Happily Ever Esther
By: Steve Jenkins, Derek Walter, Caprice Crane / Narrated By: Steve Jenkins
Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
The hard work after making that Dream Move… with a pig… a really, really BIG pig…
First off, lemme get outta the way that this book, Happily Ever Esther, was my mom’s pick for our audiobook club, and tho’ we liked it, it turns out that each of us kinda sorta wanted to throttle the bejesus outta narrator and co-author Steve Jenkins. Never has such a whinier and pretty clueless dude been sooo outmatched by his choices and by life.
The book is a sequel to Esther the Wonder Pig, so I’ll just give you a brief cap on that. Steve Jenkins and Derek Walter are total love muffins when it comes to hard case animal stories. When told there’s a tiny teacup piglet in dire need of a home, it’s jump first, ask questions later. The piglet, who totally has them smitten, is Esther, and it’s a reeeeally good thing that they’re so charmed cuz it turns out she’s actually a full-blown pig and grows to over 600 lbs. The book is about how she became a social media darling, how they got outside from their home due to farm animals not being allowed within city limits, and how they crowd-raised oodles of dollars to find an old farm where they could take the next step and become an animal sanctuary. Happy ending, right?
Well, uhm… not sooo faaaaast…
Cuz see this farm is actually pretty dilapidated, and the two men are NOT handymen. They keep having animals pretty much dumped on them. Esther grows into a surly teenager. Volunteers come to help, and they’re about as clueless as both the men are. And Jenkins pretty much laughs off some pretty deplorable happenings like not being in control of animals they allow children around. Said child is harshly butted to the ground, and Jenkins laughs. Volunteers get hurt and THEN the men, Jenkins, wonder if it was wise to hand power tools to novices. A lead volunteer gets too “lead-y” and stubborn and instead of being grateful to all she’s done, they sack her (Granted, there is a stated incident which DID show an error in judgment, but Jenkins is showing errors in judgment ALL through the book!). They don’t tell a girl who offers to run the setup whilst they take a vacation that Esther will be on her menstrual cycle at the time, they don’t even think about it, they just leave her knowing she turns into a nightmare beast, and they just shrug it off when they get home and find the sitter banged up and in tears.
Okay, so that’s pretty much it for my carping on the flaws, except that it would’ve been nice to see that, now they’re in nature, they would’ve let Esther be more of a pig. Instead they keep the girl as a house pet, even though she gets crotchety at times. Wait… I said my carping was over… so sorry, I did digress, did I not?
What’s good about the book is how it shows that every Happily Ever After comes with the next phase of life, and every HEA comes with more and more incredibly hard work. Plus, I liked that veganism isn’t shoved down our throats, rather it’s suggested as a kinder and more mindful way to live. I also liked that Jenkins and Walter truly see animals when they’re out and about, not being charmed by the story of “swimming pigs”, for instance, but seeing the animals for the abandoned, neglected, and exploited creatures they are, story be damned. That they try to do thing to improve the situations of animals around the world is admirable indeed.
There aren’t as many Esther stories in this sequel; mostly it’s life in the sanctuary that’s covered with many of the rescues being introduced. Jenkins, tho’ he does have a bit of a whine in his voice, narrates their adventures well, and it rather left us wondering what Derek Walter’s voice was like cuz it would’ve been nice to hear the stories with more pathos than what was written (Seriously! There’s also a bit where Jenkins pretty much laughs off Esther terrifying and bullying Derek’s parents that I thought was inCREDibly callous of him; if you’re not going to think of those people, at least think of how your partner might feel about it all!).
But wait! I digressed again, did I not?
I’ll stop whining and will state simply that if you’re into stories of the hard work that comes with finally realizing your dream, this is a great book (And trust me: Every single member of my family has dreamed about having enough room and land to “take them all in”). But if you’re looking for more charming Esther stories, the book is kinda lacking in that regard. Don’t get me wrong; it’s obvious that she’s still very much adored and is honored. It’s just that I was hoping for more of the rascally gal.
And less of the callous whinging…
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