This book made its way into my life at a time when I needed it. I enjoyed the interconnection of the character stories, and the added depth made this novella feel like an experience you'd hear from a friend or neighbor. For fans of 'Before the Coffee Gets Cold' and 'The Kamogawa Food Detectives'.

**3.5 stars**

This was a sweet little book about grief, forgiveness, and loss. I love the idea of remembrance meals in general and I’d especially love one where I could see my lost loved one one more time, no matter how brief the visit might be.

I’d say this classifies as a Japanese”cozy fiction” book that seems very popular these days.

**Thanks to the author and publisher for the e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.**

Imagine getting one last meal with someone you’ve lost—just long enough to feel their presence again. The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen takes that bittersweet longing and wraps it in warmth, food, and a little magic. Set in a seaside town outside Tokyo, this book weaves four interconnected stories of grief, love, and closure—all guided by a charming cat named Chibi. Each chapter unfolds like a cozy mystery, blending emotions with beautifully described dishes (recipes included!). It’s tender without being heavy, nostalgic but hopeful, and honestly, I teared up more than once.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Publishing Group for the ARC.

A similar concept to Before the Coffee Gets Cold, but instead of going back in time, this café allows its diners to have one last conversation with a deceased loved one, partly guided by a cat. I liked the way it's handled here more, and I think it comes down to the characters. Many carry over into other customers' stories. They feel more like real people than just a walking morality tale for a single chapter. While I do love the cat, its presence may not be entirely necessary for the story. But I love cats, and this one was so cute and sassy, so I don't mind at all.

Kotoko's life has been upended by the sudden and tragic death of her brother, so when she hears of a restaurant that offers kagezen (a remembrance meal) and the possibility of seeing her brother one more time, she cannot resist. This is a sweet, touching, emotional book that features three intertwined stories about love and loss, and (of course) an enigmatic cat. With a bit of mystery and magic, the real story is about regrets and what it means to lose someone you love. The story is filled with hope and Japanese culture and even recipes. I was completely transported to this seaside town outside of Tokyo. It's a quick read with lots of possibilities for discussion, a great "book club" book.

This is a heartwarming story that blends mouthwatering foods, cats, loss, and life. I particularly appreciated how food was used as a way to remember loved ones. It’s true—food has a unique ability to transport us back to past times and memories. While the story felt a bit repetitive at times, it was ultimately a feel-good, short read.

The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen is very similar to another very popular translated Japanese novella series, but dare I say.... I liked this one better?

This word of mouth cafe in Chiba prefecture by the sea serves kagezen, or remembrance meals, a meal that will not only remind you of your passed love one... but give you one last chance to speak with them. This volume contains four interconnected stories, and if I didn't know from the intro it was a series I would have believed it was a standalone book. All four stories are intertwined and wrap around to make a coherent end.

The descriptions of the meals and what they meant to the visitors of the cafe were lush and draws the reader into the meal (I want sukiyakidon sooo bad now) and the flips to memories outside of current day weren't jarring or out of place. It's the type of little book you read when you want to feel something or connect with the feeling of loss or honoring someone you miss.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Viking Penguin | Penguin Books for the eARC! I really enjoyed this one.

The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen is a cozy, magical realism book, that does a good job at playing at the strings of your heart.

In the similar to other Japanese literature, this is a very straight forward plot of going to a specific eatery/cafe and order a specific meal/item to bring the patron to a point in time or a loved one of the past for a "one more time" type of event. This book involves a restaurant is on the seaside town outside of Tokyo, and it allows you time with a loved one. And of course, you need to have the cute animal, which in this case is Chibi, an orange cat. I also love all the recipes on the book it’s probably my favorite part of it all!

This book is a quick read and I enjoyed every moment of it!

Thank you Netgalley

The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen is a cozy, magical realism book, that does a good job at playing at the strings of your heart.

In the similar vein of other Japanese literature, this is a very straight forward plot of going to a specific eatery/cafe and order a specific meal/item to bring the patron to a point in time or a loved one of the past for a "one more time" type of event. This book involves a restaurant is on the seaside town outside of Tokyo, and it allows you time with a loved one. And of course, you need to have the cute animal, which in this case is Chibi, an orange cat.

This book is a quick read and I enjoyed every moment of it, even if it brought me to tears.

Thank you Netgalley, ENGUIN GROUP Viking Penguin | Penguin Books, and the author for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

I will be posting to socials.

This was cozy I enjoyed each page it had my attention and I wanted to keep reading. I like the idea of this book and I do see myself buying this book. Or hopefully getting a physical ARC which would make my year.

*2.5/5
(Thank you to Penguin Books for giving me an eARC of the book.)

It was a quick read and I liked the variety of recipes included after each story. Unfortunately, the flat characters with little character development felt like other characters in the cozy magical realism genre; nothing stood out. There were also repetitive descriptions of the seaside town, restaurant, and cat from multiple characters.

(CW: death, grief)

This is a great example of healing fiction, a book that you read to find comfort. Usually these book consist of a series of vignettes centered around a location, in this case the Chibineko Kitchen. This restaurant serves kagezen or remembrance meals. And it has a kitten. Sometimes, while the steam rises from the remembrance meal, a lost loved one might return for one last conversation.

This book didn't try to do too much. There were a total of four vignettes. The first was about a young woman who had lost her brother. This same young woman ends up being a through line in the book and she serves the last meal in the book, this time to the young man whose mother owned the restaurant and who had recently died.

There's also a meal served to a young boy who has regrets about how he treated a classmate and to an elderly man who wants to ask his departed wife a question.

This book also has tasty sounding food and actual recipes as well. I'll read more in the series.

