Guiding Emily by Barbara Hinske is an emotional and exciting story about a woman’s journey of losing her sight and dealing with the aftermath of discovering secrets that turn her world upside down coupled with the lighthearted and adorable point of view of Garth the guide dog.

If it isn’t clear already, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I had never really read anything quite like it and I found that the juxtaposition of the intensely real and emotional turmoil of Emily and the cute excitedness of Garth made the story so easy to read and so much fun as well. I especially enjoyed how much effort was obviously put into the details surrounding how Emily adapted to being blind and her having to deal with her depression surrounding this sudden change in her life. It is clear that the author had done a ton of research on what someone who went blind fairly quickly would have to do to survive both physically and mentally. There were so many moments where I feel like I genuinely learned something about blindness and the relearning that it takes to move around and be independent.

The only critique I would give is that I wish there was a little bit more closure towards the end regarding Connor and Gina. I know we did get some sense of a resolution about Connor but it felt like Gina just completely disappeared from Emily’s mind and I wish they had a moment after the initial situation (no spoilers).

All in all, 4 out of 5 stars. Thank you Netgalley and Barbara Hinske for sending me this audiobook to listen to and review.

It was a great book, easy to get into and the characters were very believable. I loved the story and it was easy to imagine and visualize each scene as they came along.

"I want to share this with my best friend" that line literally brought tears to my eyes!

The story was so beautiful and moving and I loved that the author gave Garth a voice.

Both narrators were 5 stars but the male was definitely my favourite. He sounded like Emilio Estevez and was soooooo soothing to my ears! I would listen to this guy read me the dictionary ❤️

As a nurse, I feel drawn to stories of individuals who overcome health challenges. I’m also extremely passionate about dogs and stories about them. Therefore, when I read the synopsis for Guiding Emily by Barbara Hinske, I knew this would be I book I would enjoy.

The story is told from the parallel narratives of Emily and Garth. Emily has a rising career in a technology company and a successful fiance whose also making his way up the corporate ladder. Emily suffers from a very serious medical condition whereby even minor trauma to her head can cause retinal detachment. In a more amusing story, Garth is a young lab puppy destined to be a guide dog for the blind. His story starts as a young puppy and concludes with his graduation from guide dog training.

While on her honeymoon, Emily suffers tragedy and loses her sight. Despite surgical intervention, this loss is permanent. Faced with learning to live in a world without sight, she experiences all the emotion you would expect: grief, depression and anxiety to name just a few. As time passes on, it becomes more and more evident to Emily who will support her, and sadly who won’t, as she journeys back to a life of independence.

Garth’s story is one that is humorous and loving, seen through the eyes of the pup. The author has a magical way of describing Garth’s experiences seen through canine eyes and I found this highly entertaining. The comic relief provided by Garth helps to balance the more emotional moments in Emily’s story.

I really enjoyed this book. The character development was very good and one could only admire Emily's courage in facing an unknown world. I felt her grief for all that was lost as a result of her accident and how she followed her own journey to independence. The book has excellent flow, and was a quick read. Without giving too much away, I also felt disgust at those that did not provide support to Emily during a very challenging time in her life: an all too common tragedy that effects many with health challenges. I appreciated the bond she formed with her young friend and the extent of their friendship. Most of all, I loved Garth’s adventures and perspectives on his world.

It should also be noted that the author was inspired to write this book while touring The Foundation for Blind Children and is donating half her proceeds from the book to this Foundation. What a fantastic way to benefit this foundation! Well done!

I listened to the audiobook version of the book which was narrated by Julia Whelan and Fred Berman. Both narrators were articulate and easy to understand and I enjoyed listening to them. I must add that Mr Berman really created a whimsical voice for Garth which was a highlight for me. I listened to this audiobook at my usual 1.25x which provided a comfortable experience. I highly recommend the audiobook version of this book to those that enjoy this format.

Thanks to Netgalley and Podium Audio for the ARC of this audiobook in exchange for the honest review provided here.

Two characters
Two different species
One personality

Emily and Garth are both tenacious and would do anything to be purposeful. Emily lost her eyesight after an accident and want to live her life normal again. Garth is a guide dog who is willing to do whatever it takes to be the best.

