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spookshow's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
After Tabitha Eggs has been expelled from her friend group for a betrayal so huge that it's unforgiveable, she goes off the grid (in a fashion) and finds herself the proud owner of a cabin she dubs Kevin, in the Del Norte County redwood forest. With the illustrious plans of drinking and smoking herself to death, leaving her bloated corpse to become food for the insects inhabiting the forest surrounding her (because of course no one knows where she's gone), she buys copious boxes of wine and cartons of smokes and sets about doing just that. After taking a jaunt out the back of Kevin one day, she stumbles across two dismembered corpses, which appear to be those of Kevin's previous owners. She soon feels that maybe walking into a wildfire would be a better end than whatever ripped those two poor souls to pieces. That is until she meets a sasquatch who saves her life, cuddles her like she's a puppy, and loves her expensive luxury body wash. The bond that she forms with a creature that shouldn't exist, outweighs every other single relationship she's every had, culminating in a bond that they will share forever.
When Browning contacted me about this book, I was (and still am, if I'm honest) in a bit of a chaotic disarray with my ARCs and just reviews in general, even the books that I'm reading just for me. So I was considering declining the request purely on those grounds, but when I read the synopsis for Sasquatch, Baby! and then saw that it was a relatively short read at around 160 odd pages, I thought "what the hell!" what's one more book with a deadline looming over my head? Honestly, I am SO glad that I said yes to the opportunity to read this book. I was not expecting for it to drag me in the way that it did. The satire, the storyline, the sasquatch, all of it just grabbed me by the throat, screamed at me dead in the face with it's rotting meat breath, and before I knew it I was trying to think of ways that I could hide my kindle while working just so that I could keep reading.
The story starts with Tabitha, trust fund child, on a mission out into the wilderness to move into a cabin that she's bought, but never seen, and drink herself to death because her life really is THAT bad. She names the cabin Kevin. Kevin. Yes, that's right, you heard me. She names her new home, a log cabin in the redwood forest of Del Norte County, California, Kevin. Pretty much from that moment on, I knew that I was going to end up falling in love with this absolute trainwreck of a character, and with the story as a whole. Something about the relaxed way the Browning writes just, works. It made me feel like I do when I'm hanging out with my long running closest friends and we're talking nonsense and our real personalities are just flopped out on the table for all to see. I could see myself being friends with Tabitha. That's how real she is. And yes, she really does plan to drink herself to death inside Kevin. All we know, is that she's disappeared off the face of the Earth, as far as her former besties are concerned, after doing something so unspeakable that they banished her from the friend circle and they never want to talk to her again. We get the details of the what and the why as the story progresses, as it's told through alternating timelines of the present, and what lead Tabitha to the point that she's at now. As satirical as this story is, it's honestly such a touching story on how rock bottom looks different for everyone, and how at some point, you're given the chance to make some genuine changes in your life and yourself, in order to live a more fulfilling life and start to straighten out whatever mess that you find yourself in. And let me tell you, Tabitha really hit rock bottom, I feel like there wasn't even a floor in her rock bottom anymore, it's like she was just falling down into the blackest, darkest, deepest hole ever and there was no chance that she'd ever be able to make enough positive life changes to pull herself up to somewhere remotely near solid ground again. But she does, and that's what I loved so much about this book. A good redemption story just really does it for me, and I honestly didn't even realise that until right now, but there's just something about a seemingly completely unredeemable character, actually redeeming themselves that just gives me that feel good buzz.
The slight spooky vibes surrounding the supernatural elements of this story were well done, and even though it wasn't a scary story perse, it still brought great atmosphere that really put you in Tabitha's place. And that wouldn't have been an easy task because the story is pretty out there. It still felt real though and like it can actually happen and that shows Brownings skill in her craft. I really did enjoy the story, I already knew what was going to happen with the basic plot, but the way that it was executed made the story exciting and kept me glued to the page needing to know what would happen next. And the emotion that Browning was able to pull from me was fantastic. For such a short read, I genuinely cared about Tabitha and the other characters that she meets in her new location. I developed such a soft spot for Dick from the general store.
