I really loved this book, and I expected to like to from what I had seen but not to the extent of giving it 5 stars. It's really a feel good, triumph over adversity story with some tragedies along the way. As a result on occasion it can feel a little bit contrived, certain things happen at the perfect time to move the plot along but the books so much fun and I was so invested in the story I couldn't care less at the time if it were a bit contrived or not.

The perspective shifted from character to character without it being split into chapters dedicated to each one, this unclear shift of perspective can be dangerous but it's done so well here I never found myself wandering who's perspective I was in. Even when it switched to the dogs perspective for the first time without explanation it was somehow perfectly normal and I didn't question it at all.

I loved every character I was supposed to and hated those that I was supposed to, arguably some of these minor bad guys had no depth but really for their part in the story it was perfect. The pacing I really enjoyed except possibly feeling a little rushed at the end, however I've found when I love a book I always feel it's rushed at the end because I don't really want it to end.

I believe this is a debut novel, so I can't just devour everything else from this author immediatley but i'll be keeping an eye out for more of her work in the future.