In Japan cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they’ll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon. This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed location, no fixed hours, and seemingly appears at random to adrift young people at crucial junctions in their lives. It’s also run by talking cats.

This was a lovely and magical storyline. It does dive pretty deep into astrology, which isn't really my thing. And for that reason, it is a solid 3 stars. It was totally adorable and cozy.

Thanks to Ballentine Books and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m going to preface this by saying I’m a sucker for translated books. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the culture that’s different than my own. Maybe it’s the writing. I don’t know. But this book didn’t disappoint.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop is about a shop that shows up where people need it, and it’s run by talking cats. I don’t believe in astrology, but I did enjoy this book. Learning about the different people who visited the shop and seeing them change was great. They’re all somehow connected, and the short pages didn’t deter from getting to know them.

I’d read a part 2 of this book. It was so cute while also tackling some heavier topics. I received this ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

5 Stars
Genre - Magical Realism
Human Sized Talking Cats
Astrology
Lots of stars


“This is Astral Milk straight from the Milky Way!”

The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki is a beautifully written modern Japanese fable. In Japan, cats are good luck charms, full of wisdom and love. I absolutely loved this book, it filled my heart with hope; just as it does for the three main characters. I don’t hand out 5 stars easily, but this book that has a permanent place in my mind.

The story takes place in current Kyoto, Japan and at a magically appearing and disappearing food truck along a serene river under the full moon. You do not find this coffee shop, it finds you when you need it the most. The gentle glow, inviting atmosphere, and waving adorable 6ft tall star-gazing cats say, “Welcome” as they serve you drinks and treats that you need.

Something about this place makes you speak your entire truth; words and thoughts that you have never admitted to yourself or anyone else blurt out. Feelings that you had shoved down so deep inside of you and so desperately tried to forget arise the moment the cats read you and your birth chart.

There are three believable main characters who have all lost their way; a wounded TV scriptwriter, a ruthless TV executive, and a cheating IT guy. Each chapter is written from their point of view, but their stories begin to intertwine. They all discover the mystical food truck coffee shop and leave with newfound wisdom, lessons learned, and perfectly aligned with their given star path; no longer lost or headed off course.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine/Del Ray for an advance copy of this book for review.

Definitely have to be familiar with Japanese sensibilities/culture to understand some of the happenings in this book. Having some knowledge of astrology would help too. Not exactly my cup of tea, but did enjoy the relaxing experience of this read.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

This was not the whimsical delight I’d been hoping for.

I am baffled by the use of cats in the narrative since, outside of referring to them as cats and being specific about the type of cat (tabby, tuxedo, etc.), they possessed no feline-like qualities. Anthropomorphizing animals in a story can only be successful when the human elements don’t significantly outweigh the animal components. Cats running a cafe is quite appealing in theory, but when executed in a way that makes them simply feel like people wearing costumes, the attraction withers. Plus, the cats’ presence was minuscule, making this gimmick even more pointless.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop relies heavily on astrology, so if you’re fascinated by the influence of celestial bodies, perhaps you’ll find something to appreciate in this. It isn’t an area of interest for me and the uninspiring content here didn’t change that.

This was all further exacerbated by how trite its life lessons were. I would not consider the story wise, as everything was wrapped up in tidy packaging. It embraces the idea that if you do certain things, life will work in your favor. I do not find this uplifting. We’d all love to believe it’s true, I suppose, but it’s harmful to cling to it. Stories that offer this type of platitude only minimize the reality of our struggles, and I just cannot embrace this attitude of inauthenticity.

I am immensely grateful to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

Three women, seemingly intertwined on their paths, all run across mysterious people on their path one full moon night. One is a seemingly washed-up screenwriter, another a tv executive, while the third is an actress who’s made a disaster of her career by having an affair with a prominent married man. All are guided by the mysterious meetings of strangers to The Full Moon Coffee Shop. This magical pop-up coffee shop is full of coffees, teas, and other unique delicacies that are specially created for each person who happens across the shop. But the best part is… the coffee shop is run by magical talking cats! These cats sit with each of the 3 women and read their star charts, relating them to where they are in life and giving them hope for their future path, and courage to persevere. This was a cute little magical read and easily read in one sitting. This one gets 4 stars from me! I received an arc copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought I would love this because cats! but sadly it was just alright. I didn't hate it, I just didn't connect strongly to any of the characters. I think I would've liked it to be a bit more introspective instead of being quite so astrology based. And also, I wish there were more cats and a few less people. This was an easy read, which I'm grateful for, but it didn't exactly break me out of my slump.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review

On a full moon night, a cafe appears to those who need it. The Full Moon Coffee Shop, which was published by Ballantine Books last month, follows five characters as they struggle with their jobs, their love lives, and more, only to find all the answers to happiness after eating and drinking at The Full Moon Coffee Shop. Which is run by cats.

Sound a little weird? When I started reading my free e-ARC of this very short novel, I didn't really know what to expect. It sounded interesting when I first heard about it at the Reading Group Guides Book Group Speed Dating session earlier this year.

Originally written by Mai Mochizuki and translated by Jesse Kirkwood, the book could read like an ad for astrology. "Want to fix your life? Just have your stars read! By cats!"

The book is heavy on dialogue with little action. And at times, the dialogue felt very stiff. This could, of course, be because of the translation.

I did appreciate how the characters' lives were interwoven, and I do find astrology interesting. (Blame it on listening to the memoir All Signs Point to Paris.) I just felt like the novel was too short for me to really get to know the characters, and everything was quickly all tidy in the end.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop by by Mai Mochizuki is a beautiful translated novel filled with cats, astrology, and magical realism. This is a quick set of interconnected stories that is so ease to binge in one sitting. I really liked the way all of the stories connected through the characters. It was very engaging and held my attention from start to finish. Astrology plays a huge part in this story and I loved how it was used. The food descriptions are so delicious and magical. This is a wonderful and entertaining story about finding and understanding yourself.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Heart and face smiling at the same moment.. this right here is that kind of moment.

