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julesceasara's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Gross but I guess that was most of the plot. The fact they were 10 years old was kind of Ick. However it was a very quick, engrossing read. For the life of me I can’t figure out the ending like wtf actually happened and I can’t find any mention of it online I feel like I’m losing my mind. Did someone die? Or not? Like I don’t know, and it seems like no one else does either.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Toxic friendship, Fatphobia, Excrement, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Body shaming, and Sexual content
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Death of parent
hollyrebecca's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-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
3.25
This story is raw, visceral, and disgusting in it’s depiction of girlhood and puberty in poverty. I rarely read books that make me feel nauseous and fascinated at the same time, but this book definitely achieved that.
We follow our heroine over the course of a summer in her home in the mountains of Tenerife. In this short span of time we see, from her 10-year-old eyes, friendships and family in both the mundane and the adventurous.
Abreu uses a very interesting technique for story telling to evoke our childish narrator, the prose being unlike anything I’ve read. Whole chapters are told as single sentences without any punctuation. There’s no differentiation between speech and other text throughout. It culminates into a piece of work that reads as both a diary and an internal monologue.
Our heroine has a very restricted worldview, driven in part by her having no knowledge or interest in seeing the world past a certain point of her village. This is reflected in the cultural references throughout the book, which made me feel like these characters existed in almost a different world. The slang terms and child-like misnomers for recognisable English-name brands, such as The Sinsons rather than The Simpsons, perpetuated this sensation.
I think this book was very well written, I just personally wouldn’t read this again as some of the graphic descriptions made me feel very unsettled. I appreciate that this was the purpose of the novel, to show you the unsettling realities of growing up in such an environment while tackling some difficult topics, but it unfortunately wasn’t for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Excrement, and Rape
Moderate: Vomit, Bullying, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Death
kirbyworming's review against another edition
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
24hr reading marathon book #1; weird and gross and I loved every bit of it even though the writing got a little too much at times
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Rape
moolyd's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Rape, Eating disorder, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Excrement
tinytoulmin32's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
3.0
I agree with a few comments I’ve read, I wonder if the English translation of this book isn’t as good as the original. It was quite shocking in parts, but also relatable in some ways, the bizarre (and sometimes dark) games children play and the complex relationships you experience during puberty. I read it in a couple of hours and I did find myself struggling to put it down. But something about it made me just think ‘yeah it was ok…’ and not sure I could recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape
james1star's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was okay I guess, I’m not too sure really on how to review it in all honesty. It certainly started well and you get the sense from page one Abreu is not going to hold back. Whilst it’s a little (well lotta) unpleasant to start a book with a girl making herself throw up, I did actually love the rawness and no-self-control aspect of these characters, preparing myself for a no-shits-given read. The book is all from the POV of an unnamed ten year old girl given the nickname ‘shit’ by her friend Isora and their poverty-ridden life in the hills of Tenerife. The first three quarters of the book just follows these two as they go about, not really doing much and it’s for sure more of a character-driven novel. I did like this to start and Abreu does give us a good character study and represents the harsh life of those living in Tenerife with a big divide between the locals and tourists well. But… it does get a bit much after some time with repetitive scenarios of gross bodily functions with the reading experience becoming quite uncomfortable and sickening to be frank. She presents female sexuality, puberty and growing up in an raw light which I appreciate but it does get too crass. I don’t mind crass books and can forgive them sometimes but the more it went on I didn’t get any sense of a true message or crux to it so maybe she was just adding these in for the sake of it? The book leads up to a climatic event and onwards I really began to dislike it more so, I don’t think the topics were presented all that well and it’s just quite an irritating read.
Like I said, this is quite a difficult book to review because I think the translation is really what let it down. I’ve read lots of reviews (well more so the comments on these) and it’s apparent those who read the original Spanish rated it higher and it was received better there. This is a book that is meant to be representing poor Spanish women in the Canary Islands so when I, a working class cis-presenting man who’s lived my whole life in London, reads this I can’t grapple the culture and life to the best of my ability. That’s not to say I can’t rationalise and see things from other’s perspective but maybe some books just aren’t meant to be translated and possibly this is the case for Dogs of Summer which is a shame. The nuance of Abreu’s craft in regards to the story and character studies was likely lost in the translation process. However, there still are some Spanish-speaking reviews that rated it low.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Vomit, Cursing, Sexual content, and Excrement
Minor: Fatphobia, Animal death, Classism, Rape, Suicide, Self harm, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty
eralbesu's review against another edition
fast-paced
3.75
Follows the friendship of two feral girls. It’s disgusting and intimate in a way that made me want to stop reading. Many times. Can’t say I’d recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Child abuse
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Child death
taylorsevalia's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Sexual content
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Cannibalism, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Abandonment
hanhantap's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Death of parent, Vomit, and Blood
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
anajailer's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
i don't really know how to feel about this book. i liked the writting style an the fact that it was a queer story. i did finish it in a few days, but there were quite a few things that made me uncomfortable. maybe i was just an innocent kid so i don't relate to the characters as much. the friendship was so toxic, it bothered me a lot tbh
i did try to read the portuguese version first as i feel that would have been closer to the original book but i could only find it in brazillian pt. translation may have played a part as well
i did try to read the portuguese version first as i feel that would have been closer to the original book but i could only find it in brazillian pt. translation may have played a part as well
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Suicide, Fatphobia, Self harm, Death, and Vomit