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.

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.