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A review by mformato
Two Good Dogs by Susan Wilson
2.5
The book promised a found family concept between four individuals each going through their own struggles; however, it failed to meet those expectations.
Each character did have their own voice, however it was very confusing at the start of the book with very little clarity between the change in narrators. I found it odd that two of the characters were written in first person while the other two were written in third, I think it should have been consistently third person narration.
I found it odd that Chance, the dog, had the most sophisticated voice at some times, but failed to understand minute concepts at other times. It felt as if the author had to sprinkle in some reminders that he was just a dog and not a human.
Adam's story probably would have been more complete had I read One Good Dog first, despite these books not being labelled as part of a duology. Some parts of his past were stretched out too much while others were merely glossed over. As a reader, I never felt like I knew who he was other than a "changed man" from a life I knew nothing about.
Skye's role felt sort of flat. I like that we had a chance to see her struggles in maintaining herself afloat, but I never felt emotionally connected to her. I am glad that since we got to see her side of the story instead of just her daughter's that we understand where she's coming from and that she's not a monster as a troubled teen narrator would have you believe. I like that she found a friendship in Adam rather than a romantic bond (what I assumed the story was going to lead towards) but their dynamic was boring at best.
Cody's story was the most engaging. From harboring a secret about her father's death, dealing with bullying, aspiring to impress her art mentor, dealing with a bad friend, and her fear of letting her mom get close to her, she had so much potential. However, the author dropped the ball on what could have been a great story. Had Cody been the main focus the entire time and more of her storyline was fleshed out, the novel would have been way more interesting.
-----------Spoilers below!-------------
The resolution came by way too fast at the very end of the book. Randy's killer finding Cody and trying to kill her would have been a much better climax had it happened not in the final two chapters of the book. There was no resolution with Mosely's grooming of Cody. There was no resolution with Cody's bullies at school. There was barely a resolution with Johnny. Mingo felt like a wasted character. Honestly, with so much useless build up, the ending was only satisfying in that I was finally done with this book. The story had so much potential but never went in-depth on what actually mattered.
Each character did have their own voice, however it was very confusing at the start of the book with very little clarity between the change in narrators. I found it odd that two of the characters were written in first person while the other two were written in third, I think it should have been consistently third person narration.
I found it odd that Chance, the dog, had the most sophisticated voice at some times, but failed to understand minute concepts at other times. It felt as if the author had to sprinkle in some reminders that he was just a dog and not a human.
Adam's story probably would have been more complete had I read One Good Dog first, despite these books not being labelled as part of a duology. Some parts of his past were stretched out too much while others were merely glossed over. As a reader, I never felt like I knew who he was other than a "changed man" from a life I knew nothing about.
Skye's role felt sort of flat. I like that we had a chance to see her struggles in maintaining herself afloat, but I never felt emotionally connected to her. I am glad that since we got to see her side of the story instead of just her daughter's that we understand where she's coming from and that she's not a monster as a troubled teen narrator would have you believe. I like that she found a friendship in Adam rather than a romantic bond (what I assumed the story was going to lead towards) but their dynamic was boring at best.
Cody's story was the most engaging. From harboring a secret about her father's death, dealing with bullying, aspiring to impress her art mentor, dealing with a bad friend, and her fear of letting her mom get close to her, she had so much potential. However, the author dropped the ball on what could have been a great story. Had Cody been the main focus the entire time and more of her storyline was fleshed out, the novel would have been way more interesting.
-----------Spoilers below!-------------
The resolution came by way too fast at the very end of the book. Randy's killer finding Cody and trying to kill her would have been a much better climax had it happened not in the final two chapters of the book. There was no resolution with Mosely's grooming of Cody. There was no resolution with Cody's bullies at school. There was barely a resolution with Johnny. Mingo felt like a wasted character. Honestly, with so much useless build up, the ending was only satisfying in that I was finally done with this book. The story had so much potential but never went in-depth on what actually mattered.