The Petting Zoos

ByK.S. Covert

Published May 2022

Paperback

^$ 23.99

Description

WINNER 2023 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Speculative Fiction

In a virus-fearing world, skin hunger can drive you crazy — and human petting zoos can return you to yourself.

Ten years after the deadly virus nicknamed Henny Penny, the world has largely recovered — there’s an interim government as well as law and order, and life is returning to normal for the greatly reduced population. But despite effective vaccines, the law still requires people to wear protective masks and gloves at all times in public, and many still fear a resurgence of the virus. On top of this, people who haven’t been touched in years are going crazy from skin hunger.

Lily has lived in fearful isolation for ten years, afraid to rejoin the world. But a return-to-work order and an invitation to go to a petting zoo — a highly illegal club where people go to touch and be touched — start to bring her back to life.

A post-apocalyptic sex adventure and a woman’s journey of self-discovery, The Petting Zoos is an erotic love story for an age of extreme caution, in which the value of safety itself is questioned.

Reviews

Combining elements of science fiction with whip-sharp social commentary, this punchily erotic elucidation on the human condition also succeeds on the artisanal level, making the reader wonder: why hasn’t anyone else written about this?

Victoria Hetherington, author of Autonomy and Mooncalves

It's phenomenal!

Julie S. Lalonde, author of Resistance Is Futile

Victoria Hetherington, author of Autonomy and Mooncalves

Lily’s journey is fascinating and Covert delivers a well-crafted story that allows the reader to grow alongside Lily.

The Suburban News

The Petting Zoos was a compelling, thought-provoking novel with excellent character development and a unique but incredibly relatable setting. K.S. Covert knocked this debut novel out of the park.

Cloud Lake Literary

The Petting Zoos delivers exactly what many readers look for in their speculative fiction: something bracingly new, but rooted in a fundamental sense of humanity. From a somewhat salacious concept, Covert creates a story of a world reawakening after disaster, an analysis of the nature of intimacy and love, of human connection. While Lily's is a personal, sexual odyssey, the novel is expansive, finding hope in dark corners, the soul-affirming power of fresh fruit, of nature, of touch. It's a most unusual and powerful work.

Jury Citation, Kobo Emerging Writer Prize

Contributors

K.S. Covert

K.S. Covert examined her talents and realized she had two options for a career: writer or rock singer. Writing seemed more stable, and a career in journalism ensued. But always the idea of living to write, instead of just writing to live, bedevilled her. The Petting Zoos is her first novel. She lives in Ottawa.

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Book Details

Paperback
May 2022
5.5x8.5 in
368 pp
9781459748804

PDF
May 2022
-
368 pp
9781459748811

ePub
May 2022
-
368 pp
9781459748828

The Petting Zoos

Description

Of Related Interest

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Reviews

Contributors

K.S. Covert

Book Details