Reviews

Good Dog by Dan Gemeinhart

heyshay07's review against another edition

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

3.5

wlingle78's review against another edition

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5.0

Read this book over three days and really didn’t want to stop reading even when I got to the end! The story of Brodie and his connection to his past life and his ‘human’ is amazing! The highs and lows and the valleys in between in the plot and character development will definitely be worth a reread down the road! Highly recommend this for a read aloud to grades 4 and higher, as I see it generating great topics of discussion with students!

mdreaderlady's review against another edition

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2.0

I absolutely love this author’s other books, but this one didn’t do anything for me. It was just an odd story and stretched the boundaries of what I can accept as plausible in a plot...but not in a good way. On the bright side, knowing what an incredible author Dan Gemeinhart is now, it shows how much authors can change and grow over time...which is always something that cheers up this writer’s heart.

kieraisreading's review against another edition

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3.0

This book is a really good story about friendship, sacrafice and loss. It follows Brodie a dog on his adventures to find his boy, Aiden. Even though Aiden can't see him or hear him Brodie goes to help because he loves Aiden. Such a good book!!

vibingjaren's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book has been on my TBR list for a while, two years at least. It was one of my favorite books when I was younger, and still holds up mostly to this day. The only issues I had with it was the direct characterization like, “Because Brodie was a good dog.” And how the narrator said “Trust me, I know.” Every five seconds. However, I do understand that I’m not in the target demographic. Other than that, though, this was a sweet book.  It has definitely stuck with me all these years. 
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23missb's review against another edition

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4.0

This is the 2nd book I’ve read by Dan and I’m really digging his style. He just goes straight for the heart without being overly sappy. His books are books that I would’ve loved to read to my own kids back when they were in upper elementary and we would’ve got misty eyed through the darkness and beauty that is life (and in this book’s case, death). He does a great job captivating his readers right from the start.

autumn_panda's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

atamano's review against another edition

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

3.5

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stefhyena's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

 
Despite being so sentimental and written in a really precious way (that I think was supposed to mirror the patronising view humans have of dogs) I have to admit this kept drawing me in. Overall it's predictable how it's going to play out but that didn't stop me reading for it. At the same time I was very irritated by the constant question-answer style. Instead of saying "Tuck was a good dog" (which is superfluous in any case because this is a premise of the whole book that Tuck and Brodie are Good Dogs) it says "But Tuck? He was a good dog. Yes he was. Believe me." or something like that SEVERAL TIMES A CHAPTER.

I could tolerate it early on but there was just so much of it! The cat was a stereotypical tart-with-a-heart, and the DV perpetrator was conveniently "the monster". While I sympathise with the wish to other perpetrators, I do think that sort of portrayal stops society confronting the ways we construct those "monsters" but I guess I know this was a kids book. Still, that's what I mean by precious and sentimental. The spirituality in the book was a mix of complex but ultimately naive. There is an afterlife. I would have loved that aspect of it when I was younger and didn't mind it too much even now (as escapism).

All in all I think a lot of people would love this book. As I said I was drawn into some parts of it 

loonyruni2's review against another edition

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4.0

I was a bit old for this book, but I think it would be an excelent book for an early teen!