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A review by mikathereviewer
If Cats Disappeared From The World by Genki Kawamura
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Summary of my review:
Emotional and very sad read. Heavy character development and no flat characters, all heavily described and their pasts told. Relatable and thought-provoking moments and questions. Due to the thought-provoking questions the read felt a bit philosophical (but not a lot). Odd conversations (lack of emotions when protagonist tells his diagnosis or when he sees the devil and doesn't act surprised). Some things that didn't make sense like the devil saying he watches the main character, but doesn't seem to find him if he searches for him. Also a letter is given way to late, the character that gave the letter knew the diagonis of the protagonist and still gave it way later in the story. What if the main character already died at that time?
Before you read this book I must warn you: It's emotional and the title isn't a lie, so if you like animals and don't want to see a cat 'disappear', you might not pick up this book. But let me also tell you that this book IS worth reading and that it might alter your perspective on life.
Even though the story is very sad and emotional, it's also reflective. The title isn't the only thing that happens in the book, and we get bunch of other things to disappear, showing us how meaningful life is, even with the little things and how to appreciate it as the protagonist does throughout the book (strong character development). If one seeks exactly this advise/perspective to either just have an interesting read or to actually alter their own perspective, it's a must-read! Very well written and represented, showing us more and more of the past of the main character and letting us understand slowly (don't worry the book is fast-paced). Around 70% in, you also start to understand why the book title is exactly this and not any other thing that disappears. But at 70% in it gets the peak of emotional and sad too, so be aware!
There weren't many different characters actually, but we get to know them A LOT. It's not like heavy plot but flat characters. No, trust me, we get to know the characters from the time they made their first steps to the time the story is told. We get to know it all. And I love it. 'Cause honestly I hate when I see a story is supposed to be sad and also character based, and then have flat characters that doesn't give any room to empathise with them and actually feel as sad as the story is supposed to be. So as a person who likes to suffer (yeah read lots of emotional books) I can tell you, that this story focuses a lot about the characters and their development (more than plot though).
So many relatable moments and things I would see as beautiful quotes to put up somewhere. Definitely going to upload the quotes of the book soon, in case you want to see them. Anyway, the quotes are very life based and bit philosophical like when one character asked why we even name every little thing and not just a general word. For example, we got a scene with flowers.
Scene: “Why do humans give flowers names?”
“Because there are so many different kinds. Without names you wouldn’t be able to differentiate between them.”
“Just because there are different kinds doesn’t mean you have to name each and every single one. Why not just call them all flowers? Isn’t that good enough?”
There are lots of questions that are thought provoking, this one is just one of many examples. It tries to make the reader thing while reading and not just read. I really like that as that makes me more busy thinking about the book and maybe also days after I read it. Such books tend to rather leave an Impact on me than the ones that don't have such thought provoking questions.
Now we go over to the things I didn't like. Which were mainly the same but bothered me enough to reduce a full star on my review.
The conversations are odd sometimes as the characters aren't surprised when something unusual or not believable happens (like seeing the devil) or they lack emotions when the protagonist tells his diagnosis, which makes the book seem a bit unnatural. It bothered me as the book was supposed to be sad, which it was, but such conversations ruined the whole mood I was in before, while reading. Sometimes when things disappeared the protagonist didn't seem to care or not as much as I expected. Like only seeing the negatives of it for a second and then forget it again as if the thing that disappeared never existed. It only happened for 2 out of 5 things. The times that happened were also only halfway through so one could say the protagonist wasn't through his character development yet as he later on realised everything and appreciated them.
Some things that didn't make sense at all. Found only 3, but perhaps there were more. Firstly the devil tells us he watched from the sky, which makes no sense as the devil is banned from the sky originally and his home is more or less underneath the ground. Secondly, even though the devil apparently watches the protagonist he asked him where he was and that he didn't found him. Makes no sense if he allegedly watches the protagonist all the time anyways. And lastly, the letter that was given to the protagonist at the end saying it was supposed to be given when he is going through a hard time, while I just thought; His diagnosis WASN'T a hard time in his life or what? Also, what would have happened if due to the diagnosis he would have died before even gotten the letter? It made no sense for me.
