This was so much more complex than I expected from a story about a cat becoming a human. I did enjoy much of the story and getting to know all of the characters, but at about 60% I found myself being frustrated with the repetitive nature of Austin's thoughts, feelings, and actions.

“Humans crashed into each other. They made tragedies and homes out of each other...He’d stumbled into the war humans waged with their hearts. “
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What if you had always observed humans? From afar as a giant tiger, as you stalked the ruins of ancient temples in the Indian jungle? Closer, as you were bought, sold, and trained as a circus lion? Or closest still, growing up with a young woman as her treasured pet? What if one day you woke up as a human? .
Taulor absrton’s book The Ninth Life follows Caesar’s soul, which has always been alive as a feline, as he lives his “ninth” and final life as a human, thrust into a world he thought he understood. He wakes up as Austin, a young man who has already been living for 17 years. He makes mistakes in his relationships, he fumbles through various jobs, and tries to make his way back to the love of his life, his last owner, Ophelia. The flashbacks to his past lives were really beautiful. My only critique is that I felt one of the romances had one too many rebounds and felt repetitive, but overall this book had just enough fantasy and plenty of heart ❤️ This comes out September 15, 2020.
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What an amazing title! The characters were so relatable. The story held my attention the whole time. The plot points were well written. Loved this book so much!!!! A strong 5/5 ⭐️!

This was such a fun read! A little bit sci-fi a little bit romance and a lot a bit queer, there's something for everyone to love.

this book was very strange. i don't know if i liked it or not. it was very uncomfortable reading about how much austin wanted to be with ophelia while still remembering when he was her cat. i just kept thinking "oh god this girl's gonna fuck her cat and not even know it" which was creepy as hell.

when i did forget that austin used to be a cat, i really enjoyed the story. i especially liked the drama and angst with cooper. but then - again - i'd remember austin was a cat and feel really bad for cooper.

So. There is way too much going on here. And you might be forgiven for thinking that the concept - ie, the main character being a cat that's reincarnated into a human - is part of that "too much," but actually no: the conceit of cat-as-human barely plays into the story at all, aside from the main character occasionally reminiscing about Cambodia and Nepal and also being conveniently confused about concepts like FaceTime (while also somehow figuring out instagram and texting right away?). It was honestly jarring how little Austin's past lives seemed to matter; we were only told that they mattered, and that, as it happens, is the second major problem with this book.

Dysfunctional relationships, figuring out your sexuality, grief, the question of whether you can ever really have a casual romantic relationship are but a few of the topics that the reader is talked at about. And it really does feel like that: being talked at. And I could excuse that, honestly, since this is a book for younger readers and maybe the author feels like there needs to be a space for a teachable moment or whatever, but it often felt like the writing was just spinning its wheels, treading and retreading over the same lines time and again, and devolving into generalized exposition at every possible opportunity. And the issue with all this generalized (and often very prettily written) exposition was that it was at odds with what was actually being presented in the plot. The best example of this is actually the character of Ophelia herself. We are told and told and told that she is ferocity incarnate and the ocean and literally everything but...pretty much all she does is text and occasionally deliver a one-liner. (And she doesn't even once mention that her cat just died!) It's fine to wax poetic now and then (especially if it's about the main character's main squeeze) but this book feels like 80% waxing poetic, with only 20% of things actually happening. And there's this very grandiose tone in the poetical waxings (especially at the end) where I think we're meant to believe that this life and these loves are so exceptional that they impress even gods but, again, there is nothing in the plot or in any of the characterizations that makes me believe that. Mainly because there's only 20% of any sort of plot or characterization.

But honestly, all these complaints kind of pale in comparison to my feelings of the last few pages of the book, wherein we're delivered a straight up my-life-did-not-begin-until-I-fell-in-love line. Which, again, since this is for younger readers is not exactly the best message to end - literally end, last line - the book on. And I have to say I found it troubling that giving up literal pieces of yourself for your beloved was somehow also part and parcel of the ending, but that could just be me. I suppose if you end up feeling something for these characters you can overlook these things, but unfortunately I couldn't. And while I can see how and where this would appeal to other readers it definitely did not work for me.

I should have liked this one, but I just really, really did not. There's nothing wrong with the writing or the plot really, I just found in unbearably sad and unhappy. Some books just hit readers the wrong way through no fault of their own. For me, this was one of those.

I honestly had a hard time reading this book because for me, the concept of the book didn't quite work. It was hard to picture Austin in a relationship with either Cooper or Ophelia because Austin was a cat in the first chapter and it seemed like that was forgotten at times? Overall, this was an okay book and I do think it explores a lot of really heavy topics regarding grief, friendship, love, etc but it just wasn't for me personally.

