Cover Image: She and Her Cat

She and Her Cat

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Member Reviews

I enjoyed these stories about the abandoned kittens and cats rescued or taken in and fed by several people, primarily women, in this series of four interrelated short stories.

Some of the cats have outdoor lives of their own and find each other on the streets, confer together regarding their respective owners or benefactors, and help their human companions go through the complications and sorrows their lives bring.

In many parts heart warming, these stories of speculative fiction show how much cats as pets can mean to humans in real life and as shown in literature.

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(ARC from NetGalley except it's way after the pub date-- my bad) This is for you if you love cats (obvi) and character driven stories. This book weaves short stories throughout a neighborhood in Tokyo and the narration switches between the cat and human. It's like the beauty of everyday life-- wholesome and a little slow.

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She and Her Cat was a beautiful and heart-warming book by Shinkai. I would recommend this to anyone who loves cats and understands how important our relationships are with them. This is a book I would buy and have a copy on my shelf to read again.

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She and Her Cat tells a set of connected stories, all of which have at least one element to link it with a previous tale. It embraces the theory of the "Universal Cat Distribution" system, in which people doing good things are blessed with a cat coming into their lives.
The protagonists--along with their kitty companions--all have troubles in their lives or obstacles they need to overcome in order to move forward. It may be a death in the family, establishing roots as they aim for a new career, bravely stepping out to make that first friend, or holding on to happy memories. They all involve a revolving neighborhood of equally connected cats, which in turn help their humans as they come to terms with their own lives and destinies. An interesting perspective and an interesting take on community and cat-lovers.

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This was a super sweet book in the same vein as The Travelling Cat Chronicles. The stories alternated between human and cat perspectives, and the whole book is quiet and slow but in a really refreshing way. This one makes a good palate cleanser after reading heavier books.

This is less of a novel and more a series of four intertwined stories of women and their cats, and it tackles loneliness, grief, and guilt yet remains positive and whimsical.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books!

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She and Her Cat by Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori, is a collection of short stories that begin with a girl taking in a cat. Each story connects with the previous story because the same cats, characters, and neighborhood are referred to throughout. I enjoyed this story collection, especially the differing cats' personalities. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

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This was a sweet collection of stories about the relationship between cats and their owners from the perspective of both cats and humans. If you're looking for something slow paced and heart warming, this is a great choice.

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When I saw this collection of interconnected short stories about women and their cats, I couldn’t hit the request button fast enough. One of my favorite short story collections is James Herriott’s Cat Stories. I’m always on the lookout for something similar. This delivered in more ways than I was anticipating. I didn’t realize the stories would be interconnected, and that really adds something to the collection as a whole. Makoto Shinkai is a well-known animator and filmmaker. His most recent anime is Suzume no Tojimari but this book was actually originally an anime short in 1999 as well.

The stories alternate between a human and a cat perspective. Whether it’s a human or a cat is indicated by the section break. If it’s a human, it’s a usual decorative scene break. If it’s a cat, it’s the silhouette of a cat. The first story opens from the perspective of a cat who is the runt of a litter in a cardboard box listening to the sound of a train. The cat is clearly about to die but then a woman’s face appears and takes him in. He becomes an indoor/outdoor cat. I won’t spoil the trajectory of the whole story, but where the interconnectedness comes in is that this cat (Chobi) meets a young cat while outside who shows him a woman who feeds her fish when she shows up in her yard. The next story is then this cat’s perspective. And so all of the stories have these connections between the cats, but also slowly the humans come to be connected, largely thanks to their cats.

The stories offer subtle but insightful commentary both into universal aspects of human nature and into more specific aspects of Japanese culture that impacts these women’s lives. I’m not an expert by any means on Japan, but I do know, for example, that there’s a problem with toxic work cultures where people stay at the office overnight and don’t come home. This is one of the issues addressed in the stories. The animals also offer commentary on human nature and bigger life questions (like what happens after we die). it reminded me a little of animal fables in that it was the animals offering these lessons to each other, wanting to help humans, and yet the humans couldn’t understand them.

Where the stories really shine, though, is in showing the relationship between, as the book says, she and her cat. The unconditional love of the cats for their owners is heart-wrenching and left me near tears. This line in particular shone to me. It’s from the perspective of a cat with an owner who is struggling with loneliness.

I couldn’t do anything about her problems. I just lived my days at her side.
loc 443

There were two things that held me back from five stars. First, sometimes I did get confused about who was speaking. This is because in some stories it’s not just the owner who is a human perspective. So it’s not a straightforward swap back and forth between the cat and her owner – sometimes there were other humans in there too. Second, one male cat calls his owner his girlfriend and that gave me the heebie-jeebies. Perhaps that was a translation issue, though.

Overall, this is a delightful collection of short stories that is sure to please any cat lover. With full page illustrations throughout, it would make a great gift.

