Reviews

Dogs of Summer by Andrea Abreu

amandasarchive's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

darcey_reads's review against another edition

This is just really not for me. I just don’t enjoy reading books with children who seem (to me) to have already lost their innocence (the fairly frequent swearing, the sexual content etc). I think this partly comes from me being a fairly innocent child, so this is just so far from how I was at a similar age that it seems strange to me and just as if these kids have grown up way to fast. I did also skip ahead a little just to see if it got any better/worse, and it most certainly got worse. It feels very odd to me to be reading about the sexual experiences of 10 year old girls. I know many people say it’s a “great exploration of girlhood” and maybe that’s bc it’s similar to experiences they had at close ages, but since I did not I just find it weird and uncomfortable to read about.
I’ve also seen some reviews point out how often poop is talked about in this book, and just from the small sections I’ve read I’ve got to say I agree. I didn’t enjoy reading those poop/potty humour picture books as a three year old, I most certainly do not want to read that stuff now as a 21 year old.

haleydavis112's review

emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

gzaborski's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Reading more like a series of vignettes cut from the main character’s summer, “Dogs of Summer” provides a visceral feeling of grit, beauty and horror in its description of a 10 year old’s complicated feelings about her body, sexuality, relationships and place in the world.
The translation was really well done, we are consistently reminded that our pov character is only ten despite the very adult things she is experiencing and describing. 

Not a “fun” summer read, but an incredibly tactile one.

sathurnina's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

andthenweread's review

2.0

there were a few lines in this book that stood out as impressive or funny, but otherwise the dialect and writing style really didn’t work for me. i don’t know if it was due to the characters’ ages being so young or the novel’s short page count, but the characters never felt fully formed, especially isora. i also found the comparisons to the neapolitan novels (a favorite series of mine) to be generous at best. i wanted to like this book, but ultimately i think with the many constant crude references and lack of character growth it just wasn’t for me!

emdunaway's review against another edition

3.25

I went into this expecting a fun coming of age homoerotic friendship tale based off of the recommendations I had heard. I thought the writing & the translation was really beautiful & immersive & I did enjoy parts of the depiction of girlhood & being a little weirdo. The book felt so nostalgic & sticky. I really dislike that the characters where 10 years old & on top of that, the books has older teens on the cover. I also don’t want to read graphic cocsa depictions &  

I found the book’s ending to be unsatisfying. 

“I wanted to be her dog and I wanted her to be my saint with scraped knees.”

readingwmiles's review

4.0

as someone who also was homoerotically obsessed with their childhood best friend, this hit home. i really enjoyed the writing style, the setting, and the short length of the story. definitely lost me at some points with just how gross it could be, but hey that’s childhood

obviouschild96's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

jane_the_gemini's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0