Review based on ARC.As a start, the title is misleading. The book implies that every human boy should have a human man, but the book is, in fact, about every "oaf" boy having a human man (which is sometimes a human female man) as a pet. And I think that that statement is incomplete and unfair to the book as well.
In 164 pages, Preston Allen manages to craft a story with depth, emotions, and morals. No words are wasted and no story line drags. Allen interweaves multi-generational stories and breaks off into almost-subplots, and he impressively gives the reader a real sense of the personality and the character of the individuals in the book.
It is an almost everyman kind of story, that is simultaneously a fantasy and a serious, dramatic, "life lesson" kind of book. It is interesting and intriguing. It is almost, but not quite, preachy. It conveys a message firmly and intensely, but inoffensive and loving.
You get the sense that the author has a great care for humans and their follies, earth and its weaknesses, and the interplay between the two. And yet it is a fantasy, in which giants have humans for pets. And even more, there is a twist.
I cannot say more because at 164 pages, there is too much to ruin. But I greatly enjoyed reading this book (in one sitting), and I would recommend it to ... I think anyone I know.
For me, while the book was indeed great, it wasn't a 5-star book that blew me away only because it wasn't. It was great. Impressive. Enjoyable. Enlightening. But it did not make me feel like squeezing the book because I was so pleased with it, and it did not make me insist that every single person I know read it. So a VERY strong Four out of 5 stars.
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