Emotional and very sad read. Heavy character development and no flat characters, all heavily described and their pasts told. Relatable and thought-provoking moments and questions. Due to the thought-provoking questions the read felt a bit philosophical (but not a lot). Odd conversations (lack of emotions when protagonist tells his diagnosis or when he sees the devil and doesn't act surprised). Some things that didn't make sense like the devil saying he watches the main character, but doesn't seem to find him if he searches for him. Also a letter is given way to late, the character that gave the letter knew the diagonis of the protagonist and still gave it way later in the story. What if the main character already died at that time?
Before you read this book I must warn you: It's emotional and the title isn't a lie, so if you like animals and don't want to see a cat 'disappear', you might not pick up this book. But let me also tell you that this book IS worth reading and that it might alter your perspective on life.
Even though the story is very sad and emotional, it's also reflective. The title isn't the only thing that happens in the book, and we get bunch of other things to disappear, showing us how meaningful life is, even with the little things and how to appreciate it as the protagonist does throughout the book (strong character development). If one seeks exactly this advise/perspective to either just have an interesting read or to actually alter their own perspective, it's a must-read! Very well written and represented, showing us more and more of the past of the main character and letting us understand slowly (don't worry the book is fast-paced). Around 70% in, you also start to understand why the book title is exactly this and not any other thing that disappears. But at 70% in it gets the peak of emotional and sad too, so be aware!
There weren't many different characters actually, but we get to know them A LOT. It's not like heavy plot but flat characters. No, trust me, we get to know the characters from the time they made their first steps to the time the story is told. We get to know it all. And I love it. 'Cause honestly I hate when I see a story is supposed to be sad and also character based, and then have flat characters that doesn't give any room to empathise with them and actually feel as sad as the story is supposed to be. So as a person who likes to suffer (yeah read lots of emotional books) I can tell you, that this story focuses a lot about the characters and their development (more than plot though).
So many relatable moments and things I would see as beautiful quotes to put up somewhere. Definitely going to upload the quotes of the book soon, in case you want to see them. Anyway, the quotes are very life based and bit philosophical like when one character asked why we even name every little thing and not just a general word. For example, we got a scene with flowers.
Scene: “Why do humans give flowers names?”
“Because there are so many different kinds. Without names you wouldn’t be able to differentiate between them.”
“Just because there are different kinds doesn’t mean you have to name each and every single one. Why not just call them all flowers? Isn’t that good enough?”
There are lots of questions that are thought provoking, this one is just one of many examples. It tries to make the reader thing while reading and not just read. I really like that as that makes me more busy thinking about the book and maybe also days after I read it. Such books tend to rather leave an Impact on me than the ones that don't have such thought provoking questions.
Now we go over to the things I didn't like. Which were mainly the same but bothered me enough to reduce a full star on my review.
The conversations are odd sometimes as the characters aren't surprised when something unusual or not believable happens (like seeing the devil) or they lack emotions when the protagonist tells his diagnosis, which makes the book seem a bit unnatural. It bothered me as the book was supposed to be sad, which it was, but such conversations ruined the whole mood I was in before, while reading. Sometimes when things disappeared the protagonist didn't seem to care or not as much as I expected. Like only seeing the negatives of it for a second and then forget it again as if the thing that disappeared never existed. It only happened for 2 out of 5 things. The times that happened were also only halfway through so one could say the protagonist wasn't through his character development yet as he later on realised everything and appreciated them.
Some things that didn't make sense at all. Found only 3, but perhaps there were more. Firstly the devil tells us he watched from the sky, which makes no sense as the devil is banned from the sky originally and his home is more or less underneath the ground. Secondly, even though the devil apparently watches the protagonist he asked him where he was and that he didn't found him. Makes no sense if he allegedly watches the protagonist all the time anyways. And lastly, the letter that was given to the protagonist at the end saying it was supposed to be given when he is going through a hard time, while I just thought; His diagnosis WASN'T a hard time in his life or what? Also, what would have happened if due to the diagnosis he would have died before even gotten the letter? It made no sense for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Terminal illness and Grief