The Full Moon Coffee Shop is back and helping people find their true wish. What will be find when we learn to forgive, both ourselves and others. My favorite thing about this book (& the one before it) is the invisible thread connecting the characters to each other.

#bestwishesfromthefullmooncoffeeshop
#maimochizuki
#jordantaylor
#netgalley

Many thanks to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for this absolute hidden gem. I was unfamiliar with this author and her work before this book but a magical cat cafe? Immediately sold. I did find the first book in this series, and I will say that it’s not necessary to read at all before this book. It helps give some context but these books can definitely stand on their own.
While not as strong as its predecessor, this novel did not lack the charm and sense of wonder and awe the first novel had. The author was once again able to transport us to this wonderful place and time and live in the magic and connections made. To me, the only thing lacking in this book was the character development. It did not flow as smoothly as the last book and I didn’t find myself as attached to the main characters in this novel. I did enjoy getting to know the staff of the cafe a bit more and the astrology lessons are always such a delight!
Overall, I would recommend this book and it would make a great gift for the holidays!

I loved this short, feel-good read. I appreciated the characters and the way the story wove them into a tapestry of love, generosity, and kindness. I was captivated by the astrological aspect and how it also brought the plot and themes together into a cohesive whole. If all that wasn't enough, it had a happy ending. I was happy to get this second chance to connect.

I really enjoyed this one. Makes me want to go visit. Thank you for the opportunity to read this one early!

Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop is a delightful sequel; however, the author points out in the afterword that it can be read as a standalone, and I agree. Reading the first book will absolutely help give background to some of the café staff members, and premise of how the café works, but this book does a great job bringing the reader into the space without feeling redundant.

Set during the Christmas season, we follow a cast of characters as they navigate life's difficulties. Much like the first book, I really enjoyed the interconnectedness of the characters throughout the story. We even see some familiar faces from the first book back to visit!

Interwoven into the story are elements of astrology (this book primarily focuses on rising, mood, and ascendant signs), which members of the café "staff" use to help the patrons reflect on their lives and answer questions like "what is your true wish", "how do you begin to forgive yourself?", and "how do we remember those closest to us?". If you're looking for cozy literature that also makes you reflect on where you've been in life and where you'd like to go, this is a great choice to pick up.

One of my favorite lines in the book was "You're the only one who sees the sights you do. The Universe around you is for no one but you.". To me this is a great reminder that we all have a unique perspective on things, and that while you can hold power in your perspective, it's important to practice empathy and remember that other people's perspectives can be just as relevant as your own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book, in exchange for a review.

What a lovely, interesting and life affirming story.
I have not read the first book but I do not feel
like I have missed anything. This is the first
novel I’ve read that was translated from
Japanese, and it’s the first look at Japanese
culture from a novel. I would say that the
translation and experience have both
been successful. I enjoyed the book !
My thanks to Brazen Books via NetGalley
for the copy of the book for review purposes.
of,the book

Charming and magical. A wonderfully encouraging and uplifting read.
This is the second "Full Moon Coffee Shop" book. I hope there will be more.

I am loving all these books with coffee shops, cats, and a sprinkle of magic. This book follows several women who are a little down on their luck and need some direction in their lives. I will say I wish the cafe and the cats would have been more present but I didn't enjoy my time reading this.

This book is a delightful continuation of the first -- such a fun sequel to read. I love how each chapter is from the POV of a different individual and their birth chart, but all the characters and their stories are intertwined. I think the first novel set up the scene of the full moon coffee shop and its purpose and then the sequel brings everything to life and shows its impact. I am having so much fun reading this.

This book follows a series of stories that are all in some way related to the Full Moon Coffee Shop. All are related to astrology and fate.

Unfortunately I could not vibe with this material. I some of the stories were really feel good Christmas stories and all a little too mystical for me.

I am actually not sure how I got this book. This is not the kind of material that I usually read.

This was a cute and cozy read. It was a little slow and it took me a minute to get fully engaged in the story, but overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it for anyone who wants a chill story to escape into.

"Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop" had all the makings of a cozy, magical read, i mean, we'are talking about enchanted cats. But despite its charming concept and pretty prose, the story ultimately didn’t work for me. I struggled to stay engaged. The pacing felt slow, almost meandering, and the narrative—split between multiple characters—lacked a strong emotional thread to tie everything together. The characters’ struggles were relatable in theory, but on the page they felt distant and underdeveloped. I never really connected with them or felt invested in their outcomes. It also didn’t help that this is the second book in a series, and it assumes some familiarity with the world and tone of the first. Coming in without that context left me feeling a bit lost and disconnected from the intended magic. If you enjoy quiet, slice-of-life stories with soft introspection, magical realism, and a seasonal atmosphere, this might be a better fit for you. But for me, it felt more like a missed opportunity than a memorable holiday read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishing house for the chance to read this book in advance, in exchange of my honest opinion.

A very cozy read! I hadn’t picked up the first book in this series and didn’t realize there was one before starting, but I completely understood everything without any issues. If you enjoy fantastical stories with touches of astrology and rich family dynamics, you’ll enjoy this one. Thanks to Ballantine for the advanced copy!

This is the second in the series, but can be read as a standalone. Like other reviewers, this one was a bit harder to get into than the previous one. I wasn't as invested in the stories, but of course loved all the cats! I think the astrology aspects were a little too present for my personal taste but definitely know a couple people in my circle who will absolutely love this one! Would definitely continue the series if there are more!

So, I absolutely loved the first book and when I saw this one, I KNEW I had to read it. Though I REALLY wanted to like it, parts of it left me feeling uncomfortable…during a cozy fantasy. The astrology was cool but laid on a little thick at times. We didn’t get as many cats this time and at the end I didn’t leave it feeling ear to ear happy. Instead, I had more questions.

Thank you regardless. I will always love to read a story by Mai Mochizuki.

2.5 rounded to 3

Spoilers warning.

I was really looking forward to coming back to the Full Moon Café after loving the first book’s cozy mix of cats, food, and just a little bit of astrology. Unfortunately, this one didn’t work for me nearly as much.

The story started off in a way that felt kind of awkward and hard to get into, and once it picked up, it leaned so heavily into detailed astrology that it honestly became overwhelming. I actually enjoyed that element before, but here it felt like it took over everything else I liked about the series.

There also seemed to be a lot less focus on the café, the cats, and the warm atmosphere. One of the main storylines revolved around a dog (instead of cats), which didn’t really appeal to me, especially since the dog ends up reincarnated as the main character’s child—a plot point that I just found pretty strange and hard to connect with.

The ending really left me scratching my head. After years of estrangement, the main character and her father end up in the hospital together because he gets sick, and her brother—who had been cut off from the family because they thought he was too feminine (onē)—suddenly shows up with a wife. When the family tells him they’re surprised he married a woman, he admits that he had dated men in the past, which apparently his wife didn’t even know. Instead of reacting with any shock or questions, she just kind of blushes while he explains that it doesn’t matter if someone is a man or a woman, it’s about who they are as a person, and she’s good, hardworking, and beautiful. And that’s it—she just smiles at him, like it’s totally normal to hear this for the first time in front of an estranged family and a sick parent. Honestly, it felt completely implausible.

On top of that, the father—who had been verbally abusive to the main character when she was a child, which is why she became estranged from him as an adult—gets all of that behavior brushed aside at the last minute. The mother just explains that he wasn’t really mean, he was “awkward,” and that he’d been raised by an abusive father himself, so he thought acting that way was normal. Suddenly, everyone is fine with this explanation, and the story wraps up in a neat little happy ending that, for me, didn’t feel earned at all.

Overall, while there were a few glimpses of the warmth and magic that made the first book so charming, this sequel just didn’t deliver for me. There was too much astrology, too little of the café and cats, and too many plot points that left me more baffled than moved.

I'm part of a book club through a bookstore, and through them one month was sent The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki. I was a little uncertain because it was not something I typically would have picked up, but absolutely loved the story and the writing. I immediately jumped at the chance to read the second book by Mochizuki. Best Wishes From the Full Moon Coffee Shop did not disappoint.

