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Pearl

By: Josh Malerman
Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
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Publisher's summary

From Josh Malerman, the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box and Malorie, comes the legend of Pearl, a strange new monster unlike any other in horror (previously published as On This, the Day of the Pig).

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL • “Daring readers should find this tale of a malevolent telepathic pig to be a memorable experience.”—Booklist (starred review)

There’s something strange about Walter Kopple’s farm. At first it seems to be his grandson, who cruelly murders one of Walter’s pigs in an act of seemingly senseless violence. But then people in town begin to whisper that Walter’s grandson heard a voice commanding him to kill.

And that the voice belongs to a most peculiar creature: the pig named Pearl.

Walter is not sure what to believe. He knows he’s always been afraid of the strangely malevolent Pearl. But as madness and paranoia grip the town and the townspeople descend on Walter’s farm with violent wrath, they begin to discover that true evil wears a human face.

©2021 Josh Malerman (P)2021 Random House Audio
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What listeners say about Pearl

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Weird dedication to describing an underage girl…

The story is okay, but I kept getting pulled out of the plot because of the way the author kept going back to describe how “hot” this teenager was. Like why?? Do we need so many paragraphs about this young girls legs?? I get if you’re trying to prove that a character is kind of gross… but it seemed a little excessive and it kept taking me out of the book. The performance is good though.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

I just wanted....More

Don't get me wrong. This was a good read, and I absolutely love Josh Malerman. I just wanted the ending to be a little more intense. The whole second half of the book was quite a mind bending experience, just wanted it to end that way too.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Listen!!!

Loved it! Definitely a unique idea for a story, but turned out to be an awesome read/listen. Narrator was excellent. Would definitely recommend this book . 5 Stars

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

You won't want pork chops

I own 4 pet pot belly pigs and also have a bit of pig fear.Anyone that reads this needs to remember where your food comes from. This is a wild, terrifying story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Is Mr. Mallerman a Vegan perchance?

Loved it! This story took me through a variety of emotions and at the end of it, I couldn't begin to tell you who the real villians are. Perhaps, that is the beauty of it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Spooky Pigs!

I liked this one a lot. It feels like "The Shining" had a baby with "Animal Farm." Very spooky with a gripping story.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Good at times, grating the rest of the time

I thought it was a pretty unique and interesting concept, and liked how quickly it got into action. But I feel like 60% of this book was a waste of time. The exposition dumps of internal monologues from the characters were so wordy, boring, and unnecessary. We get it, the pig is cunning, the town is small, children have overactive imaginations and fears. I didn’t need a big word salad in between all the action to understand everyone’s motives and actions. Pretty unsatisfying ending, too. Wouldn’t recommend this one if you’re looking for your next favorite book.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not Great

The story dragged on and I couldn’t wait for it to end. I really wanted to like it but I really did not. I would not recommend.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible

Terrible awful storyline. Wasted $$ on a book about a pig… should have read reviews first.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Great start, then meh.

I was intrigued by the story's synopsis. It sounded very different, and it certainly was. I was hooked immediately. The author jumped into the action and kept it going. However, after about a quarter of the way through, the plot seemed to swimming in circles--the same experience for different characters without moving the story forward. I grew impatient waiting for something to develop.

From the synopsis, I expected something with shades of Orwell's Animal Farm. It did in kind of a ying to Orwell's yang. With this in mind, I kept listening, looking for an allegory. I suppose the fantastic story can be used as an allegory for different things to different people. The one that jumped out to me was an allegory for the internet. Not sure if this was the author's intention. But if it wasn't, it was a bizarre idea that went nowhere. The idea of an allegory is what got me through it.

NARRATOR: The narrator was very good. She varied her cadence with the emotion and action as well as the pitch of her voice.

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3 people found this helpful