Review: All Dogs Go to Kevin Everything Three Dogs Taught Me (That I Didn't Learn in Veterinary School) by Jessica Vogelsang

I was recently lucky enough to get my hands on a pre-release copy.

ALL DOGS GO TO KEVIN is a humorous and touching portrait of a veterinarian, her beloved dogs, and the lessons they impart to her along the way. 

You can't always count on people, but you can always count on your dog. No one knows that better than veterinarian Jessica Vogelsang, who with the help of three dogs, is buoyed through adolescence, veterinary school, and the early years of motherhood. Taffy, the fearsome Lhasa; Emmett, an amiable Golden; and Kekoa, the neurotic senior Labrador, are always by her side, offering lessons in empathy and understanding for all the oddballs and misfits who come through the vet clinic doors. Also beside her is Kevin, a human friend who lives with the joie de vivre most people only dream of having. But when tragedy strikes, Jessica is reminded that the animals we love give more than they take.

My Thoughts: 

Attracted by the cover I literally picked this book up out of curiosity. Having already read it, I saw this book described elsewhere as a book about dogs but saying ALL DOGS GO TO KEVIN is about dogs is selling it seriously short. It is a treasure.

I am not normally attracted to autobiographical works, but needn't have worried. I was hooked from page one and laughing before the end of the first chapter. This fly on the wall account is an extremely well written book and is a pleasure to read, better than most fiction I have read recently.

Dr V like James Herriot before her leads us on a journey through her life starting in adolescence and sharing far more than amusing veterinary tales. This a book about the ups and downs in life not only of a dog owner but also first as a daughter then as a vet, wife and later as a mother.

What I liked about this book its openness, honesty and warmth. The events felt so real that It made me both laugh and cry. This is a book that I can recommend, anyone who has ever had or desired a dog will love it as I did. Literally the best book I have read in ages.

Move over James Herriot there is a new vet in town.

Check out an excerpt here.

(Pre-release copy received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (14 July 2015)
•