The various "she's" and their cats support each other through their relationships and through their cats are connected with other women. I'd watch the anime, but I found the prose to be just okay, particularly in translation.

What a wholesome book to end the year with. I liked every story in its own way. My favorite was the first story. I found myself relating so much to chobi’s owner. These stories made me want a cat, but sadly I am allergic. I recommend this for fans of Before the Coffee gets Cold. Especially if you liked the interconnecting vignettes of the lives of each character. Plus you get to see half of the story from the cats pov!!

Overall I thought that this was a quick and cute book. I loved getting to hear from the perspective of the cats, as that is not a common point of view.

I read this book because I enjoyed Makoto Shinkai's films. I'm just now aware that this book has a short animation too, but I have yet to see it.

This book is a collection of four short stories about four women and their cats whose lives are interconnected. Told from both the owner's and the cat's perspectives, the book is both endearing and somber. I like how their cats also go through self-exploration, like their owners. The translator also did a great job of capturing the beauty of Japanese literature. It's a short book you can breeze in one sitting that gives warm fuzzy feelings of each cat's devotion and sympathy to the owners' struggles.

I feel a need to review this book differently and not as much based on the story since this story was originally a short film. Thus, I watched the short film to get a better idea of the book, too.

This book tells the story of four different cats and their relationships with their owners, all of which stories connect in some way. It portrayed how these women not only gave these cats a home and fed them, but the cats helped them in return, too.

In terms of how the book has grown on the short film, it was quite beautiful. It was a nice expansion of the original with it growing to look into four different cats and their relationships with their owners rather than just looking at a single story of Chobi, and it shows the impact of the cats on humans a lot more clearly.

That being said, I feel like it fell short overall at times. I'm not personally a fan of how Chobi, a cat, saw his owner in more of a romantic light, although this was prevalent in the original short film as well. I think the relationship between a cat and its owner transcends a romantic relationship and comparing it to one not only feels frankly a little weird, but takes away from how its a unique relationship separate from relationships between humans, so comparing Chobi's feelings to such falls a little short of the relationship trying to be portrayed. But maybe that's just me, or I'm looking at it wrong, or it's something lost in translation.

Overall, though, it was a pleasant read. I'm a big cat lover myself so it was a cute story to further my love and learn a little.

She and Her Cat is a wonderful collection of interconnected short stories that cleverly imagine how our cats view the world around them and their relationship with us as their humans.

Each story glimpses both the cats and the humans in their lives, and we get to see the outcomes of the humans through the eyes of their cats. It’s a really clever idea and was a sweet read.

This was a collection of four intertwining stories that follow female owners and their cats! As a cat lover, this was fun to read stories from cats’ POVs- It grabbed me from the beginning of the book as soon as I realized that the cat was talking. This is also a collection where you are following their day-to-day lives and is a very character-driven narrative while exploring darker themes of grief, sickness, relationships, and loneliness. I am definitely someone who enjoys more plot-driven stories, but this was a very short/fast read and was a unique collection to pick up! I recommend this to anyone who enjoys cats, character-driven narratives, or is looking to read short stories that explore some darker themes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for giving me a copy in exchange for my honest review!

*3.5

Heartwarming interconnected stories of a handful of neighborhood cats and their owners. I really enjoyed it, especially the perspectives of the cats, their devotion to their owners and the overall goodness of everything. Thank you Atria Books for the ARC of this one.

This is a very sweet collection of interconnected stories, with the highlight being - no surprise - the cats. I do feel like the stories of the cats and their specific owners blended well, but at the end of the day the joy of this book was the cats' perspectives. I could have done with even more of that, as well as a bit more from the stories from the second half of the book, which didn't feel like they got as much space as the first two stories.

But overall, I thought this was a good read and if you enjoy cat-centric stories this is definitely the book for you.

A very sweet and enjoyable slice of life book, She and Her Cats is good to cozy up to on a rainy afternoon, with a cup of coffee and your best feline friend near you. I loved how the author brings all these different characters and lives together, the cats themselves being a thread that connects people to those they would have never otherwise met. The cat's different POVs are interesting, though I would have expected at least one cat who had more of a disdainful view towards humans, but all these cats wanted was to survive and bring happiness to their selected human. Quite simple, yet heart warming. I was hoping for more art, maybe some colorful pages as the colors used in the cover are very eye catching and drew me to the book itself. Alas, the book is short and sweet nevertheless.

