The Animators

The beginning of this started so strong, with women animators having just won a big grant to make a second movie after their first received rave feedback. But it went off the rails a couple of different times in the first half, which is about where I'm leaving this. I won't spoil things in case anyone else wants to read this.

But of course, of the two friends and business partners, one of them is “the talent” who is also real messed up (Mel), and the other is insecure about her role in the partnership and is always cleaning up the messes (Sharon). But then something bad happens to Sharon that causes Mel to kind of sort of clean up her act? But then Mel finds out that Sharon's childhood was just as messed up as Mel's (and Mel's was the impetus for their hit movie), and so Mel decides Sharon's childhood should be the focus of their next movie, and and and and ... there was just SO MANY THINGS HAPPENING. And I didn't care. And there were still SEVEN HOURS left in the book. I didn't want to have to listen to this for seven more hours!

I did look up spoilers about what happens in the rest of the story, and I didn't feel any compulsion to continue, so I returned the audiobook to the library. The narrator has a very scratchy voice.

Stuff happens in this book, some are surprising (a stroke!), some are just part of the rollercoaster that comes from having a best friend that likes to live on the edge. At its heart this is about a friendship that is also a work partnership, two artists who just love their work and love creating. Which is the element I liked the most about the book. The rest was entertaining. The moral dilemma of artists going biographical and what this means for those around them, was interesting, but if it felt a little doctored onto the story. All in all, a fun listen. Despite the narrator already had quite a “broken-glass” voice, so she had to max is up for Mel's voice lol.

I hadn't actually intended this to be one of my Pride Month reads, but Mel, the main character's best friend and business partner, is lesbian, so it turns out that it counts! I read this book as part of Litsy's “Buddy Reads” program, where everyone participating reads the same section of the book and discusses it before moving on to the next section. So I've been slowly reading this one over the past month. I'm not sure I would have read this if not for the Buddy Read.

This book surprised me! I enjoyed it, and I wasn't sure I would. Mel and Sharon have been friends since college, spurring each other to greater artistry in their chosen field of adult cartooning. (Not porn, just not childish themes.) They work well together, with Mel coming up with most of the beginning ideas and Sharon hammering them into a shape that will work and keeping them on track through projects. But Mel has a drug and alcohol problem, and Sharon has a stroke, and working through all of those things are really what the book deals with.

The two go back to visit Sharon's hometown in Kentucky at one point, and the way Sharon describes the town, and how surreal it is and how she never felt like she belonged, even when she lived there - that was a really hard-hitting passage for me. I went back to my own hometown last Christmas, and I felt the same feelings Sharon has in the book. Seeing those feelings actually put into words was....strange.

I honestly didn't like either Mel or Sharon for the first few chapters, but as the story unfolds, they begin to open up. The book is about growing up in some ways; the two of them, though advancing in their careers, haven't had to do a lot of maturing emotionally until the events of the book. I thought they both become much more likable as that happened.

The writing was excellent in this book, the character development outstanding, and the plot heartbreaking in places. Even though it's not my typical reading fare, I really liked it.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

It spends some time laying out the groundwork, fashions the requisite meet-cute at a prestigious college between two talented misfits and then jumps ahead 10 years. Two female animators working through the creative process and exploring ideas of love, friendship, addiction, success, family, who owns stories and who gets to tell them. From there it's a full blown soap opera with dramatic turns, unexpected reveals and mounting tensions. Whitaker throws it all on the page but it's entirely readable and she's got an ear for voice. I love Mel and Sharon and the tumultuous creative journey they're on. Rollicking yet assured it was a hell of a read.

"You know, the voiceover continues, it would be nice if we were defined, ultimately, by the people and places we loved. Good things. But at the end of the day, there's the reality that we're not. Does the good stuff really have the weight that the weird stuff does? What makes the deeper impact—all the ridges and gathers—on who we are? Do we have a choice?”

Based on the cover, the jacket copy, and every other reference I've seen to this book, I was completely unprepared for what was inside. To hear it described as a novel about “female friendship” and road trips, is to do it a grave injustice.

This book was gritty, raw, unflinching in its view of its own characters, shining unflattering light on every nook and cranny of their psyches. There are moments that will leave you deeply disturbed, moments of really dark humor, moments that will make you cry, because, at the end, I felt like I was so with these characters and inside their minds that I knew them.

While the characters themselves are often chaotic, unreliable, and all over the place, I felt that the writing kept it all together. The writing was solid, never really veering off on stylistic flights, but adapting to the necessity of the story and pace at any given time. Would definitely recommend (with trigger warnings).

My book club selected this for our March/April read, and I was skeptical at first, and then thoroughly pleased once I got a quarter of the way through. I actually chose to listen to the audio version, and I was so glad that I did! The narrator was incredible, and she had some great material to work with! The dialogue in this novel was fantastically executed, the perfect blend of Southern euphemisms, potty humor and cartoon language. The plot keeps you engaged, but never goes too far into the unbelievable. The characterization from physical description to interior self-awareness was so amazing! I'm so grateful for a book with likable, but flawed characters. I was so impressed by the way the author encompassed both the nuclear relationship of the animators but also a larger universe (Comic culture, New York way of life, Southern culture). And finally, the timespan was refreshing! I can't wait for her next book!

My first review, hooray!

I read this book for the first time when it came out in the beginning of 2017.

Let me tell you, I have NOT stopped thinking about it since.

I'm currently rereading it for the second time, because everytime I was disapointed in a book I thought of this one. It was written so well, and I have never read a story that deals with animators in fiction. As a freelance artist, it resonated with me.

This book is enormous. However, it is filled with emotion, friendship, heartbreak, stressful times, and family issues. I didn't want it to ever end. I loved the characters, and when it ended I was a wreck. It is worth a read if you enjoy friendship, drama, and character building. These characters go so far in this book it is almost ridiculous.


I recommend listening to this as an audiobook. The narrators are fitting and fantastic. I can't wait to see where Kayla Whitaker takes me next.

The Animators is a story of relationships - a messy, intense roller coaster of emotion that is ultimately rooted in love. Some of the relationships work and others fizzle out, but that's life. Join Sharon and Mel on their journey through life, art, love, heartbreak, success, failure, and success again. While not all of this book really grabbed my interest, the characters are well developed, and fans of realistic human relationship dramas will enjoy it.