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A review by shamelesslyintroverted
She and Her Cat by Makoto Shinkai, Naruki Nagakawa
3.5
If GR had half star ratings, I would say that this book is a solid 3.5! I really enjoyed my reading experience with this book, more than I thought I would. I decided to pick this up because my sister adores this book and recommended it me. She doesn't read a bunch, so when she recommends me a book... I will read it.
There were so many things I loved about this book. The writing was beautiful (amazing translation) and I loved how the stories were interconnected. My biggest problem with short stories is that there's not enough time to develop characters, therefore, I generally don't care enough about anyone for the plot to matter.
She and Her Cat was different. There were four stories, but they were all interconnected and the way the characters were unfolded was well done. We started with one cat and one owner, unwinding into another cat and owner that we were introduced to in the first story. By the fourth story, I felt like I knew these cats and humans like I would friends (which is a huge accomplishment since the book is less than 140 pages long).
I also really loved the structure. It was a little weird at first that we were reading from the POVs of cats so much, but I grew to love it. I loved exploring the inner world of these cats and how each one lived their life and viewed our lives as humans. It was interesting and heartwarming. It was easy to know which POV we were in because whenever there would be a switch from human to cat, there would be a cute black cat icon.
At the very beginning, I made a note that this book reads like a Studio Ghibli movie. I still stand by that, but we're talking about some very heavy topics (especially in the second story). I know that Studio Ghibli also talks about heavy topics, so that comparison still stands. Due to this, I wouldn't really classify this as cozy, even though there are definitely cozy elements at play.
The only reason I didn't give this a four or a five star rating was, while impactful, I don't think I would ever reread it. I do think I will be thinking about this book for a while, though.
There were so many things I loved about this book. The writing was beautiful (amazing translation) and I loved how the stories were interconnected. My biggest problem with short stories is that there's not enough time to develop characters, therefore, I generally don't care enough about anyone for the plot to matter.
She and Her Cat was different. There were four stories, but they were all interconnected and the way the characters were unfolded was well done. We started with one cat and one owner, unwinding into another cat and owner that we were introduced to in the first story. By the fourth story, I felt like I knew these cats and humans like I would friends (which is a huge accomplishment since the book is less than 140 pages long).
I also really loved the structure. It was a little weird at first that we were reading from the POVs of cats so much, but I grew to love it. I loved exploring the inner world of these cats and how each one lived their life and viewed our lives as humans. It was interesting and heartwarming. It was easy to know which POV we were in because whenever there would be a switch from human to cat, there would be a cute black cat icon.
At the very beginning, I made a note that this book reads like a Studio Ghibli movie. I still stand by that, but we're talking about some very heavy topics (especially in the second story). I know that Studio Ghibli also talks about heavy topics, so that comparison still stands. Due to this, I wouldn't really classify this as cozy, even though there are definitely cozy elements at play.
The only reason I didn't give this a four or a five star rating was, while impactful, I don't think I would ever reread it. I do think I will be thinking about this book for a while, though.