Dogs of Summer

Two of my favourite books I read last year (‘Reasons She Goes To The Woods’ and ‘The Discomfort of Evening’) were books with young female narrators coming of age and the struggle and oddities that come with it, and Dogs of Summer is a brilliant new addition to that kind of sub category of books.

Set in 2005 in a working class neighbourhood in the shadow of a volcano, it follows two young girls, Shit and Isora, and gives us insight into their complicated friendship as they deal with their bodies changing and growing up. This relationship is laced with intensity, jealousy, admiration, obsession, love, power and submission, and portrayed in a way that I found extremely realistic to many young girls experiences of these intense bonds we make and learn to navigate growing up.

The narrator Shit, a pet name given to her by her best friend Isora, lives in Isora’s shadow and is constantly seeking her approval and happiness above her own. We watch as she gorges herself on cakes so Isora can watch, logs into dirty chat rooms with her despite being uncomfortable and follows her every time she goes to the toilet. But despite being seemingly in control, Isora’s life isn’t perfect and she has struggles of her own, including her foul mouthed grandmother who constantly puts her on different diets and the death of her mother. As Shit begins to struggle to keep up with Isora and the girls begin to mature at different rates, the book builds to an act of violence that changes the relationship and the way Shit sees Isora.

The writing of this book was incredible and really compelling to the point I finished it in one sitting. Abreu’s style reminds me of authors like K Ming Chang, Ottessa Moshfegh, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld and Melissa Broder in the way it’s raw and unafraid to hone in on the weird and often gross female experience and bodily functions we all relate to while also centring female friendship and family relationships heavily in the narrative. She creates a vivid neighbourhood setting stifled by heat and endless cloud, and vivid, relatable characters that jump off the page.

Highly recommend this book for any fans of the authors mentioned above as well as anyone looking for a short, interesting read centred around intense female friendship. 4/5 ⭐️

“Isora was somewhere else, I realized, somewhere I couldn’t even see the beginning of, and for a second I felt scared. Scared she’d realize how innocent I was or that she’d get tired of me nodding my head and keeping my mouth shut.”

AHHHH i loved it… visceral, epic, sweaty, new. ❤️❤️❤️ + beautiful translation by julia sanches too. Longer review TK!

Set over the torridly hot summer of 2005 on Tenerife, “Dogs of Summer” shows a tale of female friendship and queer awakening, following the actions of the unnamed teenage narrator (though her friend nicknames her “shit”) and her friend Isora. The narrator’s admiration for Isora is clear throughout, swinging between fawning admiration, intense jealousy and obsession, which complicates and colours her navigation through bodily changes and growing up.

If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be “visceral”. Quite apart from the narrator being named for a bodily secretion, there are constant references to blood, dirt, sweat, vomit, all the unmentionable things of growing up. There are real issues displayed in this book, such as female relationships, class divisions, the effects of tourism on the island, eating disorders and psychological abuse – a lot is covered in a very short space of time, and the book has a great pace throughout, though it may be too intense for some.

I also think that the characters are excellently formed – both felt entirely real and relatable, and even their most unjustifiable actions seem to come with a veneer of intelligibility. Isora in particular clearly lacks the right models in life, giving off an air of maturity to the narrator whilst appearing incredibly naïve to the reader.

However, I have to say that I felt the ending was rushed and incomplete, and I also felt a bit distanced at times. How much of that is due to being a straight man reading it, I can’t say, but I think it will be LOVED by quite a lot of people out there who want a story of growing up with the warts of the narrative remaining. Worth seeking out when it comes out.

A captivating coming-of-age story that will captivate you with the entrancing dialog and eccentric flair of locals through the unfiltered lens of girlhood. I was transported by the vivid sense of place and rhythm of the poetic dialog.

Dogs of Summer is a quick story packed with emotion and vulnerability. I read the entire thing in a sitting and loved the expansive friendship that bloomed within the short novel. Our narrator, known only as "Shit" as she's affectionately called by her best friend Isora, takes us through her life in a mountain village. She's absolutely obsessed and entirely adoring of Isora--a feeling clearly conveyed to the reader, and one that hits hard. Their friendship is intense, passionate, loving, and toxic in the way that many young girls know, especially as it pushes past the boundaries of typical adolescent friends. I was completed enthralled by this aspect of the book but found the story itself to become a bit repetitive, which felt particularly tough due to the short length. I wanted to feel more impacted by the ending, and instead just found myself wanting more. However, I really enjoyed the actual reading experience of the story, and the friendship contained within it will stick with me for a long time.

