Review: The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King

(summary from goodreads)

In the late seventeenth century, famed teenage pirate Emer Morrisey was on the cusp of escaping the pirate life with her one true love and unfathomable riches when she was slain and cursed with the dust of one hundred dogs, dooming her to one hundred lives as a dog before returning to a human body -- with her memories intact. 

Now she's a contemporary American teenager and all she needs is a shovel and a ride to Jamaica.

Review: The simplest way to put it is that I really liked this book. It was so different than any book I've ever read. King did a great job of taking the cliche of magic and making it into something truly unique. 

I loved the character of Emer/Saffron. She was a very strong protagonist who knew what she wanted and went out to get it. The secondary characters were also very well written. The sketchy people were genuinely creepy, as well as the kind were genuinely nice. 

This book was extremely well written. I liked how the author didn't use flashbacks per se, but wrote from Saffron's point of view and then from Emer's. This made it seem more like two separate stories, as opposed to one story with flashbacks. Also interesting were the dog facts that were spread throughout the book. It really helped me to see what Emer/Saffron's life was like as her various canine selves. 

Overall this book was a fantastic read! I loved both the story and the characters. The author's use of magic had a nice spin away from the usual and I can't wait to read more from Ms. King.