The Second-Smartest Dog That Ever Lived

Wow. Just, wow. The places this story went were very unexpected, and not always enjoyable, but always captivating. If you are a pet owner, you've probably wondered what your dog was thinking or maybe even wished to have the ability to speak to them. This satisfied that wish while also leaving the curiosity of if that's really what it would be like. The personalities of every animal was written beautifully. I became attached to characters quickly and was cheering or cringing for them the entire time. This book was honestly amazing.

Rating: 4.5/5

I was drawn to this novel by its synopsis. Although a little different to the majority of my reading material, I anticipated an entertaining and light-hearted read that would likely be along the lines of "The Secret Life of Pets". For the first part of this four-part story that was pretty much what I got. However, by the end of the book I could only only conclude that it was so much more than just that.

As I said, "Part One" of this story delivers pretty much what I was expecting and at this point I was finding it enjoyable and amusing. That said, I also had some niggling reservations beginning to form. Although not excessively long, this is no novella either, and I was starting to doubt whether the joke would run out of steam and become tiresome before I reached the end. I need have had no such concerns. Will Part takes the storyline to places I would never have imagined and the pathway it follows is a surprising, amusing and often touching one. There are astute social observations with insightful commentary and the anthropomorphic characters are delightfully captivating and engaging.,

Although I went into this expecting something a little reminiscent of "The Secret Life of Pets", it would probably be more accurate to compare this with the Anna Sewell classic, "Black Beauty", which was also written in the autobiographical first person of its central protagonist. Over the years, "Black Beauty" has become predominantly viewed as children's literature, which is something of a disservice. Anna Sewell intended it as an informative piece of fiction aimed primarily at adults and it certainly contains some dark and heartrending scenes and themes. In many ways the same could be said of "The Second-Smartest Dog That Ever Lived". I am sure that many younger readers will fall in love with the wonderfully endearing cast of characters, but there is ample brevity to the underlying themes to make this work for more mature audiences too. Will Pass has produced a very impressive debut that works on a variety of levels and I will certainly be looking out for more from him in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.