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The Hitch
From the author of the cult classic Treasure Island!!!, a delightfully unhinged comedy following a woman as she attempts to exorcise the spirit of a dead corgi from her nephew and renegotiate the borders of her previously rational world
Rose Cutler defines herself by her exacting standards. As an anti-racist, Jewish secular feminist eco-warrior, she is convinced she knows the right way to do everything, including parent her six-year-old nephew Nathan. When Rose offers to look after him while his parents visit Mexico for a week, her brother and sister-in-law reluctantly agree, provided she understands the rules—routine, bedtime, homework—and doesn’t overstep. But when Rose’s Newfoundland attacks and kills a corgi at the park, Nathan starts acting barking, overeating, talking to himself. Rose mistakes this behavior as repressed grief over the corgi’s death, but Nathan insists he isn’t grieving, and the dog isn’t dead. Her soul leaped into his body, and now she’s living inside him. Now Rose must banish the corgi from her nephew before the week ends and his parents return to collect their child.
With the ferocious absurdity of Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch and the dark, brazen humor of Melissa Broder’s Death Valley, The Hitch is a tantalizingly bizarre novel about loneliness, bad boundaries, and the ill-fated strategy of micromanaging everything and everyone around you.
Rose Cutler defines herself by her exacting standards. As an anti-racist, Jewish secular feminist eco-warrior, she is convinced she knows the right way to do everything, including parent her six-year-old nephew Nathan. When Rose offers to look after him while his parents visit Mexico for a week, her brother and sister-in-law reluctantly agree, provided she understands the rules—routine, bedtime, homework—and doesn’t overstep. But when Rose’s Newfoundland attacks and kills a corgi at the park, Nathan starts acting barking, overeating, talking to himself. Rose mistakes this behavior as repressed grief over the corgi’s death, but Nathan insists he isn’t grieving, and the dog isn’t dead. Her soul leaped into his body, and now she’s living inside him. Now Rose must banish the corgi from her nephew before the week ends and his parents return to collect their child.
With the ferocious absurdity of Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch and the dark, brazen humor of Melissa Broder’s Death Valley, The Hitch is a tantalizingly bizarre novel about loneliness, bad boundaries, and the ill-fated strategy of micromanaging everything and everyone around you.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 13, 2026
152 people are currently reading
9228 people want to read
About the author
Sara Levine
9 books144 followersHi! My novel THE HITCH is available for pre-order now and will be published January 13, 2026.
I am also the author of the novel TREASURE ISLAND!!! and the short story collection SHORT DARK ORACLES.
If you haven't read Robert Louis Stevenson's TREASURE ISLAND, I recommend the Penguin's Mass Market paperback which includes my Afterword.
Sign up for my newsletter at
https://delusionsofgrammar.substack.com/
I am also the author of the novel TREASURE ISLAND!!! and the short story collection SHORT DARK ORACLES.
If you haven't read Robert Louis Stevenson's TREASURE ISLAND, I recommend the Penguin's Mass Market paperback which includes my Afterword.
Sign up for my newsletter at
https://delusionsofgrammar.substack.com/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 256 reviews
January 15, 2026
3.5 Stars. Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for an advance copy of The Hitch by Sara Levine. This is a dark, unique, and bizarre story. It is told with humour, which sometimes seems forced. It is a quirky combination of comedy and character study with supernatural elements.
Rose Cutler describes herself as an anti-racist Jewish secular feminist eco-warrior. Others tend to describe her as a misanthrope, judgmental, intense, self-righteous, and lacking in emotional connections with most people. She becomes estranged from her friend Omar and is lonely. She has fixed opinions. She dislikes a Polish restaurant because of the Polish government's actions during WW2, and believes Aunt Jemima pancakes (name now discontinued) referred to slaves making pancakes for their masters. She tends to micromanage everything.
There are vegan recipes and food discussions scattered throughout the book. Rose has run a yogurt company, and her food consisted of grains, vegetarian and dairy products. She is now trying to sell her yogurt company after a Chinese study suggested the evils of dairy products. The fact that her latest yogurt flavour was contaminated is a drawback for possible sales.
She is devoted to her Newfoundland dog, Walter and dislikes corgis. Rose wants to look after her 6-year-old nephew, Nathan, after she learns that his parents are visiting Mexico for a week. They reluctantly agree, insisting that Nathan follow his strict home and school routine. Rose is excited about Nathan's upcoming visit and redecorates a spare bedroom for him. She paints it a shade of grey, which her nephew will call sweatsock grey. She prepares a list of nutritious vegan foods for him.
There is trouble on his first day. Rose walks her Newfoundland dog to a park with Nathan. Her huge dog kills a corgi. Nathan begins to act strangely, barking, overeating, and frequently behaving like a dog. Rose believes he is traumatized from seeing the corgi killed. Instead, Nathan is delighted. He believes the corgi's spirit has entered his body, becoming part of him. He was never allowed to have a pet dog, cat, or even a tiny animal, and now he has an 'inside dog.'
Rose is in a panic, as she must find a way to banish the corgi's spirit from inside Nathan before his parents' return. She believes the ordeal has made her a better person, which, selfishly, she attributes to success. Little character change or growth is displayed. She remains a caricature.
Recommended for readers who enjoy an unusual. humorous, offbeat story. Publication is scheduled for January 13/2026.
