A strange story about an old woman whose dog dies in an oddball accident. Then it's about her friends trying to comfort her and we get some flashbacks into her life that are somewhat difficult to put in the proper timeline. Then there was the ending that was just stupid. It was a big WTF moment to be sure.

Absolutely loved this one! The illustrations and the story were so unique. Fun but also somber and reflective.

This is a charming, even if also dark at times, graphic novel. Written and illustrated by Marta Alonso Berná, Memories of a Crappy Pooch takes us on a ride through the memories and lives of four women. Our guide: an ugly chihuahua dog.

It all starts the day Maria's dog (the aforementioned ugly pooch) dies. Its, is an in-between tragic and laughable death that leaves Maria totally alone in the world and full of regret.

Maria’s friends rally to support her through the grief of her loss, and as we get to know them, we also travel to the pasts, peeking into Maria’s memories.

Can her friends actually help Maria get over the loss of her dog and only companion? Yes, but the effort involves life-changing decisions for all of them. Decisions that will strengthen their friendship beyond what anyone of them expected.

I enjoyed reading this book. The art is funny and corky. The story is both sad and full of deep happiness. A graphic novel with heart.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the illustrations and the story. I will seek out more stories written by Script. Thank you for the opportunity to read this through netgalley.

A very nice graphic novel about a nice lady, Maria, as she goes along with recovering after the loss of her Satre, the small chihuahua.

As she goes remembering how they created the bond, her three best friends help her along and it makes for a very touching funny trip to memory lane.

I really enjoyed the illustration and the story. The dream with the aliens was so nice and as a owner of a small pinscher who people really do call rat and are too small I felt too close to it.

Well friends, this book was a wild ride.

Memories of a Crappy Pooch is the story of Maria Fuencisla as she deaths with the passing of her beloved dog Sartre in an unfortunate accident. She mourns the passing of her pet by revisiting old memories - like the time she snuck him into a zoo and he jumped into a monkey enclosure, or the time he literally fell into her life from above and she thought he was a baby bird, or the time Sartre nearly made it big in the TV industry. Her friends try again and again to help her recover from Sartre’s passing, but that little dog was her world and she just can’t let him go.

Then things get weird. Without going into too much detail there’s a dream involving a robot, unexpected boobs, a birth scene nobody expected or asked for and old ladies accidentally eating drug-spiked cake.

Aside from all the weirdness, this is a very sweet little graphic novel about grief and memory, and the special place pets can hold in our hearts that also manages to be very funny. The illustrations were well-drawn and Sartre was adorable. The ending managed to completely throw me, but it was poetic in the strange, bittersweet way this book is so fond of.

I think perhaps the weirdness was where I kind of lost focus in the book. My mistake was expecting this to be a book about a dog, and Sartre featured very little. This was a book about Maria, and her life and loss and the two men - one human, one canine - she yearned for as she outlived them.

Overall rating: 3 dogs out of 5

As long as you realise this isn't a book about a dog, you could well get on board with this. Yes, our heroine has a chihuahua as company over the long years since she lost her husband, but the book is about her memories, dreams, wishes, and resilience through bereavement. And only in a little way about the dog. Lovely artwork, some really impactful scenes – but the book is too convoluted for its own good, and even reading it twice doesn't reassure me I understood it all. Strong three stars, and at least four for the visual qualities.

This graphic novel is about a philosopher, Maria who is ripe old and recovering from death of her husband Rumaldo many years back in an accident.
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Her dog Sartre, thin, non charming but cordial helps her to remain sane in difficult world. She has best friends who know that she is emotional and they help her immensely.
Story is full of emotions and painful throughout. It depicts depression and pain of seperation.
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Story is very nice, multi layered, shifts into past life and holds attention of the reader.
Illustrations are masterfully done with innovative use of colors and lightshadows. Full page images are awesome.
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It is stiry celebrating kindness towards animals and role of friends in conquering difficult hurdles of life.
It is very emotional that lady carries ashes of her pet to feel that dog is still around.
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Climax is jaw-dropping and unexpected which does justice to the tragic tale
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Overall very nice graphic novel.

I’m just going to go ahead and say this right now: Memories of a Crappy Pooch is not for the faint of heart. I am not afraid to confess that I cried at multiple points while reading this, so I am very well aware that it may not be for everyone.
Memories of a Crappy Pooch follows the life of Maria Fuencisla and her crappy little pooch, though I’m not sure I’d have chosen to describe him as such myself. It’s about friendship, and loss, and learning how to cope with life steadily moving onward.
I should warn you (and this is a potential spoiler, so stop reading here if you don’t want to see it) that there is animal death in this graphic novel. There are actually a lot of heavy moments in here, but my telling you how much I cried probably gave you a good idea of that already.
Through the course of this one graphic novel we see one poor woman lose so much in her life. It’s impressive how much she was actually able to cope with, and just how supportive her friends were. I think we can all hope to have friends like hers.
I will say that I found the ending to be a bit…surreal? It’s the main reason why I’m not giving this one a solid four star rating. I feel like the ending took away from some of the points made throughout the novel. Then again, sometimes life can be random, absurd, and brutal…so perhaps there was a point to it after all.

