4.5 stars

When I pick up a book based on the fact that it's about rich people behaving badly, this is exactly what I want it to be. I am guessing this isn't getting better ratings because of the unlikable characters, but I devoured it. Every person in this book is a piece of shit, and I LOVED that.

This book follows El, a late-twenties woman living in NYC and trying to find herself. She's just given up on her dream of becoming an actress, and isn't sure what to do next. She's spent her whole life seeking love and validation, first from her absent father, then from the cool girls at her private school, and later from investment banker boyfriends and casting agents. El has never been rich, but has always lived just close enough to the wealthy to know what she's missing.

Then El meets Bryce, and while he's not the man of her dreams, he invites her into the world of her dreams. Before long, El has left behind her job, her apartment, and friends to fit into Bryce's life. But as El gets comfortable in the world of wealth she's always craved, she has to wonder if everything is as it seems with Bryce, and if not, if her suspicions are worth giving up the life she's always wanted.

El is THE WORST and yet I love her for it. She was giving me adult Jenny Humphrey vibes (TV show Jenny, not book) but less ambitious and more narcissistic. If you only enjoy reading likable characters, this book will not be for you, but if you can root for actual villains (not just pouty fantasy men with misunderstood reputations) give it a shot. The dog subplot was a little weird but unobtrusive, and I got the symbolism, so by the end I was good with it. I'll definitely check out more from this author. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I think this could be a fantastic read for some, but it was a miss for me.

Ultimately, it centers too much on wealth without critical commentary, and that's hardly something I can be for. The protagonist, El, is a struggling mess, which I am totally here for and saw myself in especially a younger me, but instead of rooting for her, I pitied her and was frustrated with her decisions. After climbing back into the social graces and friendship of wealthy friends, El ends up spiraling deeper into misery and envy. El's friends and especially Bryce made me nauseous, and I hated every page with his name on it. What I thought was going to be a gripping thriller filled with female rage turned the focus instead on the insufferable rich people and El's futile attempts to climb the social ladder.

What compromises are you willing to make to secure the life you’ve always wanted?

El is not living the life of which she has always dreamed. Abandoned as a girl by her father, raised by a single mother who had to struggle to support them, El had the best year of her life in eighth grade when she spent a year at an exclusive private school. There, she was only too aware of being a scholarship student in second hand clothes amongst the children of the very wealthy, until the day that Julia and Anna made her their friend. Instant acceptance followed, as did summer days at Julia’s house in the Hamptons and other experiences of the very privileged. She wasn’t one of them, but she was allowed into their world. The girls’ paths diverged in high school but their friendship continued, although it became more sporadic as the years have passed. El is now in her late twenties, has finally given up pursuing an acting career due to her lack of any appreciable success, and shares a dingy apartment while working at a high end bakery. When Julia contacts her out of the blue to invite El to her birthday party, El jumps at the chance and heads out for the Hamptons beach house she has missed. There she meets Bryce, a rather morose but very wealthy man who soon makes his interest in her very clear. She doesn’t find him interesting, attractive, or even terribly likeable…..but finds it hard to resist the life he can offer her. Is this her happily-ever-after? Or is this a gift horse into whose mouth she definitely needs to look, and look hard?
I was intrigued by the premise of the book….who amongst us hasn’t been tempted to take the easy way out of life’s rough spots, after all? I didn't find El to be a very appealing character, though; in fact, I really didn’t like her much at all. She certainly didn't have it easy growing up, but she tends to use those difficulties as an excuse for her choices and behavior in the present. When her best friend from college Navya loses patience with her, I could only wonder why it took her so long to give up on the friendship. El also takes a lot of iffy behavior from Bryce in stride, even as friends and families point out the red flags. There is a theme that floats alongside El’s story arc, that of dogs running away from their owners, which never really connected for me. The basic thriller plot line was entertaining enough, but not particularly novel in concept. In the end, I would call it an average read that would appeal to readers of Carola Lovering, Ruth Ware and Liv Constantine. My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam/G. P. Putnam’s Sons for allowing me early access to Man’s Best Friend.

It’s hard to interpret exactly how I felt about this book but I did not like it. The main character was absolutely vile and I found the ending a bit too predictable so nothing exciting. The writing was fine but I just couldn’t take the main character. Her circle of friends didn’t work out well either. Two stars for decent writing.

The dog bits interspersed with the rest of the story just didn’t work.

I just thought this book was going to be something totally different than it was. The main protagonist is not likeable, which is always hard for me to get past. Still waiting to know what was going on with the dogs.

“Man’s Best Friend” presents a captivating, slow-burning narrative centered around El, who grows more unlikeable as the story progresses. The novel offers a blistering social commentary on wealth, privilege, and poverty. Alana B. Lytle crafts an original caustic heroine, pushing readers to question the nature of luxury and the sacrifices they’d make to attain it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read the premise of this book and was immediately intrigued and wanted to read it. I'm a little divided on how I feel about the set up, characters, and outcome of this story. The premise is still interesting, but I'm not sure everything followed what I was expecting based on that premise.
Overall, it was a good read.