Rose Cutler describes herself as an anti-racist Jewish secular feminist eco-warrior. Others tend to describe her as a misanthrope, judgmental, intense, self-righteous, and lacking in emotional connections with most people. She becomes estranged from her friend Omar and is lonely. She has fixed opinions. She dislikes a Polish restaurant because of the Polish government's actions during WW2, and believes Aunt Jemima pancakes (name now discontinued) referred to slaves making pancakes for their masters. She tends to micromanage everything.
There are vegan recipes and food discussions scattered throughout the book. Rose has run a yogurt company, and her food consisted of grains, vegetarian and dairy products. She is now trying to sell her yogurt company after a Chinese study suggested the evils of dairy products. The fact that her latest yogurt flavour was contaminated is a drawback for possible sales.
She is devoted to her Newfoundland dog, Walter and dislikes corgis. Rose wants to look after her 6-year-old nephew, Nathan, after she learns that his parents are visiting Mexico for a week. They reluctantly agree, insisting that Nathan follow his strict home and school routine. Rose is excited about Nathan's upcoming visit and redecorates a spare bedroom for him. She paints it a shade of grey, which her nephew will call sweatsock grey. She prepares a list of nutritious vegan foods for him.
There is trouble on his first day. Rose walks her Newfoundland dog to a park with Nathan. Her huge dog kills a corgi. Nathan begins to act strangely, barking, overeating, and frequently behaving like a dog. Rose believes he is traumatized from seeing the corgi killed. Instead, Nathan is delighted. He believes the corgi's spirit has entered his body, becoming part of him. He was never allowed to have a pet dog, cat, or even a tiny animal, and now he has an 'inside dog.'
Rose is in a panic, as she must find a way to banish the corgi's spirit from inside Nathan before his parents' return. She believes the ordeal has made her a better person, which, selfishly, she attributes to success. Little character change or growth is displayed. She remains a caricature.
Recommended for readers who enjoy an unusual. humorous, offbeat story. Publication is scheduled for January 13/2026.
September 7, 2025
Ever dreamed of a book mixing vegan recipes, food lectures, and a six-year-old sharing his body with the soul of a corgi named Hazel? Look no further—Sara Levine’s The Hitch delivers.
The protagonist is Rose Cutler, an “anti-racist, Jewish secular feminist eco-warrior” … and she is every bit as intense as that sounds. From moralizing about eating at a Polish restaurant in Chicago [because of the Anschluss—how Poles voted to join Nazi Germany], to a dissertation on Jefferson’s “pancake-making slaves,” to vegan recipes including one for chocolate silk pie where “nobody ever knows they’re eating tofu” [I asked a vegan friend and fantastic baker who said the recipe would “make something that would resemble a chocolate silk pie” but that people would definitely know it was tofu], Rose is a character I personally came to love—even as her obsessions make life harder for herself and everyone around her.
One of Rose’s favorite people is her 6-year-old nephew, Nathan. When his parents go to Mexico for a week, Rose campaigns hard to watch him. When they reluctantly agree, Rose goes… full Rose. She creates a binder of researched vegan meal plans and designs a bespoke bedroom painted Wevet [what Nathan calls “sweatsock grey”] because “inky blue seemed better for an accent wall… and yellow too reminiscent of a weeping clown.”
Rose—who runs a multinational yogurt company she now wants to sell after reading a Chinese study on the evils of dairy—has two other main loves: her Newfoundland, Walter, and her best friend Omar, who dares to start using Grindr again just when she needs him most. And she needs him—because on a walk with Nathan, Walter kills a corgi named Hazel. Hazel, a corgi who inexplicably knows all of Shakespeare and has telepathy, chooses not to move on and instead inhabits Nathan’s body.
Nathan, whose mother won’t let him have so much as a grasshopper mouse, is delighted—he finally has his “inside dog.” Rose is… well, let’s just say, less than delighted. As her life begins to unravel—her company won’t sell, her new yogurt flavor Gotcha Matcha [“I eat it at my dacha” campaign] goes wrong, Nathan’s parents (through Nathan) reveal what they really think of her [6-year-olds, after all, tell the truth], and her blow-up with Omar strains her closest friendship—Rose has less than a week to put everything back together before Nathan’s parents return.
The Hitch is offbeat, sharp, and full of oddball charm. While Rose can be exhausting, she’s also strangely endearing, and Levine never loses sight of the humanity beneath the satire. If you enjoy books that are witty, messy, and completely unlike anything else you’ve read this year, this one is worth the ride.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Grove Atlantic for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!
The protagonist is Rose Cutler, an “anti-racist, Jewish secular feminist eco-warrior” … and she is every bit as intense as that sounds. From moralizing about eating at a Polish restaurant in Chicago [because of the Anschluss—how Poles voted to join Nazi Germany], to a dissertation on Jefferson’s “pancake-making slaves,” to vegan recipes including one for chocolate silk pie where “nobody ever knows they’re eating tofu” [I asked a vegan friend and fantastic baker who said the recipe would “make something that would resemble a chocolate silk pie” but that people would definitely know it was tofu], Rose is a character I personally came to love—even as her obsessions make life harder for herself and everyone around her.
One of Rose’s favorite people is her 6-year-old nephew, Nathan. When his parents go to Mexico for a week, Rose campaigns hard to watch him. When they reluctantly agree, Rose goes… full Rose. She creates a binder of researched vegan meal plans and designs a bespoke bedroom painted Wevet [what Nathan calls “sweatsock grey”] because “inky blue seemed better for an accent wall… and yellow too reminiscent of a weeping clown.”