The cover of this book appealed to me and left me wanting to know more about what was in its' pages. It accurately depicts a location from the novel.

There have been a number of books published recently that come from Japan and, as in this one, many also feature cats. In my opinion, this title is one of the best.

The reader is invited to visit this special kitchen. They will find what is on the menu to be quite interesting.

I felt drawn to Kotoko and deeply empathized with her grief. Will the Chibineko Kitchen help her? Would you want what is on their menu? It is definitely something to think about.

Kotoko is just one of the characters in this warmhearted story that is about both grieving and living. It is a book to be savored.

Highly recommended to those who would like a story with some magic.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Viking Penguin for this title. All opinions are my own.

The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen is a beautifully written and gentle story providing four interwoven tales of grief, hope, and, finally, acceptance and peace. The Chibineko Kitchen is a small cafe just outside Tokyo which offers patrons a last encounter with a deceased loved one with the aid of the young chef who somehow knows the perfect remembrance meal for each meeting and the little cat who acts as guide for the deceased to the table.

Written by Yuta Takahashi and translated by Cat Anderson, this book is, at times, both heartbreaking and heartwarming and I felt as satisfied, at the end, as the patrons of the cafe. This is a fairly short but lovely book and one I recommend highly.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Penguin Group for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

This was a cozy read that explored emotions after a loss of a loved one, tied together with 4 interconnected stories at the Chibineko Cafe. I enjoyed the addition of Japanese recipes in between the stories too.

This story is divided into four parts and each part features a main recipe. In this story, we read about the restaurant called The Chibineko Kitchen that is located in a seaside town outside of Tokyo, Japan. The Chibineko Kitchen is known for offering remembrance meals. Overall, it was a good read and learned about the mourning rituals in the Japanese culture. Would definitely love to continue the series.

Thank you to Penguin Group Viking Penguin for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Do you wish you could share one last meal with a deceased loved one? Take an emotional and wholesome journey to The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen.

Profoundly relatable and heartwarming, The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen is set in a small seaside town outside of Tokyo, Japan. It follows Kai and his adorable little kitten, Chibi, as they provide more than just mouth-watering meals. At the Chibineko Kitchen, restaurant goers have one last chance to eat a meal with a loved one—until the steam goes out.

“When you eat a remembrance meal at the Chibineko Kitchen, you can hear your loved one’s voice again. Their memory comes back to you.”

Personally, I have yet to read the similar/comparative novel, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, readers alike have said this was more enjoyable due to containing the “missing piece” that the mentioned did not provide. Its four short stories are interconnected beautifully, while creating a natural, personable storytelling.

Although this is an easy and quick read, the author is tremendously skilled at creating cozy, idyllic scenes with reminiscent descriptions of the main star of the book--the food. One of its charming qualities, each short story introduces a basic description of a food and ends with its special recipe. Truthfully, I was so touched that I was crying while reading the recipe while my mouth was watering and stomach growling.

Even with the heavy themes of death and grief, this sad but light-hearted book bestowed a therapeutic storytelling without addressing any emotional-behavior problems and/or reaching any therapeutic goals. And yet, it provided me the same sense of catharsis like a therapy session would; my soul felt nourished. It has easily become one of my favorite all-time reads, but especially in the magical realism and fiction genre.

I miss my grandma so much. “I hope you have everything you need, and all the books your heart desires. I hope you are free of troubles, in that place where there is no sickness.” Until we meet again, bà ngoai.

A few tips to make it more of an immersive read: listen to “Relaxing with Japanese Bamboo Flute, Guzheng, and Erhu | Musical Instrument Collection” by Ambient with Flute on YouTube and have a full box of tissues ready.

HUGE thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Books, and Yuta Takahashi for providing me this ARC! You all will have to pry this beautiful book from my cold, dead hands (my Kindle).

This was such a cozy, nice and soothing book about grief. I loved the setting with the mysterious cafe, the CAT, the characters, the food... everything.

The pace is quite slow, but that's the way grief moves. There's not going to be a rush to see the end of it and the plot in this book moves the same way.

I found the hope and belief of moving forward, yet still remembering our loved ones, comforting.

I definitely want to read the next book in the series.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking Penguin for an e-copy of THE CURIOUS KITTEN AT THE CHIBINEKO KITCHEN to review.

I rate THE CURIOUS KITTEN AT THE CHIBINEKO KITCHEN five out of five stars.

A heartwarming and cozy read set in a small seaside town, this book follows Kai and his resident kitten, Chibi, as they provide more than just delicious meals. At Chibineko Kitchen, customers have the chance to share one last meal with a departed loved one—until the food goes cold.

Though it shares some similarities with Before the Coffee Gets Cold, I found myself enjoying this book much more. The four interconnected short stories blend together beautifully, creating a natural, slice-of-life feel rather than following a set structure.

The writing is simple yet charming, adding to the book’s lightheartedness despite its themes of grief and remembrance. The idea of reconnecting with someone through a meal tied to shared memories gives the story an intimate and emotional depth. One of the most charming touches is that each story ends with a recipe for the featured dish. It adds to the immersive experience, giving readers the chance to recreate meals and form a deeper connection with the story.

Despite the heavier themes, The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen is a soothing and uplifting read. It’s easily become one of my favorite books in the slice-of-life, healing fiction genre.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Books, and Yuta Takahashi for an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book!

The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen is a heartwarming and cozy read, perfect for cat lovers and fans of slice-of-life stories. The gentle storytelling and charming atmosphere make it a relaxing experience, though the plot is light and more focused on the daily interactions between characters and their feline companions. If you enjoy wholesome, feel-good tales with a touch of culinary charm, this book is a delightful choice.