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A review by abbie_
Dogs of Summer by Andrea Abreu
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
Tween girls being a tad feral - I know this word is overused a lot these days when a book is about women/girls doing things slightly outside the accepted norm, but to be fair, one of them does shit in a box and blame it on a dog.
Abreu does an excellent job of conveying the atmosphere of a sleepy village in the Canary Islands, the heat of the summer, the volcanic landscape, the striking disparity that exists between locals and tourists. We follow two girls, Isora and Shit (yes, idk either), who embody toxic tween girl relationships. They constantly cross boundaries, obsessed with one another, then enemies, leading one another to dangerous situations, being each other's be-all-and-end-all, not speaking for days, weeks. There are physical fights, awful first sexual experiences, overwhelming feelings.
And yet, all that, and I felt slightly at a remove from the text itself. I agree with some other reviewers that the girls often came across as older than they were, though I'm also aware that girls are forced to grow up quicker than boys.
Crude and atmospheric, vulgar and sticky.
Abreu does an excellent job of conveying the atmosphere of a sleepy village in the Canary Islands, the heat of the summer, the volcanic landscape, the striking disparity that exists between locals and tourists. We follow two girls, Isora and Shit (yes, idk either), who embody toxic tween girl relationships. They constantly cross boundaries, obsessed with one another, then enemies, leading one another to dangerous situations, being each other's be-all-and-end-all, not speaking for days, weeks. There are physical fights, awful first sexual experiences, overwhelming feelings.
And yet, all that, and I felt slightly at a remove from the text itself. I agree with some other reviewers that the girls often came across as older than they were, though I'm also aware that girls are forced to grow up quicker than boys.
Crude and atmospheric, vulgar and sticky.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Excrement, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Sexual assault and Violence