Ever since her mother died, Colby's life hasn't been the best. With her dad driving trucks across the country six days a week, she has to pretty much fend for herself. Worse than that, though, it's just lonely. Colby wants her dad to know her better, and to want to spend time with her, but it doesn't seem like that will happen any time soon. Things really start to go downhill when Colby's girlfriend dumps her. When Colby finds an injured stray dog and adopts him as her own, though, things begin to change. Mo, the happy-go-lucky white and black dog with a mouthful of slobber, helps Colby to make new friends, to bring up the more difficult conversations with her dad, and maybe even to find some new romance. This is a story of loss, but also a story about regaining trust.
AGE RANGE TEENS
THEMES
Friends
Romance
Family
Dog
LGBTQ+
Highschool
Community
OVERALL RATING 9.5/10
This is the best YA novel I have ever read. Somehow, the characters seem real - like actual teenagers. Most teen novels I have read have the same relationship structure for romance as each other. Usually, the main character is nervous and unexperienced when it comes to relationships, and the romantic interest is confident and cool. This book is interesting to read, since it is from the perspective if the confident one, and you get to see where the confident appearance comes from in terms of the protagonist's actual emotions. The dog brings a perfect cuteness-relief to this heavy story, and the ending is perfect.
PROS
Sweet
Realistic
Cute dog
No villains or 'mean girls'
CONS
I wish there was an extra chapter at the end to show some of their life after the story takes place. It ends a little too quickly.