This book was a strange combination of flat and striking, but it was mostly striking. I love to write about siblinghood and in my opinion Strange Creatures is a brilliantly written, personal, and vivid depiction of a brother and sister’s relationship through trauma and grief. Honestly, it feels real to the point where the reader has the sense that this must’ve been lived at some point. This story’s message was unlocked on paper, but it’s more than that, you know? You can see the world in front of you! Before reading it, I saw people call it a portal fantasy and whatnot, but after getting to read it I feel like that would be a misleading label. This blurs the lines between reality and delusion in a child’s brain when faced with trauma. Calling it fantasy would sort of disrespect its contemporary elements. You don’t really learn the significance of the seemingly-random fantasy elements of Gumlea at the beginning of the story (unless you read the entire book description) which might get a little confusing, but I believe the “explanation” of the paracosm’s importance makes the earlier half of the book even better in hindsight. So, I love the story’s concept and the execution really hit home-- it just felt that some parts were a little flat, and since those parts were the actual main characters, this book is definitely a mixture of quality. In Strange Creatures' defense, though, this is more personal opinion than anything else, but I feel like Jamie and Annie were both more about their relationship than they were about themselves. I guess you can argue this as a result of youth, trauma, and the like, but I just found myself getting frustrated with the characters sometimes. The lack of likeability (especially with Annie, sorry… I couldn't follow her reasoning half the time) softened the emotional blows of the rollercoaster of a plot, but the plot was still one door after another, so in the end I'd recommend for people interested in portrayals of brotherhood and shared sibling trauma to read this!
About This Book
From the moment that Annie was born, she and her older brother, Jamie, were inseparable. Alike in almost every way, they promised to always take care of each other while facing the challenges of growing up different in suburban America. And when life became too much for them, they created their own space in the woods behind their house: a fantasy world of their own making, where no one else could find them. And it was enough, for a while. But then came middle school when Jamie grew dark and distant. He found new friends, a girlfriend, and a life away from Annie and their shared world. By the time Annie was in eighth grade, it was as if she hardly knew the brother who was her other half.
And then, one day, he disappears.
Annie, her family, and the entire community are devastated. And as the days turn into months turn into years, everyone begins to accept that Jamie is gone for good. Everyone, that is, except Annie, who believes that Jamie, somehow, has entered the world they created, and who believes that she's the only one who can bring him back. But as Annie searches for answers and finds a new relationship with a girl she did not expect, she makes startling discoveries about her brother's disappearance—and has to decide how much of herself she’s willing to give up in order to keep hope alive.
