A disclaimer to those who are considering reading this book: THIS IS AN ACADEMIC BOOK, specifically a PHILOSOPHY BOOK. It is NOT creative non-fiction, or a cute fun quick read that you can do in a couple hours. It requires your mind to be constantly engaged in order to get the full picture of what the author is doing.

That said, I found it to be much more accessible than a lot of other philosophical writing. I don't normally read philosophy papers for pleasure, let alone books, but I understood this book and even enjoyed it very much. So as the philosophy book that it was advertised as, I am giving it the full 5 stars. 

It made me think about what death is really supposed to mean, or what it means for someone or something to understand death. Monsó argues that non-human animals can have a concept of death, going against what most other philosophers and scientists throughout history have said. She carefully lays out an argument that incorporates many concepts that I have only just been introduced to, such as "anthropectomy." I appreciate her not presupposing knowledge of basic vocabulary on the reader, like anthropocentrism and anthropomorphism. Her biggest, and I'd argue most brilliant, move is introducing the idea of a "minimal concept of death," which is the minimum amount that a creature should understand in order for us to say that it has some understanding of death. Her process of getting to the minimal concept of death was so fascinating! But honestly, I just really enjoyed reading every chapter in this book! 

HOWEVER, if you're not used to reading academic books like these, where the author lays out an actual argument, giving sub-arguments and evidence for each premise or claim, defining terms multiple times in different ways, then this book may not be for you. But if you DO have experience with reading this kind of thing and this topic interests you, then I'd say that this may be an even enjoyable read for you. If you're interested in philosophical writing, I'd say that this is an example of philosophy done well. At least, in my humble opinion. I'm sure other philosophers could find things to argue against or places where she argues poorly. But I found this whole book rather enlightening!