It has been a long, long time since a book -- or anything really -- produce as strong an emotional response in me as The Dog Stars did. It hit me hard. I cried on the subway, I cried at work, I cried on the subway some more, I cried in bed, and I cried and cried on the couch with my therapist talking about loss and a future alone and going on despite everything. Either because of or despite the 36 hours of emotional anguish this book caused, I'm not entirely sure how I felt about it. It's hard to say that this was quite my favorite thing about the book, but I think the strongest thing about the book was that I really identified with the narrator. The book is set in a post pandemic future with few survivors, and yet I found the narrator's condition and response to be imaginable. Probably my favorite thing about the book was the dog (and the narrator's relationship to it). And (I don't think this is exactly a spoiler - you know it has to happen) that's why it broke my heart. Another thing I loved happens very late in the book when two lambs are relocated via small plane. The lambs freak out then calm down and narrator says something to the effect of, "for all they knew this was the next step in the normal life of a sheep" and I just loved that.