Rose—who runs a multinational yogurt company she now wants to sell after reading a Chinese study on the evils of dairy—has two other main loves: her Newfoundland, Walter, and her best friend Omar, who dares to start using Grindr again just when she needs him most. And she needs him—because on a walk with Nathan, Walter kills a corgi named Hazel. Hazel, a corgi who inexplicably knows all of Shakespeare and has telepathy, chooses not to move on and instead inhabits Nathan’s body.
Nathan, whose mother won’t let him have so much as a grasshopper mouse, is delighted—he finally has his “inside dog.” Rose is… well, let’s just say, less than delighted. As her life begins to unravel—her company won’t sell, her new yogurt flavor Gotcha Matcha [“I eat it at my dacha” campaign] goes wrong, Nathan’s parents (through Nathan) reveal what they really think of her [6-year-olds, after all, tell the truth], and her blow-up with Omar strains her closest friendship—Rose has less than a week to put everything back together before Nathan’s parents return.
The Hitch is offbeat, sharp, and full of oddball charm. While Rose can be exhausting, she’s also strangely endearing, and Levine never loses sight of the humanity beneath the satire. If you enjoy books that are witty, messy, and completely unlike anything else you’ve read this year, this one is worth the ride.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Grove Atlantic for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!
January 9, 2026
Two words: ghost corgi. Ok, now that I have your attention, this book is so can’t and absurd and unlike anything I’ve ever read. It was a wild ride from start to finish and an experience unlike any other. Not only was this story unpredictable, but it also proffered some hard-hitting reminders: life can’t simply be split into good and bad, eight-piece Finnish dining room sets and yogurt bloat, and sometimes it takes a probably-not-evil dog entity to remind us of that. Though I don’t fully understand what I just read (I’m either not intellectual or not possessed enough), I have no complaints. And, full disclosure, I expect to have ghost corgis on the brain for the foreseeable future.
March 18, 2026
There is a blurb on the back of the book from author Kevin Wilson, calling the novel "Beautiful and bizarre." Knowing that Wilson thinks of it as bizarre made me pause a little before reading it. I enjoyed the first two-thirds of the novel before it fell off the rails for me.
The premise is that 6 year old Nathan comes to stay with his Aunt Rose for a week while his parents vacation in Cancun, Mexico. His parents are hesitant about this, as they know that Rose is eccentric with some personality flaws. However, Rose is insistent that she can care for Nathan and wants to, as she adores him.
As the week begins, Nathan pets a corgi in the park while visiting there with his aunt and her huge Newfoundland dog (Walter). Unfortunately, when the corgi nips Nathan's ankles, Walter attacks the corgi, who dies. When they get home, instead of being upset,Nathan tells his Aunt Rose that the corgi is now inside of him and alive. During the course of the week, Nathan has fun acting like a dog and voicing the corgi's thoughts. He does this so convincingly, that Rose starts to believe that the corgi is indeed alive within Nathan. The author writes in such a way that she leads the reader to imagine that this might be true.
Earlier, I mentioned that Rose is eccentric. She is in her early 40's, has just one friend, and is extremely rigid. Rose thinks she knows how everyone else should be living. At first, the author describes her in a humorous way, but Rose began to wear on me as the story continued.
For me, the story went off the rails when
2.5 stars
The premise is that 6 year old Nathan comes to stay with his Aunt Rose for a week while his parents vacation in Cancun, Mexico. His parents are hesitant about this, as they know that Rose is eccentric with some personality flaws. However, Rose is insistent that she can care for Nathan and wants to, as she adores him.
As the week begins, Nathan pets a corgi in the park while visiting there with his aunt and her huge Newfoundland dog (Walter). Unfortunately, when the corgi nips Nathan's ankles, Walter attacks the corgi, who dies. When they get home, instead of being upset,Nathan tells his Aunt Rose that the corgi is now inside of him and alive. During the course of the week, Nathan has fun acting like a dog and voicing the corgi's thoughts. He does this so convincingly, that Rose starts to believe that the corgi is indeed alive within Nathan. The author writes in such a way that she leads the reader to imagine that this might be true.
Earlier, I mentioned that Rose is eccentric. She is in her early 40's, has just one friend, and is extremely rigid. Rose thinks she knows how everyone else should be living. At first, the author describes her in a humorous way, but Rose began to wear on me as the story continued.
For me, the story went off the rails when
2.5 stars
February 24, 2026
2.5
The words “unhinged, off-kilter, and bizarre novel” in the Book Description are accurate.
The words “unhinged, off-kilter, and bizarre novel” in the Book Description are accurate.
October 2, 2025
This book is so weird and funny and quietly devastating!!! Telling everyone I know to read it <3
January 18, 2026
“The Hitch” had everything going for it: a curious premise, with a dog at the center of the narrative. The choice of a stream-of-consciousness style is, in fact, a strength — it pulls the reader directly into the protagonist’s mind in an immediate and unsettling way, creating a strong sense of isolation. The book falters, however, exactly where it most needs to hold attention: in its protagonist. Rose is written so thinly that she borders on caricature; what may have been intended as ironic or eccentric comes across as simply exhausting. Her limited self-awareness, combined with a rushed and forced final arc of transformation, makes deeper emotional engagement difficult and drains any sense of narrative payoff. There are flashes of sharper writing, moments when the text hints at something more thoughtful beneath the surface, but they are ultimately lost in a deliberately flat narrative voice. A book of wasted potential.
