Reviews

Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog by Garth Stein

kentucky_girl91's review against another edition

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5.0

Just wow. So many emotions. It is a must read for dog parents and animal lovers alike. Definitely a favorite

giftsintogold's review against another edition

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5.0

Heart touching and all the characters were so relatable.

thereaderfrog's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Though, I enjoyed reading this, it’s always hard for me to get through books after watching the movie. 

I annotated this, so that made it even better.  I got to see a lot of good quotes.

It was well written, and had a wide range of emotions, and Enzo’s feelings on being a dog/human soul are written well. 

I think i would have enjoyed the original, adult version, a bit better. 

soulkissed2003's review against another edition

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5.0

Please find my review of this wonderful story here: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979984962

sarug's review against another edition

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2.0

Initial Reaction After Finishing This Book:



I really wanted to love this book. Really. But I just couldn't. And I can't possibly imagine why! Not because it was mind-numbingly boring, depressing, and had a terrible almost-ending, right? Don't get me started. I'm just going to vent review this book now.

The Good:

1. The POV This book was from the point of view of a dog, which was pretty damn cool. I mean, it has been done before such as in A dog's life by Ann M. Martin, but I just liked how the book makes you think that you are all alone when you say things, but your dog is there too. And um, he's alive. But I guess it doesn't matter because they can't talk anyway, which the main character Enzo totally complains about the entire book. But yeah, it's a nice change from hearing what a human has to think all the time. :)

2. The characters All the characters in this book were lovable (or hateable), so that was good. Enzo was so cute, and it makes me wish I had a dog even more. :(. Denny, Enzo's owner, was pretty awesome, especially the fact that he never gave up when times got hard, and Eve his wife, was a wonderful woman who truly loves people and animals with all her heart. And Zoe, well I wish they talked about her a little bit more, but she was still a sweet little girl. And "The Twins" AKA Eve's parents. They were terrible! I wanted to punch them. Like seriously, suing Denny so they can get custody of Zoe, and lying about him being neglectful? Not cool.


The Bad:

1. The plot The plot kind of sucked. It was boring, moved as slowly as molasses, and lacked action. I was bored to death throughout the majority of this book. It's just Enzo talking about his background and everyday life for most of this book, and even when the plot changed, I was like:


And it was just really annoying. If you like racing, you might like this book because that's what it talks about a lot. And I don't care about racing. So yeah.

2. The mood The mood throughout this book was all bleak, with Enzo all like, "I wish I was human! My life SUCKS because I'm not human, blah, blah, blah." And most of the book was depressing with people dying, getting sued, and jerks galore. It was like., LIGHTEN UP. Seriously. Dude. Stop. You're bringing me
D
O
W
N
.

3. The almost ending Throughout this book, Enzo keeps talking about some documentary he saw that says in Mongolia it is believed that a dog becomes a human after they die, if they're ready. So this whole book, Enzo is basically waiting to...um...die. Wow. Depressing much? But anyway, the ending when he dies? I HATED it, because I love dogs, and cannot STAND them dying. But the actual ending is cute, which I will leave you wondering about.

So all in all, this books bad factors outweighed the good, so it got 2 stars. I didn't hate the book, it just wasn't my style.

queenclaire13's review against another edition

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5.0

I love dogs. I also love books. This is a book about a dog.


I did not expect to love this book so much. I expected it to be light and funny but boy I was wrong. SO SO SO VERY WRONG. This book is devastatingly beautiful and truly heartbreaking. Prepare tissues if you ever plan to read this book. Oh, wait. Scratch that. YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK.

cboylewight's review against another edition

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This book is sad but fun for people who like car racing.

sarithebookworm's review against another edition

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emotional relaxing sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

lizreadsbooks's review against another edition

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Work read.

b00kr3vi3ws's review against another edition

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4.0

It is an absolute gem!

I picked it up under the impression that it would be a ‘fun’ read. A dog who is into racing cars instead of chasing them was bound to be an entertainer. But this book is so much more. I fell in love with Enzo while on the roller coaster of a journey that he was on along with his humans.

Heart touching.