Alana B Lytle’s debut novel begins with a dream-like interlude, as what is presumably a dog considers her growing ambivalence towards her owner and companion. From wanting to be together all the time, in the manner of most canines with their humans, our protagonist grows resentful, as she realizes that she's being taken for granted. Her mood soon worsens:

QUOTE
She had become <i>angry</i>. Maybe it wasn’t fair, maybe she was holding him to too high a standard, but, really, after years of unwavering devotion she becomes moody and withdrawn and he notices <i>nothing</i>? If he paid one ounce as much attention to her as she did him, he would have known something was amiss. He would have made overtures–her favorite dinner, to cheer her up. A special outing to bring them closer. He took her for granted though. His cheerleader. His shadow. <i>But I bet he would notice</i>, she brooded, <i>if I were gone</i>.
END QUOTE

The narrative soon switches over to El, a struggling actress in New York City who works at a bakery in order to make ends meet. As she nears the age of thirty, she begins to reconsider her life choices. She's achieving very little in either of her careers, and still hasn't forgiven her father for abandoning her and her mother almost half her life ago. She's lonely and broke and frustrated, so when Julia, a wealthy old friend of hers, invites her up to the Hamptons for a party, she's more than ready to escape her disappointing life, even if only for a little while.

At the party she meets Bryce, who initially repulses her despite seeming ordinary enough. When she makes her way back to the city after a hedonistic time that only serves to underscore how unexciting her daily life is in comparison, she's further annoyed to discover that she left her driver's license at Julia's. Bryce comes to the rescue, asking her out in the process. Despite her own ambivalence, she soon finds herself dating him, attracted as much by his wealth and generosity as she is by his person. Soon enough, she's abandoning her friends, her apartment and her job in order to be with him. He offers her the life she's always wanted. So what if she doesn't actually like him most of the time?

Things get really weird when they take a trip overseas and she realizes that he's been lying to her:

QUOTE
El had taken a lot on faith in her relationship with Bryce, had trusted him and his good intentions even when his behavior had set off faint alarm bells. Had she been a sucker this whole time? Had she ignored every warning sign because she’d been so desperate to believe that the fairy tale could happen to her, that a guy–a provider and, okay fine, a father surrogate–could waltz in to give her all the validation she’d so long been denied? Or was this panic she felt now a hysterical reaction to some stupid lies her boyfriend had told, because the little girl inside her saw everything in black and white and couldn’t tolerate the idea that a man could disappoint you without being wholesale terrible and beyond redemption?
END QUOTE

As El begins to untangle the web he's spun around their charmed life, she realizes that the traumas that have defined him may very well have been of his own making. Could this man she sees as her savior actually be a murderer? Worse, could she be next, if she's not very, very careful?

In all honesty, I didn’t expect this fable of modern companionship to have quite the bite it wound up displaying. A lot of this, I imagine, is deliberate on Ms Lytle’s part, as we, like El, are lulled into complacency by an assumption of where things are going next. El’s final choices – which I expect will divide many readers – are as unexpected as the sudden plague affecting the actual dogs in the narrative. Personally, I loved what El did, even if it wasn’t what I would have chosen for myself had I, God forbid, ever found myself in her situation. Dark and thought-provoking, Man’s Best Friend is a book for anyone who understands that it's okay to not always be a good girl, and that sometimes just asking for more isn't enough.

I don't want to give too much away with this review, because I found the ending to be so rewarding. The writing style was crisp and engaging, while the story pulled me along, dying to know how it all would end. I'm a huge fan of NYC / Hamptons set novels having lived there for nearly two decades. This did not disappoint.

Fragmented Novel


Unfortunately, this is a disjointed novel. The first short chapter captured my attention and then it went to an extreme, without much proof, to the background of the main character and her present situation. El, the main character, had a sad personal history with little improvement to her lifestyle until she met Bryce. This is an old plot, man of her dreams, who really is not who he says he is.

Ideas were hard to follow and the title relating to the antics of the dogs at the climax of the story was not reliable and consistent.

My gratitude to NetGalley and Putnam for this pre-published novel. All opinions expressed are my own.

MAN'S BEST FRIEND by Alana Lytle is the story of a young woman aspiring to a life she cannot seem to achieve for herself on her own merits and efforts. While El has given her all to fit into the ultra rich cliques and class, she was a scholarship student forever on the outside, face pressed up against the window of ease and a comfortable life. Meeting a man who is her perfect candidate to make her dreams come true, the story takes dark and twisty turns in the life of a young woman who will do anything to get what she wants. I did not like El, did not feel sorry for her nor relate to her struggles in achieving what she was so sure was the life she was meant to live. I felt sorry for the people who had to live with and encounter her. Not a very enjoyable read, although it had its moments. I received a copy of this book and these thoughts are my own, unbiased opinions.