August 15, 2025
rocky start, but wow was i amused once Rose met her nephew’s “inside dog” !! totally hilarious, tail-wagging chaos written to the tune of unhinged girl fiction.
+ though it felt a little misplaced, i honestly found her random vegan recipes & food studies musings cute and part of the character building.
Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC.
+ though it felt a little misplaced, i honestly found her random vegan recipes & food studies musings cute and part of the character building.
Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC.
December 16, 2025
Quirky, funny, with a slightly manic undercurrent of sadness.
January 4, 2026
This book RULES. I read it too fast even though I tried not to because it’s like watching a maestro fuck with you. Every word, every sentence, is crafted to both stabilize you and knock you over. It’s so playful and strange and hilarious. Thank god Sara Levine is back!!
March 2, 2026
[3.5/5]
This one goes out to all y'all bitches in Evanston. Evanston-core bby!! This is a book which could be about anybody at your local Unitarian Church (non-derogatory, I also roll with the UUs, we're lovely, and we would prefer you bring vegan, nut-free cookies to coffee hour). Levine's finger is so perfectly on the pulse of an extremely specific kind of person. And if you have ever been around these people, I think you will be rolling on the floor when you read this. If you don't like satirical craziness, this will not be for you.
Anyway, I love Hazel the ghost corgi, who seems to have nothing but goodwill. There are no good dogs or bad dogs. I am converted to whatever religion Hazel is creating. This audiobook was a couple hours of unmitigated lunacy. I think the overall "message" is a bit muddy and what I can see, I don't know if I totally click with it. But I don't care. I'm here for a good time (there are no good times or bad times, it is your thoughts that make it so amen hazel).
You are welcome for a review as unhinged as this book. Enjoy!
This one goes out to all y'all bitches in Evanston. Evanston-core bby!! This is a book which could be about anybody at your local Unitarian Church (non-derogatory, I also roll with the UUs, we're lovely, and we would prefer you bring vegan, nut-free cookies to coffee hour). Levine's finger is so perfectly on the pulse of an extremely specific kind of person. And if you have ever been around these people, I think you will be rolling on the floor when you read this. If you don't like satirical craziness, this will not be for you.
Anyway, I love Hazel the ghost corgi, who seems to have nothing but goodwill. There are no good dogs or bad dogs. I am converted to whatever religion Hazel is creating. This audiobook was a couple hours of unmitigated lunacy. I think the overall "message" is a bit muddy and what I can see, I don't know if I totally click with it. But I don't care. I'm here for a good time (there are no good times or bad times, it is your thoughts that make it so amen hazel).
You are welcome for a review as unhinged as this book. Enjoy!
February 14, 2026
This is quite possibly the most bat-shit (or should I say cat shit) crazy novel I’ve ever read, but… I loved it? I actually laughed out loud several times. I don’t often do that while reading. Bizarre but heartfelt at the same time, this story made me ponder more than the possibility of a corgi’s soul attaching itself to a child’s body. Not for everyone but I recommend it.
Review of advance copy
(4.75/5, rounded up)
𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.
Astute, wry, original af. Sara had me ordering 𝙏𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙄𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙!!! before I'd even hit 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝's halfway mark.
This sense of humor is my fav kind, & it was leveraged expertly. I legitimately LOL'd-...I lost count of how many times. & the humor is so well-backed, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝 is 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵. Chock-full of education & commentary without ever losing you in the midst.
𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭, 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤.
I fuggin loved Rose, our FMC. I saw so much of myself in her, like it or not 😅😂 She reminded me of the characters we know & love from 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯, or 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘤𝘩's 𝙎𝙖𝙙 𝙅𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙩. I immediately texted @lady.and.the.book to let her know this one's a must, esp bc I need her thoughts on whether or not Janet would be able to stand Rose 🫣
I can't wait to come across reviews for this one, esp from dog owners. I'm a cat lady, so some of the more pointed comments just had me rolling... I'm curious how owners of 1 specific breed will feel. I've gotta just leave it at that tho, for spoiler's sake 🤫
I cannot recommend this one enough, I'm obsessed. But if you get offended easily—consider this your warning, ya may end up w hurt feelings 🤭
𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.
Astute, wry, original af. Sara had me ordering 𝙏𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙄𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙!!! before I'd even hit 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝's halfway mark.
This sense of humor is my fav kind, & it was leveraged expertly. I legitimately LOL'd-...I lost count of how many times. & the humor is so well-backed, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝 is 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵. Chock-full of education & commentary without ever losing you in the midst.
𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭, 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤.
