A cute idea for a novel but ultimately, I think it would have been better suited as a short story, one short story... much shorter. There was not enough content to hold up a 300 page book so it made the narrative droll and clunky in each section

This is a strange little book. It is a collection of stories that are connected by a cat.
This book is compelling and exquisite
This book is well written and multi layered.

I really enjoyed The Cat and The City. Essentially it is a collection of short stories which follow different characters in Tokyo. I loved that the stories were connected by a calico cat (yay cats) and I loved the portrayal of Tokyo as well- the city was a character in itself.

I did find the book a bit darker than I was expecting (for example including the Yakuza), but that's absolutely not a negative. It was a great novel!

Well this was a quirky read. This was a very vibrant and intriguing story. I love the Japan setting too, especially as I haven’t been able to travel for such a long time. It does have sexual content. It’s a very multilayered book that will captivate its reader.

I honestly did not enjoy this book at all. I didn't realise what the topics of these short stories would be, so that came as a bit of a shock. There was a lot more uncomfortable reading in this short book than I thought there would be. Lots of sexual references, and violence which wasn't made clear in the description.

I loved this twisting, interconnected tale of individual struggles in a big city. There was a modern fairy-tale feel about the narrative, with the cat subtly linking all the parts of the story together, in a slightly aloof cat-like way! A book I think many would return to, as each read would uncover new things you hadn't noticed before.

I didn't enjoy this book at all. Usually books set in Japan are an easy read for me, and an automatic purchase, but for some reason I just couldn't get on with this one. The writing seemed to lack something, and I felt I was too focused on finding that something rather than enjoying the stories.

DNF @ 30%. I really struggled to get into the groove with this title and realised I was avoiding picking it up. I decided in the end to DNF, as this is the second time this has happened to me with the same title. However, I may return to it at some point as it does really interest me as a concept. I've left a neutral star rating as I don't have strong negative feelings about the title and there is no definitive reason for my DNF.

CW: graphic depictions of violence.

This is a refreshingly original collection of stories, linked by a cat, an unusual girl and the multifaceted city of Tokyo. There's a magical thread running through this which reflects the many faces of Japan's first city. Each story explores a character's life. The character connections are many but not always obvious, the cat's sinuous movement mirroring the character connections. Different characters, moods, echelons of society and writing styles combine to deliver an entertaining, original and poignant book.

I received a copy of this book from Atlantic books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A versatile, poetic, and layered story with very interesting characters, the neko swirling its way through all their lives, revealing their humanity.

The Cat and the City by Nick Bradley is a series of vignettes set in Tokyo which intersect in various ways. It was an interesting read, but ultimately disappointing as the first chapter far exceeded the rest of the novel.

Throughout the book distasteful moments are plentiful, and one of the most shocking is a scene of abrupt animal abuse. There are also lots of references to Japanese men being sex obsessed or perverts which is not helpful as the author normalises this behaviour rather than confronts it. Alongside this there are scenes with women being groped and drugged to be ‘slept next to’. It seems that Bradley may have intended to deliver an exposé on the undercurrents of Tokyo but didn’t quite understand how to.

Consequently, this book reads very much like a Westerner wrote it and was desperately trying to produce a piece of literary fiction. The text itself is poorly structured and the exploration of narrative form came far too late for it to make sense, the only one that truly worked was the translated work. The rest were jarring. Had alternative forms been better integrated, they would have been welcomed, particularly the manga.

A final point of frustration is that the cat motif only loosely holds the work. The blurb suggests that the cat is to play a pivotal role within the novel, and this is not the case. The cover is equally misleading in this sense and indicates a charming tale whilst Bradley presents Tokyo as desolate and inhospitable.

Nick Bradley’s Tokyo is an enormous and vivid tapestry, with each thread revealing the life of a person who has lived and worked there, who has shed tears and blood for Tokyo, who struggled through their darkest days and celebrated their greatest victories in Japan’s great metropolis. The Cat and the City offers us its hand and, if we dare to take it, we are led like Alice through this wonderland of a concrete jungle. Along the way we will ride in taxis along neon-soaked streets, sit in okonomiyaki joints listening to the ramblings of drunken old men, and sing karaoke with young lovebirds. Tokyo opens its heart to us in this collection of cleverly interwoven stories, and what we find when we venture inside is so much joy, misery, pain, beauty, everything. Everything.

It could be argued that The Cat and the City is a short story collection; to a point, each story can stand alone as a self-isolated tale with a single protagonist and a life event. But the links between these tales strengthen as the pages turn. Get a few stories deep and you’ll find a minor character from earlier in the book stand centre stage in their own story, and a major protagonist from earlier passing by in a later story like a cold breeze – here for a moment and then gone again. And while their appearance may be brief, it is vital. This is the book’s greatest strength: Bradley’s ability to choreograph the lives of these seemingly disconnected people in order to make them dance together so beautifully. All in service to a love letter he has written to the city of Tokyo and its people. That’s what The Cat and the City is: a declaration of love and admiration for the countless individuals who, through doing their jobs, laughing together, and suffering alone, form this captivating and unique city.

Full review: https://booksandbao.com/review-the-cat-and-the-city-nick-bradley/

I cannot believe this is the first book or a non-Japanese author who writes so eloquently about Japan! This collection of stories is a treasure chest of precious narratives. It's a book written with so much love for its subject! You can feel it.

I loved the many connections, the tapestry of characters throughout the book. The smallness of the world and our connections to each other never cease to amaze me. I enjoyed every single page, although my favourite character was Flo.

With many many thanks to @NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.

The Cat and the City by Nick Bradley is a series of interconnecting short stories that are set in Tokyo in 2020, when the city is getting ready for the Olympics. 

