Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

29 reviews

imaginaryalchemist's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I love, love, love this book! It’s such a beautiful, sweet story about the bond between a man and his beloved cat. Most of the story is told through the perspective of the cat, Nana, as he and his owner Satoru travel together. 

I loved Satoru as a character, he’s so kind, warm, and compassionate despite the tragic things that have happened to him. He never let it turn him bitter. He has a good heart. Everyone should try to be a bit more like him. As a fellow cat lover I felt like we were kindred spirits. 

The ending absolutely broke me.

Towards the end of the story, it’s hinted that something is wrong with Satoru. It turns out he is dying from an unnamed illness, possibly cancer, that is causing tumors throughout his body. It’s always so heartbreaking when bad things happen to such good people. 

When he was dying and Nana ran to him I broke down and sobbed like a baby. I’ve loved and lost many cats over the years, and that bond is so precious. So many people think cats are aloof and don’t care but they are capable of so much love.

I highly recommend The Travelling Cat Chronicles to anyone who has ever loved a cat! I look forward to reading Hiro Arikawa’s other novel The Goodbye Cat. It has also made me want to read more Japanese novels!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Child abuse, Terminal illness, and Car accident

The story starts with Nana getting hit by a car and seriously injured. He does recover fully though. When Satoru is twelve years old, his parents are killed in a car accident. It is mentioned that his childhood cat, Hachi, was hit and killed by a car. It’s also revealed that he was severely neglected and abused as a baby, and his parents were actually his adoptive parents. It doesn’t go into graphic detail it is still upsetting. The ending goes into Satoru’s terminal illness and eventual death, which again while not graphic it is very upsetting.

gracie_reads_everything's review

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Death, and Terminal illness

Minor: Grief, Infertility, Child abuse, Medical content, Animal death, Death of parent, and Physical abuse

xgabrielle_hx's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness and Cancer

Moderate: Death, Medical content, and Death of parent

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Alcohol, and Blood

hello_lovely13's review

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This absolutely nailed the narration style and voice of a cat. It was so spot on that whenever we were in Nana's perspective, the effect was humorous, sardonic, and bluntly insightful. Each of the people that we visit throughout the book has interesting stories, but I wasn't overly attached to any of them. They were definitely well done and enjoyable as well as good at ultimately portraying their intended message. I definitely got teary-eyed at few points, but what I think about when I think of this book is Nana's perspective and how that was written. Although we never directly got the perspective of Satoru, but through each of the different perspectives, we get a very good view of this willfully optimistic friend, even through all the tragedies in his life. I enjoyed this, and it definitely had an impact on me, but not so much that I am obsessed with it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Death, and Cancer

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Abandonment

lanika's review

emotional funny inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Cancer

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, and Car accident

plume_de_renarde's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Terminal illness

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, and Animal death

Minor: Abandonment and Child abuse

bramblelegs's review

adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective sad medium-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

4.5

This book made me laugh and cry and utterly fall in love with Nana and all his adventures with Satoru.

I will admit that at some point it started to feel like it was just meant to get worse and worse for our main character. Everything possible that was bad, happened to him. But I can appreciate the love between a pet and it's owner. I loved the depth of their friendship. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Cancer, and Death

Minor: Child abuse

hollylol's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death and Cancer

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Grief, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Alcohol, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Infertility

erinn93's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Cancer

Minor: Abandonment and Child abuse

eddiroll's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Death of parent, Child abuse, Car accident, and Animal death