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alongreader's review
4.0
This did not turn out at all how I thought it would. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I thought it was going to be relatively fluffy, but this book has claws. This book injured me.
Poor Nano is buffeted from side to side, has everything she believes torn into shreds and flipped over, and still manages to be true to herself. There's a romance, but it's not the focus, and a disturbingly cult like operation that, like the best dystopias, doesn't reveal itself until almost the end.
I'm taking a star off, though, because I'm not sure what age this is being marketed to. It reads too young for teens, but certain scenes might be very upsetting for younger kids. However, it would be a great starting point for a discussion about treating animals ethically and kindly, and about euthanasia, and these are not subjects I think children should be shielded from. Well done, Arin.
Receiving an ARC did not alter my review in any way.
Poor Nano is buffeted from side to side, has everything she believes torn into shreds and flipped over, and still manages to be true to herself. There's a romance, but it's not the focus, and a disturbingly cult like operation that, like the best dystopias, doesn't reveal itself until almost the end.
I'm taking a star off, though, because I'm not sure what age this is being marketed to. It reads too young for teens, but certain scenes might be very upsetting for younger kids. However, it would be a great starting point for a discussion about treating animals ethically and kindly, and about euthanasia, and these are not subjects I think children should be shielded from. Well done, Arin.
Receiving an ARC did not alter my review in any way.
thereadingrambler's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
brooke_review's review
2.0
Thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press for a digital ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Nano lives on Dog Island, where dogs are revered, yet caged and studied. You see, a previous genetic experiment on our canine companions went awry, and dogs were thus labeled deadly and dangerous. All the remaining dogs were euthanized with “Kinderend,” a euthanasia drug, and a select few were kept on Dog Island to be examined. This isn’t the only strange thing happening on Dog Island. Instead of keeping “organic” dogs as pets, people on Dog Island are given robot dogs, which are replaced yearly when the new model comes out. Nano can’t help but get attached to her robotic pets, and cries whenever one is taken from her. This is life on Dog Island.
Things go awry one night when Nano is feeding the organic dogs with her mom. Nano discovers a litter of puppies who are quickly euthanized by her mom (we can’t have dangerous dogs breeding, now can we?). That is, all except one that Nano hides meet their “kinder end.” And this is where the wild adventure into dog smuggling, animal abuse, and secret underground worlds begins.
When I read the premise for Your Robot Dog Will Die, I was excited to jump into this book. Dystopia is my thing, and I hadn’t read a book about a dystopian dog world before. However, Your Robot Dog Will Die suffers from poor execution, outlandish plot points, and confusing storytelling. Through much of the book, I couldn’t tell if everything I was reading was a “big joke.” I was waiting for the wool to be pulled from my eyes, to get some sign that this novel was satire. I felt this way because there is essentially no world-building, and readers are thrown into a world where dogs have gone rogue, people say “thank Dog,” instead of “thank God,” water is scarce, and people actually print their clothes. There was some background provided on the dogs, but I was given no other points of reference for any of the other odd turns of events. This made it very hard to “get into” the story and really find it believable. As an adult, I honestly felt confused through much of the book, and can imagine young readers feeling equally muddled. There were also descriptive passages about animal abuse that were uncomfortable to read. That is probably the point, but for a book being marketed as a must-read for dog lovers, I found it very upsetting to have the images and descriptions of abuse thrust upon me. Lastly, the climax involving the book’s villain was so out there ... no spoilers, but I just wasn’t buying it.
I think that if this book took itself more seriously, did some major world-building at the beginning, and had a more believable and knowledgable narrator, it could be so much more than it unfortunately is.
Nano lives on Dog Island, where dogs are revered, yet caged and studied. You see, a previous genetic experiment on our canine companions went awry, and dogs were thus labeled deadly and dangerous. All the remaining dogs were euthanized with “Kinderend,” a euthanasia drug, and a select few were kept on Dog Island to be examined. This isn’t the only strange thing happening on Dog Island. Instead of keeping “organic” dogs as pets, people on Dog Island are given robot dogs, which are replaced yearly when the new model comes out. Nano can’t help but get attached to her robotic pets, and cries whenever one is taken from her. This is life on Dog Island.
Things go awry one night when Nano is feeding the organic dogs with her mom. Nano discovers a litter of puppies who are quickly euthanized by her mom (we can’t have dangerous dogs breeding, now can we?). That is, all except one that Nano hides meet their “kinder end.” And this is where the wild adventure into dog smuggling, animal abuse, and secret underground worlds begins.
