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hyena's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pogseu's review against another edition
1.0
It was a very quick read. I had just finished an excellent if somewhat puzzling book, Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, and didn’t know what to read next. Jonathan Unleashed was mentioned in a newsletter from Penguin, and I thought the blurb looked quite attractive. But what a disappointment! The characters were so bland, one-dimensional, and boring! Jonathan is young and fresh out of uni. Because he is a lucky person, he finds a somewhat suspicious apartment that probably belongs to criminals, in Manhattan no less. Hahaha. Is that meant to be funny? Were the descriptions of Jonathan worrying about mob people attacking him meant to be laugh-out-loud funny? Because if so, it failed completely with me. I was just.. bored.
So he finds a flat, no problem. But he also finds a job within days of moving to the city. In advertising, no less. His job description is often associated with suicide jokes, meaning that anyone writing ads for stationery must want to kill themselves or will surely die of boredom.
And let’s not even get into his relationship with his girlfriend from college. I kept being told how much they did not belong together, from the narrator and from some of the other characters, but there was no real description of, nor actual reasons given as to, why they were supposedly so wrong for each other — the characters are simply too underdeveloped for me to reach that conclusion, and it’s not because lots of characters point it out that I’m convinced in the least. Again, I was utterly bored.
And then there are Jonathan’s daydreams, him imagining crazy things happening when someone talks about something, anything, completely at random. His mind is meant to be quick and imaginative, I’m sure it was also meant to be funny, but again, I was skeptical and, again, bored out of my wits.
I didn’t mention the dogs. But really, what’s the point? Yay, Jonathan thinks the dogs plot behind his back, read his mail before eating it, rummage through his papers and snigger when he can’t see them. And yet, other reviewers say the dogs were great and made the book. I’m sorry to say I did not get any of that. Again, it was just another boring aspect for me.
Finally, spoiler spoiler, he gets the girl in the end. Even though it makes no sense whatsoever — Dr Vet as he calls her, is English and nice, and he dreams of her for weeks before revealing his feelings. He just finished uni. He just moved to NYC. He just started his first job. And seriously? A vet (and an expat at that) is supposedly about his age and interested in this immature young man who draws the babies he imagines he’ll have with a French baker/waitress he sees every morning on his way to work??! His whole life takes place in his head (and the way it was done and written about was not realistic at all, in my opinion), he is even offensive at times and his stupidity made me want to slap him—I don’t even know why I bothered reading the whole thing. It was pointless and far from satisfying. What a waste of time!
So he finds a flat, no problem. But he also finds a job within days of moving to the city. In advertising, no less. His job description is often associated with suicide jokes, meaning that anyone writing ads for stationery must want to kill themselves or will surely die of boredom.
And let’s not even get into his relationship with his girlfriend from college. I kept being told how much they did not belong together, from the narrator and from some of the other characters, but there was no real description of, nor actual reasons given as to, why they were supposedly so wrong for each other — the characters are simply too underdeveloped for me to reach that conclusion, and it’s not because lots of characters point it out that I’m convinced in the least. Again, I was utterly bored.
And then there are Jonathan’s daydreams, him imagining crazy things happening when someone talks about something, anything, completely at random. His mind is meant to be quick and imaginative, I’m sure it was also meant to be funny, but again, I was skeptical and, again, bored out of my wits.
I didn’t mention the dogs. But really, what’s the point? Yay, Jonathan thinks the dogs plot behind his back, read his mail before eating it, rummage through his papers and snigger when he can’t see them. And yet, other reviewers say the dogs were great and made the book. I’m sorry to say I did not get any of that. Again, it was just another boring aspect for me.
Finally, spoiler spoiler, he gets the girl in the end. Even though it makes no sense whatsoever — Dr Vet as he calls her, is English and nice, and he dreams of her for weeks before revealing his feelings. He just finished uni. He just moved to NYC. He just started his first job. And seriously? A vet (and an expat at that) is supposedly about his age and interested in this immature young man who draws the babies he imagines he’ll have with a French baker/waitress he sees every morning on his way to work??! His whole life takes place in his head (and the way it was done and written about was not realistic at all, in my opinion), he is even offensive at times and his stupidity made me want to slap him—I don’t even know why I bothered reading the whole thing. It was pointless and far from satisfying. What a waste of time!
zta's review against another edition
3.0
Very interesting story but gets very slow and depressing at times. Second half was definitely a better read.
livres_de_bloss's review against another edition
2.0
What a strange little book.
