Man’s Best Friend by Alana B. Lytle follows El, a failed actress who has had a taste of the rich life and has been chasing that high ever since. With two rich friends, she feels like an outsider. She eventually meets Bryce, a trust fund baby who just may be her ticket to a better life. But Bryce has secrets of his own that may be darker than El imagined.

If you go into this wanting a literary book with some thriller elements, I feel like you would enjoy this book. It’s pretty slow moving and the main character isn’t particularly likeable so it’s hard to feel attached to the story.

I feel like I enjoyed this well enough. After seeing it compared to The Talented Mr. Ripley, I was expecting a bit more twists and turns. This book ended up going in a way I wasn’t expecting. I think I would recommend this book to a few people but not a ton. I think the people that really love slower moving literary thrillers will enjoy this one.

I would check out more from this author because while this book is slow, I never felt like I was having a bad time or anything. The writing style was something that I really enjoyed. So I think my expectations for this story were a little high but I still had a good time.

Unfortunately this just didn't work for me -- slow paced, uneven tone, unlikable characters. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

El is someone who doesn't put forth much effort in anything. She is willing to put herself in precarious situations to get her needs met, and honestly doesn't seem to care much about anyone else. Also true is that she associates with others who habe limited capacity for connection as well. Meanwhile, mysterious deaths occur and not much effort is put into solving them.

This is a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The characters are intriguing, and the plot itself is such an edge of the seat type of situation that you are breathless from start to finish of this book.

I did enjoy reading this book. It kept me interested until the end. The beginning is a bit mellow and the thriller aspect doesn't come in until a little more than half way through the book. If you're looking for more thrilling aspects, then this may not be the book for you. El was quite an unlikeable narrator, but so were many of the other characters in the book. It was fun to watch her motives and morals change in order to achieve the life she always wanted for herself. Definitely give it a read!

A woman of modest means is impacted for life by attending an elite school for one year in 8th grade. Surrounded by wealth and privilege, El feels less than and spends most of the ensuing years trying to capture what the moneyed kids had.
When many years in the future El is maybe stalked by a wall street whiz, she puts her personal ethics aside to accept everything he's willing to give or provide for her. Even the mounting evidence of perhaps evil doing on the part of her provider isn't enough for El to turn away from her new status.
El was mostly unlikeable but I did enjoy her owning her true self in the end.
What didn't work for me was the dogs behaving badly intermittently throughout which was surely meant to convey something but alas, it confused the story for me.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and Netgalley for an early e-copy. All opinions are my own.

Slow burning suspense

The first chapter was enticing enough to keep me reading, although it felt detached from the rest of the novel. The first half of the book was slower paced, introducing a cast of privileged people partying and hooking up. El, the protagonist met them in school where she attended on a scholarship and always felt like the odd one out. I went into this one blind and when I double checked the genre, the pace made sense. I don’t read as much general / literary fiction since it’s usually slower, however the murder in the middle sped it up. When El finds out an old friend of hers has been found murdered, she’s devastated and immediately starts investigating. A few coincidences cause her to suspect Bryce, her fiancé. A lot was crammed into the second half, and in the end, both El’s and Bryce’s decisions became foggy once all the secrets were out.

I didn’t love the characters and felt their choices to be unrealistic, especially El’s, just so she could live a life of luxury. The mention of dogs and their erratic behavior felt disconnected, like the first chapter, and I wasn’t sure how it fit with the characters or storyline. The themes of rags to riches and complex relationships were clearly expressed, but the ending fell flat for me.

3/5⭐️⭐️⭐️
For readers who enjoy a slower pace, characters with dark motives, and complex relationships.

Thank you, GP Putnam's Sons and NetGalley, for the advanced copy of Man's Best Friend.

This novel was okay. It is classified as literary fiction but is touted as "irresistibly suspenseful". It is not. If you go into this looking for just literary fiction, it's a decent novel. If you go into this looking for a thriller, prepare to be disappointed. The story just fell flat. It didn't keep my interest. I finished the novel reluctantly, but it is not one that I would recommend.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review*

A little uneven for my taste - one minute it was dark and twisty - the next light hearted.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons & NetGalley for this book.

I really tried to get into this book, but it just wasn't for me.

I did finish reading, but it was a struggle to stay focused

It just did not hold my interest.

I found the characters, plot, and descriptions fell flat.

Sadly can not recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I love a Talented Mr. Ripley type story, and obsession is one of my favorite themes in literature. Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy this story, and found it to be lacking. The plot simply wasn't compelling enough to carry an entire book. However, I did still somewhat enjoy it, and would be interested to read more from the author in the future.

Man's Best Friend by Alana B. Lytle is a great story! It had me hooked from beginning to end. I will read more from the author in the future.

Several other readers have complained that El, the protagonist/narrator of "Man's Best Friend" is unlikable. I didn't find that to be the case. I'm not saying I'd want to be her bestie, but she's no more or less moral or ethical than many of us... at least until the denouement. The finale, and pretzel logic involved, tainted the book for me. Ditto the extremely forced canine metaphors. Which is a shame, because author Alana B. Lytle excels at depicting a specific slice of New York: that of post-college adults realizing that they're now too old to become wunderkinds, that they can no longer afford their fantasies unless they make some hard, and harsh, decisions.

