Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Dogs of Summer

I'd like to say that I find the style and narration of this book pure magic. I read it so fast and I can't deny that it was an utterly magical masterpiece... still, it didn't hit me fully where it should have. I don't know I found many of the most «shocking scenes» quite done for the shock value and lacking any true meaning and although I do love tales about disgusting girlhood in this case it didn't hit me as I thought I was promised. I think it was mostly a case of exceeding expectation as this had been publicized to me as the next 'My Brilliant Friend'

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applesodaperson's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced

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

4.25

Ahhhhh this book was amazing!!!!!! I knew it was a lot like My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante before I started it, but yeah it was a lot like that book. But honestly I liked it so much better then that book. One reason was the lgbtq+ aspect, which made their friendship seem so much more special. Another reason is that Isora is just more likeable than the best friend in My Brilliant Friend. Warning though, if you are not a fan of non traditional grammar, punctuation, and format, this is not for you.
Read from the Provo library.

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james1star's review against another edition

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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.

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brinnavirginia's review against another edition

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emotional funny slow-paced

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

4.0

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scewart's review against another edition

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challenging fast-paced

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

3.0

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victoriakvitnes's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.0

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eralbesu's review against another edition

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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.

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taylorsevalia's review against another edition

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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

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