All in all, this was such a surprising read. I did not expect to enjoy this anywhere near as much as I actually did. For a story that did not take itself seriously, it actually dealt with some pretty tough subjects and it did it with dignity and feeling. If you're looking for a story that is unlike anything you've ever read before, give this one a go, it might surprise you!
I received a copy of this book via Booksirens in exchange for an honest review.
When Browning contacted me about this book, I was (and still am, if I'm honest) in a bit of a chaotic disarray with my ARCs and just reviews in general, even the books that I'm reading just for me. So I was considering declining the request purely on those grounds, but when I read the synopsis for Sasquatch, Baby! and then saw that it was a relatively short read at around 160 odd pages, I thought "what the hell!" what's one more book with a deadline looming over my head? Honestly, I am SO glad that I said yes to the opportunity to read this book. I was not expecting for it to drag me in the way that it did. The satire, the storyline, the sasquatch, all of it just grabbed me by the throat, screamed at me dead in the face with it's rotting meat breath, and before I knew it I was trying to think of ways that I could hide my kindle while working just so that I could keep reading.
The story starts with Tabitha, trust fund child, on a mission out into the wilderness to move into a cabin that she's bought, but never seen, and drink herself to death because her life really is THAT bad. She names the cabin Kevin. Kevin. Yes, that's right, you heard me. She names her new home, a log cabin in the redwood forest of Del Norte County, California, Kevin. Pretty much from that moment on, I knew that I was going to end up falling in love with this absolute trainwreck of a character, and with the story as a whole. Something about the relaxed way the Browning writes just, works. It made me feel like I do when I'm hanging out with my long running closest friends and we're talking nonsense and our real personalities are just flopped out on the table for all to see. I could see myself being friends with Tabitha. That's how real she is. And yes, she really does plan to drink herself to death inside Kevin. All we know, is that she's disappeared off the face of the Earth, as far as her former besties are concerned, after doing something so unspeakable that they banished her from the friend circle and they never want to talk to her again. We get the details of the what and the why as the story progresses, as it's told through alternating timelines of the present, and what lead Tabitha to the point that she's at now. As satirical as this story is, it's honestly such a touching story on how rock bottom looks different for everyone, and how at some point, you're given the chance to make some genuine changes in your life and yourself, in order to live a more fulfilling life and start to straighten out whatever mess that you find yourself in. And let me tell you, Tabitha really hit rock bottom, I feel like there wasn't even a floor in her rock bottom anymore, it's like she was just falling down into the blackest, darkest, deepest hole ever and there was no chance that she'd ever be able to make enough positive life changes to pull herself up to somewhere remotely near solid ground again. But she does, and that's what I loved so much about this book. A good redemption story just really does it for me, and I honestly didn't even realise that until right now, but there's just something about a seemingly completely unredeemable character, actually redeeming themselves that just gives me that feel good buzz.
The slight spooky vibes surrounding the supernatural elements of this story were well done, and even though it wasn't a scary story perse, it still brought great atmosphere that really put you in Tabitha's place. And that wouldn't have been an easy task because the story is pretty out there. It still felt real though and like it can actually happen and that shows Brownings skill in her craft. I really did enjoy the story, I already knew what was going to happen with the basic plot, but the way that it was executed made the story exciting and kept me glued to the page needing to know what would happen next. And the emotion that Browning was able to pull from me was fantastic. For such a short read, I genuinely cared about Tabitha and the other characters that she meets in her new location. I developed such a soft spot for Dick from the general store.
All in all, this was such a surprising read. I did not expect to enjoy this anywhere near as much as I actually did. For a story that did not take itself seriously, it actually dealt with some pretty tough subjects and it did it with dignity and feeling. If you're looking for a story that is unlike anything you've ever read before, give this one a go, it might surprise you!
I received a copy of this book via Booksirens in exchange for an honest review.
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