Just finished reading this eARC that I got from netgalley.

When I saw this title for the first time “The Full Moon Coffee Shop”, I fell in love with it because I love coffee and moon as well.

Only after reading this beauty I realized that the whole book deserves to be loved.

The way the story progresses from one person’s experience with the full moon coffee shop and its peculiarities to the next person’s life is commendable.

The twists and turns of the book and the connections between the people were such a beautiful part. It just brought a smile here and there in the absolutely precious manner.

As in this cafe, you cannot order anything but each dessert is served to people arriving . It has been described legit in the most impeccable details, so much so that you literally crave to have it.

All in all, this book deserves your love and time. In turn, it has such beautiful smiles to gift to you.

This book felt like a warm hug. I loved the intertwined stories and sprinkling of astrological elements. The later led me to looking up my own astrological chart and thinking about the impact on my current life. Definitely a must for those looking for a cute palette cleanser, or for fans of magical realism. Packs a nice punch for a short piece of work.

(Actual: 3.5⭐, rounded up) I love translated literature and read a lot of work from Asian (specifically Japan, Korea, and China) so this was such a sweet surprise to be given the opportunity to read an early copy of this book! As we all know, I absolutely adore magical realism as a genre and thought this did a good job of conveying and weaving in those such aspects throughout the course of the book. I also loved the nod to cat cafes haha because, while I've never been (I'm allergic 😢), they're so cute and fun! My one critique is that, despite being an astrology lover myself, I did find that whole aspect (i.e., of the cats making their predictions to their patrons predominately based off their star charts) a bit heavy-handed and wished it could have been just slightly toned down a little. That said, I still think this is a quick, breezy read, and is especially perfect for those who ARE hardcore lovers of astrology and want to see those kinds of in-depth interpretations more in fictionalized work.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop is a great book and one I wish had been a bit longer. Coming in at around 240 pages I was left wanting it to be a longer book. One thing I don't always say with books. It's great and so magical and I will read more by this author. If you are a fan of magical realism, Japanese literature and whimsical tales grab this book!

This Japanese translation & tale is so cute and whimsical. I loved the value of cats & the wisdom they can portray to a culture just by valuing them instead of condemning them. Thank you so much for letting me read this!

The Full Moon Coffee Shop follows a handful of people whose lives are all tangentially connected as they discover a coffeeshop run by celestial cats, who use astrology to give them life advice,
I found this book sweet and hopeful, but the astrology was often a bit more information than I could really process smoothly--it pulled me out of the book a bit at times. Aside from that, I did enjoy it--I liked the characters (sometimes I wanted a bit more about them, but overall did like that it was just little snapshots of their lives).

*thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for an eARC of this book in exchange for my review*

This book was the epitome of lightweight and fluffy and cozy in the best way. A cafe appears in random locations only under the full moon and just when you need it most. Pour out your worries to a magical cat who serves you the perfect drink without you needing to order it and points you in the right direction for the next step of your life. Who doesn’t want that?? 🐈 🌕 🐈‍⬛

This book followed the paths of a handful of people whose stories intertwined once in the past, and again in the present, all with a need to learn something about life. The magical cats share their wisdom using the stars and the characters’ natal charts to help each person gain clarity and confidence. This is the meat of the story, and while there isn’t a driving beat or a climax to the plot, the whole thing fell together beautifully.

This book wasn’t deep, but it had everything it needed to be whole. I loved the sweet way the cats helped each of the characters, giving them hope and perspective. It was a perfect palette cleanser and a delightfully quick read.

This cozy little novella is reminiscent of a Studio Gibli movie... our main characters find themselves at a popup cafe run by large, talking cats. They have a drink and think about where things are going in their lives. They each have a gentle epiphany about what would make them happyy, before the cafe disapears into the night. This is one of those weird little gems where nothing actually happens in the plot, but you finish the book feeling like a richer person for having read it. It's absolutely charming.

I have been seeing this cozy fantasy book recommendation all over social media, and was eager to explore this translated Japanese novel. I paired the audiobook with my complimentary digital copy, and immersed myself into the lush, magical, and dream-like story. The author uses a magical coffee truck, staffed by talking cats, to deliver life altering advice for interconnected characters. Each character's interaction with the pop-up coffee truck read almost like a short story until the final epilogue with wrapped them up into one culminating narrative. Each character has recently had some bad luck, career change, or failed relationship. Using magically infused drinks and desserts, the cats provide solid advice grounded in zodiac context. When character re-emerge from their coffee shop experience, their fates seem to change, and they only vaguely remember their time at the coffee shop.

I really loved the variety of characters, and how their interconnectedness grew out of their childhoods. Exploring themes of fate, identity, and happiness, this cozy fantasy read is like slipping into your favorite cardigan.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop was a delightful escape. Mochizuki's illustrations are simply charming, and the story itself is a warm hug on a chilly night. I loved the gentle pace and the focus on the everyday magic of human connection. The characters are endearing, and the coffee shop setting creates a cozy atmosphere that's hard to resist. While the plot might be a bit predictable, it's the perfect read for a lazy afternoon or a quiet evening. It's a reminder that sometimes, the most extraordinary moments can be found in the simplest of places.

This is a cute quick read translated from Japanese. The Full Moon Coffee Shop only appears on the night of the full moon and at a different location each time. The different characters come across it at different times and come away with life changing experiences.