Penny

This graphic novel is perfect for cat lovers. I enjoyed following Penny through her daily cat life. She is exactly what I imagine cats to be... philosophical, intelligent, and independent. Every day she contemplatee her cat existence while hunting, playing, or sleeping. It was a little humorous, I found myself chuckling a couple of times. It was very heartwarming and cute! The one thing I would change would probably be the art style. It was beautiful but I didnt feel like it matched the tone of the book. Overall, it was a fun read and I highly recommend to any and all cat lover's.

Penny is an enjoyable and well-composed example of graphic novel memoir. The illustrations are absolutely stunning and the story is thoughtful and engaging. Well worth reading!

Rescued from the streets, Penny lives a rather boring pampered existence while having a full and vivid mental life full of existential ponderings. I thoroughly enjoyed dichotomy of Penny stretched out in a patch of sunlight as she deems the bright light to be a portal to another dimension. I can understand it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but as a fan of cats and sarcasm it brought me many a smile. The illustrations are of a quality I don't normally see in too many graphic novels, several are frameable.

I had high expectations for this, as I love cats and most cat-centric graphic novels/comics, but this was a bit disappointing. The art is beautiful, but Penny's thoughts are a bit repetitive and, at times, the 'memoir' borders on pretentious (think the viral French cat Henri and his 'ennui,' but without the satire). I did appreciate the more fantastical 'dreams' Penny had, though.

Thank you for the ARC NetGalley. Anyone who has owned a cat for any period of time certainly wonders what they are thinking. This sweet graphic novel about Penny the cat answers all those questions and more, Highly enjoyable. #penny #netgalley

Sure we don't actually know what cats are thinking, but this seems super accurate. I mean, have you ever watched a cat being weird? They are clearly living big inner lives that we puny humans will never understand.

This beautifully illustrated graphic novel proves my theory that cats are happiest when thinking about the deaths of small things and their humans.

Recommended for: cat lovers

I received a digital ARC of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you expected a book about a most worldly-wise, mystically-minded moggie to be a lazily-drawn comic, think again. This shows great craft and artistry in giving a portrait of a cat that just seems to be doing cute cat things, and sleeping it off when there was little 'it' in the first place to speak of, but actually is cogitating life, the universe and everything. As great as the visuals are, this is for dipping into and not binging on, for it can get one-note, even if it is broken up with the humans' holidaying and leaving Penny at home alone, and other more plotted sections. Also, Penny's interior monologue does stretch from the opening, where you think she'd be able to understand "Tenet" at the first watch, to the fact she thinks a stuffed mouse with a broken ear is her boyfriend. An odd swing to the character, then (partly caused, you eventually work out, by a non-sequential presentation of stand-alone pages desperately out of order), but this whole effort is odd – and oddly compelling, too.

I love cats. I've grown up with cats, I've always had cats around. I have a cat now. I'm the guy who comes to visit you, and your normally shy cat will climb all over me. What I am trying to say is I love cats, guys.

Fiction involving cats as a character can go several ways. My least favourite kind anthropomorphises cats too much, makes them speak and think like a human being.

This book seems to go down that route, although it does something different too. The book is about Penny, a cat who lived on the street and was adopted by the author and his significant other. Turns out that Penny has a rich intellectual inner life, and likes to ponder the feline condition. This boils down to her having a lot philosophical thoughts, and linking that to her personal predicament.

How she views humans (and specifically her humans) is a bit more cliched - she is a prisoner in a velvet cage, she doesn't really think much of her owners, etc. It's the usual spiel about cats not really loving their owners, or of them being cold and calculating animals. I personally think that's a bit hackneyed, as in my experience cats are quite sensitive and responsive.

All of this makes Penny a quirky character, but also kind of... well, boring. There's nowhere left to go with the character. The book is a collection of mostly one page comics, Penny grumping about her life, and several multi-page stories - one in which indoor cat Penny escapes her building is the one that sticks most in my mind (probably because this would be a personal nightmare scenario).

I do think the art is great, and has a real sweet edge to it, full of warm colours.

This is a rather lovingly illustrated book about the life of a very dull cat, who thinks big thoughts.

And that is it. The cat questions her existence. The cat questions life. The cat pays with toy mice. The only excitement is when the cat escapes her apartment, but other than that, nothing more happens. A lot of this is typical cat things, such as eating, sleeping, and playing.

But, as I said, the pictures are lovely and very spot on to how cats look and climb and sleep and do all the things they like to do. But if you are looking for a plot of some kind, or story then you have come to the wrong place.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.