Jonathan Unleashed
A Novel
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3.7 • 27 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
“[A] comic masterpiece.” —People magazine’s “Book of the Week”
“A charming comedy on love, friendship, and the surprising influence of man’s best friend.” —Harper’s Bazaar
National Book Award finalist and bestselling author Meg Rosoff's charming, hilarious new novel about a young New Yorker’s search for happiness and the two dogs who help him find it—the perfect summer read
Jonathan Trefoil’s boss is unhinged, his relationship baffling, and his apartment just the wrong side of legal. His girlfriend wants to marry someone just like him—only richer and with a different sense of humor. He doesn’t remember life being this confusing, back before everyone expected him to act like a grown-up.
When his brother asks him to look after his dogs, Jonathan's world view begins to shift. Could a border collie and a cocker spaniel hold the key to life, the universe, and everything? Their sly maneuvering on daily walks and visits to the alluring vet suggest that human emotional intelligence may not be top dog after all.
A funny, wise romantic comedy set in Manhattan, Jonathan Unleashed is a story of tangled relationships, friendships, and dogs. Rosoff’s novel is for anyone wondering what to be when they grow up, and how on earth to get there.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Jonathan Unleashed is the kind of novel you’ll read in a few days, laughing out loud as you go. It’s so easy to relate to the book’s hero, who’s trying to make the best of a soul-crushing job, ho-hum relationship, and general sense of feeling lost in the world. Meg Rosoff—who blew open our hearts with How I Live Now—takes a lighter, more entertaining approach to championing the dreamers who believe life ought to be good magic.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rosoff's buoyant, witty, but less than satisfying seventh novel follows Jonathan Trefoil's fumbling attempts at adulthood in Manhattan. When Jonathan's brother asks him to look after his border collie, Dante, and spaniel, Sissy, the pets give Jonathan purpose, and Rosoff (How I Live Now) is memorably funny on the foibles of dog owners. The book veers into wicked satire when Jonathan starts at Comrade, an advertising agency where everyone is "young, attractive, fashionable, underpaid, exploited, and full of existential rage." Jonathan's longtime girlfriend, Julie Cormorant, meanwhile, works at Bridal-360 magazine. Rosoff casts them as a plausible odd couple: he's a nervy art school grad, and she's a sensible salesperson. But after their engagement, incited by the offer of a free, live-streamed wedding to help promote Bridal-360, it's clear to everyone including Jonathan's best friend, parents, coworkers, and subconscious that the wedding is a mistake. As he nurses crushes on other people and ignores repeated warnings not to marry Julie, Jonathan becomes an ineffectual, unconvincing protagonist. The plot's resolution depends on heavy-handed coincidences and canine antics. It's a disappointing conclusion to a frequently thoughtful comedy by an author whose accolades include the Printz Award and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.
Customer Reviews
Bad Rom Com
I am not sure why this book had such positive reviews. For one I didn't really like or relate,in anyway, to the main character, Jonathan. The writing isn't terrible but I just didn't care for the storyline. It was like a bad romantic comedy starring b-list actors. The ending was meh.