3.5 stars for the cozy witchy cat-dragon vibes it gave me.

So yes, I did pick the book because of the cover. I mean, how could I not?! I enjoyed the story for the most part. I liked the magic it had, and I liked Aloysia as an MC. I thought she was good, and honestly she won me over with her need to save her garden in the beginning. 100% would be me if I was put in that situation. I looooved the cat dragon because, as a cat owner, I'd like to think he'd be my cat dragon if I had magical powers. Also, crow was sassy AF and you know I need that energy in my life sometimes, I would think even more as a witch who has only heard "witches help" her whole life.

However, I did find it hard to keep up sometimes and the pace seemed to go between superfast to super slow from time to time and that just bothered me sometimes, and it wasn't the most enjoyable. I did feel like I had to go back a few times to really understand what was going on on the next chapters. So that caused me to take longer to read the book and by then my excitement kind of went down for it.

Overall, it isn't a bad book, it did have the cozy witchy vibes and when I genuinely liked the story it just wasn't 100% for me. Maybe like 60% for me and the rest it just wasn't. However, I definetly think that others may really love this and will really enjoy the journey that Aloysua and Hollis go through.

Thank you NetGalley, Samantha, and Harper 360 for the ARC. I received an ARC for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I'm going to give this a tentative very strong 3 stars. For now. I think that maybe, down the road, I could revisit this and find myself loving it even more. But right now, it's just a lot. Not only is the first third of the story just set up, but everything is overly complicated, and over explained as a result. Nothing can be just how it is. Everything has to be something more. I enjoyed the slow burn romance, but for this being about a cat dragon, I wish it had more to do with the cat dragon. It also started out feeling like I was thrown in the middle and just expected to understand the world, while later explaining everything to me like I'm stupid rather than just a quick explanation of how things worked.

This is such a cute cover. Caught my attention immediately and add in the witchy element and a cat dragon. I was sold. I loved Littlewick and Crow and all the magical creatures in this story. The journey through different lands and the encounters with the magical creatures and plants was so fun. The sentient plants and earth magic was really enjoyable. This has just enough romance in it for me and I loved the best friend's brother trope. It was cozy yet adventourous and had way more details and plot than I was expecting honestly. I did feel like the story dragged on, I felt like I had been reading it for months by the time I finished. The ending was surprising but also a bit of a let down because I wanted to see a certain character again. I felt like the story just ended on a note that I didn't understand. I feel like I was suppose to have known that ending detail and I sure didn't. Overall this was a really great story. 4 stars.

This was a cozy, quietly magical read, exactly what I was in the mood for. The world of Tangleroot Valley is strange in a gentle, endearing sort of way. The aspect of witches expected to provide service was interest -- sort of the custodian/hero effect. I especially liked the talking pumpkins, but I don't know if I could survive my ancestors growing out of my garden!

The characters are adorable, if slightly conveniently following the pre-determined plot, but that didn't stop me from rooting for them! I'd enjoy seeing the world grow and exploring the stories of other characters.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This had a fun premise but wasn't the most immersive read for me. Maybe after some polishing.

This one was hard to get through. Personally I think I didn’t respond well to the writing. The way things were described and worded made the story hard to follow.

The vibes this book was giving was everything I love! Witches, cats, dragons, fall time! It just fell a little flat for me.

DNF at 30%. I really adore cozy witch books and this cover was so cute, but I'm sorry I could not make myself pick this back up once I put it down. I felt myself reading it in the way that you'd trudge through mud, and I have read just too many arcs back to back to back so continuing to read something I really didn't enjoy just chafed a LOT.
If I were to give some constructive reasoning for why I didn't like it, I think the author just made the rules too complicated. If it was just witch magic, drawn from The Guardian, and main girl and a hot guy she doesn't like (ooOOoo) needed to "save the magic of the land" (which is the plot) that would have been simple but kind of fun! Except the author reinvented cows. literally. Every single thing in this world was the same but just a little bit new and then overexplained and it was just too much for my tired mind. I am so grateful for the opportunity to read this, it just wasn't for me!
Thank you netgalley and Harper 360 for the arc!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for this ARC.

This is a cozy fantasy book packed with adventure, an inventive magic system, and A LOT of characters. I enjoyed the story and plot of this book but at some point it just felt like it continued on and on. Again, I liked the story but I was expecting more of a cozy fantasy story than a long epic adventure.

I would recommend this book if you like long cozy fantasy books with lots of adventure and swaths of characters.

Cat Dragon had all the elements I would typically love in a cozy fantasy. The story has so much potential to be really amazing, but the execution sadly fell flat for me.

I struggled with the writing style and at times felt as if I was completely lost about what was going on. The em dashes appearing on every page multiples times a page was truly driving me crazy. I can always appreciate a good description of what’s going on, but this was a little too descriptive in a way. The words being used were also very foreign to me leaving me to feel like I was reading in a totally new language.

This book just wasn’t my cup of tea, and that’s okay!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper360 for the arc of this book & for giving me the opportunity to submit an honest review.