I'm not going to lie guys, the world has been awful dark lately. I really just loved that with this book, real micro-scale human relationships were what was at the heart of the novel. The aunt (Satomi) who forgets that she promised to show her niece Tokyo, and who is also struggling with what does she really want in life? Also, how do you as a grown adult figure out whether or not you want to compromise your lifestyle to fit with what someone else wants out of life? Koyuki really hit home in the aspect of feeling almost like a separate family. While I didn't have the step-parent dynamic, I did have the much older sibling of very young siblings, where it almost feels like there are two separate families being raised. Junko having to return to her abusive father... we'll not even go in depth there. All of these characters felt like they reflected a time in my life or a decision point.

While the book does have elements of the supernatural at its core, it's really a book about being human. I really did love the way the various Coffee Shop characters were written, and even with being supernatural you could see the humanity there as well. I would love one day for a coffee shop food truck to pop up in my neighborhood, with someone who knows exactly what I need at that very moment. Sometimes, we don't always recognize what we need in life, and it takes someone else to gently remind us. Especially when we feel a little lost ourselves, we just want to be taken care of a little bit. Overall, this book was the exact balm I needed at this time. I really do recommend Mai Mochizuki's books if you are looking for something new. I'll certainly be purchasing this once physical copies are available.

I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention that this is a translated work, and while I can't speak for the author, Jordan Taylor did a great job in their word choice in how they translated this book into English. I always struggle with how do I write (even in my reviews), that the book had a mood or a feeling about it, a vibe. This book felt almost ethereal to me, while also still grounded in real human and family struggles. I really have to give a lot of credit to the translator, as this was really well done in my opinion.

Please be advised I received an Advance Readers Copy (ARC) from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop" is a glossy, whimsical novella that blends magical realism, astrology, and holiday sentimentality into a series of loosely connected vignettes. Set during Christmas and populated by gods and goddesses who shift between cat and human forms, the story feels like a blend of a Japanese fairytale and a Dickensian ghost story—with a heavy dose of aesthetic charm and celestial symbolism.

The narrative follows three main characters:

Satomi, whose boyfriend plans to propose on Christmas Eve, though she’s unsure about her future;

Junko, her sister-in-law, who is estranged from her father and navigating new family dynamics (including a strangely delayed dog adoption from the café’s magical cats);

and Satori’s employee, a young woman grieving her father’s death who ultimately reconnects with her mother, stepfather, and half-brother.

Each character is guided by planetary deities who offer moral lessons tied to reincarnation, forgiveness, and personal growth. The book leans heavily on astrology, even including star charts for each character and emphasizing the ascendant sign as a marker of past-life strengths. While this may appeal to astrology enthusiasts, the execution often feels twee and overly expository.

The café staff—celestial beings in disguise—are given their own chapters, but their personalities blur together despite the effort to tie their roles to planetary movements. The result is a story that feels more like a concept pitch for an animated film than a fully realized novella. The emotional beats are present, but often feel distant or overly orchestrated.

While the book has moments of charm and visual richness, it’s weighed down by its own aesthetic and moral framing. Readers looking for a cozy, magical holiday tale with strong visual and astrological themes may enjoy it, but those seeking deeper character development or narrative cohesion might find it underwhelming.

Fantasy/ astrological inspired
Second in a series, but you can read it without reading book 1.
Story focuses on a few different characters that are visited by or stop in to the Full Moon Cafe where they are able to finally figure out what their true wish is. It is a story about family relationships and fixing their past selves to create a better future self.

In this whimsical book of interconnected stories, we meet the planetary staff that run the Full Moon Coffee shop and do their best to influence the lives of their customers in positive ways. There's a lot here to like: a coffee shop that appears only at certain times and only to those who need something that it can provide, an interesting and interconnected set of characters who find themselves at said coffee shop, and sweet stories to go with each character and the revelations they receive through their coffee shop visits. I think anyway interested in a quick, magical read and who also enjoys astrology would really like this book. It wasn't necessarily my cup of tea, but I do feel that many readers would be drawn to it.