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jess_mango's review
4.0
Quirky, sometimes funny graphic novel about a team of sled dogs in Alaska. Most of the book is told from the dogs' point of view. You know you want to read a book where dogs talk about being in heat and mating!
lisawreading's review
4.0
3.5 stars.
A short, funny graphic novel about relationships and power dynamics, as told by a team of six sled dogs. Picked up at random at the library, but it ended up being a good diversion in between heavier reads.
A short, funny graphic novel about relationships and power dynamics, as told by a team of six sled dogs. Picked up at random at the library, but it ended up being a good diversion in between heavier reads.
silentcat7135's review
4.0
I started 2012 with two graphic novels I got for Christmas.
One of them made me laugh and one of them made me cry.**
This is the one that made me laugh.
Who knew sled dog teams were so full of relationship issues, office politics, and all-out existential angst? (Apparently, Glenn Eichler knew, but I had never given it a thought.)
Spend some time with...
Dolly, lead dog, questioning both her ability and desire to lead.
Fiddler, who ponders life, the universe, and everything
Venus, who resents the fact that the boss keeps breeding her, year after year.
Winston, snobby purebred Samoyed.
Guy, ambitious and aggresive, who wants Dolly's lead position.
And, my personal favorite...
Buddy, a lovable lump who can't figure out why his repeated breedings with Venus doesn't mean they have a relationship. Bitches can be such...well, bitches. His attempts at conversation with Venus (and the practice attempts at conversation with her that he has with Fiddler) had me laughing, sympathizing with him, and rooting for him at the same time.*
The relationship issues, office politics, and existential angst all go on during the dogs' boredom between runs. If there's the slightest hint of a possible run, all that falls away and their faces exude pure doggy joy.
There's an accident, an attempted coup, and...oh yeah...a subplot involving the intense, isolated lives of the boss (who doesn't realize it takes a village to keep a couple from wanting to kill each other) and the boss's mate (who among us hasn't had the equivalent of the "APRICOTS" argument). The plot elements aren't surprising, but are well handled and always serve to deepen the characterizations rather than just happening.
Highly recommended!
*And may I say to all of my Goodreads friends that your turd piles were most pleasingly formed this morning. Wait...wait...did I say something wrong? Stop...don't unfriend me...
**And here's the link to WE3, the one that made me cry.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/213914424
One of them made me laugh and one of them made me cry.**
This is the one that made me laugh.
Who knew sled dog teams were so full of relationship issues, office politics, and all-out existential angst? (Apparently, Glenn Eichler knew, but I had never given it a thought.)
Spend some time with...
Dolly, lead dog, questioning both her ability and desire to lead.
Fiddler, who ponders life, the universe, and everything
Venus, who resents the fact that the boss keeps breeding her, year after year.
Winston, snobby purebred Samoyed.
Guy, ambitious and aggresive, who wants Dolly's lead position.
And, my personal favorite...
Buddy, a lovable lump who can't figure out why his repeated breedings with Venus doesn't mean they have a relationship. Bitches can be such...well, bitches. His attempts at conversation with Venus (and the practice attempts at conversation with her that he has with Fiddler) had me laughing, sympathizing with him, and rooting for him at the same time.*
The relationship issues, office politics, and existential angst all go on during the dogs' boredom between runs. If there's the slightest hint of a possible run, all that falls away and their faces exude pure doggy joy.
There's an accident, an attempted coup, and...oh yeah...a subplot involving the intense, isolated lives of the boss (who doesn't realize it takes a village to keep a couple from wanting to kill each other) and the boss's mate (who among us hasn't had the equivalent of the "APRICOTS" argument). The plot elements aren't surprising, but are well handled and always serve to deepen the characterizations rather than just happening.
Highly recommended!
*And may I say to all of my Goodreads friends that your turd piles were most pleasingly formed this morning. Wait...wait...did I say something wrong? Stop...don't unfriend me...
**And here's the link to WE3, the one that made me cry.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/213914424
wizardowl's review
3.0
My feelings on this book are pretty neutral, mostly because it turned out to just not really be my cup of tea.
One of the best points for me was probably the art. It was really nice; the characters all looked distinctive (which isn't always the case with animal characters, in my experience), and their emotions were shown very clearly through their expressions and body language (also not always the case with non-human characters). The style was just really great, and made all the dogs seem so endearing!
The story was nice enough, although I found it a bit dull and very predictable.
All around I'd say it was a nice, light-hearted read, and the reason I'm not very enthused about it is probably just because, like I said, it turned out to not really be my cup of tea.
(I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. Unfortunately, it arrived much, much later than the site told me it should, to the point that I marked it as 'not received'. I didn't receive it before the general release date, and so couldn't leave an advanced review. At least I received it eventually, though, which I'm quite grateful for!)
One of the best points for me was probably the art. It was really nice; the characters all looked distinctive (which isn't always the case with animal characters, in my experience), and their emotions were shown very clearly through their expressions and body language (also not always the case with non-human characters). The style was just really great, and made all the dogs seem so endearing!
The story was nice enough, although I found it a bit dull and very predictable.
All around I'd say it was a nice, light-hearted read, and the reason I'm not very enthused about it is probably just because, like I said, it turned out to not really be my cup of tea.
(I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. Unfortunately, it arrived much, much later than the site told me it should, to the point that I marked it as 'not received'. I didn't receive it before the general release date, and so couldn't leave an advanced review. At least I received it eventually, though, which I'm quite grateful for!)
nerfherder86's review
4.0
A fun silly yet also serious graphic novel about sled dogs in the snowy wilderness, told from the point of view of the dogs (so they can't understand anything their humans say to them, and in fact they talk pityingly among themselves about the humans, as if they are the unevolved animals and the dogs are the superior creatures). The lead dog is tired of being the lead dog and having the responsibility; one of the male dogs is constantly flirting and trying to get the female dog to mate with him; one dog is very philosophical about life; another dog is on a power trip and wants to challenge the lead dog for the position, and they have to do it by fighting but he's sneaky and is trying to trick another dog into doing his fighting for him. There's basically inter-office politics among the team, and gender rivalries, and so on; they're very human-like in their canineness, if that makes sense. The only thing keeping me from giving it five stars was the art, which was sometimes confusing--the individual dogs were sometimes hard to tell apart.
amethyst_greye's review
3.0
Full review posted at http://libriago.blogspot.com/2011/11/mush-sled-dogs-with-issues.html
bagreening's review
5.0
If dogs went to High School! Hilarious! Glenn Eichler caught the exactness of the dogs desire to run and the down side of not running.
jmshirtz's review
4.0
Very fun to read after having dogs. Maybe they're not so much different from us after all. :)
abigailsbooks32's review against another edition
4.0
I saw this book and just had to have it! I got it for a good deal and I'm super happy to have bought it. This book is so silly and funny. I love how the humor can be so morbid and dark sometimes. Each sled dog is so different it makes the book funnier and just full of so much character because of all the personalities in it. I love the art style in this book as well. It's amazing and just hilarious! This book was pretty predictable, but it didn't make me lose my interest because it's written so well. Such a silly, quick, and easy read
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