A mischievous dog named Twinkie unwittingly enters a space-time portal, landing her in the body of a 16-year-old far away in this slapstick YA space fantasy.
While chasing a squirrel, Twinkie sees and then investigates a hole at the bottom of a tree and is transported to another dimension, where she is suddenly human.
Twinkie-turned-Trixie struggles to understand what happened while adapting to using hands instead of paws, smiling instead of giving tushy wiggles, and enduring wearing clothes and taking baths. More frustrating, Trixie is promised to Prince Weibold to form a political alliance between her Kalaxian Star Empire and his Thorpian Stardom.
Trixie’s odd behavior threatens their betrothal until young Dr. Lam covers for her using his authority as a member of a powerful political group. His excessive familiarity suggests there’s something between Trixie and the doctor. Meanwhile, Trixie places her complete trust in Lady-In-Waiting Marmalade — who “reminds me of Bailey, my bestest dog friend” — with disastrous consequences.
Other young ladies of the court—along with a sentient computer navigation system—eventually become ‘the pack” Trixie longs for from her dog days; their pages of gossipy girl-chat read like a John Scalzi novel on estrogen. As the political intrigue builds, they make harrowing escapes, avoid enemies and fight a misogynistic system.
Sometimes, the story goes overboard with too many puns. Silliness bordering on childishness surfaces when Trixie reverts to doggie behaviors like butt sniffing and face licking; those scenes are more Captain Underpants than young adult. The odd mix of “the pack,” with 28-year-old Marmalade being 12 years older than Trixie, is awkward and unrealistic. And references to a singer named Tayson Kwik and Kwikie fans feel like a cheap Taylor Swift knock off.
Horn’s narrative is otherwise engaging and polished, with surprising twists and turns. He knows his sci-fi tropes well, and ends with a compelling cliffhanger, setting readers up for another romp across the galaxy with Trixie, the dog-turned-princess.