Self-help ✦ Penny’s Take 📱 Kindle
Gratitude
Laura Steenrod · 2017
74/100
👍 Worth It
Kirkus called this one heartfelt and hard to put down, and I believe it — grieving her mother through the stories of five rescued dogs is a genuinely fresh way into a well-worn topic. Just know going in that Kirkus flagged the timeline jumping around, and there's real anger in these pages at people who mistreat animals, so it's not the gentlest read.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
⚠ Parent note — our reviewers flagged: contains descriptions of animal neglect/cruelty and grief themes that may be distressing for sensitive readers. We still scored it 74; these are context for your family, not an automatic skip.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety65
Substance / usefulness75
Craft & writing70
Originality80
Evidence & accuracy70
Hype vs delivers55
Age-fit65
Human-eye read78
Penny’s verdict74
Cross-pollinate