Penny, a graphic novel about the life and thoughts of a house cat. I am not surprised to find that Penny is as philosophical as Plato and spends what time is not used for sleeping or eating for existential musings over the meaning of her life.
While missing the wild, wilderness of her kitten-hood on the street, Penny is still a slave to the creature comforts that her humans have provided.
Karl Stevens validates my belief that catnip is simply weed for cats, and they get high off it, as well as my fear that my cats sleep on my chest at night because they are trying to decide if I will be tasty when they have to eat me if I die during the night.
Simply loved this graphic novel and Penny. Recommended for cat lovers and those who wonder what a cat is thinking when it spends an hour staring at a blank wall.

I received this proof free from Chronicle Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

This graphic novel about a rescued cat named Penny in her “prison” apartment was just ok in my opinion. I am a self proclaimed crazy cat lady and found the pages where Penny described cat behavior such as trying to eat a pet bird and attacking the Christmas tree were very funny and relatable as a cat owner. However the parts where she lamented being in “prison” and questioning her existence were a bit on the tedious side. The artwork was well done.

**thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC I received**

I received an eARC from the author/publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

(Review will go live on my blog on April 12)

Penny is sort of a slice of life collection of comics from the perspective of the eponymous Penny, a black and red tabby.

The art is done in coloured pencil, and the style is on the photorealistic side, and though it took me a while to get used to, in the end I quite liked it.

Penny is an interesting cat. One moment she’s philosophinsing, and the next she’s distracted by scratches behind the ear. She’s vain, and fickle, and disdainful. And she’s completely self-aware. Honestly, the sub-heading for this graphic memoir could have been 'the existential musings of a cat.'

There were some really funny and relatable moments throughout the book. One of my faves was Penny's reaction to a storm on page 40. There were also some downright strange moments, such as Penny's various dreams and catnip-induced hallucinations.

I wasn’t a fan of the human characters - one (the female) was just there to randomly interject words that felt boring and inane, and the other (male) was downright nasty at times- threatening to find new ways to skin Penny, or calling her ‘genius’ in a condescending and sarcastic tone. As a cat lover that bothered me and did affect my enjoyment. I'm unsure if it was meant to be humorous or relatable, but it didn't land.

My only other small quibble is that the individual vignettes aren’t always clearly labelled. Since some were confined to a single page, and others unfolded over several pages, it was a bit jarring at times.

Overall, it was a slightly offbeat, but interesting way of looking at the world through a cat's eyes. I would recommend to cat lovers who enjoy trying to work out what on earth is their cat thinking.

This was adorable, funny and quite deep and hilarious at the same time.
The author imagines the philosophical thoughts of his cat Penny, in these hilarious comics. The art is beautiful, and though there was some repetitions, and some typical stereotypes about cats and what they think of humans, I loved it and enjoyed it immensely. I highly recommend it especially if you're a car lover.

I thank Netgalley and Chronicle books for the digital ARC.

I enjoyed the perspective of the cat throughout the book. I also had a cat named Penny so it was fun to think about what she always though. Fun and quick read!

Beautifully illustrated, at times funny, ironic, a little morbid and delightfully fanciful, this graphic novel memoir of Penny is definitely entertaining. It's a little long, and there's definitely a few repetitive scenes, but overall I enjoyed it. Penny is definitely a character, and I loved her little fantasies and memories of her past. The conversations with her toys are a nice touch too. Penny does get a little dark, so there are some scenes that are a bit of a downer, but it's a well balanced book, I don't think those scene overpower the humor or lighthearted scenes.

Penny by Karl Stevens is an interesting graphic novel about a very philosophical cat.

This book was a little dull for me, but the illustrations were incredible. Penny was a stray kitten on the street who was picked up, "kidnapped", and adopted by a couple. They bring Penny home and the cat begins to think about everything philosophical about a cat, existence and life itself. The cat is sassy, intelligent and has an intriguing story.

I thought this book might be funnier or a bit more engaging than it was. I found it very slow to get through but I really like cats and graphic novels and I really wanted to finish it.

Overall, this is a good book but it wasn't fast enough or funny enough for me. It was advertised as a comedy on NetGalley which is why I was excited for it.

Three out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

If you have a cat, this will make you chuckle. So much existential dread. I loved it. Who knew all that was going on in a cat’s head?

I enjoyed reading Penny. I thought of my own rescue cat while I read it and put him in Penny's shoes a lot. The daily life of this cat as a memoir kind of reminded me of a blend of Garfield with a much more refined cat. At points in the story, I giggled. At other points, I had to set the book down and come back a few hours later. Overall, I would recommend this book to more of an older age group. I do not think that it is engaging enough for children unless it is split into more of a chapter/section book. I did enjoy it though and think that it could be a hit for a somewhat niche market.