The novel was heartwarming and it caught my attention because of Julia Whelan! Julia Whelan is my favorite narrator and would listen to everything she narrates. She made me cry as Emily. The ending was open ended but when i checked goodreads it turns out this is book 1. That means I will be hanging out with Emily and Garth more.

After listening to the book, I hugged my dog tightly and told him how much I appreciate him. The book gave me all the feels.

I am looking forward to more Guiding Emily soon.

Thank you NetGalley and Podium Audio for the audiobook. This is my honest review.

Emily gets blind because of a silly accident on her honeymoon. Garth is a puppy getting trained to become a guide dog.
Of course their paths will meet, that's clear from the beginning of the book, but the journey that brings us there is beautiful and emotional.
I loved this audiobook, I loved being inside Garth's head and following Emily's painful journey from despair to confident and self sufficient.
Beutifully written and narrated!

Thank you to NetGalley and Podium Audio for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Guiding Emily was such a wonderful story of love, loss and courage, as the title descibes. Emily, who once had it all, soon finds herself wondering if she would have any of it when tragedy strikes and she loses her eyesight. Following her journey, the story was written in a way that made me feel like I was really there with her, experience this time with her. I loved the main character and felt for her during the hard times. I couldn't stand her new husband. But this dynamic is what made the story what it was. I would love to see another story picking up where this left off and seeing Emily in her next phase of life.

I loved this book. It brought back sweet memories of a couple of stories about guide dogs that I read in middle school.

The main character, Emily is a computer programmer who loses her eyesight early in the novel. After enduring the shock and depression of this loss, she determinedly works to regain her independence.

Every few chapters, the reader gets a peak into the mind of Garth, a dog who is being prepared to become a guide. He isn’t sure what being a guide means, but he thinks it must be a noble endeavor. Garth is determined to pass all the tests to fulfill his destiny. This is a unique approach, and Garth’s “thoughts“ seem realistic.
The characters in the novel experience realistic internal and interpersonal conflict. The plot was well-paced and kept me engaged.

I was disappointed that the audiobook was only a little over seven hours. I found myself rationing my listening time to make it last longer. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Narrator Julia Whalen made a great book even more enjoyable. Fred Berman was perfect as the voice of Garth.

I received a complementary copy of this audiobook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing was interesting, with narration alternating between the main character (Emily Main) and a Guide Dog in training (Garth). While I was quite sure how the book would end, I really enjoyed the journey with both of them. I have heard of Guide Dogs, and have actually known some people who have helped raise them. While the process was not completely covered in the book, I enjoyed learning a little more about it. I loved all of the characters, especially Druv and Zoey, who played such a large part in Emily’s success. I was sorry when the book ended, and I would definitely like to see a sequel!

Guiding Emily: A Tale of Love, Loss, and Courage  by Barbara Hinske, narrated by Fred Berman and Julia Whelan  

I'm so glad I had the audiobook for Guiding Emily. Julia Whelan has become one of my favorite female narrators but the star of this story, for me, was Fred Berman's narration of the black lab, Garth. Fred has a very distinctive voice and I remember his narrated part in Daisy and the Six. I could listen to him narrate Garth's days and nights for days on end...his part in the book makes me smile whenever I think about it. 

We meet Emily as she is getting married to her British fiancée. An accident happens and Emily is blind. It's so hard reading the hardships she has to go through, after surgery to treat her detached retinas, the hope for recovery of her eyesight that doesn't come, the depression that follows, and the betrayal that comes after this momentous life change. After complete denial that her blindness is going to be permanent, Emily goes through the grieving process but she is strong and she has support from her mother, co-workers, and an amazing eight year old "best friend". 

Mixed throughout Emily's story we have Garth, starting with his time with his siblings and the other pups that have been bred for some type of service. Then Garth goes to the home where he'll be raised until he's old enough to go to guide dog school. Finally Garth makes it to guide dog school, and graduates! As hard as things are for Emily, I can't count the time tears came to my eyes during Garth's narration. His foster family loves him so much, he loves them and he has the traits he needs to be chosen as a guide dog. Later he meets Emily and I just felt so sappy but happy for Garth, his proud foster family, and Emily...the perfect person for him. 

