* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

I think the concept of the memoir was a good one and there were certainly some good stories regarding the author's life, along with how the dogs in her life played a part. However, this felt more like a collection of anecdotes than a true narrative memoir. As a result, things feel choppy, something that was increased by the tendency of the chapters to move back and forth through time in quick succession. This organization made the book often jerky, confusing, and disorienting, easily causing reader fatigue. I alleviated some of this issue by reading a portion of the book via audio. This approach also helped remove some of my problems with the sentence structure.

I did not realize prior to starting the book that this was actually the latest in a series of memoirs written by Jennifer Finney Boylan. Because I had not read the other books prior and this was my introduction to Ms. Boylan, the result was a read that had interesting moments and good emotional stories, but that still felt a little like scratching the surface or gathering up the leftovers.

I did still enjoy parts of the stories and could certainly identify with the ways that dogs can help to teach us about life and the things that are important. I just was disappointed that this didn't feel like more of an emotional investment. It felt like I was being held a bit more at arm's length and that I wasn't, unfortunately, really able to connect fully with the heart of the story.