I fuggin loved Rose, our FMC. I saw so much of myself in her, like it or not 😅😂 She reminded me of the characters we know & love from 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯, or 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘤𝘩's 𝙎𝙖𝙙 𝙅𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙩. I immediately texted @lady.and.the.book to let her know this one's a must, esp bc I need her thoughts on whether or not Janet would be able to stand Rose 🫣
I can't wait to come across reviews for this one, esp from dog owners. I'm a cat lady, so some of the more pointed comments just had me rolling... I'm curious how owners of 1 specific breed will feel. I've gotta just leave it at that tho, for spoiler's sake 🤫
I cannot recommend this one enough, I'm obsessed. But if you get offended easily—consider this your warning, ya may end up w hurt feelings 🤭
Read
March 7, 202612% and the main character is so annoying, thinks is better than others and has managed in this 30 pages speak ill of plastic, decorations, carnivore, ADHD, all inclusive hotels, not living in the mainland, starting a business, the education of the nephew, the activities he's in, pancakes, and I am sure I am forgetting a lot.
and there's recipes mixed with the rest? sorry, not for me
and there's recipes mixed with the rest? sorry, not for me
February 4, 2026
Absolutely
March 4, 2026
A quick read exploring different facets of loneliness. It was funny and completely unsettling, and genuinely the weirdest book I’ve ever read, but I couldn’t put it down. 3.5!
January 30, 2026
I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this one. It sounded really weird, and sometimes that just calls out to me. I gotta say, The Hitch was pretty entertaining. It follows a woman as she attempts to exorcise the spirit of a dead corgi from her nephew and renegotiate the borders of her previously rational world. As an antiracist, secular Jewish feminist eco-warrior, Rose is convinced she knows the right way to do everything, including parenting her 6 yr old nephew Nathan when his parents reluctantly agree to let Rose babysit him while they go on a vacation designed to save their marriage. On her first day with Nathan, Rose’s beloved Newfoundland attacks and kills a corgi at the park and Nathan starts acting strangely: barking, overeating, talking to himself. Rose thinks it's just Nathan's coping, but Nathan says the dog's soul is living inside him. With only a week left before his parents return, Rose races to banish the corgi from her nephew
The death of the corgi, I thought was going to make me upset, but it's only a sentence, saying it happened, so that was good. Nothing upsetting. This is zany, funny, and completely weird. But I will say …I liked it. It was engaging and unique. I'm happy I read it.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
The death of the corgi, I thought was going to make me upset, but it's only a sentence, saying it happened, so that was good. Nothing upsetting. This is zany, funny, and completely weird. But I will say …I liked it. It was engaging and unique. I'm happy I read it.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
March 1, 2026
What I weird book. It made me laugh, mostly into the first third. And I crave books that make me laugh. But then it got weird and then it went nowhere.
I don't mind an unlikeable protagonist, but I don't think I could get into the story from the middle of the book on.
Didn't dnf mainly put of curiosity but it did feel like I ended up staying to watch a train wreck.
I don't mind an unlikeable protagonist, but I don't think I could get into the story from the middle of the book on.
Didn't dnf mainly put of curiosity but it did feel like I ended up staying to watch a train wreck.
January 7, 2026
The Hitch by Sara Levine. Thanks to @atlanticgrove for the gifted copy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rose is watching her six year old nephew while her brother and her sister in law vacation. They were hesitant to leave Nathan with her, but took a leap of faith. When Rose’s Newfoundland kills a corgi in the park, Nathan insists the corgi’s soul is now in his body.
I feel like I need to reread this one to fully understand it, but I did definitely enjoy it. It was very unique, and a bit out there. Rose’s character was not pleasant but she did have some development and learning at the end. It was nice seeing her bond with her nephew, despite her odd views and judgmental personality. The whole corgi thing was interesting and definitely the unique part of the plot.
“Did he really feel, when it came to chances for happiness, a ghost corgi was his best bet?”
Read this if you like:
-Animal or dog characters
-Unique plot lines
-Curmudgeonly main characters
-Family dynamics
The Hitch comes out 1/13.
Rose is watching her six year old nephew while her brother and her sister in law vacation. They were hesitant to leave Nathan with her, but took a leap of faith. When Rose’s Newfoundland kills a corgi in the park, Nathan insists the corgi’s soul is now in his body.
I feel like I need to reread this one to fully understand it, but I did definitely enjoy it. It was very unique, and a bit out there. Rose’s character was not pleasant but she did have some development and learning at the end. It was nice seeing her bond with her nephew, despite her odd views and judgmental personality. The whole corgi thing was interesting and definitely the unique part of the plot.
“Did he really feel, when it came to chances for happiness, a ghost corgi was his best bet?”
Read this if you like:
-Animal or dog characters
-Unique plot lines
-Curmudgeonly main characters
-Family dynamics
The Hitch comes out 1/13.
January 19, 2026
This was a fun concept and amusing at times but I was hoping for something way more interesting or at least strange. The way the protagonist was written was so exhausting and frustrating to read that I really couldn’t get into it. I’m all for an unlikeable main character but Rose was so one note, self absorbed, and by the end she didn’t seem to change much and it had me thinking, what was even the point of all this? I feel this book needed a way more nuanced main character to illustrate its point more effectively, or it needed to be like 10x weirder.
Read
March 19, 2026I read The Hitch for two reasons: a rave review from Alexandra Jacobs,* and the fact that I bought Sara Levine’s previous novel, Treasure Island, 15 years ago, and never got around to reading it. So. Yeah. Guilt. I read this book because I felt guilty.**
Thankfully, it’s good. Not a novel I would hand to the anti-contemporary novel crowd, as it’s very much of a style and tone that I feel would drive them to write multiple hit pieces on Substack. But it made me laugh multiple times. And there aren’t enough truly funny novels.***
Our narrator is Rose. She’s an ardently secular, anti-racist Jewish feminist: precisely the sort of person the anti-woke crowd take the piss out of. Rose made it big selling artisanal yogurt, “believing yogurt was a health food,” only to discover, to her horror, the links between animal products and heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.**** She’s been trying to sell her business ever since.
