Robot Dreams by Sara Varon was sold to me as being a cute little story about a dog who builds a robot so that he has a friend. I was hoping for something with The Wild Robot vibes but I actually found it to be disturbingly macabre and callous. This is a children's graphic novel and yet it explores some really dark themes (in itself not a problem but this was creepier than most). Did I mention that it was entirely wordless? I'm not certain if it's a gift or a curse that Varon possesses to entirely unnerve me without using a single, solitary word. Without giving the entire plot away (this is a very short book by the way), a dog builds himself a robot friend and the two of them are inseparable...until the robot gets rusty at the beach and the dog abandons him there. Yes, he left his very best friend behind at the beach. The next day the beach is closed for the winter and the entire area is fenced off. (That's one strict town!) So now the robot is left on the beach to rust while the dog tries to make a new friend. There are mishaps on both sides of this relationship as the robot is beset by weather, a group of boaters who partially disassemble him, and eventually a junk collector. The dog keeps making friends with those who either can't or won't stick around and he's back at square one without any friends at all. Like I said this is not sweet bedtime reading. If you're looking for a creepy existential crisis well you've hit the jackpot. If you wanted a cutesy little graphic novel you've made a horrible, horrible mistake. 1/10

What's Up Next: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

What I'm Currently Reading: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond and The Science of Supervillains by Lois H. Gresh & Robert Weinberg 

Fuck those rabbits.  They amputated the robots foot and stole a toe to plug up their boats. 

I seriously hope they get stranded and have to cannibalize each other.   And choke on each other and die. 

I was seriously pissed off for that little cutie-pie of a robot. 

I held my friend's copy captive for almost a year so it's time to let go. My favourite short stories were Robot Dreams, Hostess, Eyes Do More Than See and The Last Question.

While unarchiving my book reviews to transfer here, I ran across this pithy (uncharacteristic of me to say anything briefly) little review of Robot Dreams: 

"I am a big fan of all Isaac Asimov's robot stories and novels; this is a pretty quintessential entry in that universe focusing on Dr. Susan Calvin."

I am wondering since a comment by author starts review and nearly dominates if this would currently even be permitted on goodreads, even with a ★★★★★ rating?

Not that I imagine the zombie incarnation of The Good Doctor reanimating to flag the thing (maybe lose an eye to an eye roll over "quintessential" but not flag), but just having rather a Twilight-Zone-y moment that it would even occur to me to question what was or wasn't permitted before I would consider restoring  review to goodreads.