" “An uplifting tale of friendship, kindness, and connection . . . This joyful story of the unlikely friendship between five strangers and one remarkable cat is a must-read for cat lovers.”—Marianne Cronin, author of The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot

Núria, a single-by-choice barista with a little resentment for the “crazy cat lady” label, is a member of The Meow-Yorkers, a group in Brooklyn who takes care of the neighborhood’s stray cats. On her volunteering days, she starts finding Post-it notes left by a secret admirer in an area where her feeds her favorite stray—a black cat named Cat. Like most felines, he is both curious and observant, so of course he knows who the notes are from. Núria, however, is clueless.

Are the notes from Collin, a bestselling author and self-professed hermit with a weakness for good coffee? Are they from Lily, a fresh-out-of-high school Georgia native searching for her long-lost half sister? Are they from Omar, the beloved neighborhood mailman going through an early midlife crisis? Or are they from Bong, the grieving widower who owns Núria’s favorite bodega?

When Cat suddenly falls ill, these five strangers find themselves bonding together in their desire to care for him, and discover that chance encounters can lead to the meaningful connections they’ve all been searching for."

Quoted material above is from the book's Amazon sales page. The bulk of my review is in the "further comments" section near the bottom.

People who love cats, people who love reading about a diverse group of people, people who like a touching story with great characters.

Please see the "further comments" section near the bottom.

Please see the "further comments" section near the bottom.

Read a sequel. It hasn't been written yet though, not that one was advertised. I just hope there will be one.

All the feels.

"Tanya Guerrero is Filipino and Spanish by birth, and has been fortunate enough to call three countries home—the Philippines, Spain, and the United States. Currently, she lives in a shipping container home in the suburbs of Manila with her husband, their daughter, and a menagerie of rescued cats and dogs. She has volunteered for animal welfare organizations since 2008, with a focus on Trap/Neuter/Return and Rescue/Foster/Adopt groups. In her free time, she grows her own food, bakes, and reads. " Quoted material above is from the book's Amazon sales page.

It was, overall, a delightful read for me.

I especially liked: Cat (the cat's name, as he thought of himself, was Cat ), all the kind human characters and their various names for Cat, and their interesting and diverse lives. The mystery parts. The unusual note exchanges between Núria and Collin and how their relationship progressed through helping Cat and the notes. Collin's niece was totally adorable.

Really, I greatly enjoyed this book. Cat even had a remarkable hero moment. I hope she does write a sequel.

I didn't like: Well, not so much as didn't like, but I thought there would be a full circle solution that involved Omar, Núria, and really all the main human characters, and a cat cafe that would sequel to the next book. Instead of that there was no mention of a sequel [spoiler alert! skip to the next section if you don't want a spoiler please] and Omar is going to be a vet tech instead of the chef of the cat cafe, which is what I kind of expected to happen. No cat cafe. Kind of disappointed about that. But really, if I hadn't had that expectation, it would have been fine. It was just early on in the book I thought that would be a great wrap up for it.

If you love cats, or even are just interested in cats, I think you'll enjoy this book.

I'm not sure that feral cats really think the way Cat does, particularly about inside cats, but it's a nice fantasy to enjoy while reading the book.


"Product details" from the book's Amazon sales page:

"Publisher ‏ : ‎ Delacorte Press
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 1, 2025
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 059387384X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593873847
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.24 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.32 x 1.1 x 9.53 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #75,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#148 in Animal Fiction (Books)
#1,095 in Women's Friendship Fiction
#1,372 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction
Customer Reviews: 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (339) "

That last part means it has an average 4.5 star review from 339 reviews on Amazon, as of the evening of 9/27/2025 when I wrote this review and copied and pasted the information.

I was particularly impressed that it was #148 in Animal Fiction, which is a big category. I suspect that it will rise as it gets more publicity.

I enjoyed the book. Hope you do too, if you read it.

Ratings explanation:
Setting - 5 stars because I could picture all the scenes easily
Plot - 4 stars because I felt it could have been stronger in that area, but was still very good
Characters - 5 stars because I loved them
Author's writing style - 5 stars because I was very engaged in the book and laughed and cried during the reading
Overall Quality - 5 stars because I mostly gave it 5 stars in the other areas

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Created Sep 27, 2025 at 9:06pm • Submit your own review...