e-ALC, 07:27:36
Narrated by: Cassidy Brown
Release Date: August 25, 2026
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Read from: August 23, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: Libro FM (I received an e-ALC from the publisher and Libro FM. I also received an ARC from the publisher so I was able to immersive read. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Medical content, Death of a Parent, Toxic Family
For Readers of: ARC, Audio, Coming of Age, Contemporary, Family Diversity (loss of a parent & Dad is from 1950), Sparkly Cover, Most Anticipated, Multi POV, Sci-Fi, Stand Alone, YAWhen the beloved family golden retriever becomes human, a girl’s relationships with her family and herself transform in ways she never thought possible in this heartwarming and funny young adult novel.
Science-obsessed, teen-genius Emma Branch is used to being the odd one out—in her family, among her classmates, and in her small town that only ever seems to care about football. She doesn’t mind being all alone; in fact, she prefers it. Besides, who needs friends when she has a best friend already—her golden retriever, Hudson.
But when Hudson gets into an accident, Emma can’t bear to lose her only friend. Luckily, she’s been working on an experimental substance for her school science project that could help him out. All it was supposed to do was heal Hudson, not…turn him human?!
Emma, her family, and the whole town is about to learn just how a golden retriever can change hearts and minds for the better—that is, after causing a big, old mess first.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This was one of the wildest books I’ve read in a long time. I don’t know what I expected, but this blew past everything. As a dog lover I had such a great time reading this. I have a pit bull…. I can only imagine what he would look like as a boy. I don’t even know if he WOULD be a boy lol He’s 9, so he might be an old man lol
If you have any pets at all, you probably once thought “What if they were a real person? The genius main character got the chance to see when she saved her pet and brought him to life. It was absolutely adorable too. I loved his character. From the football, to the way he took care of Emma, to the way he was learning how to be human. It was funny and heart felt and adorable and all the good things.
The family is where my gripe with this leads. I legit hated them all lol Like I’m talking using Bud like an object instead of a family member, treating her as a house wife when she was a teen girl. Like they were all terrible. But I will say, the character development is good in this. They didn’t actually have a choice because of the whole dog thing, but you know what I mean lol Everyone else had a change too so I didn’t mind that her entire family was toxic. I do wish that everyone’s change was more organic like one of the other character’s but meh. It was still good. Just know going into this that you will not like everyone, but it’ll be ok by the end.
With that being said, the writing style was crazy. It was like jumping from POV to POV in the same chapter with no heading or notification of change. It was a bit confusing on audio, but luckily I was able to immersive read. If you read this just via audio, just make sure to pay close attention. Other than that, the plot was easy to follow and there was nothing else confusing about the story-telling.
Speaking of the end…. I kept saying WHAT?! Because everything was so outlandish lol But I did end up getting teary eyed too. It was a lot. So be prepared for that going in lol It was a lot of fun and was chaotic as hell, but it was still good lol Also, there was a villain introduced that I never seen coming lol That person made me mad af because, like Cardi once said, “WHAT WAS THE REASON?!” Ugh I was glad it worked out the way it did.
This book was non-stop and full of fun and action. I never expected this book to make me think or feel as much as it did. I want to give you some sense of wonder and surprise so I won’t say how the dog was as a boy, but just know, everything you think might happen, it probably did lol It really was an adorable book.
Overall, I give this
