—Thank you to NetGalley and the publidher for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review!

Is she imagining all of this or not? Who can we trust? What should we believe?
I love when we get to question these. This was so fun and entertaining.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review-
Eli attended a private school and enjoys the joys of feeling rich but at age 30 she failed as an actress and doesn’t have anything she is passionate about, Then Bryce enters her world, not that good looking but rich. She gives up her job and everything for him. But then— she begins noticing disturbing things, cameras in house, the feeling of him following her. is it her imagination or should she be worried?

I am on a diet of exclusively Putnam books and they have been feeding me WELL.

Man’s Best Friend is the story of breaking away from your captives whether they be straight white men, toxic female friends, or your own contrived notions about who you should be.

El was everything all at once… victim, friend, lover, submissive, dominatrix, loser, and winner. I wanted her to succeed as much as I wanted her to fail and I’m still not really sure what that says about me but it was a fun ride nonetheless.

Predictable, boring, blah. I finished it only because I agreed to review it. The whole attempt to tie it to Man's Best Friend was never fully clarified or even explored. Just seemed to be some sort of random adder to the story for words or length. The main storyline with Bryce is lacking & unoriginal. There are many loose ends with some of the experiences shared through El. Overall, I was very disappointed.

This book did not go in the direction I was expecting based on the summary, which was disappointing. The beginning was fine but by about the midpoint I was getting bored and now I'm still trying to decide if the ending made sense. Ultimately it just wasn't the book I thought it was going to be. It wasn't poorly written, but it just wasn't for me. I might be interested to see what else this author comes up with though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the advance reader copy!

I have mixed feelings about this book. It all sort of fell in the middle for me. The main character is a directionless young woman who doesn't seem to have strong feelings about anything except maybe a desire to be wealthy. She's not unlikable but also not anyone you'd want to spend time with. It turns into a sort of predictable abused woman story with some random dream sequences thrown in. I didn't mind spending time with this book but it also didn't make any lasting impression. Basically an ok beach read.

Interesting read. The book was not exactly what I was expecting from the title, but it was interesting nonetheless. The main character went through an amazing transformation as you progressed through the book and was like a totally different person by the end.

I had mixed feelings about Man's Best Friend by debut author Alana Lytle. The story is a familiar one, a "have not", in this case main protagonist El, is willing to do anything to become a "have", including marrying someone with serious red flags. I enjoy psychological thrillers that include rich people behaving badly, so I enjoyed that aspect of this book. The authors use of dog metaphors did not resonate with and seemed unnecessary to the overall story. Three and half stars rounded up to four stars. Looking forward to more from this author. Thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy o this book in exchange for an honest review.

A fun, dark novel starring El, a struggling actor who works at a bakery to make ends meet. She is better at making bad decisions than acting, however, and there were times she made me want to scream.
I never really connected with El, or even liked her, but I still enjoyed the novel. That is rare for me. If I never connect with a main character, I usually don't like the book.
This novel is well written, with a few relatable characters, some twists, and a few very tense moments.
My only negative criticism is that it is a bit wordy. Could've been shorter.

Thank you, Alana B. Lytle NetGalley for the ARC. I leave this review voluntarily and happily. Also, thank you publishers for your hard work!

I will admit I did something I never did before reading a book, and that's going to look through others' reviews. From there, I have to say I have to agree. I have no idea what the first chapter of the book has to do with anything. It truly confused me. I thought we were going to be going back and forth between the view of a dog and a human, but that wasn't the case at all. This book I was able to finish in two days as it still was interesting enough to keep my attention. Of course, I do have a feeling this book won't be for a lot of people.

The title and the book itself I really loved the title, but there's not much on dogs in this book, and the only thing I have to say about the way it's corporated into the book is toxic. Relationships built by submission and just going along with things even if that's not what you want. Going on with the theme of toxic relationships was the main relationship toxic? Yes and no. In the beginning, he never made her leave her friends or told her she couldn't go anywhere. He did eventually start following her and monitoring her. Later on, things change and get really strange.

This book, I honestly will say, wasn't a favorite. Was it worth the read? Maybe. I'm only one person, and others will have their views on the matter. So, of course, don't let me be the one to stop you if you'd like to see what this book is about.

I requested this book based upon the blurb. Sadly, it did not live up to expectations.

El is a failed actress turned bakery employee. She's almost 30 but is wandering aimlessly through life. The one thing that she dwells on is her 8th grade year. She was on scholarship to an exclusive school and was befriended by Anna and Julia. They were everything that El wished she could be, wealthy and popular. She was determined to one day be just like them.

At one of Julia's parties, El bumps into a man named Bryce. He's not super attractive and he's kind of a loner but he and El start dating. She starts calling out from her job and alienating her friends. After moving in with Bryce, she begins noticing red flags about him, but they are co-dependent on each other in a toxic way. She soon finds out the truth about him. What will she do with the truth?

There are zero likable characters in this book. El is narcissistic, lazy, desperate, and worst of all whiny. Bryce is bland and unassuming and clingy. The side characters are just as bad, a typical portrayal of rich people who all are self-absorbed with major drug and alcohol problems.

The bits of suspense that seemed interesting were rushed through or glossed over. The dream sequences and parts about the dogs were jarring and pulled you out of the story. The writing itself was good but the story fell flat. It was a struggle to finish the book and the ending was unbelievable. Based on the author's writing style, I would like to see what they come up with next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the advance reader copy to review.

I received an ARC of this book from Penguin Group via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. My first thought is, "what on earth did I read?" I don't understand the title or the prologue. Dogs have nothing to do with the story.

