A review by cassie7e
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa

hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.5

As a book and cat lover, this story rubbed me the wrong way. I loved the premise of a cat magically helping a boy save books at risk, and the plot beats were entertaining and moved swiftly, which I appreciated. 

"Books have souls. [...] A cherished book will always have a soul. It will come to its reader's aid in times of crisis." I wish we'd spent more time exploring this instead of complaining about how no one reads anymore, or at least doesn't read the right books. "I rarely find a book with a soul nowadays" sums up this book's perspective, which to me is insulting to modern writers and condescending to readers who aren't into classics. I'm not going to pretend all books published deserve it or that profitability and capitalism don't affect quality. But this book is pervaded with a pretensious sense of superiority for old books, as if all new ones are worthlessly modern mass market trash. I felt this overshadowed the message of loving books and sharing that love with new readers.

Beyond that, the writing felt strange. Perhaps the prose feeling stilted is an artefact of translation and it sounds better in the original, I don't know. The dialogue feels disconnected and trite. Emotions are outsized - characters react surprised and shocked to each other for normal interactions, as if everything everyone else does is out of character. The messaging is preachy, obvious, and full of unearned sentimentality. These two things likely stem from the shortness of the book - it tells us about what changes instead of actually developing it. So characters grow easily and those around them act like that easy change was unexpected and astonishing.

And Saiyo so often doesnt feel present at all even when she physically is supposed to be. She only speaks when it's to offer morale boosting or criticism to Rintaro. A shame because I really liked her and thought she'd get to use her strengths as a participant in the labyrinths too, not just patiently bolster Rintaro in using his!