My initial thoughts were that I was going to be diving into a fluffy, easy, book around a group of people and their little fur babies, however I was greeted with a much more deep setting book that I thought.

The multiple pov's of George, Dan, and Lizzie was done well. I found getting to know their circumstances and experiences very interesting. While getting to know the characters, we also get to know the mannerisms and personalities of their dogs too, highlighting the real and important role that our dogs can play in our lives.

The themes that are tackled are very raw and emotional. The story delivers and portrays a feeling of hope and recovery. These themes are accompanied by some very light and humourous moments, which made me smile at times.

This overall is a very good book. Not what I was expecting for sure, but I was very pleasantly surprised.

The cover of this book led me to believe that I was going to be reading a light-hearted and fun story about dogs and their owners. However, what the book actually delivers is a heart-breaking and emotional tale of three characters and the struggles they face in their day to day lives.

Some very difficult topics are covered within the story - suicide, grief, domestic abuse - but I feel that they were handled sensitively and made the story what it is.

Don't expect a happy ending, but do expect to realise that, while this may be fiction, it is very true to life because not everybody has the ending they wish for.

Heavy but definitely worth the read.

Dog Days by Ericka Waller is a powerful contemporary novel that follows characters through the battle fields of life. It is heartbreaking, and also inspiring, showing the strength of the human spirit.
As the title suggests, dogs feature in the novel. For each human character, there is a canine companion who is unswervingly loyal, very perceptive, and who help their humans through some difficult days.
All the characters are uniquely drawn. Thy are likable and believable, bringing out empathy within the reader.
We meet newly widowed George who has had the light go out in his life. “He’s furious with Ellen for dying.” George has to learn to live again. He has to learn that it is okay to smile again. His wife of forty years, knew just what George would need and therefore left him little notes in some of the most unusual places. “It doesn’t hurt less exactly, it just is, and there is nothing George can do about it.” Grief never goes away but exists side by side with life.
A character is struggling with life. Outwardly his life is sorted, but inwardly he is crumbling. He lacks confidence and struggles to be his true self. His canine companion offers unfailing love and support.
The other lead character lives with her six year old son, in a women’s refuge. The women come from all walks of life, united by their need to escape their situations. What we learn about the character comes as a shock. The women are all very generous with the little they have. “These women had lost everything… and still they bled human kindness. With nothing left to give, they offered immunity.”
As we follow the characters navigating life, we celebrate their successes and we mourn their losses. Life can be hard. We need people to walk beside us. We need the love of both humans and canines. Canines are loyal and loving. They do not judge us. Their personalities are celebrated in Dog Days.
I read Dog Days in just two sittings. It is a powerful and heartfelt novel.
I received a free copy. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
Please if you or anyone you know has been affected by any of the themes, please talk to someone and get help.

This book wasn’t what I expected,I expected a light hearted book about owners and their dogs but it was so much more.
Following three main characters and their very different lives along with their dogs(one on loan) the book had great characterisation and depth.It didn’t shy away from difficult subjects but also had humour and love
An amazing debut novel,highly recommended.

I was anticipating a light and easy fluffy read- this was far more poignant and heartbreaking than I expected, especially with trigger warnings for grief, abuse, depression and some animal neglect in initial chapters. The short chapters give pace but I do note that the slightly more colorful language in places might put some readers off.

I love, love this book, as soon as I saw this book I knew that I needed to read it and it did not disappoint, it's not exactly what I was expecting but it is a beautiful, brutally honest and emotional story which so many will love and relate to.
As a dog owner, I can relate to so much in this book, the companionship, friendship, love, loyalty, consistency that a dog brings to your life, how a dog can ill any voids which may be lurking within your personal life, how a dog in the most loving and simple way can bring light and joy to your life. This book spoke to me on so many levels,
It's not solely about dogs and the love with have for our four-legged friends/fur babies, it's about human life in all its forms, the varied characters all bring their own personalities and own lives drama to the story and it's rather moving watching as they all try and traverse through their own lives and deal with what fate sends them all with the constant help of dogs, I just found every part of this story incredibly moving.
I fell in love with it from the cover and it will stay buried deep within my heart for a long long time to come.
I believe that this was the author's debut book, and what a gorgeous book to entice her readers with, I am very excited to read more from Ericka Walker.
This is an absolute must-read, whether you are a dog lover or not this will resonate with so many o[ople, I know that it will stay with me for a long time and at times I did feel the need to squeeze my own two demon doggo's tight.

The title doesn’t really match the story on my opinion but that aside this is a wonderful book.

There are three main characters and the stories centre around them:

George is a grumpy, sweary, belligerent old man who’s wife, Ellen has only recently died. She got a Dachshund puppy called Poppy a couple of weeks before she died, much to George’s disgust. George doesn't want a dog, he wants to fight everyone who is trying to help him. Ellen has left notes/letters around the house in various places to help him as well as some neighbours she enlisted to help. George hates having the help and just wants to wallow in self pity but slowly things change.

Dan is single, a therapist, and has OCD. He isn’t living his true life as he is afraid to acknowledge his true feelings. He has his Cousin Luke who is like a Brother to him but he can’t discuss any emotional issue with him even. He has a dog ,Fitz that has become his main companion. That is, until Atticus walks into his life.

