I loved this book, but it made me ugly cry after laughing. It reads like a grouping of funny character studies and works well. The plot was interesting and not one I've come across. Yes, I've read loads of post-apocalyptic fiction-- but not many have been focused on animals and this was the first I've read that was narrated by one. It made me want to make sure that a window in my house is always open and that we alllllways have cheetos in the pantry. ( )

S.T., a crow, is the narrator of this story. He was raised by a human named Big Jim. He also lives with the loveable dog, Dennis. The three live pretty happily together until one day when Big Jim experiences a scary transformation. He no longer pays attention to his animals, and his eye ball falls out. S.T. tries to heal him, but none of his attempts prevail. Big Jim gets worse and worse, and eventually S.T. and Dennis must venture out into Seattle to find a cure.

It is not long after they leave that they realize the entire world has been changed. All of the humans have become zombie-like shells of themselves. S.T., against his wishes, must communicate through aura, an ultrasonic and ultraviolet medium that birds can detect. What he learns is disturbing, and he understands that he is going to have to work with the wild animals that he has avoided for so long in order to survive.

S.T. and Dennis set out to free domestic animals that are trapped in their homes. They learn how to break glass by baiting the humans with cell phone screens until they burst through the windows. The other animals take notice, and S.T. teaches them how it is done. The domesticated, urban, and gentle zoo animals of Seattle band together to fight off humans, big cats, and wild animals who have wandered in, vying for territory.

This novel hit all of the right notes for me. It is part dystopia, part fable, part adventure, and entirely heart-wrenching and uplifting. S.T. is funny, resourceful, and loves so very deeply. He is willing to learn and change his mind about long-held biases. The sad parts made me cry… hard. The happy parts did too. This quickly became one of my favorite books.

It is weird, I think Kira Buxton and I must have parallel lives and parallel interests. A good friend of mine gave me this book as a gift and I read the jacket description and realized this was the book I wanted to write, except now I don't have to (which is good as I am not a writer).

I live in Mill Creek and my parents live near UW Bothell and I spend a lot of time watching the "college" crows stream into Bothell every night in the fall and spring. My kids say they are going to crow club. I have named my software business after corvids. As an avid zoo visitor, I am very familiar with every zoo animal featured in this book. I know the wolves, the penguins, the toucan, the tree frog, the bears, the orangutans, the gorillas at Woodland, and the elephants from Pt Defiance (sad that the talking raven from Pt Defiance didn't make a feature), and the octopus at the Seattle Aquarium. I lol'd when S.T. saw the crow sign at the zoo. I have had zoo crows unzip my backpack and steal my snacks. I looked at Buxton's goodreads list and our reading lists have a LOT of overlap. Interestingly, I had come up with an eerily similar plot as this book. So weird!

So obviously I enjoyed this book, but I did feel that the book required a lot of focus while reading. I am not sure if it was because S.T.'s bird brain was hard to follow but I had to reread a lot of passages that interrupted the flow of the story. But overall I enjoyed the book, especially because of all the personal connections. ( )

Received from a Goodreads giveaway

I must say this book surprised me. I really enjoyed the story. The characters were very likeable and the story was interesting. It did contain a surprise or two. I cried. Telling a story from a crow's point of view is an interesting idea and it intrigued me. I love animals and think crows are amazing, beautiful and intelligent. But my favorite character was Dennis. He was such a simple loving soul. I thought Cinnamon was so sweet.

I must say this is definitely a book I will read again (less) ( )

4.5 stars. I highly recommend this book to everyone/anyone. It's surprisingly heart-warming for a book about a zombie apocalypse. The POV of a crow was really well done, without seeming gimmicky in the slightest.

I knocked off a (half) point because of a completely unnecessary plot twist towards the end of the book that actually took me a bit out of the universe, it was that jarring. Even still, you should read this book! ( )