AWere they plotting to take over his life? And if so, how?

“And stop confounding me with impossible philosophical options.” Her back was to him now, as was Dante’s, their heads together. And if it did, would it be wise to turn them over to a dog? The reins to his life? He hadn’t even known his life had reins. She emitted a soft whine, a pleading noise that might have meant anything - I’m hungry, I need more love, we’re bored here all day, please turn over the reins to your life so we can sort you out. Sissy padded up beside him and sat at his feet, looking yearningly into his face as if searching for the key to her future. Jonathan very much wanted the dogs to be happy, but it was turning out not to be as simple as walks and bones. He never once mentioned the byzantine quality of his dogs’ inner lives, the practical and spiritual difficulties of caring for other sentient beings, the intense and constant scrutiny to which Jonathan was now subject. James (typically, it had to be said) had understated the nature of the ask. They’re great dogs and won’t trash your place. “Take them out before you go to work and when you get home again in the evening. “Just a few months, six maximum? Don’t worry about changing your lifestyle,” his brother pleaded. Jonathan came home from work one day to find the dogs talking about him. 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.***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected proof*** The plot’s resolution depends on heavy-handed coincidences and canine antics. As he nurses crushes on other people and ignores repeated warnings not to marry Julie, Jonathan becomes an ineffectual, unconvincing protagonist. 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. Rosoff casts them as a plausible odd couple: he’s a nervy art school grad, and she’s a sensible salesperson. 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. 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. Rosoff’s buoyant, witty, but less than satisfying seventh novel follows Jonathan Trefoil’s fumbling attempts at adulthood in Manhattan.

Jonathan unleashed by meg rosoff