“Lily And The Octopus” Micah’s Advanced Book Review

January 21, 2016 / 0 comments

“Lily And The Octopus” Micah’s Advanced Book ReviewLily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
Published by Simon & Schuster on June 7th 2016
Genres: Fiction
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
Purchase @ AMAZON  or  BN
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Rating 

Combining the emotional depth of The Art of Racing in the Rain with the magical spirit of The Life of Pi, Lily and the Octopus is an epic adventure of the heart.

When you sit down with Lily and the Octopus, you will be taken on an unforgettable ride.

The magic of this novel is in the read, and we don’t want to spoil it by giving away too many details.

We can tell you that this is a story about that special someone: the one you trust, the one you can’t live without.

For Ted Flask, that someone special is his aging companion Lily, who happens to be a dog.

Lily and the Octopus reminds us how it feels to love fiercely, how difficult it can be to let go, and how the fight for those we love is the greatest fight of all.

Remember the last book you told someone they had to read?

Micah’s Thoughts:

 

“So many adventures we had. And I loved every one.”

 

Wow. This book has to be on the list of my top reads of 2016 and I am ready to say that 21 days in. This book was amazing. I can say that I cried my eyes out from 80%-93% of the book and I could not put it down. And books rarely illicit outward emotion from me. Readers who loved The Art of Racing in the Rain and Marley and Me will especially love this book.

It is a tale of a dog and her owner on a very unique journey. Lily, the dog, has an illness that we learn of very early on in the story. Our narrator, Steven, has a very difficult time coming to terms with it. The anticipated loss allows him to analyze all aspects of his life and to deal with it in a very fanciful way. Lily, his 12-year-old dachshund, has an active voice in the book, making me feel her illness and his sadness all the more.

Her voice is sometimes like a real friends would be, when they speak about actors in movies. And others it is very much how you imagine a dog’s brain thinks, “THIS! EYE! RAIN! YOU! MAKE! IS! FANTASTIC! I! LOVE! THE! SALTY! TASTE! YOU! SHOULD! MAKE! THIS! EVERY! DAY!”

 

“Yours is by far the harder lot, but mine is happening to me.”

 

It also allowed for a little bit of introspection as well, like all of the best books do. While the narrator examines his life, his relationships, his past, it allowed me to look a little of my life. Little quotes like the one above are so little, but so big in thought. At the surface this is a true story about a man and his dog, his friends and his life made into a fanciful tale. However, it is so much more than that and it meant more than that to me.

While this book isn’t a romance, you should really give this book a read. It was fantastic.

 

The Verdict:

rating-5

 

About Steven Rowley

Steven Rowley has worked as a freelance writer, newspaper columnist, and screenwriter. Originally from Portland, Maine, he is a graduate of Emerson College. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his boyfriend and their dog. Lily and the Octopus is his first novel. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @MrStevenRowley.



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