Reviews - The Art of Racing in the Rain

6.01k reviews for:

The Art of Racing in the Rain

Garth Stein

4.14 AVERAGE

bolladyls's review against another edition

4.25

emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

oriqueue's review against another edition

4.0

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

xoxcharm's review against another edition

3.0

The writing style is oddly simplistic but it flows well and you do get invested in Denny through Enzo's eyes.

chump_official's review against another edition

4.0

The first 150 pages didn't really hook me, but by the end I really enjoyed it.

ask_dorrey54's review against another edition

3.25

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Maybe it's just that I've heard such great things about it or that I've read a handful of phenomenal books recently; maybe if I had read it years ago things would've been different, but this book fell short for me.

By now I imagine everyone knows that this book was written from the point of view of a family dog. That's what I liked about it. Enzo's relationship with his owner/best friend was so fun to hear about and imagine what my own canine best friends think, feel, and see about me. But other than that connection, the story just wasn't one that I truly cared about or connected to.

**Spoiler Alert Ahead** I truly hated the main character when he accepted not living with his wife while she was sick, even though she was the one that asked because literally WHO would to that!? And after her death, I felt that the story line with her niece's lies and her parents' coniving felt forced, while the clean up and happy ending from it felt unrealistic. It just really seemed like an odd story line to choose because a court room is one place where a dog can never go and that's the point of view we were given.

Still 3.25 ⭐ because of the dog's perspective and my introduction into the Mongolian belief about dogs running free after death and coming back as human if/when they are ready. I will be researching that now.

pallavishakya's review against another edition

5.0

I chose this book because of only one reason: I love dogs! And I loved this story told by Enzo who loves his master , who loves to be on a racing car and who knows that he will be a man in his next life. The narration by a dog was funny, emotional and heart-warming. Enzo is a dog with so much insight, so much intelligence. The whole time I kept looking at Pathu(my dog) and kept wondering if he too has same feelings like Enzo. The story of Danny, Eve, Joe and Enzo was a tumbling hill, full of ups and downs. It was more tears than happiness and Enzo made it feel so real and full of life. Man this dog can talk! He can quote movie dialogues, he can give speeches, he is just so wonderful! Well, may be I am being a little biased here, because the long explanations of driving and racing cars quite bored me but then I loved Enzo, I loved how the story was told and most of all I loved the ending, what more do I need? 5 stars for ENZO! :)