A young girl comes of age on the island of Tenerife in the 90s, exploring her friendship, envy and sexuality. Clouds hang low overhead, at times obscuring the island’s volcano, or the fumbling of its young residents. The writing is part poetry, part prose, at times stream on consciousness full of bold, specific details.

The author ties together jealously and desire without shyness. Throughout the book the narrator repeats her hatred for her town’s summer festival. But when she sees the colorful paper flags aren’t going as far as her street, will only be strung in the central, affluent area, she’s disappointed. She has disdain for the tourists, but she seeks out one of their young daughters. Most importantly, she’s jealous of Isora, her best friend and obsession. The narrator wants to be like Isora, to be with Isora- grown up and brave and liked by people who matter. At times the narrator wants to hurt Isora, but more than anything she wants to be near her.

This was moving and at times funny. A great read for pride month and beyond.

This is actually a 3.5. I found this story to be extremely captivating, and I’m going to be thinking about the characters for a while. Isora was so intriguing to me, and I could definitely relate to having a friend like her in the past. She’s bossy and can be rude, but she also has to deal with constant negative talk about her body from her grandmother. Their friendship was ferocious, and I found it very interesting how the author explored their relationship. The prose was really beautiful, yet also funny at times. I also appreciated the exploration of wealth and class. Reading about the Canary Islands opened my eyes to a way of life that I have not previously read about. Finally, the way that female sexuality and discovering one’s body was written was intensely realistic and surreal. I am definitely going to be thinking about this one for a while.

A perfect queer book just in time for summer.

The language in DOGS OF SUMMER is so lovely; this is where the novel shines. Though thin in terms of plot, the central relationship between two girls coming into a sexual consciousness is so well rendered. A gem of a coming age. 

Thanks so much to the publisher for the e-galley!

I really enjoyed this one. It captures the magic of intense female friendships in childhood and adolescence, and the magic and danger of summer independence.

Shit, our narrator, is both jealous and hopelessly enamored with Isora, a troubled girl who lost her parents and lives with her emotionally abusive grandmother. But Isora’s rebelliousness soon starts to spiral, and Shit’s infatuation causes her to go along with things she doesn’t really want to.

This really reminded me of my own friendships as a girl, though thankfully less violent than some of the scenes in this book. Those intense, all-encompassing relationships that felt they would never end, that you are uncovering something new to the human experience, that you will live together forever even after marrying other people… it’s a unique kind of madness, and Abreu captures it perfectly.

Endless thanks to Astra House for the eARC.

Dogs of Summer, translated from the original Spanish by Julia Sanches, Andrea Abreu writes a rapturous story about the obsessive friendship between Isora and Shit, a pet nickname given to the narrator at the tender stage of entering adolescence, in the process providing an authentically complex portrayal of the desire of girls. Left to their own devices, the two inseparable girls pass their days in the Canary Islands playing with Barbies, watching telenovelas, obsessing over pop lyrics, and exploring their growing sexuality.

Wow. Dogs of Summer was the perfect book to round out my July reading list! It was hot, sticky, gritty, gross, and authentic. While I did not have the same experiences as the characters in the novel, it reminded me of my own adolescent summer memories of having fun with friends, staying out until the sun went down, swimming in hot pools littered with bugs and leaves, and grass and sand sticking to wet legs and feet. Days seemed long, sweet, and full. The energy was welcoming and comforting. The themes in Dogs of Summer are darker, especially given that the girls are only ten years old. You can't help but feel nostalgic while reading this, while also cringing at the memories of being a young person growing up. The prose was incredible and captivating throughout, I can’t wait to see what else Andrea Abreu comes out with.

Many thanks to the Astra Publishing and Netgalley for an advanced reading in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Astra Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to read this title in advance. I picked this up expecting a sibling to My Brilliant Friend and I found something wholly different. It is a moving story about female friendship and love written in a raw, visceral and at times poetic way. A brutal read at times, it was also tender. It does a very good job of depicting the very complicated and sometimes grotesque world of young girls.