While Rose has no interest in having kids, she adores her six-year-old nephew, Nathan (“especially since he’d gotten out of diapers”). She’s excited to spend eight whole days with him as Nathan’s parents try to repair their marriage. Astrid, Nathan’s mum, can’t stand her sister-in-law and would rather Nathan stay anywhere else, but circumstances prevail.
Anywho, Nathan moves in with Rose. All is going fine (more or less) until they visit the dog park and Rose’s Newfoundland, Walter, kills a corgi (“snapped her neck like she was a rabbit”). Yes, The Hitch is another literary novel where the dog dies. Except… there’s a wrinkle. The soul—the life force, the consciousness—of the dead corgi enters Nathan’s body. Not figuratively or metaphorically, but literally. Nathan becomes part six-year-old and part annoying small dog, and much hilarity (seriously, I laughed a lot) ensues.
If The Hitch were just about an opinionated, narrow-minded, privileged woman (or man*****) looking after her six-year-old nephew while, at the same time, desperately trying to sell her artisanal yogurt business, as her staff investigates a case of bloated product (suggesting bad bacteria in the culture), I would have stopped reading. Life is too short, and I have more Elizabeth Taylor, Penelope Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Anita Brookner****** to read. But the absurdist element, which, as I say, isn’t a metaphor—Nathan is possessed by a corgi—gives The Hitch a uniquely askew perspective. Yes, Rose can be really annoying, but her failed attempts to deal with Nathan’s situation force her, for the briefest of moments, to reflect inwardly, to recognise how lonely she is.*******
There’s an argument to be had that Levine has a finger on the scales in presenting us with a caricature of a certain type of “progressive woman”, only to smooth her spiky edges across the course of the novel. I think Levine realises this, and so is careful that Rose never truly betrays her core principles. If she changes at all, it’s her realisation of how much loneliness and disconnection from family, friends, and co-workers have shaped her life. Not that she intends to remedy the situation. The act of recognition is enough.
It’s an interesting portrayal, frustrating, tragic and funny. But Rose won’t be for everyone.
*Not typically a go-to reviewer for me; I often bounce off her style. But she was so effusive about The Hitch that I couldn’t do anything else but pay attention.
**We all do this. I bet more than once you’ve read the latest novel by an author whose previous books sit unread, mouldering in a box in your garage. It can’t just be me!
***There are novels that are marketed as “funny” but barely elicit a chuckle. I’d point to examples, but why be rude?
****I don’t know why this came as a surprise to Rose.
*****I’ve read enough novels to last a lifetime about neurotic, lonely men. So, I suppose it’s fair that women are given the opportunity to join that less-than-auspicious canon.
******Or in the case of Brookner, read for the first time.
*******Made worse when Omar, her best friend—or only friend (the one person who will put up with her regularly outside of work)—cracks the shits with Rose after she treats him poorly because, in a moment when she needed him, he didn’t pick up his phone.
Thankfully, it’s good. Not a novel I would hand to the anti-contemporary novel crowd, as it’s very much of a style and tone that I feel would drive them to write multiple hit pieces on Substack. But it made me laugh multiple times. And there aren’t enough truly funny novels.***
Our narrator is Rose. She’s an ardently secular, anti-racist Jewish feminist: precisely the sort of person the anti-woke crowd take the piss out of. Rose made it big selling artisanal yogurt, “believing yogurt was a health food,” only to discover, to her horror, the links between animal products and heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.**** She’s been trying to sell her business ever since.
While Rose has no interest in having kids, she adores her six-year-old nephew, Nathan (“especially since he’d gotten out of diapers”). She’s excited to spend eight whole days with him as Nathan’s parents try to repair their marriage. Astrid, Nathan’s mum, can’t stand her sister-in-law and would rather Nathan stay anywhere else, but circumstances prevail.
Anywho, Nathan moves in with Rose. All is going fine (more or less) until they visit the dog park and Rose’s Newfoundland, Walter, kills a corgi (“snapped her neck like she was a rabbit”). Yes, The Hitch is another literary novel where the dog dies. Except… there’s a wrinkle. The soul—the life force, the consciousness—of the dead corgi enters Nathan’s body. Not figuratively or metaphorically, but literally. Nathan becomes part six-year-old and part annoying small dog, and much hilarity (seriously, I laughed a lot) ensues.
If The Hitch were just about an opinionated, narrow-minded, privileged woman (or man*****) looking after her six-year-old nephew while, at the same time, desperately trying to sell her artisanal yogurt business, as her staff investigates a case of bloated product (suggesting bad bacteria in the culture), I would have stopped reading. Life is too short, and I have more Elizabeth Taylor, Penelope Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Anita Brookner****** to read. But the absurdist element, which, as I say, isn’t a metaphor—Nathan is possessed by a corgi—gives The Hitch a uniquely askew perspective. Yes, Rose can be really annoying, but her failed attempts to deal with Nathan’s situation force her, for the briefest of moments, to reflect inwardly, to recognise how lonely she is.*******
There’s an argument to be had that Levine has a finger on the scales in presenting us with a caricature of a certain type of “progressive woman”, only to smooth her spiky edges across the course of the novel. I think Levine realises this, and so is careful that Rose never truly betrays her core principles. If she changes at all, it’s her realisation of how much loneliness and disconnection from family, friends, and co-workers have shaped her life. Not that she intends to remedy the situation. The act of recognition is enough.
