Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

80 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.

babsbee's review

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

I didn't know it was possible to cry from beginning to end while reading a book but this book succeeded in that task. Still, even with the crying, it's a beautiful, heart-felt book and there are moments in the book

the chapter where Satoru and Nana take their trip to Sapporo together and travel slowly through Hokkaido is so beautiful that I felt as though as I waws there

that show such beauty that I felt was there. I recommend reading this with a cat (or even a dog) curled up on your lap to help you get through it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Terminal illness

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

ollie_again's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, Terminal illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage

evfav's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Abandonment

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

mollyb13's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

4.0

A really sweet book about a man and his cat. The audiobook voice threw me off at first because I wasn't expecting the cat's POV to be a very proper British man... But it eventually grew on me. I loved how the book explored just how important and special an animal-human bond can be. But have tissues ready because it is definitely a tear-jerker.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Terminal illness

Moderate: Death of parent and Death

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

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

dariarp's review

emotional funny lighthearted 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Infertility, Miscarriage, Animal death, Medical content, Cancer, Death of parent, Death, and Terminal illness