A Good Animal by Sara Maurer | A Coming of Age Novel

I recently selected A Good Animal by Sara Maurer as one of my book of the month selections (you can read more about that here). The description of the book sounded fascinating. I thought that this was going to be a coming of age story about first love and first heartbreak. And in a way it was… because there’s a lot of heartbreak that happens in day to day life on a farm. Especially when you’re raising livestock.

But this book was not what I thought it was going to be. It got way darker than I expected. I finished this book this morning and I’m still processing my thoughts. I’m still trying to emotionally recover from the second half of the book.

Today’s book review is going to be a casual post about my initial thoughts of this book. I’m still processing and I just need to talk abou it. Lol.

What is A Good Animal by Sara Maurer About?

A heart-wrenching coming-of-age debut novel by a stunning new voice in fiction, for readers of Barbara Kingsolver and Ann Patchett.

Staying is his dream. Leaving is hers. One secret threatens them both.

In the farm country outside Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan—a border town where life moves slow and dreams run fast—most kids want out. Not Everett Lindt. He’s set on staying put, rebuilding his family’s sheep farm, and carving a future from the land he loves.

Then he meets Mary, a new girl in town with restless energy and bigger plans. When their relationship reaches a crossroads, Everett sees a life together. Mary, however, is desperate to find a way out. Together, they make an impulsive choice—one that could change everything.

Tense, lyrical, and deeply felt, Sara Maurer’s unforgettable debut breathtakingly captures the ache of first love, the beauty and brutality of rural life, and how one decision can echo through generations and shape who we become. (from Amazon.com)

My Preconceived Notions

As I mentioned earlier, my main reason for wanting to read this book was the description. I knew this wasn’t going to be a romance novel by any means, but I thought that the romance between Everett and Mary was going to be the main story. And it wasn’t. So I just want to make that known before we get into the plot of the book.

This Book Feels like a Very Realistic Portrait of Life on a Farm

This is Sara Maurer’s first novel, and it’s easy to tell that she’s writing a subject that is very familiar to her. The details of farm live, raising sheep, country fairs, and more was so interesting. I’ve been to my local county fair and I’ve been to the Pennsylvania Farm Show andI feel like next time I go, I’m going to think about it differently.

I remember watching the kids show their goats, and it made me think of little Jay ad Katie (Everett’s younger siblings).

The main character Everett meets a new girl in town, Mary. And as they get to know each other, they learn more about each others lives. It’s really interesting to see how each of them has things to learn from each other. Everett is unfamiliar with how art school works and how Mary has to put together a “portfolio”. And Mary has no idea how farms work. She’s scared of the livestock. But it’s clear to her that Everett has a lot of knowledge about the industry from growing up on his parents farm and helping with the sheep farming.

I felt like that was a very interesting part to this book. 

First Love is Hard, Man…

I really felt for Everett. I liked his relationship with his best friend Charlie, but it’s clear that he was used to being “the sidekick”. That’s what happens when one person has a boisterous personality. So watching Everett fumble through some of his interactions with teenage girls was painful. But also felt realistic and relatable. I can’t even imagine how bad my flirting was when I was a teen! haha.

This isn’t a story of star-crossed love. It’s about first experiences and making mistakes and just wanting to feel good. I enjoyed the sweet scenes between Everett and Mary on the school bus. And my heart swelled when Everett’s Mom was so thrilled to meet Mary, even though the feeling may not have been mutual. 

In the end I think Everett and Mary had good intentions. Butsometimes when you’re younger you get swept up in your feelings. 

For most people, your senior year of high school is not when you’re going to meet the love of your life. I know that it does happen for some people (my parents did go to their high school prom together, and they are still married today) but it’s not all that likely. 

So I think Sara Maurer did a great of writing a book that pointed out both sides. Everett and Mary like each other, but have different plans for the future. Meanwhile, Charlie and Kylie might be endgame. Who knows?

This Book Wasnt What I Thought It Was Going To Be

But now that I’ve processed it more, I realize that I really did like it. It’s a beautiful story about a young man growing up on a farm and trying to figure out his future. That’s a lot of pressure for a seventeen year old. But in small towns like Sault Ste. Marie that’s just how it is.

I thought the pacing was good, with the book divided into different seasons. And even though it’s slower, it’s a deeply felt story. I think other readers will find themselves engrossed in Everett’s story of trying to do the right thing while also trying to please his family.

It definitely went in a different direction than I thought it was going to. I had not idea how much stress and unpredictablility there is on a farm. Every time a sheep died I felt like my heart was broken. But that’s farm life for you!

In Conclusion

Would I recommend A Good Animal by Sara Maurer? Yes. Maurer’s prose is engrossing as she paints a picture of rural farm life in this poignant coming-of-age novel. She managed to create a work that as a reader, I could fall right into. I didn’t need too much exposition to explain to me what was going on.

While love wasn’t the only plot point in this book, it is a love story. Readers will feel empathy and relate to Everett as he experiences his first time falling in love, in an imperfect way, in an imperfect world.

I hope you enjoyed today’s book review! I received my copy early from Book of the Month, but it will be released on February 24, 2026 by st. martin’s press.