Book Review: What the Dog Ate by Jackie Bouchard
Book Description: What the Dog Ate
Amazon: What the Dog Ate Kindle edition
Amazon: What the Dog Ate Paperback
Smashwords: What the Dog Ate
The vet handed Maggie Baxter a plastic specimen bag containing a pair of size-tiny lavender thong panties extracted from her dog; but they were not hers. Or rather, they were hers now since she'd just paid $734 to have Dr. Carter surgically remove them from Kona's gut.
This is how Maggie Baxter, a practical, rule-following accountant, discovers that her husband of seventeen years is cheating on her. All her meticulous life plans are crushed. When he leaves her for the other woman, Maggie and her the-world-is-my-smorgasbord chocolate Lab, Kona, are left to put their lives back together. As Maggie begins to develop a Plan B for her life, she decides to be more like Kona. No, she's not going to sniff crotches and eat everything that isn't nailed down; rather she'll try to approach life with more ball-chasing abandon. Finding herself in situations where she begins to go through her usual over-analysis of the pros and cons, she stops and instead asks herself: What would Kona do? With Kona as her guru, Maggie begins her quest for tail-wagging joy.
Book Review ~ What the Dog Ate by Jackie Bouchard
Clever title. Reading the book made me want to be loved by Kona, too. Lovely read. - Ara of My Book and My Coffee
The first chapter did pique my interest a lot already. And I kinda liked the way it was written. But then somewhere in the middle, I wondered where the story would lead. Like Maggie, the protagonist, I was clueless. She was clueless on where her life is going and what she should do next. Me, I was clueless on where the author wanted this story to go. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This isn’t one of the mystery or suspense novels out there but I think that it’s a good thing if the reader doesn’t always know what the main character’s next step is.
Again, the title is really clever and that alone made me really excited. Instantly, I wanted to read the book. So when the author sent me a review copy, I was really thankful – and I am forever grateful. The story is about Maggie, what her dog ate, her divorce and whatever is next for her. Maggie’s character is certainly relatable. One more thing I’ve noticed about her is that she is very reasonable as well. As a reader, you’ll feel her pain about the struggles she had to endure (like the divorce, starting all over - with her life and if possible, with another partner in life). That’s tough. I can certainly understand her dilemma. It’s a good thing that she has her family and that she was able to make new friends after the divorce. Family and friends that will make her want to try again. And maybe more. *hint hint* And of course, she has Kona. The ever cute Labrador, that from what I’ve come to imagine, makes Maggie sane and crazy – and not always at the same time. I do love dogs even though I don’t have a dog of my own. My mom has a dark brown Labrador (like Kona) that is just pure adorable and loves to eat and play with the snow a lot.
I have to say though that I have mixed feelings about this book. Although I enjoyed reading it, there were some scenarios that I really didn’t care about because I felt that the book will do fine without them.
The book’s ending was good but I felt that it needed more fireworks. I think the author went for the responsible and reasonable way to end the book which is okay. But again, it’s just me. I expected more fireworks – I think Maggie deserves to have that. Also, I wanted that spark that will want me to imagine what will happen next even after the book has ended.
About the Author:
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| Photo courtesy of JackieBouchard.com |
Jackie was born in Southern California and lived there until she and a friend got the crazy idea to move to Bermuda. It turned out to not be such a crazy idea after all since she met her husband there. After Bermuda, Jackie and her husband moved to Canada, then to the east coast of the US, and ultimately back to San Diego, where they now live with their rescue pup, Rita.
Jackie used to be trapped in the hamster wheel of corporate America, but she was bitten by the writing bug and ultimately managed to escape. Jackie loves: reading, writing, and, yes, even 'rithmetic (seriously, algebra rocks), professional cycling, margaritas, dogs in general, her crazy rescue pup specifically, and her hubby. (Not in that order.) Jackie dislikes: writing about herself in the third person. Her work has been published in “San Diego CityBeat” and the San Diego Writers, Ink's anthology, “A Year in Ink, Vol. 3.” “What The Dog Ate” is her first novel.
2 Dazzling Comments
Thanks for taking the time to read and review the book.I appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteJackie, you're wonderful. Thank you as well.
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