3.5/5

A cherished pet gives you boundless love and occupies a special place in your heart. Research shows that grief caused by the death of a beloved pooch can be more devastating than passing of human family members. Memories of a Crappy Pooch tells the story of a lifelong bond between Maria and her dog.

It’s weird. It’s unusual. At times frustrating, at times touching. The crazy, powerful ending compensates for weaker parts.

All in all, well worth the read.

Memories of a Crappy Pooch is written and illustrated by Marta Alonso Berná. It is a delightful book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. I don't normally put comic or graphic novels in my favorite folder but this book is so special! It is so charming, funny, and heartwarming all at once! One minute I am smiling so hard my face hurts then the next my heart aches! What kind of comic does this to a person? A great one!
I immediately fell in love with this zany little dog who has a terrible accident and passes away. The story is about the memories the elderly woman had with this little character and how he kept her happy after a deep loss in her life. The ending was totally unexpected but the whole book is one surprise after another!
All the silliness, sometimes just the simple things even, just made this book POP! My emotions were everywhere but it was a good feeling book! Despite the loss of the dog in the beginning, it works out, strange but good! Loved this book so much! Comic or not! I can't picture this book any other way and it achieving the same emotions!I
This is a strange, zany, fun, warm hearted book about love!

I know a lot of people found this to be a bit too strange for their tastes, but I appreciated its ingenuity! Maria, having lost her fiance, gave up on love.... until Sarte "fell" into her life. This graphic novel tells the story of the lifelong bond that forms between dogs and their owners and gives merit to the grief pet owners experience when their furbabies pass away. We've all seen the generic versions.... golden retriever, hit by a car or passes from old age... this is a new and inimitable twist on the classic storyline. Once you've read it, you'll never forget it!

Lovely illustrations (though a bit explicit for children) and interesting plot. Will definitely love to buy a paperback of this one.

Where to start.. Uhm. Okay, people said that dog-lovers will love this story of Maria and her chihuahua dog, Sartre. Well, no, not at all. Maria is elderly woman, whose fiancé died. Then Sartre died. Then her friends tried to cheer her up, helped her and okay, some of the parts were a bit entertaining, but nothing that would make me laugh. And that ending was shocking - what the actual hell happened? Why? I know a lot of better stories about love and loss. I think this could be quite good too but that art was pissing me off, it looked ugly too me and kind of blurry. I'm not saying it is badly written or that the story itself is bad - but I have read better in the past and then there is problem to not compare one to another.

The author demonstrated the impact our pets can have on our lives - one of the family. The captions of the tale were easy-to-read and carried the storyline onward with a unique flair for humor. The prose was meaningful in its content and well-written.

The plot demonstrated the challenge of moving forward after the loss of a loved one. Masterful illustrations rounded out an overall superb graphic novel. It was well done - my kind of read. A genuine sense of humor permeated the pages. Several times I found myself laughing out loud. Without any reservation, I would recommend this book to anyone seeking a quick read with a unique storyline.

A simple stroll in the park turns into a tragedy. Sartre, a chihuahua gets himself tangled up underfoot with his owner Maria and becomes squashed by the impact of her weight as she flattens him. Splat! Despondent, she turns to her close friends for consolation. Twists and turns ensue as memories of her deceased husband surfaces after many years returns. Now with her beloved pet's passing, she learns to cope and move on with her life, at least try.

My thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

A surreal, episodic, and highly engaging comic book, I absolutely loved ‘Memories of a Crappy Pooch’.
The art work is delightful, and it’s easy to get lost in the pictures alone, but the story of a woman whose dog dies in unfortunate circumstances, and her subsequent life looking back on her life with and without Sartre, the ‘crappy pooch’ of the title, is an unexpected gem.
There is a lot of humour in the depiction of Sartre’s owner and her coterie of supportive friends, and a lovely take on friendship. In all, this author is a gem that I am delighted to have discovered. I’ll probably re-read this, simply for the pleasure of immersing myself in her world again, and I’ll certainly be searching out more of her work.
Highly recommended.

This is a beautiful story about an elderly lady called Maria Fuencisla who dotes on her tiny, ugly chihuahua. This dog is the centre of her life because it has helped her come to terms with the loss of her husband. Unfortunately one day the inevitable happens, there is a tragic accident and the small dog dies and Maria is sucked into immobilizing grief.

Her friends rally round, supporting her as she grieves and helping her recover. As they do so we are taken back into Maria's past and we see how she became a philosopher and how she met and lost her only true love. We also discover the meaning of friendship and the kind of love and camaraderie that friends can bring. As the story weaves between the past and present we see how Maria's tragedies and losses echo each other, but despite this through the love and support of her friends Maria has hope.

As Maria comes to terms with the loss of her dog, the friends involve her in their own lives and we get to see how this group of women have supported and loved each other for many years and how their future is also intertwined.

This is such a beautiful story with excellent art. The art conveys such emotion and I could feel the joys and the pains of the characters in the story. I also enjoyed the way the story slowly progresses with twists, turns and surprises.

It is a well told story of life, love and loss and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. In fact I enjoyed it so much that this book will go on my list of exquisite reads for 2018.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.