Man's Best Friend
By Alana Biden Lytle

This story begins and ends with dogs. I'm not quite sure why. El – short for Heloise – is the protagonist here. Her story is one of a girl deserted by her father when she was twelve, in favor of his second family and her half-sister.
El thus has spent her whole life never feeling good enough, never having the riches and social status she thinks she should be entitled to. Initially the author portrays El as a victim. Always just a hanger-on, never on a par with her peers, never attracting the cool guy. But then she meets Bryce accidentally at a party. While she isn't really attracted to him, she IS attracted to his devotion and his wealth. As their relationship rapidly deepens, she begins to understand that there are two sides to Bryce. But in truth there are two sides to El herself. She must make choices as to how she wants to live her life.

As the story goes on, El becomes a less and less sympathetic character. She is envious and selfish. She makes her choices based solely on what she wants, abandoning her friends and terrifying her boyfriend. In short, she has become a different person.

The ending circles back around to the dogs. I wasn't clear on what the author intended here. Maybe that El – like a loyal dog – may turn on its master in the end. I found this a very strange book.

Here is my feedback for the book man’s best friend! Thank you so much for allowing me to read this book in advance on exchanged of an honest review. The review is linked below!

This young woman, El, displays the typical behavior of many young women these days. She has a job, but hates it. She has two sets of friends, one from her high school days and one from her college days when she attended an upper class school with her wealthy friends. El only feels confident when she's in a group, where she borrows that confidence from the other women. While I enjoyed the book, I'm not quite sure what is accomplished at the end of the story. I don't think I'm the target audience.

Listless and inferior, El is a failed actress and painfully motivated by the shame of not being as wealthy as her old school friends. She falls into a relationship with a slightly underwhelming, but wealthy man, forgoing genuine connection for the comfortable life she feels she has always deserved. This was an entertaining if not slightly frustrating read. The characters felt real, whilst also deeply unlikable, and the main character was without charm, but self aware. The writing was strong and the human interactions relatable enough to keep me engaged.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

MANS BEST FRIEND
Alana B. Lytle

He is everything she wants to be. And instead of becoming more like him, she will marry him if it’s the last thing she does.

They just met, it’s their first date but El has plans for him (name not important) that go beyond what appetizers to order and the quickest route to the restrooms. It’s no time before they’re engaged but as soon as she gets a ring on her finger the façade of his carefully constructed character starts to look less shiny than her new diamond.

The only things he must do to keep El happy are the things he seems to have trouble doing. The only thing he seems to be good at is not being exactly what she needs him to be.

Does El know what she signed up for when she set her sights on him?

Will she make it down the aisle before she becomes the next to-do item on his list of problems to solve?

Either the character or the author has trouble expressing negative emotions. It comes across in the literature in many places. Instead of expressing anger, it is communicated through hostility, rage, and hatred towards self and others.

There are references to being invisible when not being chosen by one individual. That seemed like an overall concept and not an attributed fault of logic of the character.

The male character only exists to prove as a dumping ground and blaming place for El. The book has an overall quality of not being ripe. Perhaps the concepts would be further developed with a little time to reflect or simmer on the themes.

Thanks to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for the advanced copy!

MAN’S BEST FRIEND…⭐⭐

Alan B. Lytle's "Man's Best Friend" tells a gripping, slow-burning story of the main character, El, as she thinks on her past and struggles with the deep desire to be chosen, loved, and respected by her affluent pals. Her thoughts of inadequacy stem from her father's leaving, providing a devastating element of depth to her character. Despite setbacks in her acting career and a job at a bakery, a key night at a Hamptons party hosted by her affluent friend Julia serves as a spark for profound personal development. Here, the author effectively navigates El's reaction to her circumstances, including her reluctant relationship with a man she hardly likes, which leads to the discovery of disturbing facts.

El's character, whose I thought unlikable, is depicted with an engrossing combination of agitation and depth. Her need for acceptance from her wealthy pals is contrasted with her neglect of the deep connections she has already made. Her transforming deeds near the end of the story represent a key turning point. Rather than surrendering to fear, she takes control, confronts the truth about her fiance, and eventually earns not only wealth, but also autonomy.

This thought-provoking story depicts a character's journey from vulnerability to empowerment and delves deeply into the concept of personal agency. It dives into the complexities of human relationships and the tremendous effects of self-realization.

Man's best friend was an ok read. At times I was interested and others I was not. I did hoping for a different ending.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my gifted copy.

Man's Best Friend by Alana B. Lytle was a really good story.
It was well written and very descriptive. An enjoyably tense page turner, this had me up way too late.
This author does an excellent job of creating an atmospheric setting that adds to the tension of the story.
The writing itself is well done, and the pace keeps you turning pages.
The author's ability to create suspenseful settings and well-written characters makes this book worth reading. The setting & descriptions really put the reader in the action.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This book was very different and for the sake of everything that was happening I was intrigued to see where this will take me. And even though it was not my style, I know it will be for someone else.