Dogs, by C. Mallon, consists of an odd and unlikable cast of characters. Mallon almost spits the words at the reader as they come with no dressing and are often blunt and horrible. I don't understand the title, it seems insulting to dogs. Granted, the dog here is one of the book's more likable creatures.What we are given to read is often unreadable, yet it is clear that this odd group is suffering. This suffering culminates in a horrific accident, where, oddly enough, the author now finds space to include some love among the horrors. Perhaps it had been there all along but just got lost in the character's meanderings and drugged state. Yet it was a welcome relief in what is a harsh book to endure.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Wow—this book was a gut punch after gut punch. Despite its shorter length, Dogs is packed with raw emotion, making every page feel heavy with meaning. The writing style and narration reminded me of The Catcher in the Rye, with Hal recounting the traumas of his small town in an almost detached, matter-of-fact way. From the blurb, I knew something devastating was coming, but I wasn’t fully prepared for the sheer levels of trauma the story unpacks. By the time I reached the ending, I was seriously considering scheduling a therapy session.

While the book is short, I found the pacing slow at first. The absence of chapters and quotation marks for dialogue took some adjustment, but it wasn’t a deal-breaker. Some of my favorite authors use similar stylistic choices, and it has never stopped me from loving their work.

That said, I have a few strong recommendations before diving in. First, if you need trigger warnings, check them—this book doesn’t hold back. Second, make sure you’re in the right mental space before reading. Dogs is not a happy book. There are no moments of reprieve, no silver linings. It is hauntingly beautiful, but it will devastate you. If you’re looking for a novel that will emotionally wreck you and linger in your thoughts long after the last page, Dogs is it.

I’ll be reflecting on this one for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was left sitting in silence, with an overwhelming heaviness in my heart after finishing this book. I couldn’t quite figure out the words to express how I felt. Dogs is only 200 pages, but will stay with me for a while. It’s haunting and absolutely devastating The writing is raw and poetic. A standout feature of this novel. It captures the fragmented and lyrical nature of the character’s thoughts. It paints their emotional turmoil so vividly, you can truly feel every moment of their struggles. Each sentence draws you deeper into their minds and hearts.

This story offers no easy answers or comforting solutions. Instead, you find yourself with broken characters, weighed down by their confusion, pain, and inability to escape themselves. This book is full of pain, desperation, and an isolating sadness that can pull you into some dark places. There’s no catharsis and no moments of redemption that make you feel better. Instead, it’s a quiet relentless sadness. Even the love that’s present is fractured and difficult to recognize.

The beauty of this novel is not just the story, but how it unfolds. The way the author creates an atmosphere using tension filled and stark language is captivating. My one complaint is that some moments felt unfinished or too brief, so they felt a bit out of place. Despite that however, this book is still an unforgettable experience.

This is book is not for everyone. It’s heavy, emotionally draining, and deeply unsettling at times. Some might find the bleak world overwhelming, because there are very few resolutions. It’s the kind of story that sticks with you, in a somewhat uncomfortable and bittersweet way. Ultimately, I felt like this book relayed the quiet devastation of life we sometimes face. It’s a haunting experience and not something I will forget anytime soon.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC!

this book chewed me up and spit me OUT jesus h. I had no idea what to expect going into this one but it sure wasn't THAT.

'dogs' checked so many boxes for me, basically my dream book tbh, but I kinda get the sense that it might not be for everyone, esp because the writing was very stylized and lyrical and sometimes a lot to take in, a book I had to really give my undivided attention to, which was hard sometimes considering the subject matter. definitely bordered on being trauma-p*rn-ish because holy moly, this book was SAD. and so gd poignant and touching and heart-wrenching.

I loved the gritty kinda gross and utterly tragic setting, I loved the characters, their tender moments and complex histories and dynamics and humanness. I loved every single description, I loved the world through Hal's eyes, the observer, the witness, the deep sadness of him, especially as the story went on. I loved the tension building, the knowing that something was going to go wrong and waiting for it, so frickin good. this is a book that will haunt me for a while, I almost wanna go back and re-read it even though I just finished it today (I know that I won't because I don't think I could handle it). I simultaneously couldn't put it down + never wanted it to end.

if you like reading weird little devastations of books, I truly can't recommend this one more. will absolutely read anything else C Mallon puts out.

Complete devastation of a book. What initially ropes you in with a sensory story of the emotional instability of youth eventually evolves into a complex, extremely dark tale of loss, abandonment, and betrayal. One of the most impactful books I have ever read, but likely not one I could ever see myself reading again.

Prior to the evening that would change his life forever, Hal was already seemingly coming away at the seams. In the throes of high school, bonded with his friends on the wrestling team, he has still always felt like an outsider, and many of his peers have felt the same about him. He has a past with emotional instability and outbursts, but by all accounts he has a relatively normal life with his mother and father, his dog Tough Guy, and his best friend Cody James. This book largely takes place over the course of an evening where Hal and his friends spend time together and get into trouble, but with frequent detours into Hal's past and his numerous anecdotes about his peers they encounter through the night. The evening builds to a horrific event that affects everyone in the book in deeply tragic ways.

Wow what a book, this is one of the greats that you just have to sit with for days to reflect upon. The complete emotional devastation and self sabotaging Hal endures, and inflicts, was unyielding. From about the half way point on, the story spirals like a car crash you can't look away from, and the aftermath doesn't let up for a moment. Beyond the writing style of no paragraph breaks, short choppy, descriptive sentences, and a clinical voice, what stood out the most with this book was the sensory writing. It did such a good job painting the world and conveying the emotional state that I often found myself nostalgic for things that I have never before experienced.

Despite one narrative misstep that I personally felt was so jarringly included, it completely disrupted the flow of the story, this was otherwise a masterpiece that I hope finds wide acclaim.

I’m not even really sure where to begin. This book is absolutely gut wrenching and it broke my heart about a million times. I think I loved it? I might still be too close to the material to form a coherent thought about my feelings regarding the story itself. I honestly don’t think i should say anything about that anyway, it’s something you really should read for yourself.

But what I can say is that the writing is absolutely beautiful, I fell right into it from the very first page. I knew right away that I was in expert hands and that the author knew exactly what they were doing. I especially loved the ways we learned about each character through Hal’s eyes. The way he sees the world is so unique and with such a strong sense of empathy that he has absolutely no idea what to do with. Hal’s observations of the small habits and details of his friends and the world around him made everything feel so real and visceral.

An example of this attention to detail that hit me particularly strongly for some reason was Hal’s observation of one of his friend’s (Dylan’s) habit of hitting his nails. I was struck by his noting not only that Dylan bit his nails, but how severely he did it. It was a small detail, but it showed the depth of his awareness of those around him. Everything was illustrated vividly, and the prose felt poetic without being pretentious. There was an artfulness to the way the sentences were crafted, getting the author’s voice without the cost of losing the narrator’s. It was a masterful balance and made for a great reading experience. I fully intend to read any future work from this author.

My only issue with the style of the writing, and the reason I didn’t give this book 5 stars, was the formatting. There were no paragraph breaks except between the major scenes, and no grammatical indications of dialogue, which made the text visually difficult to read. It did feel like a distinct and intentional stylistic choice that made sense to reflect the mind state and thought process of the narrator, and it was very effective in that regard, but, from an accessibility standpoint, it was a little less than ideal.

I should also say, without getting into the details of the story, that this book is not for the faint of heart. When you sit down to read this you need to be ready to cry, it will be inevitable.

This story is going to stick with me for a long time, I’m certain that I will be thinking about it for years to come, and I look forward to reading any future titles from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc. All thoughts are my own.