Pet - Akwaeke Emezi

There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille have been taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their lives. But when Jam meets Pet she begins to question what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt the evil lurking in Redemption's house... But how do you save the world from monsters when no-one will admit they exist? 

I'd heard great things about Pet before finally picking it up in my local bookshop last week. I love the anticipation that strikes when reading a book that has been so widely discussed and reviewed, the worry of whether it will live up to expectation, the excitement of reading something that everyone is talking about. Pet was very different from my expectation, deeper, more involved than I thought it initially sounded, but a story with many messages woven inside it and a very worthy YA read.

Jam lives in the city of Lucille, a place where the monsters have been banished and the angels maintain order. Everyone is content. Happy that their lives are now protected from evil. Until Pet appears. A monster/angel hybrid that Jam is simultaneously afraid and enticed by, who is at her beck and call, invisible to others unless Jam desires otherwise. Pet's role is to hunt down monsters, and it believes there is one hiding in Redemption's house (Jam's best friend). However, no-one believes in monsters anymore. Not even Jam. So convincing Redemption and everyone around her that there is real danger and that something needs to be done will require determination and bravery.

The concept of the book with the monster haunting the young girl reminded me very much of A Monster Calls but less dramatic. Pet although fearsome and monstrous, soon morphs to be a companion for Jam. Someone to watch over her, someone she can trust and unlike in A Monster Calls there is no fight for power between monster and human; it is clear from the very start that Jam is in control, even if she doesn't know why. The metaphor of the angels and monsters is not new in literature and like in many other novels the monsters here seem to represent oppression and maltreatment of different races and social classes. However, in Pet, the belief that the monsters have been eradicated is overwhelming. Everyone around Jam believes the society she lives in is a better one, a safer, more equal one, and there lies the predicament for Jam - getting others to believe Pet's insistence that monsters walk amongst them. 

The book deals with a range of interesting topics without making them overtly important to the plot. It's briefly mentioned in the beginning of the novel that Jam is transgender, explained and then forgotten. Not in a "this is a worthless topic" way, more so in an act of normalisation which I welcomed - there is no need for more detail, as a reader you accept it and move on. Similarly Jam is explained to be selectively verbal, using sign language alongside her own voice in moments she feels comfortable. Again, another issue which isn't integral to the story but is mentioned and normalised throughout. Akwaeke Emezi does this wonderfully well with other issues too, seamlessly weaving them in, seamlessly weaving them out - stories within a story, giving teenager readers exposure to key themes and topics without overwhelming them and scaring them off. 

Pet is ultimately a story of good vs. evil. A story of discovering that the truth is often hard to swallow, and acceptance that the monster can be lurking where you least expect them. It makes for a great transitional read, for those students in Year 7/8 who are ready for deeper topics and can understand the metaphors within it but who still want a short book that isn't too taxing. I do think it could also work in a Year 6 setting for those children who are more mature readers, although do be aware that it does include a few swear words throughout. 

A deep and meaningful read, hiding and hunting the monsters that are lurking.