3 out of 4 stars
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Have you ever felt the unconditional love from a dog? A love that never judges and one that is always pure? David A. Lees has felt this way and shares how his life was irrevocably changed by one dog in Oscar: The Friendly Rottweiler.
Oscar was a nearly one-hundred pound, lovable, gentle, and friendly Rottweiler. From the moment he was adopted as a puppy to the moment where his life came to an end, Oscar never failed in his love and his kind nature, even with the stigma of his breed. It was with this steadfast love that opened David’s heart in realizing that Oscar was more than just a dog. Oscar was his best friend.
Being a dog owner myself, this book struck a chord within me. There were times when I laughed at Oscar’s mischievous antics, when my heart warmed with his innocent sweetness, and when I was nearly in tears. Not only does the author expresses a pet parent’s love, but Lees also has clear talent in his ability to provoke varying emotions about his “Gentle Giant”.
Written in the first-person point-of-view, the reader truly gets to know both Lees and Oscar. The author’s honesty in his divorce, financial issues, and moving from place-to-place does not take away from the true meaning of the story. In fact, all these snippets of struggle adds more depth to his persona and his love toward Oscar.
The tone of this book was very friendly and casual, which made reading it a simple joy. It was a little surprising, when first beginning the book, to see phrases as, “I’ll tell ya”, “err”, “four-thirtyish”, but after a few chapters, I was able to settle in for a casual read. The friendly tone of the book nicely complemented Oscar’s friendly and casual nature.
Speaking of the writing, there were several grammatical errors, formatting issues, and repetitiveness throughout. For instance, on Kindle location 406, in the sentence, “...we were done - as in no longer welcome there.”, the word, “welcome” should be “welcomed”. Thinking of formatting, there were gaps throughout the book where paragraphs, and even sentences, were oddly split. Lastly, the repetition typically happened when an Oscar story was shared. One particular example can be found within Kindle location 943-955, where the author comments three times how children would run up to Oscar to pat him. It was most likely done to emphasis the author’s message, but after some time, it started to become redundant.
Without a doubt, with some tightening up on the editing and repetition, Oscar: The Friendly Rottweiler would have received a 4 out of 4 stars. However, due to the issues mentioned, I give this non-fiction a 3 out of 4 stars and recommend it to both dog lovers and those who are curious about how dogs can be such amazing furry friends.
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Oscar: The Friendly Rottweiler
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