I don't think any of these things are spoilers, this is where the book is heading (with major drama on Emily's side and one big drama on Garth's side). I love being in Garth's head and Berman's narration is just so wonderful for this excited, tenacious dog, bred and born to do just this very job. This story makes me want to know more about services for the blind and about guide dogs. 

Thank you to Podium Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.

This is a women's fiction book. This book switches between Emily's story of her loss her eye sight and Garth (a black lab) journey to become a guide dog. Emily knows her retinas could detach if she has a fall, and while she is on her honeymoon there is an accident that causes her retinas to detach. After, her retina detach she has to learn to live with the fact she has loss her eye sight. I have to say I hated the husband character, but I kindof feel that it is written to not like the husband character. Emily's character was really well-written and really shows how hard it is to overcome the loss of your eye sight. I have to say I really loved the characters told from Garth's point of view. There is also an Autistic character in this book, and I loved how that character is written. This is a heart warming story that shows you that love can be found from a tragic loss. I listen to the audiobook of this book, and I have to say I really enjoyed the narrator. I loved this audiobook. I was kindly provided an e-audiobook of this book by the publisher (Podium Audio) or author (Barbara Hinske) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

I received an audio ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Emily Main's world is shattered when a freak accident on her honeymoon leaves her blind. Treatments to regain her sight are unsuccessful, and she has to learn how to re-order her life. Meanwhile, Garth is a black lab puppy who is being trained to fulfill his destiny: becoming a guide dog.

This book switches between Emily's point of view and Garth's. The story is heartwarming, though also sad at times. I loved the times we got to see Garth's perspective on becoming a guide dog. His joy of life radiated throughout the story. Some of my favorites characters in this book were the side characters. I could see this book becoming a Hallmark movie. The story is rather predictable, but that's part of what makes you enjoy it! The narrators on the audiobook did a fabulous job.

You know how sometimes, no matter how predictable a story is, you still love the book. This could either be because you were in the perfect mood for that genre or because the book has one topic that you always enjoy, no matter what. For me, this book came in the latter category, and the topic is dogs. I love dogs, and I'm a sucker for books centred around dogs. No wonder then that I loved this book! (Conditions apply, of course. Can't read anything on dog abuse.😞)

Guiding Emily is narrated from two perspectives:
1. Third person narrative focusing on Emily Main, a high-flying professional whose life turns upside down after an accident renders her blind.
2. First person narrative by Garth, the puppy 🐶 who is being reared as a guide dog.

Emily's narrative is pretty good. It is very realistic in terms of how it depicts her anger, her frustration, and her struggles with the change in her circumstances. I loved how her troubles were shown honestly without any attempt to whitewash the disability or beatify/vilify the disabled. I could actually feel Emily and her pain. After all, isn't blindness one of the worst fears of an avid reader? (Btw, I have a new respect for audiobooks now because of this.)

What I didn't enjoy in this narrative was the attitude of her husband Connor, who seems to be an outright jerk. I didn't even get their attraction to each other. Ever have dealt with a character whose mere appearance on the pages causes you to go "Grrrrr...." like a dog? That was me whenever Connor came on the scene. I can understand why his character is made a part of this book, but I would have loved the book a lot more without him. (The deducted 0.5 star is entirely due to Connor.)

Needless to say, my favourite chapters are all the ones narrated from Garth's pov. He is so adorable! 😍😍 His awareness seems to be lopsided: he knew stuff like stucco and West Coast but was ignorant of tomatoes and guides.🤷🏻‍♀️ But hey, it's a dog! I had a huge grin on my face during all the Garth chapters. His description of Emily for instance was how she had "Golden Retriever curls" and how she seemed to be the "pick of her litter"! How can you not smile at that thought! 😍😍

I was lucky enough to get the audiobook of Guiding Emily from NetGalley. And let me tell you, the narrators bring the book to life! The way they enact the various characters is brilliant. Especially Fred Berman who brings Garth alive with his performance!

Author Barbara Hinske was inspired to write this book after her visit to The Foundation for Blind Children and is donating half of the book proceeds to the Foundation. Respect!

If you love dogs, you'll love Guiding Emily. A 4.5 ⭐ read for me.
🐶❤️