Argh, my heart. I’m not ashamed to say I cried buckets reading this book. LIly and the Octopus is one of those beautiful reads that will stay with you long after you turn the final page. You don’t have to be an animal lover to enjoy this book, but if you are, (like me) be prepared for an onslaught of emotion. I loved the special relationship Ted and Lily had. Who doesn’t talk to their pet as if they’re listening? I had a beautiful black Labrador that was like a child to me too, and who died tragically, which is probably why this book hit me in all the feels. Still, even though it was hard on the old heart, I still recommend this book to everyone. It’s well written and engaging.

EXCERPT:
The octopus has a good grip and clings tightly over her eye. It takes me a minute, but I gather my nerve and poke it. It's harder than I would have imagined. Less like a water balloon, more like . . . bone. It feels subcutaneous, yet there it is, out in the open for all to see. I count its arms, turning Lily's head around to the back, and sure enough, there are eight. The octopus looks angry as much as out of place. Aggressive perhaps is a better word. Like it is announcing itself and would like the room. I'm not going to lie. It's as frightening as it is confounding. I saw a video somewhere, sometime, of an octopus that camouflaged itself so perfectly along the ocean floor that it was completely undetectable until some unfortunate whelk or crab or snail came along and it emerged, striking with deadly precision. I remember going back and watching the video again and again, trying to locate the octopus in hiding. After countless viewings I could acknowledge its presence, sense its energy, its lurking, its intent to pounce, even if I couldn't entirely make it out in form. Once you had seen it, you couldn't really unsee it—even as you remained impressed with its ability to hide so perfectly in plain sight.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Combining the emotional depth of The Art of Racing in the Rain with the magical spirit of The Life of Pi, Lily and the Octopus is an epic adventure of the heart.

When you sit down with Lily and the Octopus, you will be taken on an unforgettable ride.

The magic of this novel is in the read, and we don’t want to spoil it by giving away too many details. We can tell you that this is a story about that special someone: the one you trust, the one you can’t live without.

For Ted Flask, that someone special is his aging companion Lily, who happens to be a dog. Lily and the Octopus reminds us how it feels to love fiercely, how difficult it can be to let go, and how the fight for those we love is the greatest fight of all.

MY THOUGHTS: I expected this to be a sad book, given the subject, but it wasn’t, at least not to the degree that I imagined. And I am writing this as the person who, when my dog went missing the week before last, spent two whole days driving around the streets searching for him, mobilising the town and rural posties to look for him on their rounds, and harassing the vets, the pound and the SPCA. Day three found me in tears, quite certain that he had gone off to die, as elderly blue heelers are prone to do, completely immobilized by my grief. Happy ending, he was located late on the afternoon of the third day, hungry and footsore, making his way back home. $200 later in pound fees and a quick trip to the vet to have him checked over and he was home. Where he had been for those three days remains a mystery; no one sighted him, and he's not talking!

Anyway, back to Lily and the Octopus. Dogs make the most amazing friends. They are loyal and loving. The emotions we, their humans, feel when our dogs' health is failing, are extreme. Ted is alone, other than for Lily, and has endowed Lily with many human traits. Well, maybe Lily could play Monopoly. Just because I have never tried playing board games with my dog doesn't mean that it can't be done. He is heavily emotionally invested in her, and when her life is threatened, he fights that threat every way he knows how. And in doing so, he learns a lot about himself, about responsibility, and about making tough decisions.

So, I didn't cry while reading this book. I smiled a lot, at times recognizing myself in Ted. It was a sweet, nostalgic read for me, bringing back memories of previous dogs I am lucky enough to have had in my life.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster via Netgalley for providing a digital copy of Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.

This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

Thank to to Simon & Schuster via Netgalley for the opportunity to read this wonderful book. I've had it for a while, but only just got around to reading it, and I'm so glad I did.

This is a novel about a man and his dog. Ted is the man and Lily is his dog. That may sound simple enough, but it goes much deeper than that. Ted and Lily's relationship is so much more than just owner/pet. Lily is Ted's child, partner & best friend. She speaks to him and has been his steadfast companion for twelve and a half years. Then one day the octopus arrives and changes everything.

This novel was a fantastic and fantastical journey through Ted's head for the time Lily is in his life. The language is so beautiful and this is so well written that the reader feels Ted's love for Lily and her trust of and devotion to him. The writing is so descriptive that Ted's grief felt like my own and I even cried on the train coming home from work. Then I got in the car and cried a bit more on the way home from the station.

Reading the Acknowledgements at the end I gather Lily was based on the author's own dog and he's managed to put his feelings about her into words so well that I shared those feelings with him, and they felt very authentic. That's a talent not a lot of authors have, in my opinion. I didn't find this novel hilarious; I found it poignant, endearing and lovely, and sometimes very said, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I would recommend this book to dog lovers, cat lovers, octopus lovers, in fact, anybody who enjoys reading about the joy having a pet can bring to your life. Even if you don't enjoy reading about pets, read this anyway, because it's so beautiful you'd have to be pretty hard to please not to get something worthwhile out of it. I wish I'd read it sooner and eagerly away Rowley's future works.