I think A Dog’s Purpose is a five out of five, the transition from each dog went smoothly and throughout the book the question: what is a dog’s purpose? Remained in my mind throughout the majority of the story.
Throughout the novel, the dog learns something new about people and their relationship with dogs. He learns which ones are good and bad and sometimes how he thinks about himself depends on the person he interacts with. Which I think relates to the real world a lot, dogs will act different based on how they were treated by humans.
His thoughts on what his purpose might be changes throughout the story, which helps to make a more well rounded character. He finds one purpose in caring for “his boy” and in his next life he believes he is to take care of people and not just one person in particular.
One thing I found strange and fascinating was how empty I felt when the dog lost his second life. At first I didn’t understand why I felt it, the dog had lived a good life and had done many things to help people. Then I realized, it wasn’t the life he had lived, it was the thought of not knowing what his next life would be. It seemed no other life he had could met the expectations of the ones he had already experienced.
He seemed empty too at the beginning of his last life in the book. He didn’t want to interact with anyone and he didn’t understand why he was still alive. Then after being dropped in the middle of no where by man that didn’t want to take care of him, he remembered where he was.
It wasn’t the kind of happy ending I was expecting, the boy lived alone and didn’t want to take care of him at first, but then at the last possible moment he changed his mind. The dog then found another purpose, he decided to reunite the boy with a person he had dated in high school, but a while after they married the boy died.
I thought this book took a lot of twists and turns and it wasn’t that cliche. The dog and the boy didn’t exactly live happily ever after, but at least he completed his redefined purpose. Which might change in the next book.