This book just hit me in the right spot. The book is about cats and the relationships they have with their people and their neighborhoods and with each other. Each story deftly connects with another and both the people and the cats have voices here. It does read a little awkwardly here for the English-language speaker. But I think you just need to pretend that a cat's language WOULD be a little different than ours and not blame the translator. There are also cultural elements that may not resonate with readers unfamiliar with Japan. But all in all it is a charming book and would make a great holiday gift for a cat lover.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. I adored it and wanted to move to the neighborhood in hopes of meeting these cats!

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

Translated from Japanese, this is essentially a novella formed from four connected short stories about women and cats. There’s a cozy gentleness to the works and the tender relationships they depict. There’s no major action, no huge twists, but just a sense of rightness to how the elements click together.

I adored this book! It's such a beautiful story about connection, hope and living. I love how all 4 stories are connected and seamlessly interwoven. The whole novella was very relatable, from the characters to astute themes of depression and loneliness in modern society. The author also explores the special bond between human and pet – it's hard to explain but I believe all pawrents will get it.

Overall, it's a charming and cozy read that will give you all the fuzzies 🥰 Also makes me wonder what my hamsters are thinking about me...

An intimate and extraordinary story about an ordinary women and her cat. This is a slice of life story that dives deeper into the processing of every day life and coping. I was intrigued and thoroughly enjoyed it.

She and Her Cat is a collection of interconnected short stories focused on the bond between various women and the cats they saved ( more so, the cats that saved them ). Each story of the collection is separated by an illustration of the point of view it follows. There is a dual point of view of the cat and the owner, showing where lapses of communication and perceptions differ.

The book was charming and heartwarming. It managed to find loneliness and tug at those heartstrings, the atmosphere felt natural to a certain sorrow and yet also cast a light of hope and companionship found in the cats. Like, this read is definitely for cat people, it made me want to get a cat even more so.

The ways the stories relate was cleverly done as well, familiar faces pop up and it is just the most lovely cozy read. There were points where I teared up and was very invested. The writing was thoughtful and flowed well. I think there was some disconnect with how flat the characters were for something that seemed like it would ride on the characters.

But overall, it was a nice and easy book and I'm just super favorable to the positive light the cats were painted in, especially in loving their owners.

This is a sweet short story collection that feels like it's a pitch for an OVA that they never picked up on. The stories are about women finding love and meaning in their lives via their cats, and they all show up in each other's stories, Very sweet and saccharine, but in a way that you like. Probably won't remember this by mid next year, but it's still a sweet diversion.

This book was so freaking cute! I love the way that we got the perspective from the cats, and from the owners. It was so adorable! But maybe that's just the crazy cat lady in me talking.

It's a short anthology but oh my goodness was it cute. I wished that there was more stories in it. I can't come up with another word that isn't adorable!

She and Her Cat is a great short novel about relationships to pets and how they can aid in getting through life's struggles.

I really enjoyed this sweet novella about love, loss, boundaries, and the strength to face change told through the interwoven stories of people and cats. The dialogue of the cats and their people is really great -- I really liked their voices. The dog/elder Jon is the glue for the little community of cats in this neighborhood. And - true love! Companionship! Life! Really sweet portraits and a great bedtime read.

She and Her Cat consists of four interconnected stories that center around several humans (mostly women) and their cats in one particular neighborhood. As the stories go on, the characters from previous stories make cameos and find their way into each other’s lives. The cats all play a role in helping their humans to overcome a core struggle they face.

I wish I enjoyed this more, as the premise had all the makings for a cozy good time. But I think it might have something to do with the English translation? The prose was stilted and awkward at times, so I found it really difficult to get to know the characters as a result. This sort of slice-of-life book really hinges on readers caring about the struggles they go through (ranging from heartbreak to depression and loneliness) and the connections they forge with the felines, so the lack of emotional payoff was disappointing. But I did appreciate that each of the human characters’ experiences represent relatable societal issues common to women.

I didn’t realize until after reading this that this book is actually based on author Shinkai’s original animated short film from 1999 of the same title. Apparently it’s a classic, and I’d be interested in checking that out still.