This was a good sequel. While astrology is not something that appeals to me personally, it was interesting to learn more about it, and to see how the author utilized it to advance the story. Junko, Satomi and Koyuki were great characters, and I liked seeing them come to new realizations about their lives and their relationships, including family relationships. Ayu was simply delightful. And the concept of the Full Moon Coffee Shop, which appears where it is needed and where you can’t place an order but are always given exactly the food and drink you need to help you realize what to do next, remains an effective and enjoyable plot device.

Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop is the perfect cozy book for the holidays. It is the same style as the first book, with the funny, quirky cats being associated with the planets and giving customers to their cafe in depth astrological readings and corresponding dishes and drinks to help them understand their lives better. Whether the customers know they are in need of the help or not, the cafe and the cats tend to soothe their worries (either directly or indirectly) and provide other insights to their personal problems.

I love these books, as they manage to create a very safe and warm atmosphere to touch on tragedy and loss, but always managing to leave you on a heartwarming note. I love the cats, and I love the cafe, and often found myself wishing I could visit it!

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Mai Mochizuki for an eARC of this book.

This quick, cozy read gives us three new connected women who find themselves at the Full Moon Coffee Shop when they need guidance. It has the same magical vibes as the first Full Moon Coffee Shop book. While the hopeful endings to each problem are comforting, I also really enjoy reading about the creative foods the shop serves. Readers who enjoyed the first book will enjoy this one too.

This book reminded me of why I love Japanese novels. Cozy, magical, a thread of human condition/connection, and cats! It focuses on three different, but connected, women who each visit the Full Moon Coffee Shop. They walk away not only with bellies full of delicious food, but also enlightened and hopeful about their futures. The descriptions of the food left me hungry and wanting to bake. The astrological themes added to the story and mysticism. The story is set around Christmas time, so perfect gift for the cat, astrological, or cozy book lover in your life. Thank you to #NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to review an ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a really interesting book. The personification (and catification) of the planets was really wonderful along with all the astrological information they throw in too

Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki
Writing: C (lost in translation)
Story: B-
Characters: C+
Setting: B-
Best Aspect: Once again cats.
Worst Aspect: Something was missing with the cohesiveness of the story.
Recommend: Maybe.

So cute and cozy! Now, I haven’t read the first book (which I need to asap) but I enjoyed this one and had fun with it anyway. I’m kind of a crazy cat lady with 5 cats of my own, so anything with a cat in the title usually catches my attention. I love how astrology was woven into the story. I wish something like this existed in real life!

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC!

Although Mai Mochizuki’s new novel, Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop, can be read as a standalone, I was glad that I had read her first book, The Full Moon Coffee Shop, so that I had an idea what to expect.

The coffee shop has no fixed location. It is a travelling truck, and it appears out of nowhere. The “Master” seems to know when and where the services of the shop are needed. You see, the Full Moon Coffee Shop is no ordinary café. There is no menu. The servers are shape-changers who can be cats, or – they can be humans. Their names are the names of the planets. Their customers are seemingly ordinary people, but they appear to be selected because they need to discover something. In this book, the human characters need to find their truest wish.

Satomi has a boyfriend whom she is certain is about to propose to her on Christmas Eve. But she’s reluctant to give up her independence. Her steadfastly loyal intern, Koyuki, offers to stay and work late for her so that Satomi can be with her boyfriend. Since Koyuki’s father died, she has been avoiding her family, particularly her stepfather, only pretending to love him, even though she adores her new brother. When she stumbles upon the coffee shop, she is wary but soon becomes enchanted. Then, when she is asked about her truest wish, she is stymied for a time. What is her truest wish?

Satomi’s sister-in-law, Junko, brings her young daughter Ayu to a fast-food restaurant, where she’s enjoying a doughnut. In the prologue, while looking at dogs at an adoption event, had encountered a pop-up cafe and had also decided to adopt a dog. While Ayu was eating her treat, they talked about the dog, and Junko told her about the dog she had as a child. Later, Junko gets a call from her mother, telling her that her father, from whom she’s been estranged for many years, has taken ill and is hospitalized. Her mother urges her to come home. Ayu, who has never met her grandfather, accompanies her. You can guess what happens next. Or can you? There may be a surprise or two.

Like the original book, there are some life’s lessons in these vignettes. While being instructed about how the the planets align, each character learns something about herself. I was not as enthralled with this book as with the first. It did not seem to hold as much “magic” for me, and there seemed to be a heavier emphasis on the astrological aspects. However, there were some nice, heartfelt moments as well.

