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amandam71's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A deeply sad love letter to the relationship between people and animals, as well as the literature and other media used to portray it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Suicide
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
somebodys_fool's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Animal death
kamelleruano's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Animal death
brinnavirginia's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, and Infidelity
Minor: Excrement and Vomit
ahorowitz25's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
1.0
Unfortunately, this book is a great example of misleading blurbs. I thought this was a tale about how a woman copes with her friend's suicide by taking in the man's dog, Apollo, and how both animal and human help each other grieve of the unexpected death. Instead, I got a middle-aged woman’s long-winded, wandering pontifications and justifications of her friend's repeated adultering and infidelities with his students and colleagues because he insisted that "a college setting encourages such behavior."
Gross.
Is it well written in a profoundly literary (read: pretentious and grating) style? Yes. But I just couldn’t get past how nauseous the male prof made me. I shouldn’t have bothered finishing it.
Gross.
Is it well written in a profoundly literary (read: pretentious and grating) style? Yes. But I just couldn’t get past how nauseous the male prof made me. I shouldn’t have bothered finishing it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Infidelity
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death
reshusky's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I think the subjects could have been handled better. Felt less like it was focusing on grief, and more on complaining about new authors/students. The bits about the dog and grief were good, the book feels intimate but it also felt like a complaint more than a novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Grief and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty
kaitidid's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-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
5.0
Not a classic dog book. More about grieving a flawed individual, and about writing itself. If you’re looking for “Marley and Me”, this isn’t it. But what it is is strange and wonderful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Death, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, and Trafficking
Minor: Ableism, Toxic relationship, and Dementia
icarusandthesun's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
charming—i'm pleasantly surprised! i impulse-bought this book even though the synopsis didn't particularly speak to me, and i'm honestly really glad i did.
- there was lots of talk about books and the act of writing and writing as a form of art (a given since both main characters are writers), which i, as a writer myself, throughly enjoyed, but i can definitely see how that's not a relatable topic for everyone.
- the book's quite funny at times, and what i found especially entertaining was the upbeat writing style constantly being paired with incredibly grave topics.
- the characters weren't lovable at all imo (except for the dog, ofc), but rather just plain interesting to observe.
- the feminist commentary (if you can call it that?) was confusing as hell. like it was sort of feminist but then some lines weren't at all—quite the opposite. idk, it was confusing.
- the feminist commentary (if you can call it that?) was confusing as hell. like it was sort of feminist but then some lines weren't at all—quite the opposite. idk, it was confusing.
- the plot... was basically non-existent. no plot, just vibes is all. i guess there was a plot twist, but that one was just really unnecessary. it wasn't impactful at all, because it didn't actually change anything. it wasn't some sort of great revelation that would make the reader feel betrayed, it didn't make the reader feel anything, really.
another point of criticism i have is that most of the book's depth comes from quoting other authors. the narrator references other authors and works like every other page and i found that most of the lines i underlined/annotated were just said quotes. so i'm wondering a little bit—how much did nunez actually add to the depth and grade of profundity of her own book?
something i also want to mention, even though a few other reviews have already done so, is that the book doesn't live up to its synopsis... so if you expect the things in the synopsis it's invariably going to be a little underwhelming, if not disappointing.
but i personally really enjoyed it nevertheless—perhaps even *because* it was so different from what i had expected (since, as i've already said, the synopsis didn't really speak to me anyway.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
rainbowarpaint's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Animal death, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt
motleybooksandtea's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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
2.5
2.5 — Oh goodness.
There were aspects of this book that really resonated with me. My internal sad girl felt very seen. The writing, itself, was also stunning and addictive.
I also loved that all the characters were unnamed except Apollo, the dog. That added a really cool depth.
However.
There were a lot of macabre topics that were mentioned, glanced over, and didn’t feel like they were purposeful to the story. There were asides that were not pertinent to the story. There were a few statements or ‘jokes’ that fell flat.
The triggers were not a problem for me, but there were A LOT of triggers. Do yourself a favor and look them up if you are thinking of reading this book.
I do want to try Nunez’s other works, though, due to the beauty of the writing.
There were aspects of this book that really resonated with me. My internal sad girl felt very seen. The writing, itself, was also stunning and addictive.
I also loved that all the characters were unnamed except Apollo, the dog. That added a really cool depth.
However.
There were a lot of macabre topics that were mentioned, glanced over, and didn’t feel like they were purposeful to the story. There were asides that were not pertinent to the story. There were a few statements or ‘jokes’ that fell flat.
The triggers were not a problem for me, but there were A LOT of triggers. Do yourself a favor and look them up if you are thinking of reading this book.
I do want to try Nunez’s other works, though, due to the beauty of the writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Rape
Moderate: Abandonment and Mental illness