I really really enjoyed Summer Sons, so when this came across my NetGalley I jumped at it!
Thanks to the author as well as Tordotcom for the review copy!
What does it mean to “be-in-kind” with a nonhuman animal? Or in Dr. Sean Kell-Luddon’s case, to be in-kind with one of the last remaining wild wolves? Using a neurological interface to translate her animal subject’s perception through her own mind, Sean intends to chase both her scientific curiosity and her secret, lifelong desire to experience the intimacy and freedom of wolfishness. To see the world through animal eyes; smell the forest, thick with olfactory messages; even taste the blood and viscera of a fresh kill. And, above all, to feel the belonging of the pack.
Sean’s tireless research gives her a chance to fulfill that dream, but pursuing it has a terrible cost. Her obsession with work endangers her fraying relationship with her wife. Her research methods threaten her mind and body. And the attention of her VC funders could destroy her subject, the beautiful wild wolf whose mental world she’s invading.
I didn’t realize this one was a novella until I started listening to it. I pay attention to some things, I promise!
Feed Them Silence is the story of Sean, who is a scientist living in the near-ish future where something has happened that has endangered almost all of the remaining wild wolves in the world. Her research has helped her bring about a technology that allows her to more or less be in the mind of a wild wolf, to see if she can figure out what is happening with them. She can see through the eyes of an adult female wolf. However, her research and the long hours of obsession that it has caused in Sean has made her relationship with her wife very strained, and so Sean must make some tough decisions.
I quite liked this novella. I listened to it in just two sittings, which is really good for me, these days. I liked Sean as a character, and I often understood where she was coming from, and related to her pretty hard. This story was extremely easy to fall right into, much like Sean falls into the mind of a wolf at times, and I found it really hard to put this one down to do things like sleep or eat.
The narrator, Natalie Naudus, did a fantastic job, and made each character come to life for me. Her narration definitely made a wonderfully written story into a great experience for a couple afternoons. I’d recommend this one to anyone who wants something unique, with interesting characters. 4/5 stars!
superstardrifter 
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