A combination of Blue Is The Warmest Colour, My Brilliant Friend, and Paradais. There is a menacing undertone to this queer coming-of-age story that I think has the potential for broad appeal.

What a brooding, brilliant, brutal debut!
This is the tale of 2 young girls growing up poor in the hot, cloudy, volcanic foothills of Tenerife. They have tough lives and feel so young, so vulnerable. This is a bold depiction of girlhood and intense, obsessive female friendship: there’s brutality and tenderness, love and hate, intimacy and loneliness. It’s quite magical but also disgusting.
I loved the imagery and language and the writing is poetic and so raw, it cuts you open.
Dogs of Summer is dark, gritty and unsettling- exactly what I like!
I can’t wait to read more by Andrea Abreu.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All views are my own.

This transported me to an entirely different world. I felt so enraptured in the lives of the two girls in this book. It's short and I don't want to give anything away, but the book really examines the complexities of friendship, poverty, and what it means to belong to your culture.

My feelings about this book are complicated: a small part of me thinks “ew,” but it’s full of endearment. There’s so much innocence to the narrative voice, that I can’t help but feel charmed. There’s a lot of descriptions of shit, and wedgie picking, and awkward sexual experiences, but they’re compared to quietness of Barbies, or the colorful markers, or whatever is inside that box of licorice.

The story covers little snippets from a summer in the early aughts, with focus on minute details from our 10 year old narrator’s complicated friendship with a girl from her neighborhood named Isora. For example, a chapter could be called “Jesus’s Little Head,” which is a small detail of an engraving on the headboard of her friend’s dead mother, and the story is about an early childhood lesbian experience.

This book won’t mesh with you, if you’re squeamish about basic bodily functions, because there are a lot, and they are… I guess graphic is the word I want here. I will not forget this book, for sure!

Thank you NetGalley and Astra House for allowing me to consume this amazing book… even though I kind of forgot I had it and let the license expire, but I bought the book before I realized the license expired. Oops! It was grand anyway!

A truly fresh approach to child narrator literary fiction. It felt like in captured that period of young girlhood, where you are learning about your body and the world around but still naive to so much. I loved the friendship between the two girls and the mischief they got up to. I look forward to seeing what Andrea Abreu does next.

Dogs of Summer is discomfort. It is an uncompromising, visceral, and raw portrait of girlhood and queer sexuality. It tells the story of Shit and her friend Isora during their summer break from school on the less touristy side of Tenerife, their home. Shit's sexual awakening and burgeoning love for Isora turns into obsession and it is not the only obsession prevalent throughout the book. The body and its excretions are a constant object of scrutiny and fascination.
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Dogs of Summer was out of my comfort zone, and despite that, I could simply not put it down. I don't think it is a book that one likes or dislikes.It feels more like a book that has you on a chokehold unable to move away. Shit as the narrator does hold on to you with her vivid storytelling peppered with expressions typical of the vernacular spoken in Tenerife that the translator Julia Sanches left for us to savor.
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While reading it I was reminded of the first time I picked Stupeur et Tremblements by Amélie Nothomb - read in French - or Doppelgänger by Daša Drndic, tr. S.D. Curtis, Celia Hawkesworth. At times Dogs and Others by Biljana Jovanović, tr. John K. Cox and Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda, tr. Sarah Booker also came to my mind.
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"I’d have followed her to the toilet or to the mouth of a volcano. I’d have peered over the edge until I saw the dormant fire, until I felt the volcano’s dormant fire inside me. Sometimes Isora went real quiet when she got sad. She wouldn’t say a word for hours. She’d just sit in a corner of the room under the minimarket, right where the walls touched, and stare into the middle distance. Her eyes were like two splotches, like two bottle flies whirring in a room that stank of wine. Even though it bored me stiff, I always sat next to her and listened to her silence . Like when the men watch soccer and their wives watch it with them even though they could care less, because their husbands are feeling down on life and on work in the South and the women have no choice but to be there for them because it’s their duty."
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I voluntarily read and reviewed a free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

o DAM

tysm to netgalley for this rockin arc about girlies growing up in a TOUGH place. though the characters were a little more removed than characters i would normally connect with, I thought they were just so cool to follow around.