this was a really enjoyable horror novel, the characters were great and it had a great horror novel atmosphere. I look forward to more from the author.

The whole storyline was unrealistic. The scenario of hiding someone in a house with others that have heightened senses is absurd. The plot is flat and so are the characters. Apparently all they do is sleep and eat. This novel is probably classified as Horror; but should be Fantasy. While it does have some gruesome scenes, they don’t make up for a poor story. Consider looking elsewhere for something to read.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book!

This book was everything I wanted it to be. It had the perfect creep factor and chills. I loved the plot and storyline in the book. It gave me all the feels I was looking for when I started reading this. I highly recommend this author. I loved the writing. I will be looking for other works in the future from this author.

Thank you Netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my free and unbiased review!
This is a really new twist on the vampire story, and a well written one. My one and only complaint is that I felt the book started very abruptly. The story flows well, the style of the writer complements the story well and the author completes the book very nicely. I'll be looking for more books from this author. Grab this one and I can't wait to see what you think about it......I'll bet you get hooked!

The Little Dog Laughed by Jackie Sonnenberg was one of those books where I understood what it was trying to do, but it couldn’t quite pull off the execution for me.

The story opens on Felicity, a teenager staying with her aunt and uncle and raising her infant after they’ve both been kicked out by her judgmental parents. Felicity then meets Conrad, an aristocratic vampire, quickly falls in love, and decides almost as quickly that she can’t possibly tell him she’s a mother. This lie of omission gets dragged out when she’s asked to move in with him. She brings her son Issac with her, tells no one except one servant, and finds a rarely used room in the mansion to be the child’s bedroom. Issac grows up in almost complete isolation with Felicity only taking an interest in him when she discovers he has a rare blood type that the vampires crave.

Felicity is never meant to be a good person. Even at her kindest at the start of the story, she sees Issac not as an individual but as something inconvenient she needs to hide away. Again and again, her wants trump his needs. The twist of her marrying into a vampire family, and all that entails, only serves to make Issac’s neglect and abuse more vivid and horrifying with each progressing plot point. By the time Issac begins to show his own frightening side, the audience is already anticipating him taking Felicity down and more or less cheering him on.

The problem for me is that much of the story is narrated by Felicity, and she was simply not a protagonist I wanted to be in the head of. It so incredibly hard to tell a story through the mind of a morally depraved character and still keep the audience engaged. It’s a valiant effort that just doesn’t quite pan out. Margaret, the household servant who helps Felicity hide Issac, also stood out as a problematic character. Her obedience to Felicity (over her loyalty of the rest of the family and Issac’s safety) makes little sense when she gives it at the start and only makes less sense as the novel continues. There is a repeated cycle of events between Margaret, Felicity, and Issac that always ends in Felicity ignoring any troubling signs and Margaret wringing her hands but taking no further action.

The book is classified on Netgalley as YA and described on Amazon as part of “a Young Adult/Horror collection re-imagining the classic nursery rhymes as horror stories.” It did not read as YA to me at all, and I would not classify it as such. There is a creeping sense of dread in the story, but it doesn’t have the urgency YA is so well known for, nor does it have a consistent teenage protagonist. There is no sense of finding one’s place in the world, another hallmark of YA literature. But all these things aside, the repeated scenes of child abuse and the graphic detail with which the gore is described would most certainly earn a mature rating on AO3 or any similar fiction-based website.

I would have been curious to see what this book could have been if it were re-envisioned as a novelette for adults, taking place over a shorter period of time, with Issac older and perhaps living elsewhere so as not to stretch readers’ suspension of disbelief so thin. Splitting the narration more evenly between Felicity and Issac from the beginning also could have produced some interesting results. I’m always up for books that keep the vampires monstrous, and The Little Dog Laughed did this well. I’m sorry to say I could not rate it higher, because I do think by Jackie Sonnenberg has talent. It was simply that this particular book did not land for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this eARC
A mother who was more obsessed with her new life with a rich vampire husband and his family than she was about her own child. Felicity was a horrid person and her actions and behaviours towards not only her son Isaac but others too was disgusting. She found excuse after excuse to keep her son hidden then used him as her own personal supplier.
I felt sorry for Margaret who loved Isaac and tried to help him as much as possible but was bound by her duties to the family and ultimately Felicity.
However Isaac sought his own revenge on Felicity after she made a monumental mistake that would see Isaac become just like her.
I thought this was a great read and just a bit different from other vampire books. The story flowed easily although I felt myself really disliking Felicity and her sense of entitlement once she was married as well as the way she treated her son.

Definitely a different kind of vampire book. It's hard to tell the bad guys from the really bad guys but....in the end....they all get their just desserts. A quick, entertaining, engrossing read that definitely sets the bar for the author's next book.

The Little Dog Laughed by Jackie Sonnenberg

The Little Dog Laughed is an extremely creepy book focusing on civilised vampires and their attempt at a normal life. Felicity a young teenage mother meets Conrad who is a rich vampire entirely in control of his urges for blood – Felicity has a young child, Isaac, but she doesn’t tell her new boyfriend which sharply becomes a slippery slope and leads to Felicity hiding the child in an unused wing of the house. As the story rolls on, with Isaac remaining a secret, Felicitys life becomes more complicated as she tries to balance her outward life and propriety whilst caring for her hidden child.

The style of writing in this story seemed a little strange at first, its extremely staccato and face paced which quickly pushes you through the story with an inherent urgency. I found myself entirely absorbed in this book whilst lost in abject horror at the story and as a result read it in nearly one sitting.
All story arcs came together at the end of the book in an excellent conclusion. I would read more from this author as overall this was gripping book which stands out from the vampire stories I have previously read.
4.5/5

If you are looking for a new kind of Vampire story, than " Little Dog Laughed" maybe up your alley. Entertaining and engaging, this story manages to capture the reader's attention with an interesting story to tell. Three dimensional characters and great storytelling. A must read.

The Little Dog Laughed is an extremely different Vampire Story. it has a very original plot, a great cast of characters, all that come together to make a very good read.