I first came across Pet on a list of top YA dystopian novels. The summary sounded intriguingly odd, and it promised to have a strong social justice focus, so I picked it up on one of my Barnes and Noble runs last month. As I'm currently teaching a unit on dystopian fiction to my eighth graders, I thought this would be a good story to try now, so I could maybe talk about it in class as we discuss the elements of the genre.
The plot of the novel follows a young teenager named Jam. She lives in the town of Lucille, a place that has recently been through a revolution. The revolution was focused on ridding the world of all its evil. Social ills like racism, discrimination, police brutality, child abuse, gun violence, and sexual assault were eliminated, and all the "monsters" that perpetuated these acts were placed in rehabilitation centers. No one has to worry about these problems anymore, and acceptance, kindness, and community spirit are the new orders of the day.
Jam's idyllic little world is shattered, however, when she unwittingly brings a monstrous creature out of a painting to life. This creature, named Pet, tells Jam that monsters are still alive and well in Lucille, and he needs her help to hunt one of them down. Even worse, this monster, Pet explains, is in the home of Jam's best friend, Redemption. Worried for her friend, Jam embarks on an investigation to determine who the monster is, find out what he has done, and make sure Redemption is safe. Pet is a novel about the dangers of complaisance, and the importance of keeping our eyes open when it comes to protecting our friends and our communities.
This was an odd little story, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. Emezi did many things right, but there was quite a bit about Pet that I didn't love. On the positive side, its message about the importance of paying attention and staying alert to potential dangers in our communities was a good one. Jam's story teaches the lesson that monsters can be hiding anywhere and wear any face. Even when we believe problems to be solved or to be things of the past, we must stay vigilant for signs of that they could be returning. The connections to modern day issues was clear, and it will be easy for young readers to draw parallels to their own world.
The representation in the novel was also very strong. Jam is a trans character, Redemption has three parents, there are many people of color, and there is a character that uses they/them pronouns. The plot does not center around any of these aspects. The characters simply were these things, it was accepted by everyone, and it wasn't a part of the main story. This kind of diversity is nice to see, and we need more of it in young adult literature.
The magical realism aspects of the novel were nicely done as well. Lucille is similar to a typical American small town, but Emezi imbues it with a wonderfully weird sense of fantasy. Life is mostly normal there, but there are little touches of wonder sprinkled throughout. The most obvious example of this is Pet, a creature called into being from a painting, but the world buzzes with a quirky spirituality in other ways too. Speaking of Pet, it is a beautiful creation; it's scary, comforting, disturbing, wise, violent, and gentle all at once. It is both a danger and a guardian to Jam. I've never read a character quite like it, and I really enjoyed how it was woven into the story.
However, while there was clearly a lot to appreciate in this novel, there were some elements of it that I didn't enjoy. One of my issues was with the writing style. This is clearly a matter of personal taste, but I found Emezi's storytelling to be arrogant or self-important in many places. She conveyed her message almost aggressively, like she was trying too hard to impress readers with her intelligence and her woke-ness. Some of her vocabulary choices were odd as well, and I found myself rolling my eyes quite a bit at some of the turns of phrase she employed, like saying "voiced" instead of "talked," or "vex" instead of "angry." In addition to the wording, Jam's voice felt inconsistent throughout the story. Sometimes she spoke like an innocent child, and other times her dialogue was peppered with profanity that felt unnatural in her mouth. I consistently felt irked by the language for one reason or another all throughout my reading.
Also, there were some thematic issues in the novel that bothered me. The story has a directly-stated, straightforward theme about how evil can wear any face. It could be anywhere and we must always be alert for it and never forget about it. It could even be hiding in our own families. While this is technically true, it's also very paranoid and unsettling, especially for a young adult audience. Are kids supposed to walk away from this story feeling like they need to look for evil around every corner? Maybe that's smart, I don't know. Something about it didn't feel quite right for me.
Another thematic inconsistency popped up at the end of the novel, when Jam and Redemption uncover who the monster is. To get the monster to confess, Pet essentially maims and tortures this person. While the monster is undoubtedly evil and deserving of punishment, I couldn't help but remember how in the post-revolution setting Emezi created, offenders are rehabilitated and helped. Torture is definitely not part of their justice system, and aside from begging Pet not to kill this person, Jam never comments on the other, extremely brutal events that happen. It also felt off to me that Pet played so large a role in the final confrontation in the first place. I thought for sure that Jam and Redemption would bring this person to justice through their own bravery and intelligence, working within the rules of their society, but they take a backseat to Pet's violent tactics and literally turn their backs and cower while Pet handles business. I'm not sure what kind of lesson that ultimately teaches. I'm used to seeing young adult protagonists find their courage and solve their own problems in the end. Everyone doesn't have their own creature to fight evil on their behalf, after all.
In the end, I felt quite mixed on this one. There was a lot about Pet that was admirable, but a lot that bugged me too. If nothing else, this book is a great one to analyze and start conversations about. The symbolism, theme, and connections to modern society provide ample food for thought, and even though there are criticisms to be made, there are a lot of great things to think through as well. I started reading this because I was hoping to use it in my classroom. Sadly, I do not think I could use it there. The language is too confusing for my lower readers and the content is inappropriate for a middle school audience. This is definitely for higher level readers on the older end of the young adult range. Adults will probably enjoy reading this as well, especially if they aren't bothered Emezi's writing style. Pet is a unique read about important topics. I wish I could have fallen in love with it, but even though it wasn't the perfect book for me, I'm still happy to have experienced it.
Challenge Tally
Finally in 2019: 45/6 Books Read - Complete!
Total Books Read in 2019: 70
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