Book Synopsis:
A Dog's Promise continues the story of Bailey, the good dog whose journey started in A Dog's Purpose and continued in A Dog's Journey (both major motion pictures). This time, Bailey is joined by Lacey, another very special dog, who helps Bailey fulfill his promise over the course of several lives.
This charming, wise canine soul brings joy, laughter, and comfort as he unites a family fractured by life's inevitable obstacles. The love and loyalty of these two memorable dogs shows us the incredible power of hope, truth, and unending devotion in this moving novel by award-winning author W. Bruce Cameron.
My Review:
4.5/5 stars. It’s been a long time since I’ve read the first two books in this trilogy, so I can't remember them enough to have a good comparison, but I really enjoyed this book. It was funny at times, sad at times, but mostly just a sweet and heartwarming story about a dog.
As I was reading this, I clearly remembered reading the first part before, but I can't remember when that could've been. Maybe I started the book a long time ago and forgot I had, because the story of Cooper helping Burke was very familiar to me, it was weird. Eventually I was reading stuff I hadn't before, though.
This book was so funny. W. Bruce Cameron does a great job in all his books at writing from the perspective of a dog, and how they might observe the world. Hearing simple things be described by a dog who doesn't understand them is so cute and funny to me. One part especially that made me laugh out loud multiple times is how much Riley dislikes horses, not understanding their purpose and why they don't do much.
Another detail that I found hilarious is how egocentric the dog is throughout the book. He thinks of his owners as the people who take care of him, not necessarily as people with their own lives. Anytime someone doesn't want him in that moment, he doesn't understand how a person couldn't need/want a dog to help them. He thinks people are coming to see him, not his owners.
Humor aside, this book also had very sad moments. Every time a dog would die was sadder to me now that I've experienced the death of my own dog. As it was described, it made me think about my own dog. Even small things, like Cooper feeling useless or whenever he felt he had been a bad dog, were a little sad.
One thing that prevents this book from being 5 stars is the plot. I thought the plot was a bit hard to follow at times. It passed through time very quickly sometimes, and whenever there was a large time skip, I wish there was a better indication of how much time exactly had passed. I was never sure how long it had been since something had happened. I just would've liked a little more clarity. The ending also confused me a little bit.
I don't know if there will be a fourth book in the "A Dog's ___" series, but if there is, I will definitely read it.
In terms of an age rating, I'd say it's fine for middle schoolers and above. The dog dies multiple times, which could be very hard for a younger age. There's a tiny bit of language, but it's very mild and infrequent. There's romance between the characters, but nothing inappropriate is ever written. It's overall a sweet story about love and family.
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