I just reviewed Penny by Karl Stevens. #Penny #NetGalley

This graphic novel is perfect for cat lovers. I enjoyed following Penny through her daily cat life. She is exactly what I imagine cats to be... philosophical, intelligent, and independent. Every day she contemplatee her cat existence while hunting, playing, or sleeping. It was a little humorous, I found myself chuckling a couple of times. It was very heartwarming and cute! The one thing I would change would probably be the art style. It was beautiful but I didnt feel like it matched the tone of the book. Overall, it was a fun read and I highly recommend to any and all cat lover's.

Penny is an enjoyable and well-composed example of graphic novel memoir. The illustrations are absolutely stunning and the story is thoughtful and engaging. Well worth reading!

Rescued from the streets, Penny lives a rather boring pampered existence while having a full and vivid mental life full of existential ponderings. I thoroughly enjoyed dichotomy of Penny stretched out in a patch of sunlight as she deems the bright light to be a portal to another dimension. I can understand it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but as a fan of cats and sarcasm it brought me many a smile. The illustrations are of a quality I don't normally see in too many graphic novels, several are frameable.

I had high expectations for this, as I love cats and most cat-centric graphic novels/comics, but this was a bit disappointing. The art is beautiful, but Penny's thoughts are a bit repetitive and, at times, the 'memoir' borders on pretentious (think the viral French cat Henri and his 'ennui,' but without the satire). I did appreciate the more fantastical 'dreams' Penny had, though.

Thank you for the ARC NetGalley. Anyone who has owned a cat for any period of time certainly wonders what they are thinking. This sweet graphic novel about Penny the cat answers all those questions and more, Highly enjoyable. #penny #netgalley

Sure we don't actually know what cats are thinking, but this seems super accurate. I mean, have you ever watched a cat being weird? They are clearly living big inner lives that we puny humans will never understand.

This beautifully illustrated graphic novel proves my theory that cats are happiest when thinking about the deaths of small things and their humans.

Recommended for: cat lovers

I received a digital ARC of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you expected a book about a most worldly-wise, mystically-minded moggie to be a lazily-drawn comic, think again. This shows great craft and artistry in giving a portrait of a cat that just seems to be doing cute cat things, and sleeping it off when there was little 'it' in the first place to speak of, but actually is cogitating life, the universe and everything. As great as the visuals are, this is for dipping into and not binging on, for it can get one-note, even if it is broken up with the humans' holidaying and leaving Penny at home alone, and other more plotted sections. Also, Penny's interior monologue does stretch from the opening, where you think she'd be able to understand "Tenet" at the first watch, to the fact she thinks a stuffed mouse with a broken ear is her boyfriend. An odd swing to the character, then (partly caused, you eventually work out, by a non-sequential presentation of stand-alone pages desperately out of order), but this whole effort is odd – and oddly compelling, too.

I love cats. I've grown up with cats, I've always had cats around. I have a cat now. I'm the guy who comes to visit you, and your normally shy cat will climb all over me. What I am trying to say is I love cats, guys.

Fiction involving cats as a character can go several ways. My least favourite kind anthropomorphises cats too much, makes them speak and think like a human being.

This book seems to go down that route, although it does something different too. The book is about Penny, a cat who lived on the street and was adopted by the author and his significant other. Turns out that Penny has a rich intellectual inner life, and likes to ponder the feline condition. This boils down to her having a lot philosophical thoughts, and linking that to her personal predicament.

How she views humans (and specifically her humans) is a bit more cliched - she is a prisoner in a velvet cage, she doesn't really think much of her owners, etc. It's the usual spiel about cats not really loving their owners, or of them being cold and calculating animals. I personally think that's a bit hackneyed, as in my experience cats are quite sensitive and responsive.

All of this makes Penny a quirky character, but also kind of... well, boring. There's nowhere left to go with the character. The book is a collection of mostly one page comics, Penny grumping about her life, and several multi-page stories - one in which indoor cat Penny escapes her building is the one that sticks most in my mind (probably because this would be a personal nightmare scenario).

I do think the art is great, and has a real sweet edge to it, full of warm colours.

This is a rather lovingly illustrated book about the life of a very dull cat, who thinks big thoughts.

And that is it. The cat questions her existence. The cat questions life. The cat pays with toy mice. The only excitement is when the cat escapes her apartment, but other than that, nothing more happens. A lot of this is typical cat things, such as eating, sleeping, and playing.

But, as I said, the pictures are lovely and very spot on to how cats look and climb and sleep and do all the things they like to do. But if you are looking for a plot of some kind, or story then you have come to the wrong place.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.