Yes, sadly the Olympics have been moved to 2021 due to the pandemic, and I'm sure this isn't going to be the first book that was set in 2020 before Coronavirus happened!

Anyway, these interconnected short stories have the same characters woven through them, along with a calico cat.  There are stories of a young woman who wants a map of Tokyo tattooed on her back, and the traditional Japanese tattooist who does it.  The story of a taxi driver.  The story of a young boy who is being bullied at school and a man who can't leave his apartment.

I think the best description would be fiction with light fantastical elements in places.  The stories end before you fully know the consequences or outcome, but then you might catch glimpses in later stories. 

The stories were well thought out, and so is the interweaving of characters, and further hints about their lives.  There were some words that I needed to look up, things like Tokyo on Google Maps that I looked at, but all in all, you won't find yourself too lost, except in enjoyment!

This book reminded me of  Before The Coffee Gets Cold , which I also really liked!

 The Cat and the City  is out now, and you can order it from  Amazon ,  Waterstones , or your local independent bookshop.

You can follow Nick Bradley on his  website,  on  Twitter  or on  Instagram . 

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Atlantic Books .

I cannot give a full review on this book as I was taken ill & when I was able to use my Laptop again the Book I wanted to finish had been archived , but I will be looking out for it to read fully once it is published next month.

I was really intrigued when I read the premise behind this book - a collection of diverse stories and characters linked together by a stray cat making its way around Tokyo - and I was not disappointed! I love novels and films with interconnecting stories - (I recommend Cloud Atlas (book), Babel (film) and Amores Perros (film) to others who like this kind of thing too.)

The Eastern setting makes for a colourful canvas and the sights, sounds, and smells are brought to life by a very talented author in what is, impressively, only his debut novel. Can't wait to read more from Nick Bradley!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Do not be fooled by the light-hearted cover - this novel reveals the dark side of contemporary Japan. It's politically sharp, fearless exposing issues of sexism, poverty and racism.
As I love Tokyo and cats, I knew I'd enjoy this book, but it took me by surprise and kept me thinking about the underside of city life. The interconnected stories of diverse characters were at times delicately beautiful and gut-punching at others - amazing. It doesn't shy away from violent and sexual content, so if that's not your tipple, i wouldn't recommend it.

Synopsis: In Tokyo one of the world's largest megacities a stray cat is wending her way through the back alleys. And with each detour, she brushes up against the seemingly disparate lives of the city dwellers, connecting them in unexpected ways.
I loved and adored everything about this book 😻
We are in Toyko in the run up to the Olympics in 2020 (which of course have now been postponed) and are gifted a whole host of interlinked short stories. I loved the same characters popping up in different stories and figuring out how it worked together. The main thread running through the whole book is a beautiful young woman with piercing green eyes and a tattoo of the city across her whole back and a Calico cat that pops up throughout the city.
The stories I particularly loved were Fallen Words, Copy Cat and Hikikomori, Futoko and Neko.
I loved reading about a different culture and really got a feeling for the city. I could read this book again and again. There were so many more stories to be told. This felt like the tip of the iceberg.

Initially a series of short stories, or vignettes, of the streets of Tokyo and those that walk (or drive) them, The Cat and the City slowly comes together to make a coherent whole: an ode to Japan from one who clearly loves the country, but also looks at it through an outsider’s eyes and doesn’t fail to see its oddities and blemishes alongside its more endearing features.

Therefore, we see poetry and kindness, art and affection, but also porn, shame, guilt, violence, jealousy and regret. There are different formats used to break up the individual snapshots into distinct styles – a story within the story, case notes, a manga strip – and some connecting motifs that run through the content: the titular cat; a pair of green eyes; a girl with a tattoo; the city itself, as almost a character in its own right.

In addition to the symbolic connections and setting of each segment, there are other connective threads tying the disparate stories together, which the alert reader will enjoy spotting as they go along. Some of the characters are lovers, relatives, friends or colleagues, whilst others merely pass each other in the streets, or share the space of a cafe, bar or taxi ride. These chance encounters and fateful crossings knit the narrative together, from snapshots of a city and culture, into an immerse virtual tour of the same; the reader walks the streets of Tokyo along with that elusive, mysterious cat, and sees the beauty despite/because of/in contrast to those seedier elements that form part of any big city (and cannot be cleared no matter how many ‘clean street’ initiatives come and go).

This book is ideal for anyone looking for a taste of Tokyo life, from an insider – and outsider – perspective, and who likes stories that are stylistically artful, but rawly honest in content.



It had been the cat that first led Ohashi to the empty hotel ten months ago, when he’d been lost in the city, looking for somewhere to sleep. Ohashi had been shivering under a bridge on a freezing night when the little cat had licked him on the hand, looked him in the eye and then walked on a few paces before stopping to wait for the old man to follow. The hotel had closed many years ago, and no one had bothered with it since. Another victim of the burst bubble economy – too much supply and not enough demand. If he’d told the story to anyone, they wouldn’t have believed him, but the cat had saved his life.

– Nick Bradley, The Cat and the City


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

For me it isn't a Japanese novel unless there is a cat (although I've not read a huge amount of Japanese fiction, everything so far features at least one feline) so this should feel very typical of the genre. The reason it doesn't quite do that must be because I am aware that the author is not Japanese himself. He knows a lot about Japan, its society and the cats in its fiction though and maybe it feels more honest that I can see that but know he isn't a native to the country.

I enjoyed the interlinked stories (which twines around your mind like a cat aware that you have a tin-opener in your hand) following a cat and the people her life touches in a Japan preparing for the Tokyo Olympics. The people are varied - in age and in lifestyle - but we begin to see the links between them. Some are newly forged and others are older links which have been broken and desparately need repairing. The sorrow of these stories is gradually transformed, not into necessarily happy endings, but into the possibilities of a better future.