El is perhaps the most unlikable protagonist of any book I have ever read. Show up late for work? Ditch your friends (continuously) for your boyfriend? She's your girl.

I think the author is objectively a good writer, using some good metaphors and a flowery prose. But NOTHING HAPPENS in this book. I didn't find it at all "suspenseful" as was in the description.

And then end... without giving spoilers, it's just insane and unreasonable.

This debut novel had me from page one. The main character was relatable to me and I mostly empathized with her and her life situation. The author did a good job of shining light on the disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots" There weren't a lot of wasted words which made the book a quick, easy and enjoyable read. I look forward to seeing what comes next from this author!

Unlikeable girl
finds herself and becomes worse.
Hard to cheer for her.
⭐️⭐️⭐️



I write haiku reviews on Instagram but am happy to provide more feedback.

CW: child death, drug use

El is 29 year old failed actress who is listless in life. When she was younger, she went to an exclusive school with rich kids where she met Anna and Julia. At one of Julia's parties, she meets Bryce, and her life is turned upside down with new friends and a new identity. There are dark secrets behind her new relationship. What kind of person with El become?

I didn't like this book. El is an entitled and narcissistic person which is hard to read about. Also the dog thing never got explained which bothered me a lot. Bryce is creepy and the ending is confusing as well.
If you like horrible main characters, then maybe try this book.

4. Interesting book and definitely tried to capture the vibe of something like Nightbitxh ish. Where it fell short in that not one of the characters was super relatable c thanks for the arc

I was drawn to the perfectly apt description: that this is a cross between Talented Mr. Ripley and Nightbitch. Yet, Man's Best Friend doesn't seem to offer anything more than being a combination of those two already-existing stories.

El is an unlikeable protagonist, fitting in with the catastrofemale/she's unwell genre of main characters. A failed actress now working at a bakery, she's obsessed with the idea of success that both her NYU friends and former private middle school friends seem to have. She's bitter, jealous, and unmotivated.

Meeting Bryce allows El to enter the world of the wealthy, though with the tradeoff that her new beau is certainly a loner with control problems. Her codependency - largely portrayed through a forced thematic focus on dogs as loyal companions slowly rewilding - allows her to initially ignore her suspicions of him.

As a story about a lonely woman finding her place in the world, this is mid. Fans of the unhinged woman genre will find at least something they like in this book. As a thriller, which picks up about halfway through the book, this is overly obvious (not to give spoilers, but the book description literally compares this to The Talented Mr. Ripley so you know exactly where the thriller component is headed). The writing was uneven: some paragraphs overwritten, others seemingly unedited. There are too many side characters that don't necessarily add to the story - did we really need a subplot about friends trying to save the local restaurant? And the ending was disappointing at best. However, I'd still call the experience of reading this pretty fun.

While I found plenty of elements unsatisfying, there is clearly a lot of promise in Alana B. Lytle's future work. Should she release a sophomore novel, I would happily give it a shot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the e-arc.

Novels steeped in the toxicity of love are often breeding grounds for all sorts of unsettling feelings, and make for tense, thought-provoking reads. I love a relationship gone all wrong, so I knew that Alana B. Lytle’s debut, Man’s Best Friend, would be a book I would find intriguing.

Featuring the lives of the rich and aimless, Man’s Best Friend follows El, a failed actress, who jumps at the opportunity to get involved with Bryce, who just happens to belong to a wealthy and prominent family. Bryce (who is not particularly El’s type, but will do) opens doors for El, showing her a world that she has only caught glimpses of while hanging out with her (also wealthy) kind-of-sort-of best friends. As El discards more and more pieces of her life in favor of what Bryce has to offer, she isolates herself from everything and everyone that makes her who she is. As time goes on, El begins to wonder if she can truly trust Bryce … or is there something much more nefarious at play here?

Man’s Best Friend gives off major Tell Me Lies (a la Carola Lovering) vibes, and having loved that novel, I was excited about this book too. For the most part, Man’s Best Friend holds up, showcasing how women often lose themselves to codependency in toxic relationships, putting their entire heart and soul into men who will ultimately destroy them. On the other hand, Lytle (fun fact - the author is President Joe Biden’s niece!) doesn’t push the toxicity of this relationship quite far enough for me. Things between Bryce and El stay on fairly solid ground, although major trust issues are at play. While Bryce is no doubt a liar and manipulator, the book focuses more on how those traits manifested in his past relationships and obsessions, rather than in his current one with El.

Regardless, I still felt compelled to keep turning the pages of this dark and ominous read. Filled with characters you will love to hate, Man’s Best Friend exposes the scary side of love … or is it just obsession?

Recommended to fans of Tell Me Lies and You.

The premise of this book was very interesting to me, but unfortunately it didn't work for me, more of character study than a thriller and some weird and confusing turns that didn't help move the story on. Really wanted to like it but did struggle to finish it

2.5 stars ⭐️

I received this book as an arc so I wanna start off by thanking both the author and publishers for letting me read it early. I thought it was interesting, I like how the character isn't supposed to be likable, it's fun to read different things in their pov's.

Some of the writing/things going on reminded me of 'Less than Zero' (just in the sense of partying and how the friends treat each other) I didn't like that book but I think this one was done better and actually had some substance.

I think it would be cool if the book had some more suspense. I don't wanna spoil anything but I would of liked some build-up.

One last thing but I didn't really like Bryce, he was clingy and honestly sad (which honestly might be the point) but he has money so tbh you go girl!