Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Dogs of Summer

Dogs of Summer is a fast-paced novel about growing pains, toxic friendships, sexual awakening, and violence. Andrea Abreu captures the feelings and frustrations of growing up so effectively that I often felt uncomfortable - like I was reading a ten-year-old's journal. I genuinely cringed as I imagined their antics and interactions with friends. Dogs of Summer is a reminder that children can be cruel as often as they can be incredibly intuitive.

One of the primary highlights of this novel is Abreu's writing style. Translator Julia Sanches has maintained so many playful and downright funny slang terms that both girls use. The slang and matter-of-fact narration are what really make this book feel like an honest peek into someone else's childhood.

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

My feelings about this book are complicated: a small part of me thinks “ew,” but it’s full of endearment. There’s so much innocence to the narrative voice, that I can’t help but feel charmed. There’s a lot of descriptions of shit, and wedgie picking, and awkward sexual experiences, but they’re compared to quietness of Barbies, or the colorful markers, or whatever is inside that box of licorice.

The story covers little snippets from a summer in the early aughts, with focus on minute details from our 10 year old narrator’s complicated friendship with a girl from her neighborhood named Isora. For example, a chapter could be called “Jesus’s Little Head,” which is a small detail of an engraving on the headboard of her friend’s dead mother, and the story is about an early childhood lesbian experience.

This book won’t mesh with you, if you’re squeamish about basic bodily functions, because there are a lot, and they are… I guess graphic is the word I want here. I will not forget this book, for sure!

Thank you NetGalley and Astra House for allowing me to consume this amazing book… even though I kind of forgot I had it and let the license expire, but I bought the book before I realized the license expired. Oops! It was grand anyway!

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