Unpopular opinion time! I actually can’t believe I didn’t like this book. I literally know of noone who didn’t love it!

This book follows a dog called Enzo as he lives with his family. He narrates some of the struggles his family go through from babies to sickness and death and legal battles, all while staying a loyal dog.

The main thing I didn’t like about this book was Enzo’s voice. I really, really disliked it. I wanted to like Enzo but I just didn’t feel like he was a dog. One good thing coming out of this book for me, is my realisation of the type of dog-narrated novels i like to read. It turns out I don’t like it at all when the dogs sound and act like humans. It felt unnatural to me, it wasn’t believable for me. In my mind, dogs are pure, good and simple. And they are pure because of their simplicity - they don’t have to think about the big issues in life, they don’t share big philosophical thoughts that could be in a textbook and they definitely do not use curse words (I’m fine with cussing in books but turns out I don’t like when dogs do it cause it just feels wrong). There were passages of this book that could be read without knowing Enzo was a dog and I didn’t really like that. I also didn’t like Enzo’s insistence that he was really a man, and how he wanted to be a man in his next life. Humans are awful, Enzo. Stay a dog.

I didn’t feel any connection whatsoever to any of the family members from Denny to Eve to Zoe. I think the only connection I felt was to Enzo’s stuffed dog. The ending of this as well was a bit weird and I just didn’t like it. It wasn’t for me. I don’t feel like this book was about a dog. For me, it was more about Denny and his family and it just happened to be narrated by the dog with some ‘deep meaning’ thrown in along the way.

When Dan loses his wife, his dog Anni is a big factor in helping him and his daughter pull through their grief. When Anni gets stolen, it's hard for Dan to accept she's gone and he doesn't want to give up on her. Andrea is healing from a painful divorce when she saves Anni from an apartment of young men not treating her right, and soon discovers a dog can be a girl's best friend. Will Anni find Dan again, but will Andrea be able to give her up if she does?

This book was a super sweet contemporary and I throughly enjoyed it. I really liked seeing the bond between both Dan and Anni, and Andrea and Anni. Dog people are the best people, and I think I want to go to Cafe Mocha with my dogs! This was a really fast read and it could be enjoyably frustrating at times when Dan came so close to finding Anni again and again. I did like the ending overall, though I do think a lot of stuff got summed up very quickly in the last chapter, and I feel like there could have been more done. I also think there would have been room for a nice sequel to this that could

have ended up with the proposal and a wedding starring Anni as ring bearer obviously

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is the story of Eric O’Grey whose life completely changed after he went on a health journey, turned vegan and adopted a shelter dog called Peety. With Peety’s help, Eric lost weight and became healthier than ever and discovered the joy of the special relationship between dog and owner.

This was a wonderful book that I throughly enjoyed from start to finish. I really felt for Eric at the start of this book - a man who was just stuck in a rut and finding it difficult to get out of it. I loved how Peety was matched up to him, and how perfect they were for each other.

Eric’s journey in weigh-loss was truly inspiring for me. I actually always felt hungry for a great vegan meal (or vegetarian in my case) when I was reading it because his descriptions of his meal and foray into cooking were described really well. I’m not a runner but I was impressed with Eric finding groups to run with which meant he had some socialisation as well, and I think that’s a brave thing for adults to do. It’s harder to make friends when you’re an adult.

When it came to Peety’s ‘time’, I was feeling quite emotional. It’s a day I dread with my own but I’m so glad Peety was able to die peacefully and surrounded by people who loved him, and that it led to Eric finding Jake. I really resonated with Eric being told how a dog will find you, and you’ll know your new dog when you see them.

I think this is a great book for dog owners/lovers, and a particularly great one for those who are vegan/vegetarian too.

I received a free e-copy of this book from the author/publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Sadie was four years old when she had a litter of puppies and was shot in the back and head and left for dead. She was brought to a no-kill shelter where she was found by animal lover Joal who ended up on a mission to save Sadie's life and ended up having Sadie change her life in return.

This is a really sweet book though it's hard to read sometimes when you think about how sweet Sadie is and the horrible thing that was done to her and left her almost a paraplegic.

I really admire Joal for all of her work with Sadie. She practically took on a full time job with Sadie (something that was mentioned several times throughout the book) but she did really have to put in so much time and effort, and still does, to help Sadie live her best life.

I felt a bit angry on Joal's behalf when she mentioned how even after years of helping and loving Sadie, and Sadie changing Joal's life in return her family were still not on board. I don't understand how you can't admire something like that and love Sadie. Surely there's a great lesson for the grandchildren there in loving except the odds and never giving up hope, not to mention the lessons about acceptance and working hard.

This a great book and a great story and I'm definitely going to be following Sadie's journey from now on.

TW: Mental health difficulties, mentions of suicide, domestic abuse.

I received a free copy of this book from Harper Collins in exchange for an honest review.

Sam James is a psychology in a psychiatric unit, and she’s a gone one at that. But even though Sam helps people all day, she can’t seem to help herself and is struggling with alcoholism and an abusive relationship. When nee patient Richard shows up, seemingly perfectly normal and in no need of psychiatric help, he starts to burrow his way into Sam’s mind and her life begins falling apart.

This book is a quiet, slow burn of a thriller and its mood definitely suits October/November and Halloween time. Straight away, the reader is sucked into Sam’s world of the walls of her psychiatric unit, and the stool of her favourite bar. I felt like a lot of scenes in Sam’s workplace felt very real, and authentic and I say this is due to author AF Brady actually having a degree in psychology and counselling herself and she knew how to really write those scenes as if they actually happened.

Even though this is strictly a thriller, I enjoyed some talk around mental health. Sam is funny because she knows very well what her issues are, she just can’t seem to really confront them herself and/or she almost doesn’t want help. The discussions in the group sessions around mental health stigma and domestic abuse were powerful though, and may even help some people who knows.

I would have liked more at the end of this book. I felt like i was asking some more questions, and not everything was tied up for me. I also would have liked more flashbacks about Sam’s mom. We do know about her briefly, and get an idea of what happened there but I think some flashback scenes would have worked well. I also would have liked Richard’s truth talks to have happened quicker in the book too. The first half, almost three quarters of the book is juts Sam’s crazy spiral out of control.

This book is a pretty fast, intersting read and it did keep me hooked throughout. It’s the type you can fly through in a couple of days!

meh...

full review to come.