Even though this is a short read - I enjoyed this little bit of a popcorn thriller! When something seems like it's too good to be true, it probably is, and our heroine, El, is about to learn that lesson the hard way!

Putting yourself in the proximity and social circles of the super-rich might seem like a good idea.. but when you're no longer a part of that circle and can't keep up financially - El learns a hard lesson: she doesn't know who she is. Taking a seemingly random lifeline from a guy she's surprised is interested in her, El gets the surprise of a lifetime from what is essentially an unsuspecting Nepo baby!!

Thoughts:
- The premise of this one is fun because I absolutely love anything to do with crazy rich people. It feels so foreign, and I love reading how it plays out!
- What I didn't love is that the plot seemed a little convoluted, and the pacing was off for me. I needed more sometimes and fewer others.

**Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

I typically enjoy the "hot mess 20-something in NY" vibes--and there was a very sinister gray-hued Emma Cline-ness to the the whole beginning of this one, which felt promising. But by the end I was left wondering what the heck the author was even trying to do here. The ending was wildly unbelievable and felt highly unsatisfying, not to mention that weird storyline about dogs that went absolutely no where and was totally unexplained? I'm really surprised that got past an editor, tbh. I'd be interested to see what this author releases in the future but this felt very much like an amateurish debut that needed more work.

I think the foundation of an intriguing perspective is here but it needs help in connecting all of the tangential threads. There's simply too many implied meanings behind the protagonist's actions, especially in the last 150 pages or so of the book that leave you feeling tossed about and then hung up to dry. I don't need my plot points spoon fed to me, in fact I appreciate an author who allows their audience to interpret meaning... to a reasonable degree. It's believable that El would do what she did in the end but it's completely insane to expect that everyone around her, especially Bryce, would allow her to just ride her golden ticket off into the sunset without protest. Nope, no way. If there are concrete reasons why she is suddenly able to wield such power over Bryce, Julia, their circles etc. merely by connecting dots to Bryce's psychopathy, then I missed it completely.

The random details about everyone's dogs suddenly running away felt lazy and confusing. I get it... the tie-in is a metaphor for the psychological journey El is taking. She's no longer anyone's loyal, subservient companion. Hence the title of the book. But you can't flippantly introduce an odd, almost supernatural element into the mix and then not expand on it a bit more. Either own it fully or don't include it at all.

Aside from punctuation corrections and some overall cleanup for smoother grammar, there was only one error I noticed: on page 197, it says "Bryce's Brita pitcher" when it should say "Ansel's".

I was lucky enough to win an e-ARC of MAN'S BEST FRIEND by Alana B. Lytle through a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you for the early look, and have a safe and happy Valentine's Day!

A unique style of writing. I went into this with an open mind, but I just did not connect with the story's characters like I hoped to. I think the book will find the right audience though and do well. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks NetGalley for an advanced copy of this title. While this was not necessarily my favorite read, I felt like the author did have a good style. I struggled with how the story flowed, however, and how unlikeable the characters were. While the toxic characters were intentional, I was unable to connect with them and truly care about how the events of the story affected them. This is not to say that the story was poorly written or that it may not work for others; I just wasn’t able to take much from it. I still feel it deserves three stars because it was well written. Also, I do appreciate the opportunity to be able to read and review this title!

When I read that this novel was similar to "The Talented Mr. Ripley", I couldn't wait to read it. However Ripley was a character study which was focused and moved steadily towards a certain end. This book was kind of all over the place with the thriller aspects not appearing until late in the book. This is about a woman named El. El lives in the Williamsburg section of New York and is very unhappy with her life. She wanted to be an actress at one time but now at age 29 she is working at a bakery and feels like her chances to become famous have past. El is not very likable; she is rude to her roommate and her other friends and wants to hang out with her friends Anna and Julia only because they are wealthy. El herself grew up in a lower middle class home and when she got a scholarship to an expensive school for eighth grade she was taken in by Anna and Julia and now she hangs around them in order to go to parties and to a vacation house in the Hamptons.

