[Thanks to Kodansha and Netgalley for a CRC in exchange for an unbiased review.]
Sue is an elderly cat who is looking to spend her remaining years blissfully asleep. Enter the unexpected arrival of kitten energy in the form of little Tai-chan. Will Sue warm to this wee bit of mischief? Or is she doomed to be a perturbed senior citizen for the rest of her life?
Poor Sue. This is another in the long list of cute cat books and while I am an avowed cat lover, these types of series tend to mostly be just okay for me. They are the slightest slices of life and they can function as a warm hug or fond reminder of a pet, but anything meatier than that? Eh, not so much.
And so it goes here. It’s probably my own stance as a nap aficionado talking, but watching poor Sue’s restful elder years be interrupted by Tai-chan strikes me as totally unfair. Sue’s owner has as much common sense as fashion sense, it seems (seriously, that cardigan was alarming).
Yes, the two of them get closer and there are many a sweet moment and instance of ‘classic cat’ in the mixture, but with her life not exactly stretching out before her, I wish Sue could get her reward without having to play surrogate mom.
Of course, then there’s no book, and it’s not like Tai is being mean or intentionally cruel to Sue, she just has that intense kitten energy that cannot be stopped unless it is fully exhausted by causing mayhem and getting stuck into things. She’s a very adorable goof, but in a way that I find exhausting.
If you like these types of books, I think you’ll be very happy watching Tai bounce all over creation and Sue learn to live with and love her new roomie. If you don’t, I can’t see this really changing anybody’s mind about the genre.
3 stars - it’s mostly inoffensive, but completely not my thing. Cute cat books are cute, but I always find myself wanting a bit more out of them than I get.