It’s an interesting portrayal, frustrating, tragic and funny. But Rose won’t be for everyone.
*Not typically a go-to reviewer for me; I often bounce off her style. But she was so effusive about The Hitch that I couldn’t do anything else but pay attention.
**We all do this. I bet more than once you’ve read the latest novel by an author whose previous books sit unread, mouldering in a box in your garage. It can’t just be me!
***There are novels that are marketed as “funny” but barely elicit a chuckle. I’d point to examples, but why be rude?
****I don’t know why this came as a surprise to Rose.
*****I’ve read enough novels to last a lifetime about neurotic, lonely men. So, I suppose it’s fair that women are given the opportunity to join that less-than-auspicious canon.
******Or in the case of Brookner, read for the first time.
*******Made worse when Omar, her best friend—or only friend (the one person who will put up with her regularly outside of work)—cracks the shits with Rose after she treats him poorly because, in a moment when she needed him, he didn’t pick up his phone.
Read
September 6, 2025I first heard of Sara Levine from Emily Temple who published an article on LitHub dot com called The 50 Best Contemporary Novels Under 200 Pages. One of those books was Levine’s Treasure Island!!! Temple said:
”A truly insane novel about a young woman who decides to live her life by the principles of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, those principles being Boldness, Resolution, Independence, and, of course, Horn Blowing. One of the most fun reading experiences I can remember.”
Treasure Island!!! was a fun book. It has been nearly fifteen years, but Levine has written another comic novel which, at least in my opinion, is worth your time.
The Hitch is narrated by Rose Cutler, a single woman living in Chicago who has built her own successful yogurt business called Cultured Cow. This passage gives some idea of the way Rose thinks about the world:
“In my twenties, I had an obsession with Mollie Katzen and the Moosewood Collective. Not that I joined the Collective—or ever visited the restaurant—but I believed in Mollie Katzen, particularly her cookbook The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, and threw myself into making healthy meals out of vegetables, grains, and dairy. For reasons I can no longer fathom, I was particularly keen on serving friends the Moosewood Mushroom Yogurt Pie with Spinach Crust. I also remember a socially strained dinner party at which I served crumbling tofu burgers, baked not fried, in an apartment that had no dining room table; I expected people to eat them in their laps. It was precisely at the height of my fervent Enchanted Broccoli Forest phase that I started an artisanal yogurt business, believing yogurt was a health food” (location 214).
Rose has agreed to watch her six year old nephew Nathan while her brother Victor and sister in law Astrid go on a vacation to Mexico for a week. On the first day, Rose’s dog, Walter, attacks and kills a neighbor’s dog, Hazel. Somehow the boy Nathan finds Hazel living inside him. How this happens is never really explained. The Hitch is not a realistic novel.
Overall I thought Levine’s book was a great example of satire and humorous writing. If the book has one flaw it is the fact that somewhere between the halfway point and the two thirds point, Levine seems to take the plot a little too seriously.
The title of the book is never really explained except in this brief exchange between Rose and her brother Victor toward the end of the book:
“What’s the hitch? There’s no hitch. There’s always a hitch” (location 3518).
A better title for the book would be Inside Dog. This book will appeal to people who enjoy reading about someone who takes herself way too seriously.
epub. 304 pgs. Read 5 September 2025. Scheduled for publication 13 January 2026.
”A truly insane novel about a young woman who decides to live her life by the principles of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, those principles being Boldness, Resolution, Independence, and, of course, Horn Blowing. One of the most fun reading experiences I can remember.”
Treasure Island!!! was a fun book. It has been nearly fifteen years, but Levine has written another comic novel which, at least in my opinion, is worth your time.
The Hitch is narrated by Rose Cutler, a single woman living in Chicago who has built her own successful yogurt business called Cultured Cow. This passage gives some idea of the way Rose thinks about the world:
“In my twenties, I had an obsession with Mollie Katzen and the Moosewood Collective. Not that I joined the Collective—or ever visited the restaurant—but I believed in Mollie Katzen, particularly her cookbook The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, and threw myself into making healthy meals out of vegetables, grains, and dairy. For reasons I can no longer fathom, I was particularly keen on serving friends the Moosewood Mushroom Yogurt Pie with Spinach Crust. I also remember a socially strained dinner party at which I served crumbling tofu burgers, baked not fried, in an apartment that had no dining room table; I expected people to eat them in their laps. It was precisely at the height of my fervent Enchanted Broccoli Forest phase that I started an artisanal yogurt business, believing yogurt was a health food” (location 214).
Rose has agreed to watch her six year old nephew Nathan while her brother Victor and sister in law Astrid go on a vacation to Mexico for a week. On the first day, Rose’s dog, Walter, attacks and kills a neighbor’s dog, Hazel. Somehow the boy Nathan finds Hazel living inside him. How this happens is never really explained. The Hitch is not a realistic novel.
Overall I thought Levine’s book was a great example of satire and humorous writing. If the book has one flaw it is the fact that somewhere between the halfway point and the two thirds point, Levine seems to take the plot a little too seriously.
