This short book is really for anyone who loves cats or books, but especially books. The main character, Rintaro, recently lost his grandfather and may lose the family bookshop as well. A cat appears and whisks him on adventures that deal with people and their books (my favorite is the man who reads a lot of books but never rereads them). While this is the superficial plot, the book is more about exploring grief and aloneness. It also meditates on the power of books, I saw this as a caution of idolizing books as a form and not the message in them. Overall, a powerful and whimsical story.

Loved, loved, loved this book!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I normally am not a fan of allegorical stories. However, this one spoke to me.
Maybe it's because it's about books.

I love the main character and how he is working on navigating his new life. The cat is charming. The adventures are insightful. And his friendships change his perspective. I loved how this book worked together, and I found it charming.

I highly recommend this book! It's appropriate for adult and young readers.

This was a charming allegory, set in Japan, about a teenager whose world collapses around him. He was raised by his grandfather after his parents died. But when his grandfather dies unexpectedly, he struggles with what to do--with his life, and with his grandfather's used book store.
When a talking cat challenges him to save books from various labyrinths, the boy finds himself struggling to determine what is important, and what is worth defending.

2 stars

The premise definitely intrigued me: a cat who saves books from existential threats, pulling along the newly-minted proprietor (by inheritance) of a used bookshop to help in his quest. The execution, however, was not as compelling as I had hoped.

Our main character is a self-described hikikomori, and spends a little too much time protesting that he’s uninteresting and useless. He proves himself, in the narrative, by arguing persuasively in favor of books, a subject on which he is uniquely knowledgeable and philosophical. However, his arguments, which in-universe are treated as deeply profound, came across to me as rather obvious and trite.

The magical-realist setting had a lot of promise, but paired with the prose style and characters (including a sassy, mysterious-without-much-substance cat and a somewhat bland female classmate as a love interest) its potential didn’t seem reached; it felt rather “Italo Calvino for kids.”

There’s nothing offensive or overtly bad about this book, but it felt, to me, lackluster and done-before. There are far more interesting books out there about cats, self-worth, and the transformative power of reading.

Rintaro Natsuki lives alone with his grandfather, and they both work to keep their bookshop, Natsuki Books, afloat. When Rintaro’s grandfather dies, he’s left alone, until Tiger the Tabby Cat shows up asking for help.

There are books to be saved.

Tiger takes Rintaro, and later his classmate Sayo on three adventures, or Labyrinths, in order to save books from people who don’t properly appreciate them.

I loved this book so much. Books are meant to be loved, and loved the way we can love them. Some of us write in our books, some of us won’t break a spine. We care for these books anyway. And if we can’t, we give them to someone who can. Plus, the cat was a huge bonus.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperVia, and Sōsuke Natsukawa for the chance to read this advanced review copy. The Cat who Saved Books releases on December 7th.

A very sweet book following the familiar trope of learning life’s lessons and finding acceptance and insight through a series of trials - with the help of a smart cat! I thought it was lovely and a quick, worthwhile read. Heartfelt thanks to Harper Collins for the advanced copy.

The Cat Who Saved Books is a pretty simple book that left me feeling a little unsatisfied. The premise is unique but I found the 'quest' aspect of the book to be bland and rather flat. I'm sure this book will find a home in the hearts of many a book lover.

After the unexpected death of his beloved and bookish grandfather, unassuming high school student Rintaro Natsuke is preparing to close the doors of the secondhand bookshop his grandfather ran for years. He’s only a teenager, after all, and no one seems to like him very much and he’s moving away anyway. Then one night a strange cat shows up in the bookshop. He starts talking to Rintaro, says his name is Tiger, and that he needs Rintaro’s help to free imprisoned books from the uncaring and demented owners who keep them prisoner. And so Rintaro follows Tiger into a series of labyrinths to free the books. Along the way, Rintaro learns about the love of books, and more importantly, he learns about himself in this moving story about books, a bookworm’s hidden inner strength, and first love.

Cats and books seem to go together. This is especially true in Japan, where the cat book has been part of the literary scene since Natsume Sōseki’s satirical I Am a Cat was first published. Since then, cats– talking or not– have shown up in books to point out human foibles and frailties, and to show up what makes life worth living. Sōsuke Natsukawa’s second novel, The Cat Who Saved Books gives us another such cat. Tiger’s apparent goal is to rescue books from uncaring owners, but it’s not long before his secondary mission is revealed: he’s also there to rescue Rintaro, who is so introverted that he doesn’t recognize the friendship or concern that other kids at his high school offer him. Without his grandfather to ground him in reality, Rintaro is content to retreat into his books and let life pass him by.