At such a party, El meets a man named Bryce. She is not attracted to Bryce, but he appears to be rich and connected and when he offers to return her driver's license she left behind, the two begin a relationship. Once she is living with Bryce she finds he has a history of women he knows coming up dead and she tries to tell herself this is not something to do with Bryce himself. The book also has a strange running theme which is kind of science fiction by nature about dogs running away from their masters and becoming wild. I assume this is supposed to be symbolic of El in some way but it wasn't done well and just didn't make sense. The author also went into various side stories that veered away from the main mystery and just weren't interesting such as a story about the owners of a restaurant who needed money to keep going and a subplot involving a young man who was taken in by El's mother. I think the novel would have been better to leave out the dog stories and focus more on El's early life and to somehow give the readers a clue as to why she makes the decisions she does. The ending was somewhat unbelievable to me and I didn't have much of a reaction to El's decisions at that point. Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

Despite an intriguing title, this book fails to deliver on its promise of canine perspectives, leaving readers confused. Sparse and troubling depictions of dog involvement and toxic relationships detract from the narrative. While some may find it engaging, others may be left unsatisfied by its convoluted exploration of toxic dynamics. Proceed with caution, as this book's appeal may vary greatly among readers.

El has failed in her dream to become an actress. She has always been on the fringe of the rich life. When she meets Bryce, she thinks all her dreams are coming true. Trips to Paris, black card luxuries,living in a NewYork loft etc..but what will she do when she finds out that Bryce has a darker side.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my opinion.

This book is hard to review because it was exactly what I expected from the name and the cover. Is well written with a very organised structure and the characters are well created. But it become a bit predictive for me because in the middle of the book I felt it started become boring. But I did enjoy read it and I think some people may enjoy it a little bit more. Big shout out to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for ARC

This is a hard one to review. The writing was good, but I disliked the characters and didn't find the main storyline interesting. The book begins and ends with dog-related dreams that didn't seem to tie in to the main story, though it's certainly possible I missed a connection. Also, the synopsis and cover made it look like a thriller (although it's not characterized as one) but it didn't read like that to me. It's more Bret Easton Ellis lite. Overall, a bit of a muddle, I fear.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a DNF for me -- I love a bad girl doing bad things, and I love an unreliable narrator, but this felt like a poor execution of the formats made popular by Brett Easton Ellis or Chad Kultgen, with relentless brand drops, tedious scenes of drugs, and meaningless hook-ups. I was bored and didn't have connections to any of the characters, so I stopped at 35%.

—Thank you to NetGalley and the publidher for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review!

Is she imagining all of this or not? Who can we trust? What should we believe?
I love when we get to question these. This was so fun and entertaining.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review-
Eli attended a private school and enjoys the joys of feeling rich but at age 30 she failed as an actress and doesn’t have anything she is passionate about, Then Bryce enters her world, not that good looking but rich. She gives up her job and everything for him. But then— she begins noticing disturbing things, cameras in house, the feeling of him following her. is it her imagination or should she be worried?

I am on a diet of exclusively Putnam books and they have been feeding me WELL.

Man’s Best Friend is the story of breaking away from your captives whether they be straight white men, toxic female friends, or your own contrived notions about who you should be.

El was everything all at once… victim, friend, lover, submissive, dominatrix, loser, and winner. I wanted her to succeed as much as I wanted her to fail and I’m still not really sure what that says about me but it was a fun ride nonetheless.

Predictable, boring, blah. I finished it only because I agreed to review it. The whole attempt to tie it to Man's Best Friend was never fully clarified or even explored. Just seemed to be some sort of random adder to the story for words or length. The main storyline with Bryce is lacking & unoriginal. There are many loose ends with some of the experiences shared through El. Overall, I was very disappointed.

This book did not go in the direction I was expecting based on the summary, which was disappointing. The beginning was fine but by about the midpoint I was getting bored and now I'm still trying to decide if the ending made sense. Ultimately it just wasn't the book I thought it was going to be. It wasn't poorly written, but it just wasn't for me. I might be interested to see what else this author comes up with though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the advance reader copy!

I have mixed feelings about this book. It all sort of fell in the middle for me. The main character is a directionless young woman who doesn't seem to have strong feelings about anything except maybe a desire to be wealthy. She's not unlikable but also not anyone you'd want to spend time with. It turns into a sort of predictable abused woman story with some random dream sequences thrown in. I didn't mind spending time with this book but it also didn't make any lasting impression. Basically an ok beach read.

Interesting read. The book was not exactly what I was expecting from the title, but it was interesting nonetheless. The main character went through an amazing transformation as you progressed through the book and was like a totally different person by the end.

I had mixed feelings about Man's Best Friend by debut author Alana Lytle. The story is a familiar one, a "have not", in this case main protagonist El, is willing to do anything to become a "have", including marrying someone with serious red flags. I enjoy psychological thrillers that include rich people behaving badly, so I enjoyed that aspect of this book. The authors use of dog metaphors did not resonate with and seemed unnecessary to the overall story. Three and half stars rounded up to four stars. Looking forward to more from this author. Thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy o this book in exchange for an honest review.