Thank you, G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

In the book Man’s Best Friend we meet El who for most of her life was in aspiring actor she obsesses over everything and her main obsession is her eighth grade year at a private school where she meets Juliana and Anna. Both girls are from very Uber rich families and she considers herself a poor man’s Anna because they look so similar when out of the blue she is a invited to Giuliana‘s 30th birthday party at her Southampton home ,she despite working at a bakery and living paycheck to paycheck cannot resist the pull of the rich life and decides to go. This is where she will first meet Brice He works in finance and is also Uber Rich and despite else not being attracted to him she is attracted to the life he could give her and so decides to date him soon they’re living together it will be when he takes her to Paris where her friend Anna is now living that the mystery will begin because before they leave Paris Anna will have been murdered and although it effects L she doesn’t see Anna‘s death as the mystery it is until much later. If you notice I haven’t mentioned man’s best friend or a dog at all that’s because it was barely even a subplot and it is only a subplot in that it is mentioned in passing another words they mention someone was walking a dog or… L looks out the window and sees a dog barking at a man only in the beginning do we hear from a dog and her contemplation of leaving her master the rest is unlikable L her unlikable friends especially Emma Who especially after her big reveal I didn’t like. Usually when they have such an unlikable protagonist in the book I do not like the book either but the author has such a fresh and talented writing style I found myself not wanting to put the book down and read it all in one go. I know from a lot of reviews people didn’t like L and I myself as I said don’t like her either but they were many things she thought and choices she made but I totally understood where she was coming from. I was sad the book wasn’t about the dog but there’s lots of dog books I can go read to satisfy that itch, as far as mysteries and thrillers go this was a really good one I want to think penguin group Putnam and net Gali for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

In eighth grade, El was a scholarship kid at an elite private school in New York City where she met and was taken underwing by queen bee's Anna and Julia. That friendship was El's entrée into a life of wealth and privilege she'd never known but immediately coveted. In her ​14 year-old mind the best route to riches was to become a famous actress, a dream she pursued without success. At 30, El is a failed actress turned unfulfilled bakery employee in search of a new path. That new path enters her life as Bryce Ripley-Batten. Bryce is not El's type. He's dopey, a bit creepy, but quite wealthy. El falls in line with the life Bryce plans for them, while knowing she'll never fall in love with him.

In the prologue, readers are introduced to a dog who longs to leave her home. Though her Ohio home is comfortable and her owner is a good man, she slinks out and runs for her freedom in pursuit of something bigger, something else. This subplot about the disloyal runaway dogs obviously represents El and several other disloyal characters in the novel. That same something else compels El to ignore the signs that Bryce is not a good choice. However, El has a history of making poor choices, there's little hope that she will change. And she doesn't. El is still that starry eyed 14 year-old girl who wants to be rich. Only by 30, she's no longer guided by a quiet desire for money and friends, but a hunger and desperation she could not have imagined as a child.

I had such high hopes for this book, but the plot and subplot don't really line up for me, and the characters are shallow and unlikable. The description of the book promises a story akin to The Talented Mr. Ripley, but that falls flat. There is nothing artful nor crafty in El's approach to social climbing. Bryce enters her life and the ever lazy El rolls over and gives herself to him - body and soul. There are a few uncanny moments in the novel, like when the dog jumps in front of the train and another dog attacks El's car, but those moments aren't enough to carry the novel. In the end I felt like I was being taught a lesson, not told a story. This novel began with promise but was a miss for me.

Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons, publisher, for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start off by saying this book was well-written, had a compelling plot, and overall I enjoyed it. It’s sort of in the vein of other female literary authors with semi-unlikeable protagonists (Mona Awad, Otessa Moshfegh, etc) but….

Ugh I say this with love. It tried too hard to be something it wasn’t - especially when it came to the dog references. I get that the title is “Man’s Best Friend” so she is trying to build on that idea but the recurring theme felt shoehorned in. It almost was like a whole book was written to be solely a thriller / literary fiction, but then the editor passed a note that said “we should add more dog stuff”.

A few quotes that stood out to me -

“A dog might stay loyal or she might abandon you. Either way she’d do what served her best.

She’d been prey become predator. Finding her purpose by peering beneath a “lifetime’s breeding and grooming”

And then there was an off hand comment about a news story where dogs were mysteriously running away from their owners (I got stuck on that - for a moment I thought there was going to be a whole sci fi subplot) but this is only ever referenced when the main character is comparing herself to a dog who must have run away from its master (a collar with a name is found)

All these comparisons to the protagonist being canine and working out issues with her father (?) in the form of a wolf hunt (?) - it just felt jarringly out of context. The English major literary criticism side of me almost wants to reread this slowly and write an essay on the theme with lots of supporting quotes lol

I liked the twist at the end (ugh but also, I read wayyy too many serial killer books, so the villain’s reaction to everything didn’t make sense psychologically to me based off why people kill, but it’s okay).

I’m excited to read more from this author, so I hope all my comments don’t take away from the fact that this was an enjoyable read.

This is a me issue but there’s a fine line for me between social satire/commentary a la Eat the Rich and just awful rich people. I felt more like I hated these people but not in a good way.

Unfortunately this is a soft DNF for me, I may pick this up again at some time but right now this is not something that appeals to me.

It’s a little bit of Night Bitch meets the Talented Mr. Ripley. We follow El, befriended at a young age by Julia and Ana two wealthy girls who bring El into their circle. However, they grow distant as they grow up and head their separate ways. El still longs for a connection to that world of wealth, privilege, and power as she exists as a failed actress working at a bakery feeling untethered and disconnected from the people and world around her.

I really liked the writing in this, it made these characters feel alive and real in their actions and motivations and kept me invested despite (or because of?) these unlikeable flawed characters. As El at times teeters between choices it keeps the reader guessing as to what she will ultimately choose to do. While I liked the dog segments woven throughout the story, I felt it could have been a bit more subtle at times. The way everything came together at the climax had me completely gripped and I couldn’t put it down.

If you are looking for an anti romance with an unapologetically selfish characters and sharp social criticism with thriller elements this is a really great read and you should check it out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I did not enjoy this book one little bit. Was it a mystery? A thriller? Neither. It was pointless and dumb. I do not recommend. I’m giving it a one star rating. Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this digital ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.