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A GOOD ANIMAL
Sara Maurer
St Martin’s Press
February 24, 2026
288 pages
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This book starts beautifully. The setting is a farm in northern Michigan, where the family raises sheep. It is blurbed as a “coming of age” story, a theme I usually enjoy.
The writing is thoughtful and descriptive. The author paints a great picture of the farm, the boys going out to bring in the hay, the older brother looking after the younger brother, meeting the girls.
But, then it stalls to a very slow burn and starts to become too wordy for me. There is a LOT of emphasis on sheep farming…..raising the sheep, selling the sheep at market time etc. Honestly? It’s not something I am interested in.
There is too much emphasis placed on the farming aspect, not enough on the characters. There is a turnaround, but it comes much later in the book. At this point, I just wanted the book to be over.
The book has a lot of potential. The storyline, as described, sounded very interesting. But, it is not a book for me. I realize that much about sheep farming was from the author’s own experience and knowledge. I am glad to see from other reviews that many people have enjoyed the book. Not every book can please everybody.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
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