Mostly Dead Things
by Kristen Arnett
Reading Profile
Should I read this?
Tracks JessaLynn Morton as she inherits her late father’s failing taxidermy shop after his suicide, holding together a family that’s falling apart. The book’s value is in its intense, sensory focus—odd objects, workshop minutiae, and domestic ruptures become ways to think about grief, duty, and identity. Its main limitation is its tendency to dwell: readers who prefer tighter plotting or neat resolutions may find the lingering texture and recurring imagery repetitive rather than illuminating.
Read this if...
- •a book-club leader choosing the next month’s pick for a group that likes challenging family stories—use this now if you want a compact, sensory novel that reliably sparks conversation about grief, craft, and inheritance logistics
- •an adult child sorting a parent’s estate and deciding whether to keep a small family business running—read it during or immediately after the handover period because the novel mirrors the mix of paperwork, workshop detail, and private grief you’re living through
- •a public-library fiction selector assembling a small-press or offbeat-fiction display for summer patrons who prefer texture-rich literary reads—acquire it now to fill a niche for readers who want atmosphere and peculiarity rather than plot-driven hooks
Skip this if...
- •you’ll likely put it down when the narrative lingers on workshop procedures or repeated domestic vignettes—those long, texture-first stretches are a common drop-off point
- •annoying if you prefer plot-driven stories—this is more about atmosphere and interior pressure than forward momentum
- •not for readers who dislike close descriptions of preserved animals, bodily decay, or artisanal processes; the book often foregrounds unsettling material detail
What does it take to come back to life For JessaLynn Morton, the question is not an abstract one. In the wake of her father_x0092_s suicide, Jessa has stepped up to manage his failing taxidermy business while the rest of the Morton family crumbles. Her mother starts sneaking into the taxidermy shop to make provocative animal art, while her brother, Mil...
Before You Buy
Reading Specifications
Difficulty:hard
Audience Fit
- a book-club leader choosing the next month’s pick for a group that likes challenging family stories—use this now if you want a compact, sensory novel that reliably sparks conversation about grief, craft, and inheritance logistics
- an adult child sorting a parent’s estate and deciding whether to keep a small family business running—read it during or immediately after the handover period because the novel mirrors the mix of paperwork, workshop detail, and private grief you’re living through
- a public-library fiction selector assembling a small-press or offbeat-fiction display for summer patrons who prefer texture-rich literary reads—acquire it now to fill a niche for readers who want atmosphere and peculiarity rather than plot-driven hooks
- you’ll likely put it down when the narrative lingers on workshop procedures or repeated domestic vignettes—those long, texture-first stretches are a common drop-off point
- annoying if you prefer plot-driven stories—this is more about atmosphere and interior pressure than forward momentum
- not for readers who dislike close descriptions of preserved animals, bodily decay, or artisanal processes; the book often foregrounds unsettling material detail
Check formats, pricing, and availability options for Kindle, physical print, or audiobooks directly.
View available editions on AmazonKey themes
Why recommended
appears in Lgbtq and Fiction.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
No verified recommendation proof available yet.
Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider The Republic by Plato. Recommended by 13 sources.
“Plato stages an extended Socratic conversation that moves from concrete questions about justice into broad proposals about an ideal city, the structure of the soul, and what counts as reality and knowledge. Reading alternates brisk question-and-answer snippets with long, cumulative demonstrations that reward careful attention and annotation. Main value: a wealth of thought experiments for testing political and ethical intuitions. Main limitation: repetitive refutations, long policy sketches and dense metaphysical passages can feel abstruse and slow; patience and some philosophical background help.”
Similar books
How recommendation signals are reviewed
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.