Saw this one randomly at the library and the cover looked interesting to me. Let's check it out. Spoilers ahead.
Tomorrow is an immortal dog who seeks to reunite with his equally immortal owner, whom he got separated from over a hundred years ago in Venice. Now he and his friend Sporco travel throughout Europe in hopes of finding Tomorrow's beloved owner. Meanwhile, they're being pursued by Tomorrow's owner's nemesis, Vilder.
For a book I went into with not too much expectations because I picked it up randomly, I really did find myself invested in this one once it got going. It did take a while for it to get going (the early chapters are flashbacks and mostly show Tomorrow in Venice), but once he and Sporco left Venice behind the story really got going and it quickly had me hooked.
The characters of Tomorrow and Sporco, as well as Vilder and Valentyne (Tomorrow's owner) are all distinct. There aren't a whole lot of side characters in this book (at least, not a lot that stick around for long), but the main four characters really do leave an impression. Tomorrow is flawed but also very likable and easy to root for. You just want this poor old dog to be re-united with his owner so badly.
Sporco also made for a very enjoyable deuteragonist. I was afraid he was gonna get on my nerves at first (as he can be a tad comic relief-y or naive) but honestly he's very likable and also just very loyal to Tomorrow, his best friend/basically adopted family at this point. I wasn't as invested in his "lady quest" (as he desperately wants to get a female mate) but aside from that he's a very neat character, and his ending, man, that one had me tearing up.
I also appreciate how both Valentyne and Vilder are both nuanced characters, not perfect (in Valentyne's case) but also not wholeheartedly evil (in Vilder's case). Vilder even has a pretty solid redemption arc in the end. At points I even found myself kinda rooting for him, because while he is a bad person throughout a large portion of the story, his motivation (losing a loved one he wanted Valentyne to save) is still sympathetic.
This book really knows how to handle its characters as well as emotional scenes, because it's quite the sad book. Not just Sporco's death, but also the depressing war imagery, Vilder slowly aging and dying once he loses his immortality, and of course Valentyne being near death and not remembering Tomorrow once they finally reunite. This is definitely a bit of tearjerker.
If I do have a criticism with this book, it's that the beginning did feel a tad slow. Nothing terrible or anything, but we have this entire section of the story dedicated to finding a home for another dog named La Perla, but this doesn't really connect to the overall story much and isn't really brought up after it happens. The only purpose this scene really serves is to show how much Tomorrow longs for his own home and owner, but this could've been established through different means without the entire La Perla ordeal. I was kinda expecting La Perla to end up becoming a major character similar to Sporco since she's so present early on in the story, but after Tomorrow leaves her at some kindly people she's never in the story again and isn't even really brought up after that. So this part of the story just felt a bit pointless and made it feel like the story took a while to really get going.
So yeah, bit tearjerker of a book that has some well-written characters and a story I enjoyed following. The only major criticism I have is the slow start.
Rating: 4/5
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