A Boy and his Dog at the end of the World by C.A. Fletcher – Blog Tour

Thank you to Tracy Fenton from Compulsive readers  for organising this tour and to C.A. Fletcher and #netgally for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review

Synopsis

When a beloved family dog is stolen, her owner sets out on a life-changing journey through the ruins of our world to bring her back in this fiercely compelling tale of survival, courage, and hope. Perfect for readers of Station Eleven and The Girl With All the Gifts.

My name’s Griz. My childhood wasn’t like yours. I’ve never had friends, and in my whole life I’ve not met enough people to play a game of football.

My parents told me how crowded the world used to be, but we were never lonely on our remote island. We had each other, and our dogs.

Then the thief came.

There may be no law left except what you make of it. But if you steal my dog, you can at least expect me to come after you.

Because if we aren’t loyal to the things we love, what’s the point?

My Thoughts

Have you ever wondered what your current home would look like in the future?  C.A. Fletcher does a superb job of portraying a very possible future version of our world in this heartwarming novel about a boy and his missing dog.  The thoughtfully written details added into the settings are what makes the future ‘Scottish Isles’ a highly believable possibility.

Set in the Scottish Isles, in a world where fertility has drastically declined and remaining people are few and far between,  Griz lives with his brother, remaining sister and parents and has lived a life involving hardly any other people.  The story is not just told through his eyes, but by his voice.  Not only did I fully experience Griz’s child-like naivety, through the simple but effective narration style, I became fully invested in Griz as a character and experienced every emotion with him.  Despite his sheltered life, Griz has such introspection and his thoughts are so insightful and well matched to the his age and experience.  As a reader I was completely sucked into his world, seeing it through his eyes.

There are so many themes in this novel that are dealt with through the eyes of a child – I don’t want to mention as the author requested no spoilers in the review however I found it so refreshing to view these things from that perspective.  It’s no secret that children and young adults view the world different and whilst they often seem unaffected by issues the adult world will see as devastating, children will often find beauty and pain in other things we as adults don’t seem to notice.

A Boy and His Dog is beautifully and uniquely narrated and is an insightful journey into a young boy’s interpretation to the world around him.  It’s a story of loyalty and love and the simplicity is refreshing and powerful but at times heartbreaking.