The characters were flat, unsympathetic and dull. Jonathan, in particular, was a total whingy twat. I didn’t connect with him at all with his complaining, his oversexedness, his immaturity and his refusal to communicate with others. He was so passive, it was infuriating. I didn’t have much sympathy as he loved to complain but refused to own his mistakes or make tough decisions. He “fell in love” with anything that made eye contact with him too which was absolutely insane.
I didn’t see the appeal of Dr Clare either. I pictured her as a lot older than Jonathan and the fact she’d even entertain dating such an obnoxious man-child tells me all I need to know. She was one-dimensional to me.
I liked the dogs. Oddly, I liked Julie and Mark. Max and Greely would good characters as well. I just couldn’t connect with this book because I kind of hated the “hero”.
The book was short (which was its saving grace), but meandering, disorganized and simplistically written. Overall, I don’t recommend this.
The characters were flat, unsympathetic and dull. Jonathan, in particular, was a total whingy twat. I didn’t connect with him at all with his complaining, his oversexedness, his immaturity and his refusal to communicate with others. He was so passive, it was infuriating. I didn’t have much sympathy as he loved to complain but refused to own his mistakes or make tough decisions. He “fell in love” with anything that made eye contact with him too which was absolutely insane.
I didn’t see the appeal of Dr Clare either. I pictured her as a lot older than Jonathan and the fact she’d even entertain dating such an obnoxious man-child tells me all I need to know. She was one-dimensional to me.
I liked the dogs. Oddly, I liked Julie and Mark. Max and Greely would good characters as well. I just couldn’t connect with this book because I kind of hated the “hero”.
The book was short (which was its saving grace), but meandering, disorganized and simplistically written. Overall, I don’t recommend this.
windmill314's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
narzack's review against another edition
2.0
Super brisk read. But I pretty much hated Jonathan and his super annoying, trendy, hipster, young New Yorker life. Basically, a whiny first world problems type irritating dude. The type of dork who falls in love with every chick ever and fancies himself an interesting weirdo. The dogs were rad, though, as dogs usually are.
jacki_f's review against another edition
3.0
I loved this book, and it disappointed me. Jonathan has moved to Manhattan: he has acquired a job writing copy for stationary advertisements and has found an apartment that may or may not be a great deal. His long term girlfriend Julia has also arrived in Manhattan to live with him.
When his brother departs for a six month posting to Dubai, he leaves his two dogs with Jonathan to look after. Jonathan knows nothing about dogs, but gradually Dante and Sissi will take his life in hand and sort it out for him.
This is a deliciously funny book and when I started it I was reading parts out to my husband and laughing often. But it starts to lose its way as the need for a plot develops. It feel like it wants to be a "Rosie Project" style romantic comedy, but it doesn't quite pull that off. It starts to poke fun at some aspects of the characters in a way that isn't compatible with the genre. Essentially, it starts to feel i) silly and ii) uneven.
And yet - oh I loved the first few chapters so much. In fact, the tone and throwaway lines throughout. There's a lot to really, really like here, especially if you have even a passing interest in dogs. It is very, very clever and funny. I loved the style of this book, but felt let down by the substance.
When his brother departs for a six month posting to Dubai, he leaves his two dogs with Jonathan to look after. Jonathan knows nothing about dogs, but gradually Dante and Sissi will take his life in hand and sort it out for him.
This is a deliciously funny book and when I started it I was reading parts out to my husband and laughing often. But it starts to lose its way as the need for a plot develops. It feel like it wants to be a "Rosie Project" style romantic comedy, but it doesn't quite pull that off. It starts to poke fun at some aspects of the characters in a way that isn't compatible with the genre. Essentially, it starts to feel i) silly and ii) uneven.
And yet - oh I loved the first few chapters so much. In fact, the tone and throwaway lines throughout. There's a lot to really, really like here, especially if you have even a passing interest in dogs. It is very, very clever and funny. I loved the style of this book, but felt let down by the substance.
vll295's review against another edition
3.0
Picked this one up for the Dog Days of Summer Reading Challenge. I liked it. Took me a little bit to get into it at first, but then I was hooked. Thanks for the interesting read.
zilver's review against another edition
2.0
i’d say giving this two stars is generous. the only good parts of this book were the dogs and greeley. Yikes.
walmartyr's review against another edition
4.0
i would give this book maybe 3.5-4 stars. it was quirky, funny and actually made me LOL at times. some dark humor mixed with some deep thoughts and interpretations about life. overall most of the animal related stuff was accurate which pleased me. it was overall an enjoyable read but not my normal genre. great book to route away from my comfort zone for once!!