Cat Dragon is a lovely adventure full of magic, creatures, nature, and friendship. There was a surprising amount of scientific explanation included which really gave the story more depth. The natural and magical causes behind certain behaviors and illnesses of magical creatures was intriguing. I find the different specialties of the witches fascinating. The characters are relatable and lovable. The romance is well thought out and doesn't come out of nowhere.

Thank You NetGalley for the arc!

This is a cute, cozy fantasy story. Filled with different fantastic animals and characters.
I was really excited when I received it and was hooked in the beginning of the story. However the writing style was not for me. I feel that the execution could’ve been better if the transition between scenes were not so abruptly done and if the storyline wasn’t so descriptive.

This sounds like it would be really cute but it just wasn’t interesting. I wanted more from it. I had to force myself to read it.

2.5-3 stars!
Thank you so much to Samantha Birch, HarperCollins Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC!
I wish I could’ve loved this as much as I wanted to, but I had a lot of problems with the writing style that me and my brain couldn’t get over
I really liked the premise and the story, but it was so hard to get through some action scenes without feeling like I couldn’t understand it
Or I couldn’t tell when someone was talking
Or just in general, I had a lot of issues understanding scenes and there were lots of bigger words that got me confused
I’m not one to complain about the usage of big words or being intelligent, but it felt very overdone
I really did feel absorbed into the world tho, I think that was done very well
The characters were okay, I honestly liked the side characters more than our main FMC and MMC
But overall, it was a cute and cozy fantasy adventure!

Thank you to NetGalley, Samantha Birch, and Harper 360 for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

This was such a cute and cozy read. I liked the main characters and the ones they met on their journey. I do wish they were well-rounded characters. I loved the magical creatures. They were cute. I wish the atmosphere were described more. There weren’t a lot of descriptions. I do feel like the book was a little long. But overall, I enjoyed the book. I would recommend it if you love a cozy fantasy!

So this book starts out a little slow, but it does pick up later on. I loved reading this book. What’s better than a cozy witchy adventure with mystical creatures and a little romance thrown in there?!

⭐️⭐️ 2/5

I really wanted to love this. The concept? Adorable. A grumpy cat-dragon companion, cozy magic, talking pumpkins, and a magical quest? It sounded like the whimsical fantasy hug I was craving. But honestly? It just didn’t click for me.

I struggled with the writing from the start—it’s incredibly flowery and dense. I kept having to reread entire paragraphs just to figure out what was happening, which made it hard to get immersed. The pacing was all over the place, with abrupt transitions that yanked me out of the story right when I was starting to settle in. And for all the charm in the premise, the emotional connection felt surface-level. Even Littlewick, the cat-dragon himself, didn’t quite shine the way I hoped he would.

I can see this being a cozy read for someone who loves gentle, low-stakes fantasy with quirky characters and rich (sometimes overly rich) descriptions. But for me, the style and structure just didn’t work. It was cute in theory, but felt more like a sleepy wander through fog than a magical adventure.

Still, it’s a unique idea—and readers who are big fans of cottagecore fantasy might have a better time with it than I did. I just wish the execution had lived up to the promise.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 🐾📚

Dive into the world of Aloysia and the town of Tangleroot. There is magic, Guardians (creatures who create the magic), pumpkins filled with the (judgy) spirit of your ancestors and a host of friends to meet along the way. I loved the characters in this book! They were funny and fun and loyal. The writing was detailed (I had to read each word to be sure I didn't miss anything!) which created a vast world these characters made their way through. I was delighted at the descriptions for each Guardian. Read if you love cozy magic, fun creatures, and side quests. I will read anything Samantha Birch writes from now on and I am hoping there is some character art in store for us in the future!

I wanted whimsy and I got whimsy. But the writing style didn’t feel like it belonged in this book. There was a lot of out of place, and uncommon language used throughout which for me, took me out of the story.

The writing was dense, not something I anticipated from a book titled Cat Dragon, nor a book with that sort of cover.

I wanted a simple, cozy read from this one. And while it was still good it wasn’t what I felt was advertised.

Thank you for this review copy!

DNF @ 23%

I unfortunately did not connect with this book. I was interested in the cozy romance aspect of it, but found the writing style a bit hard to get into.

I would still recommend this book to readers that enjoy a lighthearted cozy adventure with dense prose.

While the premise of Tangleroot Valley promised a whimsical and cozy magical adventure, I found the execution lacking in depth and cohesion. Aloysia’s struggles with her magical farm and her unfamiliarity with her cat dragon had potential, but the story often felt cluttered with too many side plots like the prattling pumpkin patch and the Harvest Festival preparations—which distracted from the main narrative.

The introduction of Hollis added some tension, but their dynamic didn’t quite spark the connection I hoped for, and the romance felt underdeveloped. The pacing was uneven, and the world-building didn’t fully immerse me as much as I wanted, especially given the charming comparisons to Studio Ghibli and other beloved fantasy tales.

Overall, while the book has moments of charm and creativity, it didn’t fully capture the magic or emotional depth I was looking for. It might appeal more to readers who enjoy light, cozy fantasy without a heavy plot.