The Beast is an Animal

By Peternelle van Arsdale

The Beast is an animal
You'd better lock the Gate
Or when it's dark, It comes for you
Then it will be too late

Alys was the only one to see the soul eaters when they came to her village. The others were sleeping. They never woke up...

Now, an orphan, Alys knows the full danger of the soul eaters. She's heard the nursery rhymes the chidren sing about the twin sisters who feed on souls. She's seen people disappear into the fforest and never come back. So why, then, does she find herself mysteriously drawn to the fforest? Is she what everyone around her says she is? A witch? 

Alys soon finds herself on a journey that will take her to the very heart of the fforest. There she must decide where true evil lies. And face the thing they call ...

The Beast.

A fairy tale with a difference: shivery, dark, and deeply satisfying. 
'Read it if you loved The Handmaid's Tale' - Entertainment Weekly

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Feb 28, 2017
• ISBN: 9781471160448

Peternelle van Arsdale

Peternelle van Arsdale is a book editor, essay and short story writer, and the author of The Beast Is an Animal and The Cold Is in Her Bones. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she is at work on her third novel. Visit her at PeternellevanArsdale.com.

Reviews for The Beast is an Animal

[gretchening · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A sober story, heightened by the emotional magic of its elevated fairy tale-esque prose, this story of a girl trapped in a cycle of supernatural violence and fear will stick with you. Alys was 7 years old when she first met the soul eaters, twin sisters who were cast out by village and father due to superstition, who have become vengeful, fear-eating monsters. They pass Alys by, but go on to kill every adult in her small village. Alys's struggles as a second-class, adopted child, her innate magical talents that she must keep under wraps, and even her third chance at a good life, with people who love and accept her, underlie the message of this fable: what you are doesn't dictate what you do, and you are not doomed to repeat the damage inflicted upon you. A compelling entry into the YA fable market. This book reminded me in setting and story strongly of the indie horror film Witch, which I hated--this story neatly avoids the problems of that film, while engaging with Puritan-style superstitions and actions.

[titania86_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was a normal night for Alys. She couldn't sleep and went out to explore when two hauntingly beautiful women passed her and briefly spoke to her. How could Alys know that they were soul eaters? When she woke up the next morning, all of the adults in the town were dead. Defaid, a nearby town, takes pity on the abandoned children for a price. These children must guard their gates at night to protect the city for the rest of their lives. Alys feels out of place and rumors swirl around her as someone who met the soul eaters and lived. This is in addition to an ability that Alys has to hide for fear of being condemned as a witch. Can she live among these supersititious people and will the soul eaters stay away from their town?The Beast is an Animal is a dark fantasy novel that reminds me thematically of the film The Witch. Alys is surrounded by a society cowed by a specific type of religion implemented in a way to keep everyone in their place. The higher ups are obviously corrupt and the ones underneath say nothing to keep their space in society. If you step out of line, you could be ostracized, tortured, or killed. Alys is in even more danger because she has a supernatural power and she helps a healer who uses unlawful herbs and treatments to help women on top of being the only one to interact with the soul eaters and live. Alys is a restless girl who doesn't flourish in an oppressive environment. She relatably finds it hard to keep silent when authorities are clearly wrong and fights the most for the people she loves. Alys shows a more modern perspective in the face of backwards, misogynistic, and corrupt rulers.There are two supernatural figures that are thought to be the same, but turn out to be quite different. The story of the soul eaters is a place exactly like Defaid where the girls were ostracized as children for being twins and female. Their rejection from society coupled with the death of their mother and their ensuing hatred for these people caused them to become monstrous soul eaters. They lure people away like sirens, calling names, singing songs, and tempting people with whatever they want most. The Beast is supposed to be the devil in Christianity, torturing people and luring people to sin, but it isn't that at all. The Beast is simply the force of nature personified, neither evil nor good. The only thing it wants is balance in nature, which the soul eaters disrupt, and calls for Alys' help. Alys is also a little of both. Her power can allow her to feel other's pain and heal them or consume their life force as soul eaters do. She can easily follow in their footsteps or use her power to stop them. The Beast is an Animal is a dark fairy tale that shows this society's opposition to nature at the time and how the search for evil can create evil where there was none. The story moves a little slowly, but I was completely entrenched in the story the entire time. Alys shows an unconventional strength that is rarely shown in YA novels. She may not be physically strong or completely modern, but she has an emotional strength and a power of her own. I very much enjoyed this novel and I will look for more by Peternelle van Arsdale.

[billiebook · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Using simple but evocative language, Arsdale weaves a dark fairy tale with a heroine and a Beast who are neither as simply good or simply evil as such characters in these stories often are. There's a love story (but not with the Beast--this is not a Beauty and the Beast re-telling), but it doesn't really enter the narrative until close to the end and never devolves into some lurid love triangle or angsty drama.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this was the way even the soul eaters were given backstory and made sympathetic. They weren't evil to start with, but were made that way by the assumptions of those around them and the stories that were told about them.

This is, ultimately, a story about story and how the tales we tell about ourselves and others shape who we and they become.

[shellypya · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Raised by strict, devout people after soul eaters attacked her village and spared only the children, Alys grows up longing for the freedom of the forest while hiding a gift that would mark her as a witch.

[salsabrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read by Candace Thaxton. Alyce is among the children in her village who survived an attack by soul eaters that killed all the adults. Now a teenager who was taken in and raised in a religiously devout village, she realizes she has an ability that would cast her out as a witch. Thaxton's reading is terse and compelling. Although her approach is understated, nuanced shifts in tone and personality reveal the horrors of the unknown and the paranoia of the villagers.

[dk_phoenix_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh. My. Goodness. This story is so dark, so delicious, so creepy, that you'll be glued to its pages and unable to uncurl your fingers from around its edges. Alys is a girl who lives in a world that fears the soul eaters, twin sisters who were once abandoned by their father and slowly became something "not quite human"... and who feed off human souls. The villagers also believe that these soul eaters are controlled by the Beast, but Alys... well, she begins to feel connected to the soul eaters. Maybe even to the Beast. And when the forest calls to her, beckoning and offering freedom, Alys finds herself on a journey not only for herself, but for everyone in the world she calls home. It's strange and wonderful and horrifying and absolutely riveting. I think I might need to read it again.

[linyarai · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I took this book out on a recomendation from the library, and I loved it. I think it was my first time reading about Soul Eaters as the supernatural creature and I thought they were fantastic and really well done.

[decaturmamaof2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A gripping read - Alys is a really great main character. But I wanted to learn more about her world... and the ending seemed a bit rushed.