When I read the premise for Your Robot Dog Will Die, I was excited to jump into this book. Dystopia is my thing, and I hadn’t read a book about a dystopian dog world before. However, Your Robot Dog Will Die suffers from poor execution, outlandish plot points, and confusing storytelling. Through much of the book, I couldn’t tell if everything I was reading was a “big joke.” I was waiting for the wool to be pulled from my eyes, to get some sign that this novel was satire. I felt this way because there is essentially no world-building, and readers are thrown into a world where dogs have gone rogue, people say “thank Dog,” instead of “thank God,” water is scarce, and people actually print their clothes. There was some background provided on the dogs, but I was given no other points of reference for any of the other odd turns of events. This made it very hard to “get into” the story and really find it believable. As an adult, I honestly felt confused through much of the book, and can imagine young readers feeling equally muddled. There were also descriptive passages about animal abuse that were uncomfortable to read. That is probably the point, but for a book being marketed as a must-read for dog lovers, I found it very upsetting to have the images and descriptions of abuse thrust upon me. Lastly, the climax involving the book’s villain was so out there ... no spoilers, but I just wasn’t buying it.
I think that if this book took itself more seriously, did some major world-building at the beginning, and had a more believable and knowledgable narrator, it could be so much more than it unfortunately is.
abbyobert77's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
jenstef's review
I bought this a long time ago then just didn’t read it. Years passed and I’m reading through my physical tbr now. Picked this up, probably would’ve liked it as a young adult, but it’s just tedious to read now as an adult.
And that’s fine, I guess I’ve just outgrown YA.
And that’s fine, I guess I’ve just outgrown YA.
thistlechaser's review
1.0
This story had such potential. Set in the future, most animals have gone extinct. Because of human geneteching, there are only a small handful of dogs left in the world, and all of those hate humans (somehow the genetic changes made them lose all of the evolution towards working with people). A company took advantage of that opening and started making realistic(ish) robot dogs as pets.
Sounds interesting so far, huh? It's just too bad the writing couldn't carry the story.
Nothing in the world building was believable, to the point where often times some new detail about the world would just jar me out of the story.
The main character was boring and uninteresting, and every other character was flat and had no personality at all.
Such a shame. The story had sounded so interesting.
Sounds interesting so far, huh? It's just too bad the writing couldn't carry the story.
Nothing in the world building was believable, to the point where often times some new detail about the world would just jar me out of the story.
The main character was boring and uninteresting, and every other character was flat and had no personality at all.
Such a shame. The story had sounded so interesting.
vickycbooks's review
Alright, this is probably one of the most difficult reviews I've ever had to write.
Because what just happened?
As I was reading, I fully understood what was going on--Nano finds a dog, Nano meets some famous guy's daughter, daughter takes Nano and her boyfriend Wolf to see the other side of things. On the most basic level, as in what was happening in each scene, I understood this book.
But on a broader scale, I am so confused. The whole purpose of the book is lost on me. When I requested this, I was looking for some sort of comedy, whether it was the dry wit of Nice Try, Jane Sinner or the hilarious nature of My Lady Jane or some sort of parody or satire.
I'm just confused on what this book is trying to do. It lightly touches on so many things--animal abuse and blindly following people--but never goes in depth on a topic enough that I know what the book is doing. Sometimes it felt super serious, and other times it was so exaggerated that it felt like a comedic villain from overexaggeration rather than the satiric viewpoint on a dystopia that I was just reading about.
Basically, it felt like the comedic part of this novel got really confused. It jumped from overexaggeration to pointing out flaws in humanity on a more serious tone and it ended up really confusing me on what this book was trying to do.
Seriously, some of the phrases the members of the Dog Island community use are just so comedic. Instead of saying "Dear God!", they say "Dear Dog!" and all sorts of other doggish puns or switcharoos.
I think if it was more focused, I could have understood it better.
But it's also good to bring up the point that maybe I just didn't get it.
This happens sometimes--when reading more classic literature, sometimes I don't grasp the deeper meaning on the first read, especially when I read at the speed I read YA at. I could see hints of a possible deeper meaning being introduced, but I personally wasn't able to really find that in this book.
I wanted it to be more clear and centralized--and that doesn't mean to dumb the book down for us, but to pick a satire style and stick with it. Instead of overexaggerating the villain one moment and then switching to another form of satire the next, sticking with only one would have made this book so much clearer in purpose.
This was definitely a major problem that led to me not enjoying the book as much as I wanted to.
Similarly, I had a couple problems with Nano, the narrator. She felt kind of...not bright? to me.
