A Different Kind of Intimacy
Issue 24: A Look Into The Complexities of "New Animal" by Ella Baxter
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New Animal by Ella Baxter is an interesting book that I came across via social media. It’s a book that I normally wouldn’t have picked up unless it was recommended to me, which in some way it was. After seeing several reviews on TikTok, I decided to purchase the audio book and listen to discover what the hype was about. Looking back, however, I think that reading the book would be a better experience of this read rather than listening to the audio book.
Although I would give the book ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ , I do believe that there is a message to take away from this. Having had my own struggles with acknowledging my emotions when I was younger, I felt for this character. I suppose the plot does include some extreme scenarios that our protagonist finds herself in, however, it all leads her to eventually break down a little more before she can finally open up.
Amelia is a character that is very disengaged from her emotional life, whether it be romantic, platonic or in her day-to-day. Avoidance, however, can only get her so far before she experiences an emotion that absolutely demands her attention; grief. When her mother suddenly passes, she does almost anything to try and distract her attention away from reality, which she soon comes to realize, doesn’t help her overcome her grief at all.
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In This Email We’ll Cover:
What’s New
Reflections
Insights
Closing Remarks
“Sometimes I wonder if… I have the ability to be so out of sync with myself that both my body and mind seek to annihilate each other. Sometimes I wonder if all of us metaphorically throw our bodies from cliffs every day of the week.” - Ella Baxter, New Animal
What’s New?
Book of the Week:
New Animal by Ella Baxter
Personal Rating:
⭐️⭐️
Genre:
Literary Fiction
Synopsis:
Amelia is a cosmetician at her family’s mortuary business, however, her interests outside of her job seem slim. Although she meets many potential suitors, her inability to feel much for them gets in the way, especially once she’s slept with them. Unfortunately, life takes a turn when her mother unexpectedly passes away and she’s faced with overwhelming pain and emotional turmoil that she has to learn to digest. In her efforts to manage her grief, she encounters someone who introduces her to a type of scene she’s never engaged with before.
Why We Love It:
New Animal is a book that’s outside of my comfort zone, and thus I wanted to give it a try. Although the book has some beautifully written passages, if I were to read this again I would read the book and not listen to the audio book. The audio book didn’t carry the weight of the emotion that I imagined there was in Amelia’s world, which is integral to the story.
Amelia starts off as being unable to get in touch with her emotions, which is abruptly interrupted by her mother’s sudden passing. Being unable to deal with the overwhelming grief, she moves to an island where she tries to escape it all. However, she soon learns that grief demands to be dealt with, and although she can avoid her emotions from time to time, it does eventually need to be dealt with.
New Animal is a book that I think probably many people can relate to. Unfortunately not many people are willing or even prepared to deal with grief or other demanding emotions. I think we’re come to a point in life where so much of our world is designed to be comfortable and convenient that by the time a life changing event, such as death, happens, we’re unable to manage it.
Key Message:
Acting always inspired me in many ways. The first rule of acting, for example, by Sanford Meitner states: To live truthfully under imaginary circumstances. The reason I bring this up is because as an actor there is safety in expressing your emotions. You get to live as a full human being with an array of emotions that you get to explore and activate within different stories and characters. It’s, unfortunately, not something that we allow people to do in real life.
I learned recently that avoidance is far more common than I initially realized. Although the book doesn’t explicitly say it, I would think that Amelia avoids many of her emotions to the point where she might not believe that she has any anymore. It takes a big life change to impact her emotionally, but by that time doesn’t know how to address or manage her emotions, which she explores through what some might consider to be extremes.
The key message that I took from this book was to remember to allow emotions to surface, whether they are big or small. It seemed to me that the character missed out opportunities in her life, simply because she was unable to confront the emotional weight that came with it, including her own mother’s funeral. In a way, it prevented her from directly dealing with hurt, but I think it also probably prevented her from seeing the beauty in life as well. It’s a reminder for us as readers to all ourselves to move through our emotions with grace and forgiveness.
Reflections
Quote of the Week:
"Maybe if time is eternal and reality can be fractured into many versions, she will be somewhere else; growing and learning in another dimension. And I believe, more than anything, that I was always going to have lived a life that would cross paths with her. She was a lighthouse for me, my guide home.”
Reflection Questions:
How did the character come to acknowledge her feelings in the end?
The character makes extreme choices all in an effort to avoid grief. Would you say that there have been times in your own life where you’ve avoided directly acknowledging your emotions?
Reflecting on the character’s journey through avoidance and acceptance, would you say that it reminds you of a personal time in your life where you’ve felt the need to address your feelings?
What helps you overcome pain?
Steps To Acknowledging Your Emotions:
Mindfulness: Practice Being Present
Cultivating mindfulness involves paying attention to the small details in your everyday life. This practice of being present helps you stay connected to the current moment, making it easier to notice subtle shifts in your emotions before they become overwhelming. When you're aware of what's happening in the now, big emotions won’t catch you off guard as easily.
Self-Compassion: Allow Mistakes to Happen
Embracing self-compassion means being kind and understanding with yourself, especially when things don’t go perfectly. Everyone makes mistakes, and when you remove judgment from the process, you allow yourself to learn and grow more quickly. Recognizing that life isn’t perfect and that you’re not expected to be either creates emotional resilience, as you can approach your emotions with openness instead of criticism.
Self-Awareness: Acknowledge Where You’re Starting From
Understanding where you’re starting from is key in emotional growth. Everyone has different emotional starting points and processes emotions at different paces. By recognizing your own emotional landscape, you allow yourself to move through emotions in a way that honors your individual needs. This self-awareness helps you set realistic expectations and gives you a clearer sense of how you can improve your emotional responses over time.
Insights
Author Spotlight:
Ella Baxter
Background:
Ella Baxter is an Australian writer who has, since New Animal, published another book in 2024 with another on the way. Although New Animal is her first ever published book, it has since been highly regarded and praised since its release. Since having published her second book, we can expect her third to follow closely behind.
Other Works:
Woo Woo (2024)
Beyond the Book:
Book Review by Cleveland Review of Books: The Suppression of the Body
Upcoming Releases:
Holy Horny (TBD)
Book Review:
Here’s a review from Cleveland Review of Books written By Christina Obolenskaya: The Suppression of The Body
Closing Remarks
As the character learns to acknowledge her emotions, so can it be a reminder for the readers. Although some of us may make different choices than the character does, this book serves to show us through Amelia’s eyes how life-changing events can overwhelm us, and potentially even scare us away. This book can be a reminder to many people that we have to give ourselves grace.
When we allow ourselves to acknowledge how we’re feeling, we have the opportunity to heal by moving through those emotions. Some people may believe that managing our emotions may come in the form of avoiding them altogether, but that can only last for so long. Managing our emotions means that we firstly have to acknowledge them before we can start to address them.
Overall, I think New Animal indirectly looks into what it means to be a full and all-encompassing human being. If we allow ourselves to move through the motions of our feelings, we can come through to the other end as a healed individual with perhaps a bit more wisdom to our knowledge. Ultimately, I think the book also looks to the fact that just because you can’t deal with reality, that doesn’t make it go away.
Until Next Time!
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Keep living life on your terms.
June Tara
Creator of Spark Siren
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