This book surprised me. What at first appeared to be a rip-off of The Art of Racing in the Rain turned out to be a unique and thought-provoking read. It borrowed the dog-as-narrator technique from Rain and the importance of family from Marley, then added a reincarnation premise. The main dog character experiences several lives throughout the book (which meant multiple sad endings) to infer that all animals (dogs) have a purpose and the main dog character had yet to fulfill his. So he’s continually reborn as a puppy with a new set of circumstances. The author did a creative job of describing the world and human behavior from a dog’s perspective. And even though the dog lived multiple lives, the dog’s “voice” was consistent. The end of the book has the dog fulfilling his purpose and ties up several loose ends – too Hollywood, but at that point it didn’t matter. The journey was better than the destination.