I'm not saying she's not smart, but sometimes she sounds too young or too much like a blind follower that it makes you question if she has any sort of individual thought. In these types of books, the protagonist usually has this hint of rebellion deep within them.
But not Nano. Her rebellion doesn't really stem from her own observations, but rather how the situation forced her to do something. The most complex thought I really saw from her was just basic compassion for a living thing.
It made this very different to read and definitely has the potential to make some readers frustrated with Nano's simplistic thought. And, it's true that her education really isn't top notch with their spotty wi-fi and virtual school, but that doesn't mean intellectual curiosity will go away, does it?
The development of the world was also a little fuzzy for me. We spend most of the beginning of the novel on Dog Island, and how the dystopia is introduced leaves it to be kind of unclear as to if people off Dog Island actually use that funky terminology. There's also this drought which keeps popping up, but I was confused at how the drought came about? I felt like there could have been a little more exposition on this aspect and how it tied into the satire, I don't know.
I feel like this book's concept had so much potential, but the execution sadly just fell flat for me. I think using the "blind-follower" protagonist could have been amazing if done right, but I think the execution of this and the rest of the book's satire ended up falling flat or just flying over my head. I probably wouldn't recommend this unless you're looking for something where you can draw parallels between loosely related concepts.
Because what just happened?
As I was reading, I fully understood what was going on--Nano finds a dog, Nano meets some famous guy's daughter, daughter takes Nano and her boyfriend Wolf to see the other side of things. On the most basic level, as in what was happening in each scene, I understood this book.
But on a broader scale, I am so confused. The whole purpose of the book is lost on me. When I requested this, I was looking for some sort of comedy, whether it was the dry wit of Nice Try, Jane Sinner or the hilarious nature of My Lady Jane or some sort of parody or satire.
I'm just confused on what this book is trying to do. It lightly touches on so many things--animal abuse and blindly following people--but never goes in depth on a topic enough that I know what the book is doing. Sometimes it felt super serious, and other times it was so exaggerated that it felt like a comedic villain from overexaggeration rather than the satiric viewpoint on a dystopia that I was just reading about.
Basically, it felt like the comedic part of this novel got really confused. It jumped from overexaggeration to pointing out flaws in humanity on a more serious tone and it ended up really confusing me on what this book was trying to do.
Seriously, some of the phrases the members of the Dog Island community use are just so comedic. Instead of saying "Dear God!", they say "Dear Dog!" and all sorts of other doggish puns or switcharoos.
I think if it was more focused, I could have understood it better.
But it's also good to bring up the point that maybe I just didn't get it.
This happens sometimes--when reading more classic literature, sometimes I don't grasp the deeper meaning on the first read, especially when I read at the speed I read YA at. I could see hints of a possible deeper meaning being introduced, but I personally wasn't able to really find that in this book.
I wanted it to be more clear and centralized--and that doesn't mean to dumb the book down for us, but to pick a satire style and stick with it. Instead of overexaggerating the villain one moment and then switching to another form of satire the next, sticking with only one would have made this book so much clearer in purpose.
This was definitely a major problem that led to me not enjoying the book as much as I wanted to.
Similarly, I had a couple problems with Nano, the narrator. She felt kind of...not bright? to me.
I'm not saying she's not smart, but sometimes she sounds too young or too much like a blind follower that it makes you question if she has any sort of individual thought. In these types of books, the protagonist usually has this hint of rebellion deep within them.
But not Nano. Her rebellion doesn't really stem from her own observations, but rather how the situation forced her to do something. The most complex thought I really saw from her was just basic compassion for a living thing.
It made this very different to read and definitely has the potential to make some readers frustrated with Nano's simplistic thought. And, it's true that her education really isn't top notch with their spotty wi-fi and virtual school, but that doesn't mean intellectual curiosity will go away, does it?
The development of the world was also a little fuzzy for me. We spend most of the beginning of the novel on Dog Island, and how the dystopia is introduced leaves it to be kind of unclear as to if people off Dog Island actually use that funky terminology. There's also this drought which keeps popping up, but I was confused at how the drought came about? I felt like there could have been a little more exposition on this aspect and how it tied into the satire, I don't know.
I feel like this book's concept had so much potential, but the execution sadly just fell flat for me. I think using the "blind-follower" protagonist could have been amazing if done right, but I think the execution of this and the rest of the book's satire ended up falling flat or just flying over my head. I probably wouldn't recommend this unless you're looking for something where you can draw parallels between loosely related concepts.
kstericker's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death