4.5 stars

This book is the sequel to A Dog’s Purpose - a wonderful book about a dog called Bailey who lives multiple lives and spends most of them trying to get back to his boy Ethan. In Journey, Bailey is now Buddy and realises his new purpose is looking after Ethan’s granddaughter CJ.

This was another beautiful, emotional book from W Bruce Cameron. Not only was it honest yet witty, it gives those moments which made me look at my dogs and sometimes wonder if they were thought the same things.As always, there are people in this book who drove me mad about how they treated dogs (though not as many in this one as in Purpose). I agree with Bailey/Buddy/Molly/Max that people who don’t like dogs just can’t be trusted.

There were some more serious topics in this one as CJ is going through a lot of troubles when she is younger. Trigger warnings for eating disorders and severe depression/suicidal thoughts. I really felt for Molly/Max in this as they attempted to help CJ but couldn’t quite understand what was wrong.

I loved the little inside look in this book into cancer detection dogs (and how it comes into play later in the book). I think the whole concept is fascinating and just shows how amazing and important dogs are. I also loved seeing Toby become a therapy dog. I have had firsthand experience watching one of my own dogs be a therapy dog for a short while and the type of comfort they can give, so loved seeing this play out with Toby.

The end of this book made me sob like a baby. Doodle dog <3