Instagram:
This read is for all us cat lovers! She and Her Cat by Makoto Shinkai and Naruto Nagakawa is a set of interconnected short stories about women and their cats in a Japanese city. It left me teary eyed, folks.
*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

#bookalicious #booksinthewild #avidreader #bookaesthetic #whatimreading #bookrecs #catladylife

GoodReads:
I really enjoyed these intertwined cat short stories! I'm waffling between 4 and 5 stars because sometimes the changing perspective was a little hard to follow.

Check out my full review.

*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

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I really wanted to like this book. I love the concept, but I just couldn't get on board with it. It felt a bit repetitive at points where we get the same event from the two different perspectives. But mostly I just found that it wasn't the right style for me.

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4-4.5 stars. Highly recommended for fans of Makoto Shinkai (or just cat lovers in general!). A sweet and nostalgic collection of short stories that tie into Makoto Shinkai's short film "She and Her Cat." As an avid fan of the original film "She and Her Cat," I enjoyed the introspection and perspective from our original two characters, Chobi and Her.

This story also goes beyond the scope of the original film and peeks into the lives of other new characters - human, feline, and canine, all interwoven together.

TLDR; Highly recommend!

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I loved this book! It was such an easy, quick read that I could not put down. It was fun to see how the stories connected along the way and in the end.

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This book was so weird, but also a joy to read. I can’t remember another book I’ve read with cat and human POVs intermixed as they are here! It somehow worked well and told a series of really poignant stories, all grounded in a gentle sense of humor and in the sights and sounds (and smells) of everyday.
If you identify as a girl with a cat, as do I, and if that cute cover image is calling to you, I would say not to resist. This is a fun and short book, but it’s also a really well-written translation and has a subtle beauty to it.
I read an ebook provided by NetGalley for review purposes.

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She and Her Cat is a cute collection of four interconnecting short stories about women and their cats. I am also a woman with a cat and thought this sounded like some fun stories so I was excited to read it!

I enjoyed each of the stories and liked how they connected. I liked the cats' relationships with each other and the women. I also appreciated how there was a range in ages throughout the main characters. The stories didn't really blow me away, but I thought they were nice. I thought that some of the translation made for awkward dialogue, especially between the cats, particularly when discussing physical appearances and personalities. While noticeable, this didn't bother me too much.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who wants a cute and quick read about kitties. 3.5 stars from me rounded down to 3. Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

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All the ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️s and all the 😭s.
Thanks to #netgalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.
My full review is on #GoodReads
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5034957158

I LOVED this book. It was sweet, or rather, bittersweet. There may have been a few tears while reading this. Not surprisingly I loved the animals more than the people. Each cat had their own voice and distinct personality. They were funny and perfectly feline. The stories were interconnected through these cats in a natural way and. Enjoyed how it all came full circle back to Chobi.
I’m sorry the book had to end. I want to thank NetGalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

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I was initially drawn to request this title because I am a cat lover. When I realized that this book was comprised of shorter stories told by both cat and owner alike, I was sold. Each story delivers intrigue and magic, leaving me wanting more. Each of the stories feel very slice-of-life with incredibly charming characters. I didn't know how much I would love having cats as narrators in their own story, but now I'm wishing I had more stories like this to make me feel worm and cozy!

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Unfortunately I ended up DNF-ing this book after reading the first story. The premise is super interesting, but the narration style was not for me.

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She and Her Cat is a lovely collection of short stories I read back in the summer. It is based on an original short animation created by Makoto Shinkai in 1999. Shinkai is a well-known Japanese filmmaker, who wrote and directed Your Name, one of my favourite anime movies. She and Her Cat contains four, interrelated short stories, each told from the perspective of a different cat. The stories focus on the relationship between the cat and their owner, as well as between the cats as their lives become intertwined. This book was sweet, magical, and emotional, and I recommend it to anyone who loves animals and wishes they could hear their innermost thoughts. Thank you to Atria Books for the advanced copy to review. It is out now!

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I picked this book up because of the cover, title, and premise, but ultimately found it an unsatisfying read and DNF'd it halfway through. After looking into it a little more, it seems like the creator listed on the cover was responsible for making an animated film with these stories, but the book was actually written by someone else who turned the film into four short stories. Maybe it would have worked better if the original creator had written the stories? Also, this is a small detail, but I was disappointed that the cover illustration style was not carried through the book. I didn't care for the illustrations that preceded each story. All in all, not for me.

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Thank you Netgalley and the publisher of an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Cute story, I have been enjoying books from Asian authors this year. I think this is a book I will be thinking off often

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Thank you, Atria Books and NetGalley for sending me an eARC for review. I requested this because I am a fan of Makoto Shinkai's work as well as having previously watched the 5-minute short also named She and her Cat.

I absolutely adored the whimsy and the 4 short stories each focusing on a different pairing of "she" and "cat," all of the characters connected by their human or cat. Showing how different people cope with certain situations (break ups and/or death) in different manners, all connected by cats. Overall, a very fluffy and heartwarming read. I highly recommend this if you are a fan of Japanese literature, Makoto Shinkai, or would just like a quick and cozy read.

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