Communication styles are of particular importance in the novel, as well, as Jam is selectively nonverbal. The novel also deals with child sexual abuse, trust in the justice system, ideas around utopia and friendship, and bucking black and white thinking about evil. Here, people aren’t really acknowledging what was happening around us, they’re not really looking directly at things.' Pet, so far, is my most American book, it's set in America, it's about America. Like when the government's trying to kill you, the government's trying to kill you. 'But one of the things that I liked about growing up back home is that everyone's very blatant about what's happening. In an interview with Teen Vogue about the creation of the novel, Emezi noted that the contrast between growing up in Nigeria and spending time in the USA greatly influenced a major theme of the novel:

Glass is Redemption’s aunt (Hibiscus’ wife).

Pet is the creature conjured in a painting by Jam after she cut herself.

Jam is supported and loved by her family and community. A 15-year-old Black trans girl, she is selectively nonverbal. Pet informs Jam that it is here to hunt a monster living in Lucille.

One day, Jam trips and falls onto her mother's painting (a type of assemblage with sharp objects incorporated within.) Jam's blood releases the creature that her mother painted: Pet. Lucille is a type of utopia its official historical record saw angels defeating monsters. Jam is a teen girl living in Lucille, a town in the US. We are each other’s magnitude and bond') is a quote from Gwendolyn Brooks' ode to Paul Robeson.

The town's creed ('We are each other’s harvest. Lucille, the setting of the novel, was inspired by settings that Toni Morrison used in her fiction. To them, including a Black trans girl character who was supported by her parents and community - and who goes on adventures but is not in serious danger - was particularly important.

With Pet, Emezi focused on writing the book they wanted to read while they were growing up. It was followed by a prequel Bitter, released in 2022. Pet is a 2019 young adult fantasy/ speculative fiction novel by Nigerian non-binary author Akwaeke Emezi.

Pet by akwaeke