I’m a dog tragic (well, any canid actually) so when Liz Maritz asked if I would be interested in receiving an advance copy of BrodyMonster I gladly agreed. I wasn’t disappointed.

Liz wanted a terrier; her husband Jimmy wanted a Border Collie. Two quite different breeds. To settle it Jimmy told her if she could run a half marathon she could choose the breed. It would be their first family dog
and in Liz’s mind it would be the perfect dog.

To achieve her goal, she knew it would require discipline and training but to achieve that and then find her perfect puppy would take research and planning. This suited Liz’s personality. It was what she was best at – especially planning.

She contacted breeders everywhere and finally found Brody; perfect, show quality and with a champion lineage.

She took her puppy home planning for the perfect upbringing, but Brody soon demonstrated he was not so perfect. Liz and Jimmy and their respective families all loved Brody but with behaviour problems and ongoing medical conditions their challenges multiplied.

For all his imperfections the reader can’t help loving Brody and feel for his people. It is a heart-warming story and at times funny. It may have been a challenging time for Liz the perfectionist and planner, but Brody taught her lessons about life and sometimes you’ve just got to go with the flow.

A key point she makes in her book is the importance of learning about the breed you want. Every breed has its positives and negatives. It doesn’t make one more desirable over another but prepares us for the breed’s idiosyncrasies and traits.

The opening page reminded me of when I had to farewell my elderly Belgian Shepherd. It was a moving opening to the book. I agree with Liz that dogs wait for our permission to pass on.

Oh come on Liz, Brody’s not really that bad……..

I thought the premise for this debut non-fiction book was really cute and couldn’t wait to dig into it. From the playful cover to the heartfelt story, I liked everything about this book. The author really made a huge sacrifice in order to get to have full say in choosing this dog, so you can feel how important it is to her, and how much she wants him. I followed along with where things led, rooting for her and the dog to be a good match.

I felt this book was well-written and well-told, and most any dog enthusiast would enjoy it. I was happy to have gotten the advance electronic review copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Liz Maritz, and the publisher.

Thank you to Netgalley and Liz Maritz for an ARC of BrodyMonster in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love reading about peoples' lives. I'm a complete nosy parker and want to know everything about random people. I particularly like reading about people with careers different to my own: nursing, forensic pathologists, psychologists etc. You get the picture. So, whilst this book was right up my street for learning about other people, it was definitely a new experience as really, this was a book about someone getting a dog. Doesn't sound very interesting, but it is. It's hilarious!

Liz Maritz was told by her partner that if she ran 13 miles in one day, she could pick any dog she wanted. Like me, Liz Maritz made damn sure she ran those 13 miles (with a meticulous plan on how to do it, as per her personality) and then spent months researching the dog she wanted. For some reason, Liz wanted a terrier. Now, I know they look cute and manageable but terriers can be described using a very similar word: terrors. I know this, as I grew up with Patterdale terriers, the one I spent the longest with was Barney, who sadly passed away in January this year.

I found myself nodding and smiling at many points in this book as Maritz could genuinely have been describing Barney and his actions, particularly as a puppy. Barney was generally a lazy dog, but mention cheese or open the front door and he would run like the wind. He would run out the front door, across the road and down an alleyway. If you have every had a terrier or a naughty dog, you will totally relate to this book.

Maritz writes in such a lovely and breezy manner that it was easy to read and I consumed this book in a very short amount of time, even though I've gone back to work. It's a comforting read and good to wind down with.

The only development points I have are that it got a little religious in one small part of the book at the end. Something about if we lean into God he supports us or something. Not all the readers will be religious and that was slightly off-putting. I also just wanted MORE. I felt it ended too abruptly. I wanted more tales of Brody with the Martiz family of four.