The following version of the book was used to create this study guide: Akwaeke Emezi, Pet. Penguin Random House, New York, New York, 2019. Kindle AZW file.

A teenage girl named Jam and her best friend, Redemption, live in a town called Lucille. Before Jam and Redemption were born, society underwent a major revolution. Everyone who was a “monster” toward other people was locked away. The revolutionaries, or “angels,” declared that the world was safe and people stopped worrying about the possibility of a monster in their midst. Years passed and everyone lived with one certainty: There are no monsters roaming free in Lucille.

Jam is selectively mute and depends on an array of communications, including sign language and feelings. She can speak and does so when the situation warrants it, but Redemption and others accept her choices and communicate with her on all levels. Jam's mother, Bitter, is a talented artist and she is frantically working on a new piece as the novel opens. Over the coming days, she becomes focused on the art and seldom leaves the studio. Jam wakes one night to the sound of the house alerting her that Bitter had completed the painting, but Jam has to wait a couple of days before she gets a look at it. When she sees the painting, she feels that the paint is piled high, as if it is trying to escape the canvas. When she stumbles against the enormous canvas, she discovers that Bitter has embedded pieces of razor blade in the paint, and she cuts her hand. Later, she sees the blood pool onto the creature in the painting before being sucked in. The creature then begins to emerge from the canvas. While Jam is frightened, she finds herself actually helping when the creature's horn becomes stuck inside.

Bitter and Jam's father, Aloe, are not really surprised to see the creature because a similar situation happened years earlier, during the revolution, when one of Bitter's paintings came to life and helped hunt down the monsters. Now, however, they are certain that the creature – who calls itself Pet – is mistaken about the presence of a monster. They insist that Jam send it back. She plans to do just that. However, when Pet says the monster is at Redemption's house, Jam allows Pet to remain, knowing that she would do anything to keep her best friend safe.

Jam calls on Redemption to join her in helping Pet find a monster, but does not reveal that the monster is actually in Redemption's house. The two are horrified when Redemption discovers that his younger brother, Moss, is the victim and that Redemption's uncle, Hibiscus, is the monster. Pet and Redemption are so angry that they want to kill Hibiscus, but Jam urges them to take the situation to the adults and the authorities. She realizes that people have to be aware of what a monster really looks like in order to ensure that monsters are stopped. Pet reveals to Hibiscus that he is actually an angel, and Hibiscus is so terrified that he tells the truth about what he has done to Moss.