PIGS takes place on an island on which all the Earth’s trash washes ashore. Four children must collect the trash (plastic, uneaten food, nuclear waste, unwanted advise, ect.) and feed it to six monstrous pigs. This cycle has seemingly been going on forever. Oh yeah, on the island there are also adults whose sole purpose seems to be just to torment the children. Everything on the island gets thrown off kilter when a child and a man wash ashore. Are they trash? Are the new residents of the island? Weird enough for ya?! Trust me, the story is stranger and more grotesque than you can imagine!

PIGS is clearly an allegory about pollution, the waste of consumer culture, the excesses of the modern world. But beyond that I just didn’t understand the story! The motives of the characters were unexplained and many events in the story seem to be important but those meanings were opaque to me. Though a short book and a quick read, I came away with tons of questions; I probably would have gotten more out of it if I read it with a bookclub/buddy read!

Stoberock’s prose was beautiful and the story was inventive and totally crazy, but it just wasn’t for me. This book is getting great reviews and buzz so try it out for yourself!

**Red Hen Press provided the book for honest review

• Title: Pigs
• Author: Johanna Stoberock
• Published: October 1, 2019 (Red Hen Press)
• Genre: Science Fiction
• Booky Nooky Rating: * *