Pet

Written by Akwaeke Emezi

Narrated by Christopher Myers

How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?


She stumbled backwards, her eyes wide, as the figure started coming out of the canvas
...
She tried to be brave. Well, she said, her hands only a little shaky, at least tell me what I should call you.
...
Well, little girl, it replied, I suppose you can call me Pet.


There are no more monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. With doting parents and a best friend named Redemption, Jam has grown up with this lesson all her life. But when she meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colours and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth.

In their riveting and timely young adult debut, acclaimed novelist Akwaeke Emezi asks difficult questions about what choices a young person can make when the adults around them are in denial.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Release date: Mar 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9780571363452

Akwaeke Emezi

Akwaeke Emezi (they/them) is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Death of Vivek Oji, which was a finalist for the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the PEN/Jean Stein Award; Pet, a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, a Walter Honor Book, and a Stonewall Honor Book; Freshwater, which was named a New York Times Notable Book and shortlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award, the New Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize; Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir, which won the 2022 ALA Stonewall Prize for Best Nonfiction Book; and most recently, Content Warning: Everything, their debut poetry collection, and Bitter, their second young adult novel. Selected as a 5 Under 35 honoree by the National Book Foundation and featured on a Time cover as a Next Generation Leader, they are based in liminal spaces.

Reviews for Pet

[Somila Dondashe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I’m not really a fan of YA but I’ll give it 4 stars on the strength of Akwaeke’s writing and the world behind this story.

[Eli Downham Jones · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow. What an unexpected journey. Poetic and philosophical, hard and accessible, poignant and important. TW abuse.

[Scott Baird · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful. Emezi is brilliant, audio is fine; not a fan of YA in general, but this is great

[Kefiloe Basetsana · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Magnificent! I believe in love at first sight after listening to this book. I knew there was something about it to love, before I even started with it. I think I have found a new favorite author. I can't wait to listen to the prequel. An absolute germ.

[Justina Seselskaite · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Not possible to listen to the book as the audio is terrible, skips like a broken vinyl

[Emefa Anka · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not bad for a debut YA novel. Monsters and Angels huh

[cleo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In a world with PET around it would be a better place... I can't wait to read Akwaezi Emezi's work.

[sashastorylover · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely brilliant book! It’s so tightly done, nothing is out plsce, everything, every word is there for a reason. I loved the characters and especially the way Christopher Myers narrates the audio book.

[Dasha W · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

this book is refreshing, it takes the reader to place that we would imagine as utopia and the interesting story of pet unravels.

[Moira · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I didn't know anything about the book as I went into it and I honestly think that was a good idea. It lead me to discover a world that seemed so different from ours at first but then became very similar as I started to understand more about the story. It's definitely an important book, one that is worth reading, and I would recommend it for everyone interested in a different and more fantasy/supernatural related take on social justice.

[sharifa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great to listen to as an audio. Charming writing. H

[Larissa Prates · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing narrator and amazing story! Awkaeke Emezi brilliantly builds a magical world yet so real. Her characters are multilayered in a way only experts know how to right. Beautiful imagery, and conversations between Pet and Jam!

[Thongrop Rodsavas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great story with great representations. The monsters and what they represent might feel like it's heavy handed at first, but since this is a book for young adult, I suppose it isn't that bad. The narrator is extremely talented and really makes Pet's lines powerful. I'm glad I listened to this but I might get a physical book as well.