Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
I was sent this by the publisher and had no idea what to expect. I thought it was fiction and very quickly realised that it is not.
Personally not a cat lover (or hater, I have no problem with cats!) so I feel like I wasn’t the right person for this book.
There was nothing cute or endearing about this. It just seemed to be quite detailed descriptions of the cat’s decline. There were enough little anecdotes sprinkled in to keep you reading but overall I found it quite garish.
Personally not a cat lover (or hater, I have no problem with cats!) so I feel like I wasn’t the right person for this book.
There was nothing cute or endearing about this. It just seemed to be quite detailed descriptions of the cat’s decline. There were enough little anecdotes sprinkled in to keep you reading but overall I found it quite garish.
dark
sad
medium-paced
Oof. This was one of my most highly anticipated books of 2024 and did it ever let me down.
Heavy content advisory for pet cruelty, pet illness, pet death, and posthumous observations.
At first, I found the writing style gentle and beautifully descriptive. I felt like I was experiencing the spring season in Fuchu, and the descriptions of the places were wonderful. I also liked the poems that concluded many of the chapters. Sadly, my enjoyment didn’t last long: the author subverts this beauty by using her skill at descriptive language cruelly.
This book isn’t the beautiful reflection on pet ownership that it’s billed as. It’s bleak and upsetting and almost devoid of emotion and warmth (no, writer, constantly saying you were sobbing isn't enough to convey emotion). It’s mostly about a self-absorbed woman (who has no business having a pet) whining about her life while self-destructing with the cat as a passenger (that’s sometimes at the sharp end of the author’s cruelty). While it was sad to watch the author unravel, it was tricky to empathize with someone so hellbent on self-destruction. This was compounded by her cruelty to Mii: not spaying her or taking her for routine vet care, transporting her to the ER vet in a paper bag, leaving her scared when she’d climbed too high because the author enjoyed the sound of the cat screaming, locking her in a cupboard, finding a fatal intestinal blockage “funny”, taking a dying, change-averse cat on vacation, even the cruelty in keeping such a sickly pet alive as her health began to dramatically fail. The absence of any reflection, development, or self-awareness about this underscored how unfit she was to care for a cat. Mii deserved a more dignified death than the author allowed her to die slowly and painfully over a two-week period. There’s no need to tell us in excruciating detail about the cremation how Mii’s posthumous body looked. It’s obvious that the author isn’t an animal lover and I can’t honestly recommend this to people who are. The upsetting parts of this 20-year relationship are the focal point: Mii’s emergency surgery, Mii getting lost, Mii’s death. I mean, around 35% of this book is the cat’s health failing and her death. We aren’t shown any sort of connection, love, or warmth between the MC and the cat.
The author is a skilled writer but not only is this not a good showcase of her talent, it also paints her as a bit of a villain.
Anyone who has loved and lost a pet does not need to put themselves through the trauma of this book. I’m deeply worried that this was translated ten years after it was published because healing cat fiction is making waves in the English-speaking readership at the moment. <b>Don’t make the same mistake I did based on the sweet cover design and blurb: this is a bleak, upsetting story that contains subject matter that animal lovers and guardians might find distressing.</b>
Technical things that bugged me:
➜ We’re told Mii is a calico. While the illustrations are beautiful, why aren’t they calico cats?
➜ Original Japanese title appears to be “Mornings Without Mii”. The French translation of this book is called “20 ans avec mon chat” (20 years with my cat). I have no idea why English language publishers changed it but it but the original title is so much more fitting: this is a book that mostly talks about pet health declination and death. Also, “Mornings with my Cat Mii” sounds so juvenile.
➜ Britishisms and modern slang in the translation. This book takes place in the 70s-90s in Japan but we’ve got boop, paw beans (I think they mean <I>toe beans</I>), blep, etc. I also find Britishisms jarring in translated works and dampen the authenticity of the work for English speakers outside England.
I was privileged to have my request to read this book accepted by Random House UK, Vintage through NetGalley.
Heavy content advisory for pet cruelty, pet illness, pet death, and posthumous observations.
At first, I found the writing style gentle and beautifully descriptive. I felt like I was experiencing the spring season in Fuchu, and the descriptions of the places were wonderful. I also liked the poems that concluded many of the chapters. Sadly, my enjoyment didn’t last long: the author subverts this beauty by using her skill at descriptive language cruelly.
This book isn’t the beautiful reflection on pet ownership that it’s billed as. It’s bleak and upsetting and almost devoid of emotion and warmth (no, writer, constantly saying you were sobbing isn't enough to convey emotion). It’s mostly about a self-absorbed woman (who has no business having a pet) whining about her life while self-destructing with the cat as a passenger (that’s sometimes at the sharp end of the author’s cruelty). While it was sad to watch the author unravel, it was tricky to empathize with someone so hellbent on self-destruction. This was compounded by her cruelty to Mii: not spaying her or taking her for routine vet care, transporting her to the ER vet in a paper bag, leaving her scared when she’d climbed too high because the author enjoyed the sound of the cat screaming, locking her in a cupboard, finding a fatal intestinal blockage “funny”, taking a dying, change-averse cat on vacation, even the cruelty in keeping such a sickly pet alive as her health began to dramatically fail. The absence of any reflection, development, or self-awareness about this underscored how unfit she was to care for a cat. Mii deserved a more dignified death than the author allowed her to die slowly and painfully over a two-week period. There’s no need to tell us in excruciating detail about the cremation how Mii’s posthumous body looked. It’s obvious that the author isn’t an animal lover and I can’t honestly recommend this to people who are. The upsetting parts of this 20-year relationship are the focal point: Mii’s emergency surgery, Mii getting lost, Mii’s death. I mean, around 35% of this book is the cat’s health failing and her death. We aren’t shown any sort of connection, love, or warmth between the MC and the cat.
The author is a skilled writer but not only is this not a good showcase of her talent, it also paints her as a bit of a villain.
Anyone who has loved and lost a pet does not need to put themselves through the trauma of this book. I’m deeply worried that this was translated ten years after it was published because healing cat fiction is making waves in the English-speaking readership at the moment. <b>Don’t make the same mistake I did based on the sweet cover design and blurb: this is a bleak, upsetting story that contains subject matter that animal lovers and guardians might find distressing.</b>
Technical things that bugged me:
➜ We’re told Mii is a calico. While the illustrations are beautiful, why aren’t they calico cats?
➜ Original Japanese title appears to be “Mornings Without Mii”. The French translation of this book is called “20 ans avec mon chat” (20 years with my cat). I have no idea why English language publishers changed it but it but the original title is so much more fitting: this is a book that mostly talks about pet health declination and death. Also, “Mornings with my Cat Mii” sounds so juvenile.
➜ Britishisms and modern slang in the translation. This book takes place in the 70s-90s in Japan but we’ve got boop, paw beans (I think they mean <I>toe beans</I>), blep, etc. I also find Britishisms jarring in translated works and dampen the authenticity of the work for English speakers outside England.
I was privileged to have my request to read this book accepted by Random House UK, Vintage through NetGalley.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
It was the end of summer, 1977. I found a cat, a little ball of fluff. A teeny tiny baby kitten.
Mornings With My Cat Mii follows the 20 years of Mayumi and Mii’s life with its ups and downs. Beautifully written, a little bit under 200 pages takes you to a journey all cat owners can relate. Now I just wish my cats will live 20 years as well.
Safe to say, I loved this!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death