Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa

86 reviews

alinantali's review against another edition

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inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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kathis_wonderland's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The Cat Who Saved Books from Sosuke Natsukawa is an adventurous story about Rintaro and a speaking cat. After Rintaro's grandfather died, a speaking cat appears in his bookshop. The cat encourages Rintaro to help save books from the hands of people who mistreat them. Together they go on a few adventures.

This book was completely different to what I expected. I expected the main character to be a cat. But Tiger was a side character. And not even a lovable one, but rather cold-hearted. I loved how books were praised and how Rintaro tried to explain how important they are to people. This was really heart-warming. The book had some really awesome quotes.

The adventures to save books were not as intriguing as I expected. It just took some talking to the bad guys. All missions kind of repeated themselves and they were very lengthy. Every chapter was one mission. I personally don't like such long chapters. I always get the feeling that I will never ever finish any of the book when chapters are so long. And I hate stopping in the middle of a chapter.

I have a really hard time rating this book. On one hand, I enjoyed the story and liked the concept. On the other hand, it was not really my cup of tea. I expected something different. However, it was a new experience and I liked the cultural aspect of the book as well. I reflected on my love for books as well. 

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kk_bonton's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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laurataylor's review

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adventurous reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5


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librariangeorgia's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Considering I’m not a fan of translated works, I really enjoyed this one. 
 
When I found that the whole book consisted of 4 chapters, I was actually dreading reading it because I thought it would take me ages to get through each chapter. However, I breezed through it. The storytelling was really interesting and kept me gripped. 
 
Admittedly, I wouldn’t say it was the cat that saved books but rather the boy but details details. 

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foxo_cube's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

"The Cat Who Saved Books" is sweet and simple, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

It's a book about loving books, and about loving books in their entirety - it urges the reader strongly to remember the importance of taking the time to read and enjoy books. Maybe it could come off as heavy-handed, but, as someone who grew up reading everything and came from a family who also read everything, it resonated with me, at the very least. Rintaro's outrage that someone could see no worth in re-reading a book particularly spoke to me!

The characters could be more fleshed out, but they're likeable. Tiger's an adorable mentor figure. The friendship and flirtation between Rintaro and Sayo is sweet and progresses fairly naturally. Rintaro's rediscovery of his will to live is really nice to follow, and I kind of like that he's happy to be a weird little hikikomori - he just goes from being a depressed one to a happy one. It's also a nice touch that his grief doesn't seem to lessen so much as it morphs from a sad wallowing into a positive motivator. Although, like I said, the book is simple, it feels like a lot of what's there is very deliberately and carefully put together. 

I feel as though the story would lend itself well to animation, both due to its structure and its labyrinths each having their uncanny little quirks. I can hope! 

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kaitsarago's review

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hopeful lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? N/A

3.0

Really cute magical book about a high school aged boy and an orange cat who saves books! I like the journey the main character went on as he grew more confident in speaking up and comfortable with his interests.

I didn't agree with much of the wisdom nuggets throughout the book. For a book about helping books and readers alike, it also condemned some forms of reading (like easy reads).

Listened as an audiobook. The narrator is calm and measured!

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padawan17's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25


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typedtruths's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0


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cassielaj's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I adore this book, and I know it will be one I go back to again and again. It’s a sweet, emotional story full of mystery, compassion, and truth about books and the people who love them. Everyone could learn something valuable from this story. 

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