A loyal, strong-willed, and brave dog named Tamon finds himself alone after a great tsunami and earthquake hit Sendai, Japan. First, Tamon is taken in by a Japanese man who brings him along to his new job as a criminal driver where he is given the title of a guardian angel because his presence alone protects them from bad luck. Throughout the novel, Tamon fully lives out his guardian angel role as he spends the next five years bouncing from person to person providing a source of relief for each of them from their hard lives using his loyal and kind demeanor. In the short amount of time Tamon spends with each of his owners, the reader gets a thorough understanding of each one of their lives and the incredibly sad hardships they deal with. Through every encounter Tamon had with people on his journey, a pattern emerged. Tamon stays with each person to relieve them from their hardships before they pass away. He simply keeps them company, then moves on to continue his journey to find his true family. This book’s spiritual outlook on the connection between humans and dogs was heartwarming to read. The descriptive details of each owner’s life created such real and deep characters that were very likable. Unlike many other books, the characters were not perfect. Some were slightly selfish, committed crimes, and had extremely rough lives but the author acknowledged it and that made the characters feel so real and human. Having great characters sucked the reader into the story by making them really hope they have a happy ending. The combination of the simple, yet impactful writing style and word choice with realistic characters made this book very unique and interesting to read. All in all, this book was a bitter-sweet type. While the Tamon’s astonishing loyalty and kindness can melt the reader’s heart, the rough lives of the other characters can also break the reader’s heart. In order to get the most out of this book, I would recommend paying attention to how the writing was so different from other novels because it made the book so original and oftentimes, more engaging.
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