Homeward Bound meets Remarkably Bright Creatures in this debut novel from Will Pass. In The Second-Smartest Dog that Ever Lived, we're right off to the races as our narrator collects a varied crew of companions in his quest! (iykyk) for revenge and self-discovery.

Animal narrators is not something I expected to be so drawn to this year, but here I am. This book is a nice escape from reality without getting too off-the-wall. I loved the voice of Leo/Rousseau, but most of all Shakespeare who was much more relatable to the dogs in my life and had me laughing out loud on at least a couple occasions. While the premise was certainly gripping, for me, the best parts of the book were the "mundane" parts of day-to-day life, versus the plot elements that were slightly more fantastical. This may have been the pacing of the book itself (I found Part II dragged on a bit long), or just a result of what I found more relatable and interesting.

A small pet peeve of mine which the author employed in several examples was using slightly altered names for things (e.g., PeopleBook, YooTube, a slight renaming of a Kardashian, etc.). Overall, a very intriguing premise and story. 3.5 stars, rounded down.

I'd like to thank NetGalley, Thiessen Press, and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

LOVED THIS STORY SO MUCH. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I READ THIS YEAR SO FAR. SUPER LOVELY AND AMAZING TO READ. I RECOMMEND EVERYONE TO READ THIS BOOK ASAP.