Lizzie is living in a women's refuge with her eight year old son Lenny in a new town. Her body is covered in scars and she has shut herself off from the world. She’s not ready to talk to the Police and make a statement and she finds it hard to make friends with the other women preferring to just be with her Son all the time. She used to be a teacher before having Lenny and she can rhyme off facts about almost anything but has lost her confidence. She isn’t a ‘dog person’ and distrusts dogs really, but when she starts having to walk the refuge's dog, Maud, things begin to change.

This is an excellent read that covers some deeper subjects than the title suggests and will make you laugh and cry. Beautifully written and I look forward to more writing by the author.

This book made me uncomfortable... The issues it deals with - should've come with a trigger warning. And the scenes themselves were hard to swallow at times - it was like we were given too raw a deal just for giving us too raw a deal, as if that were a high point being foisted upon the reader. Some things just didn't feel right, and the way the mental states of these protagonists was being portrayed just felt off at best and gratuitous at worst... So very far from the feel-good factor the blurb and the inclusion of defenceless dogs in the tale tried to sell...

Looking at this cover i thought this book would be a wholesome book about friendships and the importance of having a dog in your life.

and yes, it was that in a way, but it actually packed a massive emotional punch and addressed some really hard hitting topics. I think that it's incredibly important to read books like this, but i wasnt a fan of the way this one was written or addressed those topics.

I really struggled with the pacing and it led me to not wanting to pick it up, so sadly i d didnt finish it.

This was a very emotional read and dealt with some hard hitting topics, it looks like it’s going to be cute and fluffy from the cover but it isn’t at all. It was quite well written and powerful

A dnf for me. This book was not at all what i was expecting. I thought it was going to be alot more light hearted than it was and I found parts a bit vulgar. Not one for me

We all know how supportive a furry friend can be, and this timely novel hits the spot in many ways. it breaks your heart, but has you smiling at other times, an emotional extraordinary read for our troubled times

The bright, cheerful cover made me think this would be a light read about dogs. How wrong I was.

The story features three main characters, all dealing with their own issues.
George, a cantankerous old man is struggling after the death of his wife. Dan is a counsellor trying to come to terms with his sexuality. Lizzie is living in a womens shelter with her son.
All the characters have a dog, but the story isn’t about the dogs at all.

Each chapter is from the point of view of a different character. I kept wondering when it would all come together, as it felt so disjointed. There were tenuous links between some of the characters but they all felt very separate from each other.
For me, this affected the pace and flow of the story and it felt all over the place most of the time.

The book does cover some serious issues such as domestic abuse, grief, and suicide. I didn’t think the issues were given much depth.

I didn’t like any of the main characters at all, all of them were so miserable and unlikeable. I definitely preferred their dogs!

I found I wasn’t keen to pick this book up and read it and couldn’t wait to get it finished.

I liked the cover and the illustrations of the dogs in the book were nice. However, I unfortunately didn’t enjoy this book and wouldn’t recommend it.

Thanks to Penguin Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for a copy to review.

Wow! This was quite the book.
As the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover because this is not the cheery, lighthearted book that I think the cover depicts it to be.

This is not to say that it's not a good, enjoyable read. It is but it deals with some really hard-hitting subjects like self harm and suicide.

I have to admit that I found this a very difficult book to read as it just felt as though it were all over the place but I'm sure I'm going to be in the minority here.

I found this book quite slow, the pacing was off a lot of the way through and never really corrected itself. The storyline of suicide was also a trigger for me where I found it hard to read past.

Now I'm a huge dog lover and love what I think will be an easy, feel-good read, but this just did not work for me and sadly I didn't finish. The pace/flow of the story and it's writing wasn't great and overall the story just didn't hold my interest nor really any of the characters. I hate to DNF books especially review books, but with so many to read if I'm not sucked in by the book and its plot then I usually put them down after a while even after multiple attempts to continue. Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for my copy!

DNF @18%
Not for me so i have given a middle of the board rating. I do believe many people will enjoy this

I was so glad when I was accepted to review this book because I am a huge dog lover! If you are a dog lover too then this book does not disappoint!
While the story isn't all about the dogs, they are part of the story enough that I kept smiling at the little things they would do.
I really liked that this story jumped between multiple different characters' stories. I think it kept everything fresh and I was hooked, waiting to find out what happened next in the story of each character.
However, there was one character that I didn't click with. He was homophobic, sexist, and racist (I'm sure there are more to add to that list). I just found that his story wasn't one that I particularly enjoyed reading. I was especially annoyed that he didn't really learn to change his ways throughout the book. Yes, he does learn to be a bit nicer to Betty but that's it, and even then it's not like he is all that nice. I really didn't like reading all of his horrible comments about his extremely outdated views. I just couldn't see why there was such an emphasis on how much his wife loved him when the whole time all that I could think was that she really shouldn't have. I also didn't like the way that he replaced her with Betty because he needed a woman to cook and clean etc. for him...
The other stories though I loved. They made me laugh and cry and I fell in love with those cute pups!
Definitely worth a read!

This was such a heartwarming and at times, very emotional, book. A must for animal lovers, this story takes us through 4 different sets of lives, that are entertwined through, love, heartache, and the need to just be themselves and the dogs that help them through the tough parts of life as well as the happy ones. Had my crying and laffing and touches on topics that i think we have all had in our lives

Goodness me, what a wonderful read. This is a tale of love, loss and finding comfort and friendship from our four-legged friends.