But as any sensible bookworm knows, reading is a retreat, not the entirety of life. At some point, even the most devoted readers have to put the book down and look another person in the eye, walk out into the world, and live life outside the pages. At the beginning of The Cat Who Saved Books, Rintaro has forgotten this. His unexpressed grief at his grandfather’s death stops him from remembering the joy that reading brought his grandfather. He is neglecting everything that he learned in the bookshop, and in turn, he is trapping his books as much as the villains of the labyrinths are. The cat, Tiger, appears in Rintaro’s darkest hour to try to push him onto a path away from self-isolation and despair. It’s up to Rintaro to find the courage and the hope he needs to find his way out of the labyrinths and to find the right balance between his internal and external lives.

As charming and meaningful as The Cat Who Saved Books is, a work in translation is only as good as its translator. Fortunately, Louise Heal Kawai is a skilled translator with multiple Japanese to English translations to her name. She captures Rintaro’s sadness, Tiger’s no-nonsense attitude, and strikes a balance between whimsy and solemnity, never allowing the story to go too far to one extreme or the other. It is, in short, a brief and beautiful novel about why we read and the value that books bring to our lives- not just from the wisdom we find in great stories, but also from the people that books help us to find.

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Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVia for providing me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion.

This is a gentle, warm-fuzzy feels of a book- but it does leave a lot to be desired.

Synopsis: Protagonist teenager inherits a used bookstore, and with his new love gets tangled up on quests to “save books” with an inexplicable talking cat.

This is a tiny little nibble of a book, but I was a bit let down at the lack of adequate world-building. The borderline surly cat is a delight, as is the firecracker girlfriend, but we get no explanation for where he came from or why he is in charge of escorting teenagers on missions to rescue books from the pitfalls of modernity.

There are clearly nice allegories being made in these stories, and I do love a book about books, but I sorely wish more time had been spent on fleshing out this world. I’m totally fine with suspending my disbelief, but in order to “believe” in the events of this book, I just needed to understand the backstory a bit more.

I would recommend this book to those who want a short and cute escape into a biblioworld, but would caution anyone not to overthink anything too much.

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy!

Well I have a lot of thoughts about this book, but none of them are good. Gotta say this “books are holy and must be saved” story is just not my thing. The story itself reminded me of a video game or something, but it was so heavy on the morals, I couldn’t even enjoy the fun parts. At least there was a talking cat.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review,

I enjoyed this little book overall. It was a fantastical story about a hikikomori named Rintaro, whose grandfather dies suddenly one day. He is left as the sole proprietor of his father's old bookshop. One day, a mysterious talking cat visits him and asks for his help "saving books".

Overall, this was a cute story, but I felt like the themes it was trying to convey were a bit muddied, and it was a bit difficult to feel the weight of the stakes or feel anything for the characters in only 208 pages. But still cute and enjoyable!

This quirky short book about an absurdly well read teen is going to wiggle its way into many hearts. However, for me there was a bit of a disconnect with the story. It didn’t actually evoke any feelings within me. Sure, I found the journey a tad fantastical and interesting enough to finish, but it lacked any sort of wow factor. Despite that, this is a really heartwarming and gentle read that is sure to go straight to the heart of most book lovers.

Rintaro himself is a shut-in, who doesn’t even want to go to school since his grandfather died. He spends all his time at the bookstore until his aunt comes to collect him. Because he is extremely well read, he doesn’t come across as a high school student. I found myself rooting for him on his journey, but not strongly. I liked Sayo and his other friend, but I didn’t get a great feel for them. The real reason this is going to resonate with readers isn’t the characters, the setting, or even to a certain extent the story itself, but the questions it asks.

This book discusses questions that many readers have asked over the years: Is it better to read favorite books several times or many books only once? Is it better to continue to publish older books and classics, even if they don’t sell well, or to only publish the flashy new novels? Should you try to speed through books or take your time and really get to know them? I’m not sure if there is a correct answer to these questions, but it is something to think about.

Overall, I recommend this for readers who like to read books about books and reading. Cat lovers might find some love here as well as readers who like books set in bookstores. While I enjoyed this book, it isn’t going to be on my favorites list. However, I am willing to check out anything else by Sosuke Natsukawa that I see in the future.