I received an advanced copy of Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books.

a charming continuation! i really liked how sweet this was, i personally think the first one was more emotionally charged, but i love how i get to see new characters struggling with their life choices, and reconnecting to who they are as people. i was moved to near tears more than once, but in a good way. the heartfelt moments were things finally snap together and you just know everything is going to be okay. if you like heartfelt stories of reconnecting with family, this is going to be a fantastic book for you to read! you don't really have to read the first one to get into this one, but you'll miss a lot of the callbacks and the explanation of what the Full Moon coffee Shop actually is so i personally recommend you read them in order even if it's not completely necessary.

I was invited to read this book by the publisher. This book follows the storylines of a variety of different characters, all essentially stuck or weathering their lives in some way. They have a variety of grief and tough choices to make, each wishing for something different for their lives. Of course, by acknowledging the past and conceptualizing the future, amazing things can happen - especially if there's coffee and cats involved. A lovely second installment to this series, you can never go wrong with a coffee shop like this!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So, I absolutely love cats and this book is great for showing the charm of cats mixed with magical realism. This was a sweet, cozy story with a lot of heart. I haven’t read the first book, but this one still holds up on its own. This is a group of interconnected short stories that all tug at your heart.

Thank you, NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the eARC of this book. I am writing this review based on my own opinion.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, and this review is my own. I enjoyed this lighthearted and charming story about a pop up coffee shop/food truck, run by a truly magical staff. The intertwined family stories were lovely, and I would read more by this author. 3.5 stars.

This was an interesting read! There were so many interesting dynamics within the story that it was interesting. Seeing how each character developed and learned throughout! With passing present struggles, each character is following their own steps to try and find that happiness within their lives. That seems so far away while they’re confronting these Events!

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After liking the writing style and plot of the first book, though I didn't find myself absolutely adoring it, I wanted to give the sequel a chance.

Once again, I loved the writing style as it just feels so warm and comforting, that had me wanting to read this book all at once, in bed and under the covers. The vibes were great once again and, of course, there were cats! The backdrop of the Christmas/holiday season made these aspects even better, in my opinion.

This book seemed to have more astrology than the first, which I'm sure some people will love and appreciate, but I found it a bit boring and that the descriptions of certain aspects of it took away from the storytelling. The characters and the short story plotlines were very fun and cozy, and while I definitely enjoyed reading them in the moment, I will say that I didn't find them to be very memorable after the fact.

In general, this was a very cozy story that continued the series very well!

This book was like a warm hug in the best way. It probably would have been better for me to read the first book first. But this did work well as a stand alone. Other than being thrown into it, it did work.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me exactly what I needed.

10/10. The perfect book to cozy up with over the festive period and it was so nice to take a trip back to the full moon coffee shop. I absolutely love Japanese fiction and this was up there with the best of them.

This book was such a sweet, cozy read—perfect for the holiday season. It follows three women who are all dealing with different life challenges, and somehow, they each find their way to a magical little coffee shop in Kyoto… that just happens to be run by cats. Yes, really.
I love these books so much and this is the second one by this author. Highly recommend if you liked Before The Coffee Gets Cold

I'm enjoying this trend of magical realism and cats very much. A coffee shop that knows exactly what you need without you needing to tell them anything? Sign me up! It's got great cozy vibes with charming settings and characters you want to root for. Oh, to see Japan lit up for Christmas...
As someone who's not super into astrology, I found myself skimming over the long chunks of explanations of natal charts, but I still enjoyed the story as a whole. Is it my favorite in this sub-genre of magical realism with mysterious entities that know exactly what you need? No. But it was still a fun novella that I'd recommend if you enjoyed the first book.

Thank you to Ballentine Books and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. I loved the first one and was thrilled at the opportunity to read this one.

I very much enjoyed the return of all of the planet cats and especially the scene in the beginning where they were all learning more about the Age of Aquarius and seeing their personalities shine throughout.

I loved the stories of the different focal characters and their moments of growth but I can also see why some have felt the interactions were a bit less mystical and natal chart focused than in the first book. I personally enjoyed getting some differently oriented stories and seeing the different ways the Full Moon Coffee Shop can work for different types of people. I absolutely loved all the peeks into the planet cats throughout. I really hope there will be more of these going forward! 4.5☆

#BestWishesfromtheFullMoonCoffeeShop #NetGalley

A wonderful read!
I loved this charming sequel!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.