Such an interesting concept and I loved it. I thought it was very well-written, very well thought out, and I can see this book sweeping the YA world. What a fun and interesting read.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

If there was one quote from the book to summarize the whole story it would be, “Hurt people hurt people, and we were all hurt.” This story was a whirlwind of emotion and I could barely keep up. The relationships between Austin and Cooper and Austin and Ophelia were beautiful and full of love, hate, jealousy, and anger. It was so frustrating reading how stubborn and selfish Austin was, but in the end that’s the point of the whole story – being human is confusing and selfish and not always black and white. The characters were, for the most part, well-developed, but out of the whole bunch I empathized with Cooper the most. And I am a little sad that he did not end up with Austin, I think between him and Ophelia, he was the better fit. This book has more sad parts than happy parts but that adds to the overall atmosphere. It was a beautiful story but the dialogue at parts seemed a little cheesy or fantastical which added to the distant attitude Ophelia carried. Overall this story made me feel intense emotions from frustration, to anger, to sadness, to joy. We got to see the world through the eyes of Austin who had lived so many lives before, but never as a human. He takes every chance he gets for love and refuses to feel sorry about it (the conflicting emotions and relationships took me by surprise and caused a little pain in the best way) but by the end of the story, Austin has finally decided what he wants out of his new life. One thing I found really interesting about this book was the aspects of supernatural threaded through the mundane lives of the characters. For the most part, the story follows Austin who is in every way a normal boy trying to figure out his love life, however he gained that life through the power of a goddess and we sometimes get chapters from the POV of said goddess. It was an interesting dynamic in the sense that the world is completely mundane and ordinary until we see a quick burst of the divine and magic. The opposing scenes are highly contrasted and it’s a sharp jolt that sends a refreshing break when things get a little too emotional or tense. It was nicely done and the story overall was a wonderful read.

What happens when all of our deepest wishes come to true, but with a heavy consequence? Have you ever wondered what would be the consequence would be or how it would affect our lives?

This book uncovers a lot of mixed-up feelings of a feline whose now living his last life as a human being. After reading this book, It makes me wonder what I would like to be in my next life (deep thoughts that keep me awake at night :P )

Thank you NetGalley and Inkyard Press for this wonderful e-copy. A detailed review will be posted near the publishing date.

This book was a little rough in the beginning, and I wondered if I was going to make it to the end. But it found it’s voice and took off after that.

I’m not going to give you a synopsis of this book. You can read that for yourself. This book is different and engrossing. It is not a perfect story but it is very believable. And I didn’t think I was going to like it but I did.

And now I am sad that it is done.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for an advance copy of this book.

This young adult read was filled with so many great things. It was a weird book but in a good way. It was filled with love and it was beautifully written. The characters were well developed. I loved the characters and their stories. This book was magical and whimsical. I would highly recommend this book. This book had me engaged. I did not want to leave this story at all.


**** Content Warnings:
Animal Death/Reincarnation
Anxiety
Death of a loved one (off-page)
Grief
Drug and Alcohol use is mentioned
References to eating disorders

I absolutely loved this book. It captured the messiness and excitement of falling in love and fumbling through the definitions and gray areas of teenage intimate connection. The fun twist is that the world the characters are in is one of cosmic intervention and reincarnation. Caesar the cat is on his eighth life and pleads with a goddess to let him return to the same place for his ninth life to stay with his human, Ophelia. He is granted his wish, but he returns as a human and must reckon with the interrupted life of the boy, Austin, whose body he now occupies. He needs to find and befriend Ophelia while also making sense of the relationship Austin had with his alluring roommate, Cooper. The writing of this story was beautiful, the pacing and depth allowed me to be pulled in immediately and hooked until the end. The story shows Austin grappling with what it means to be friends, what it means to be in love, and what it means when you’re hovering somewhere in between-all as a human for the first time. Something I greatly appreciated was the representation of multiple characters existing on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. The premise of this story was incredibly creative, and the execution was wonderful. I highly recommend this for YA and adult readers alike.

I wanted to read this book for the nonbinary MC and messy love triangle, and because the premise in general was so bizarre and weird in ways I love. And, all things considered, it all worked wonderfully. I know a lot of teens especially who will love this book.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

TW: animal death, mention of animal being abused and killed, torture in circus, eating disorder, drugs, assault, parent death (in the past)


Caesar is a feline who is living his eight life, after being born as Phnom and reincarnate through time in different bodies and animal species. After being saved and loved by the Matherson's family, Caesar doesn't want to leave his Ophelia, his owner, so when he's dying he makes a wish to coming back to her and the goddess Zosma hears and grants it.
But waking in the body of the seventeen years old Austin Price isn't easy and he discovers how hard is to live an human life, to adapt to it, to feel all their feelings and confusing emotions. Neither is easy meeting Austin's roomate, the handsome and intense Cooper, best friend and lover. It isn't easy either he doesn't and can't remembering things about Austin's life and having to deal with a body he's not used to. Feeling and want he's not used to, feelings for Cooper.
Coming back for Ophelia, getting to know her as human, gets Austin into a friendship that is complicated and full of lies and secrets, finding himself torn between his love for Cooper and his love for her.
But Fate and his own helpless heart have other plans for him.

