The Good Boy

A Novel

"Incredibly funny and utterly adorable." — Jenny Colgan, bestselling author

In this whimsical romance for fans of Ashley Poston and Erin Sterling, a woman confronts her past and her unresolved feelings for the boy next door as they work together to reverse a wish gone awry.

On the eve of Genie’s thirtieth birthday, her grandmother gives her an unexpected gift: a wish at midnight. Genie, forever the family skeptic, laughs it off and, after an evening fending off invasive questions about her nonexistent love life, returns home to her empty house and her golden retriever, Rory. Who needs a boyfriend when she has a loyal friend like Rory? As she hugs him and gets ready for bed, she wishes to herself that he were human… at least then their conversations wouldn’t be so one-sided.

She really should’ve listened to her grandmother.

To her surprise, Rory is now a human with big Golden Retriever Energy—like a goofy, adoring Hemsworth. But he doesn’t like being a human. He doesn’t like wearing clothes or human manners, and he most definitely can’t manage a human job.

Genie needs to turn him back before it’s too late and enlists her oldest friend and boy next door, Miles, to help. Their quest brings them closer than they’ve ever been—and maybe, just maybe, her messed up wish is the key to granting her heart’s desire after all…

More than laugh out loud!

It had been a while since I had listened to a funny novel - i.e., Less by Andrew Sean Greer, which won a Pulitzer prize. The Good Boy was a splendid follow-up that kept me thoroughly amused, completely entertained, and very touched by the underlying insights about what it means to be human. It reminded me a little of Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino, who offered insights into what it meant to be a human being - but that book had those insights coming from an alien, this one from a transformed Dog. Rory the man-dog was written pitch perfect, and will resonate with any dog lover/owner. The rest of the main characters were amply portrayed, evoking lots of empathy and self-identification, especially for Genie and Miles.

The narrator Mary Jane Wells was incredible, from her voicing of Rory with all of his anxiety and excitement, to her portrayal of the exotic and mysterious "vodoo" grandmother.

Beautifully written and stunningly narrated, this is a gem I will return to!

Delightful story and amazing narration

So clever! It was exactly what I would think a dog would say if he could talk! Narrator was amazing with the different and their inflections. I could listen to her all day!!

Fun and heartwarming

This was so much fun to listen to. There was a point where the story seemed to abruptly veer into 1980’s Very Special Episode territory that should probably have a trigger warning but I don’t know how to do that without being accused of spoilers. Maybe I’ll put it at the bottom of my review, so don’t read past the asterisks if you don’t want to know.

The heavy subject was dealt with somewhat quickly and the story continued on its amusing way. Both main characters were sweet and adorkable and there’s a HEA, EVEN IF dogs and a cat had to learn to live together (the horror!)

**********CONTENT WARNING*********

This is where I put a trigger warning that might be a spoiler, so last chance to turn back….

Discussion of the loss of an infant at birth in a character’s past; first discussed toward the end of chapter 23, with 3hr15 min left til the end, and again at chapter 29, with 1hr45min left til the end.