“I recalled the rainy day when I’d rescued Chobi - or so I’d arrogantly believed at the time. Actually, I was the one who’d been rescued”

She and Her Cat is such a touching book of four short stories with connected characters. Touching on themes of isolation, grief and the limits of communication. This novel switches narration between the cats and the cat owners in such a clever way.

I might be biased as a cat lover/owner, but the cat narrations were the most interesting to me. In the same vein as The Travelling Cat Chronicles - I really enjoyed seeing the (fictional) inner workings of the feline brain!

As a reader of Sayaka Murata, Ginny Tapley Takemori does such a great job at translating. Her translations are concise, succinct but full of emotion and whimsical language.

Naruki Nagakawa’s illustrations at the beginning of each story were so well done, so I’m happy that this novel has led me to find such a talented illustrator!

I am also keen to read the manga of She and Her Cat now!

Some stories were better than others, the first three were more gripping than the fourth one. I think I just didn’t enjoy the character of Jon.

The third story “Slumber and Sky” was my favourite. Having experienced (and still experiencing) the grief that accompanies the loss of a best friend, I found this story really relatable, heart warming and heartbreaking! Cats really are magical creatures, who at the least minimise our grief, sadness, feelings of isolation and uncertainty, if not completely eradicate it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers Random House UK, Transworld for receiving an ARC for an honest review.

A bestseller in Japan, these interlinking stories grew out of director Makoto Shinkai’s first short anime, which became a television series and a popular manga. Set in a residential neighbourhood in Tokyo, each piece moves between the perspective of a cat and their human: a lonely office worker and the stray cat she decides to adopt; an aspiring artist who slowly bonds with a discarded local cat; a grief-stricken girl brought back to life by an inquisitive kitten; and an isolated woman who coaxes a feral cat into her home.

Despite some annoyingly sentimental passages - particularly the sections featuring Jon an aging dog who dispenses homespun wisdom to the surrounding cat community – these are incredibly charming. In these wistful, atmospheric, slice-of-life stories, the cats are definitely the stand-out characters, particularly Mimi, the diffident but feisty stray, who gradually bonds with painter Reina. Each chapter’s introduced by an arresting black-and-white drawing, and the collection’s smoothly translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.

This is a short, easy read. I would like to see the version that's done as a manga/graphic novel, as I think it would work very well in that format. I'm not a huge cat lover - I much prefer dogs - but I enjoyed the light touch of this book. It does have multiple viewpoints (both humans and cats and a dog!) which can sometimes feel a little bit confusing. But I liked the different characters, and I enjoyed the fact that the different narrative threads were tied together.

I loved this book. As a cat lover it instantly appealed but also because of the author Makoto Shinkai (新海 誠, Shinkai Makoto). I only really know him through his Anime like "Your Name" and the short this was based on. This is a novel and not to be confused with the graphic novel of the same title.
The story is so great and really pulls you into the lives of all those involved. It goes so much further than previous incarnations of the story and introduces a lot of characters all of which are intriguing and have their own special place in the story.
This is a short book but one I thoroughly recommend for lovers of cats and anime.

A sweet novella about community and the importance of connections. I really enjoyed this book, and loved how the pet cats were the threads that bound everyone together - very clever!
Recommend to animal lovers for a short, uplifting read.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Netgalley for letting me read this heartwarming novel.

As a cat lover the combination between tittle and cover grabbed my attention instanly. The author and translator are both big names actually but because this is my first read from them I feel so excited. My first opinion is this book will give you same heartwarming and inspiring short fragments of life as Chicken Soup Pets type of book. The narrate is light but rich with various perspective from early life as adult.

Various perspectives and constantly switches between four humans and four cats who save them. This will confusing for readers whom not comfortable with multiple pov. This book give me deeper theme about anxiety and emotional crises. Most of all I really appreciate that this book teach me to find magical moment in daily normal life.

'A shooting star flashed in the distance and she thought of making a wish, but realised there was nothing left to hope for.' She and her Cat is punctuated with such moments, suspended between total fulfilment and utter desolation. The novel's protagonists are cats, humans, and a dog. Their lives intertwine in a single story seen from different sides. The chapters mark changes in perspective, slowly drawn into alignment.
Without Makoto Shinkai's (新海 誠) unwavering commitment, the whole thing could be mawkish. I mean talking cats and ambiguous relationships, owner, lover, mother, master, pet and confidant—' She touched me with her fingers and I shuddered with the weight of her sadness.'
Shinkai substitutes a conventional narrative arc for a sequence of incidents that amass to give a sense of place and open the emotional life of its characters, refusing to differentiate between people and animals. The novel has the magical simplicity of a story written by a child but with the maturity of hindsight. As one of the characters notes, things that happen today affect us as adults because we didn't process these sorts of experiences properly when we were at school.
If you read this book, you will wonder why the world seems so complicated when honest truths are so simple.

Bring a cat lover I was keen to read this book. It was an ok read. Thanks for the opportunity to read & review this book.