The title of the book is never really explained except in this brief exchange between Rose and her brother Victor toward the end of the book:
“What’s the hitch? There’s no hitch. There’s always a hitch” (location 3518).
A better title for the book would be Inside Dog. This book will appeal to people who enjoy reading about someone who takes herself way too seriously.
epub. 304 pgs. Read 5 September 2025. Scheduled for publication 13 January 2026.
February 14, 2026
📖+🎧I just finished The Hitch and laughed on and off all the way thru.
Sara Levine is so smart and funny & took me on the ride I was looking for. (A huge nod to Lisa Flanagan as well, her narration absolutely made the audiobook)
It’s literary satire done so well.
It’s also absurdist fiction, the quiet, modern strain where behavior is just tilted enough to expose how ridiculous our social rituals already are.
The female narrator, Rose, is unreliable because her self-perception and reality are constantly misaligned.
She thinks she is operating at a higher level than everyone else. That gap is the comedy.
She is also searching for meaning while making objectively terrible decisions. And she is fully committed to her own logic.
And at its core, this is part of that modern lineage of socially feral women in literary fiction…the descendants of narrators in My Year of Rest and Relaxation who refuse likability as a personality trait.
This type of book is a mood.
One I so enjoyed.
It’s sharp. It’s smarter than it lets on.
And it made me cackle.
Sara Levine is so smart and funny & took me on the ride I was looking for. (A huge nod to Lisa Flanagan as well, her narration absolutely made the audiobook)
It’s literary satire done so well.
It’s also absurdist fiction, the quiet, modern strain where behavior is just tilted enough to expose how ridiculous our social rituals already are.
The female narrator, Rose, is unreliable because her self-perception and reality are constantly misaligned.
She thinks she is operating at a higher level than everyone else. That gap is the comedy.
She is also searching for meaning while making objectively terrible decisions. And she is fully committed to her own logic.
And at its core, this is part of that modern lineage of socially feral women in literary fiction…the descendants of narrators in My Year of Rest and Relaxation who refuse likability as a personality trait.
This type of book is a mood.
One I so enjoyed.
It’s sharp. It’s smarter than it lets on.
And it made me cackle.
January 12, 2026
The Hitch surprised me a lot. On the surface, it’s an entertaining, fast‑moving story with plenty of humour and chaos, but Sara Levine threads deeper themes through the book without ever weighing it down. Sara Levine has a talent for crafting characters who feel absurd and painfully real. I found myself laughing at the sheer unpredictability of the story while also pausing to sit with the emotional thoughts, woven between the lines. If you enjoy fiction that blends humor with heart, and isn’t afraid to get a little weird, this is a great one to pick up. Thank you Sara Levine, Roxane Gay Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
March 12, 2026
so funny and such a pleasure to read. levine accesses the fun aunt / uncle in all of us and then accesses our anxiety at fucking that up. we’re not all meant to be protectors or raisers of children, and sometimes our charges are possessed by a dog, in exactly the kind of silly thing that a kid would make up but be utterly terrifying if that joke went to far. like in treasure island!!! Levine’s tonal hand is deft and delivering close-up magic, giving you the funny when it should be sad and giving you the frightening when it should be absurd. not enough nice things to say about this book.
October 4, 2025
When Rose's brother and sister-in-law go on vacation to Mexico, they reluctantly leave their six year old son, Nathan, with Rose for the week. Rose has the perfect week planned, until things go wrong on the first day when Rose's dog, Walter, bites a corgi named Hazel in the neck and kills her. Rose quickly discovers that things have gone even more wrong when Nathan informs her that Hazel's soul has jumped into his body.
This book is quite quirky. Rose is a very strange character and the plot is obviously pretty bizarre. But it's a short read and entertaining.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This book is quite quirky. Rose is a very strange character and the plot is obviously pretty bizarre. But it's a short read and entertaining.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
February 9, 2026
Honestly, Roxane Gay said to read this so I did because she has the best taste.
This book is hilarious, witty, and original. I loved every second and you really can't miss a sentence because each line is a joke itself. The audiobook narration is incredible, 5 stars on the portrayal of Rose. I will definitely buy a copy as I want to experience it again. This is going to be TE book I am recommending this year.
This book is hilarious, witty, and original. I loved every second and you really can't miss a sentence because each line is a joke itself. The audiobook narration is incredible, 5 stars on the portrayal of Rose. I will definitely buy a copy as I want to experience it again. This is going to be TE book I am recommending this year.
February 23, 2026
What a strange book! I've never read anything quite like it. I found the narrator so hair-pullingly frustrating--and I KNOW that's the point--but it def docked a star for me. Every time I picked the book up, I felt like I was trapped talking to a coworker I'd prefer to avoid or something.
Anyway! This is a quick little weirdo of a book, and it's worth grabbing if you're looking for something for a flight or a trip.
Anyway! This is a quick little weirdo of a book, and it's worth grabbing if you're looking for something for a flight or a trip.
February 14, 2026
Three stars mostly for the first half. After just a few pages, I thought for sure that Levine must have no children and be a devoted aunt—her depiction of auntie life at the start of the book was uncanny. I stayed with her as she dialed up the uncanny, but in the second half she seemed to abandon her protagonist, and it was pure cacophony.
January 27, 2026
a book with corgis, possession, & multiple bunion references is obviously a book i’m going to read. this was weird & funny & my well-over 30 lb corgi is offended that the author said corgis are under 30 lbs.
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