The ninth life is a beautiful, heartbreaking and original story, with unforgettable, flawed and impossibly human and realistic characters. The prose is intense, evocative and lush.
Austin, living is ninth life as human, is forced to adapt and learn how to be a human being. Inhabiting the body of the last Austin Price isn't easy and he warred with that Austin for most of the book, with the memories Cooper cherished and loved of him, with their mistakes, with their love, with the complicated and complex human beings they were and the love and want this Austin feels for him.

Right away Austin is torn between Cooper and Ophelia, Cooper with his sarcasm, want, desire, love and laugh, their relationship spontaneous and Ophelia with his memories from his last life and the Ophelia he gets to know in his ninth.
Ocean and sun. Red and blue in a complex triangle, even more complicated by the fact Cooper is in love with past Austin and Austin is in love with this Cooper.
Complicated by Ophelia, flirting, dancing, laughing and maelstrom Ophelia who doesn't want to believe in love, doesn't want to be hurt, to commit, shielding her heart, protecting herself, focusing on her dance, her diet, her family. And complicated by Ryan, Ophelia's cousin, sarcastic and cheeky, who is attracted by Cooper and decided to try to win him over.

What I loved the most in this book are the relationship between the characters, above all the one between Cooper and Austin.
Being reborn into a body already "lived", grown and with memories he can't have access to complicated Austin's ninth life and his relationship with Cooper is intense, painful and beautiful.
Cooper is in love with past Austin and, after the incident, he loses him and he won't have him back, finding himself with another Austin to know, an Austin who is different, more caring, less violent, but not the person he fell in love with in a complicated and intense relationship.
He's in mourning, he lost his best friend and lover and he has to getting to know this Austin. Their love is full of ghosts and unspoken things, memories Austin don't have access to, but Cooper does, a life lived together, mistakes and love made. And unspoken things like those Austin can't say about his past lives, about Zosma and his past with Ophelia.
Their relationship, their love and friendship is strong, full of love and hurt, confusing and both of them are torn between people they love and loved. Cooper is torn between past Austin and his memories of them, memories this Austin don't share and he's grieving. And he's torn between this Austin and Ryan, who doesn't do casual, but falls for him anyway.

The bond between Austin and Cooper is one of the most beautiful and raw things I've ever read. Austin loves Cooper and loves Ophelia, he wants both, he doesn't know what to do, how not to hurt or lose one of them. There's jealousy, love, anger, pain in every characters, while they move in their relationship with one other. Cooper is one of my favourite character, because it was impossible not to want to hug him and love him. His pain, his loss, his losing his Austin is intense and raw, so is his love for him, his caring, protecting and loving his best friend. His pain is palpable and raw, his realizing his Austin is gone and having to move on, while having this new Austin as best friend. Their love and bond is beautiful and so strong, their family, the family they created with one other, supporting, loving and being there for one other.

Austin's relationship with Ophelia is peculiar, since he got to know her into another life and now as human, finding himself to come back to the house that was his home for years, to meet her father, her dog, getting to know her and them all over again. Cute and sweet are the interactions between Austin and Missy, the dog, who shared with him insights about Ophelia's life and feelings. Ophelia is complex, the reader get to know her through Austin's POV and her pain, her eating disorder, her grief and need to be perfect, to have a plan is clear and her meeting Austin changes a lot of things. Their messages about planets and stars are really cute.

Ryan's relationship with Austin is weighted down by his knowing of past Austin and his dealing, his feelings for Cooper, even though, slowly, all four of them become friends, starting an unique friendship, full of flirting, unspoken things, sex, lies and secrets.
Interesting is the POV of Zosma, who observes Austin's life and choices with Thusia, watching him from afar and, sometimes, meeting and advising him.
Above all Austin has to understand what he is, since his past lives, male and female, are still part of him, memories he remembers, feeling and past lives and deaths. Slowly he's helped to understand his love, his feelings, his identity, but even when he's trying to learn how to understand his helpless heart it turns against him, pushing him to make difficult choices, trying to say goodbye to the people he loves.

In a "game" of hurting, friendship, lies, secrets, confusion and love, Austin and Cooper, Austin and Ophelia, Cooper and Ryan move, trying to understand their feelings, one other.
Their heartstrings, desires, wants and loves intertwined during all the book, overlapping, pulling one other, while Austin learns how to be human, how to love, how to live.


The review will be posted on my blog, Lu's books on 14 September.