Although this book is geared toward a young adult audience, as the main character, Rintaro Natsuki, is a high school student, book lovers of all ages will enjoy this story. There's a paranormal theme as well as a sweet romance, and it all takes place during the holiday season.

Rintaro's grandfather has died leaving him a used bookstore. As he is grieving for his grandfather and contemplating his move to his aunt's house, Rintaro is visited by a talking tabby cat who requests his help saving books. Thus follows Rintaro's adventures into three labyrinths that appear in the back of the bookstore. After solving the mystery of the first labyrinth, Rintaro's friend, Sayo, the school rep who has been bringing him makeup work after he's missed classes, is able to see the cat who reappears and asks for help in the second labyrinth.

As Rintaro becomes more involved with Sayo, the cat named Tiger begins to make comments that they could be girlfiend and boyfriend. Working together, Sayo and Rintaro solve two other labyrinths and save more books. The stories behind these adventures will make sense to booklovers who know that in today's society, print books and classics are less in demand than digital, commercial reads. Rintaro's love of books increases as he solves each labyrinth's dilemma.

The final labyrinth has Rintaro facing his feelings for Sayo and realizing the true worth of books and how they connect people. A story that can be read on several levels. Book and cat lovers will enjoy it very much.

Sweet in concept, but I found the execution pretty blunt. It doesn't help that I'm not really into the Great Literary Classics or people who revere them. Didn't feel any connection to the characters. Bounced off it pretty hard.

I received this book through the publisher via NetGalley.

<i>The Cat Who Saved Books</i> is translated from Japanese, and is a bright, hopeful quick read that celebrates the joy and power of books. Teenage Natsuki has become a total recluse. The grandfather who raised him has suddenly died. Natsuki has always been introverted, by the depth of his loss has caused him to become a shut-in within his grandfather's secondhand bookstore. He can't even muster the will to go to school. Some classmates--not friends, as he has none--drop in the check on him out of sheer kindness, and he can really only engage people if the subject is books. Then the cat shows up. A talking cat. Who tells Natsuki that he must act to save books. And so, their adventure begins.

This is really a refreshing, reaffirming book about the love of books, but also a love of life--because a person needs to both live and read. Natsuki is easy to relate to in his despair and depression, but the whole cast is wonderful. I wanted to visit this bookstore myself and see where a cat might lead me! I feel like a lot of people could use a book like this about now.

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa is such an enchanting and special book. It begins with an intensely introverted teenage boy, Rintaro Natsuki, who must pack up and close his grandfather's beloved secondhand bookshop after he passes away. While working in the bookshop one night, a tabby cat appears and informs Rintaro that they must go on a quest to free some books that are imprisoned. So begins an absolutely charming and heartwarming story in which Rintaro and the talking cat embark on adventures to help misguided book lovers who have lost sight of the joy of reading. Along the way, Rintaro also rediscovers for himself the power of good books and how they help us when we need it most.

This is a story that appears simple on the surface, given its slim size and straightforward translation by Louise Heal Kawai that can easily be understood by younger readers. But at its heart there are some important and powerful ideas that anyone who has ever known the transformative joy of loving a book will appreciate. This book made me feel the same hopeful optimism and comforting gratitude that enduring classics of children's books and Hayao Miyazaki movies do. This is going to be a book that I'll look forward to reading and rereading with my daughter someday.

This is maybe the third book translated from Japanese that I hAve read, and I always feel like something is either off in the translation or the cultural differences in what is considered good writing are very different. The dialogue always feels so stilted and awkward, and I can never enjoy the actual story. Maybe I have just had bad luck in the Japanese stories I have tried. I couldn't finish this one.

A mysterious cat appears and takes a grieving teenager on a journey full of book love. The premise of this book was interesting, but the story lacked depth.

What a charming, delightful little book. Rintaro Natsuki has just lost his grandfather and inherited his 2nd hand bookshop. A cunning cat called Tiger the Tabby shows up w/ missions for Rintaro. He needs his help saving books. What follows is a sweet, empathetic adventure. A wonderful read.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early arc of this novel.*

A heartwarming story about a bookstore, a cat, a teenager grieving his grandfather, and compassion. I wish it had been a bit longer - I wanted a little more outside of the labyrinths - but the book's ability to clearly make its points in its short length is really one of its strengths. This book is going to find its way into a lot of people's hearts, and I can definitely see myself revisiting it in the future.

CW: grandparent death