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hollylol's review
- 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
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
happylilfaerie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Miscarriage, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Car accident, Cancer, Animal death, and Abandonment
anovelbeauty's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Oh man, I had a good feeling when I first picked this book up and I was NOT disappointed. This book did multiple things I usually don’t like in a way that I somehow loved??? Sentient animal narrators are historically not a thing I like, however this is done so well and realistically (it felt like an actual cat doing cat things rather than a cat doing human things.... yes, I am looking at you Hank the Cowdog) that I just- connected SO HARD. Also, there’s POV switches between first and third person. Nana the cat is in First and then we sometimes get omniscient third person that talks about the people in Satoru’s life. Theoretically I should hate it. I didn’t. This story is beautifully written and so immersive. There’s friendship and road tripping and just the absolute sweetest moments (and some great laugh out loud sarcasm from Nana). It’s so beautiful that I wish my Japanese was better so I could read it in the original language too.
Okay, let’s talk about the ending now (non-spoilery). It broke me. I sobbed straight through the last four chapters. It went from heartbreaking to bittersweet to heartwarming again. You’ll probably see the ending coming a million miles away. It’s not really a secret. But that didn’t in any way diminish the impact of the ending. It took the book from amazing to incredible. I think it will stick with me for years. Not only that, but you only fully start to see Nana’s character growth towards the end. Before that it’s subtle hints towards growth, but at the end, it will just hit you.
Satoru is a static character in a good way. His purpose in the story is to show how he has effected the people (and cats) around him and he accomplishes that purpose so well. You don’t see traditional “growth” in Satoru because he is on a different sort of journey to the others in the book. He’s so sweet and kind and very, very precious.
The /only/ negative I can possibly say about this book is that sometimes the formatting between dialogue, thought, and action was confusing, particularly in Nana’s perspective. So I occasionally had to reread some sections because I thought it was speech when it was actually thought (or vice versa).
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It’s relatively short and SO sweet. It is something I can absolutely see rereading and next time I’ll prepare tissues. Just, it’s a gorgeous book that has ALL the heart.
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Death of parent, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Medical content, and Emotional abuse
folded_between_pages_of_books's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Animal death, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Medical content