Book Review: Here Kitty Kitty Purrs With Self-Destruction
I did a weird, but not uncommon thing. I read an author’s acclaimed novel before I read their debut novel. It is a strange move that shows you how far someone has come, but also who they were always going to be. Jardine Libaire’s White Fur may be her “claim to fame”, but Here Kitty Kitty put her on the map.
Like White Fur, Here Kitty Kitty shows two guarantees from Libaire’s writing. She will build a space like no other, and give you a character who tears her self down. Similar to my White Fur assessment, Here Kitty Kitty is not a new story: successful person decides to destroy herself. (HEARD IT BEFORE!) Yet, Libaire is unlike any, vivid writer; you know when you are reading her. You also know that, Lee, like Elise and Jamey, will take the best aspects of her life and smash with a spiritual hammer. Yet, is that not what a lot of us do? We simply do not feel comfortable enough in stability to protect it, which is why we search for darker adventures. It is in this human truth that Libaire has made a successful writing career, and Lee was her first lead.
Again like Elise and Jamey, Lee is always the most sympathetic character. She has a cushy job, a great apartment, and people that like her. As someone who has none of those thing, I am jealous (lol!). Yet, she simply cannot connect with her life, enough, to let it fulfill her. In seeing her snort cocaine off a toilet seat, sleep with men who WILL NEVER remember her, and oddly manage to survive all her selfish hiccups. For most of us, we make one mistake and seemingly pay for it for the rest of our live, but Lee has a bounce-back rate that could be called #blessed. Once again, you do not feel any empathy for her, but, at the same time, you learn about depression.
The way Libaire captures loneliness and makes it captivating is a worthy read, and an honest look into depression. Through Lee, I learned how depression not only cuts you off from enjoying your life, but also being joyous as a person/ an energy. All the drugs, sex, tears, and complaining turn Lee boring, when she could be so much more. Of course, Libaire’s writing style always excites, but she creates characters that define risk through self-destruction, and have to learn, the hard way, that risk comes in the form of love, particularly self-love. Click Here To Buy.
