brilliant book about a cat. I couldn't put it down, a real heartwarming story, kept me reading from beginning to end

I love cats but honestly didn’t expect this book to be as good as it was. It was an emotional read and I filled up several times when reading it. The staff were described with great warmth and their affection for Felix shines through. Felix’s charitable fundraising is amazing and it makes me want to go and visit her (and her apprentice!). I’m sure this book will win Felix and Bolt a whole new legion of fans

Having read Felix the Railway Cat, previously, I was looking forward to reading this book and finding out what she’d been up to. The money she has raised for charities is incredible, and she has so many fans worldwide. I loved hearing about Eva and her time meeting Felix-eventually! And the story with Gloria travelling to meet her and how the two Angie’s made her day extra special was really lovely.
Bolt didn’t appear until very late in the book, so I’m hoping there will be another one with more on his adventures coming soon...

I have been following the adventures of Felix, the Huddersfield station cat, on Facebook for quite some time. She is quite a character and I was curious to know more of her story. Full Steam Ahead Felix is a delightful read and tells how much of an asset the cat is to the station. People come from all over the world hoping to get a glimpse of Felix, or her apprentice Bolt. The lucky ones get a photo and Felix gets some dreamies! I’d definitely recommend this to all cat lovers out there. Next time I’m in Huddersfield I’ll be on the lookout for Felix too. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved the first book about Felix, the station cat and was delighted to receive a copy of the second book from Net Galley. It was great to catch up with Felix's adventures and the way she captures the hearts of the passengers and staff alike. I have enjoyed following the facebook updates, since I read the first book.
This book introduces the new apprentice, Bolt and how he had to win his teacher over.
This is the perfect book for any animal lover, but particularly a cat person! I look forward to seeing how Bolt settles into his new role and whether he gets his own book one day!

A slightly unusual name for a female cat, but this is no ordinary puss! She is an official member of staff, with a title of Senior Pest Controller - but more than that, Felix the station cat has become a bit of a celebrity with her own Facebook page & 100,000 followers around the world who love the antics of the "floofy one"

This is the second book about Felix. The first covered her arrival at the station and the people she worked with. Many of those characters appear again in this book - however it does stand alone so if you haven't read the first book, you can still appreciate this one!
By the time we start this book, Felix is already a star & this book focusses on her interactions with people - staff, passengers & the people who travel to Huddersfield especially to see Felix! We meet Eva, the little girl with failing eyesight who's one wish is to meet Felix, but every time she comes to the station the cat is nowhere to be found; we meet Gloria who finds out that she only has months to live & see how the staff make her feel special when she travels across the country to tick off item #1 on her "bucket list" - "Meet Felix"; we grieve with the staff when one of the station's own staff dies suddenly.
The book is well written with excellent descriptions - I could absolutely picture Felix using her adorable green eyes to beg for treats from passengers when the vet put her on a restricted diet and the time when she was taken to the groomers ... the usually laidback cat needed 3 people to hold her down & was referred to as a Tiger ... but once her matted fur had been sorted out, she became her old self again!
I loved to hear about the "Felix Day" that the station held, and it's fantastic to hear that all proceeds from books & memorabilia related to Felix, as well as gifts from her adoring fans, are given to local charities.


Towards the end of the book, the official "Senior Pest Controller" adds a new title to her badge "Line Manager" as we are introduced to Bolt - Felix's new apprentice Pest Controller. Felix is not entirely sure about her new role ... will she accept this interloper or reject him completely?

Overall this is a fun, lighthearted book with plenty of humour - I am sure it won't be the last book as there are surely plenty of tales to come about the "Apprentice Pest Controller" and his adventures, even as Felix starts to slow down & approach retirement

Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book free from NetGalley. ALl opinions are my own.
#FullSteamAheadFelix #NetGalley

Felix the station cat is a bit of a Yorkshire celebrity - a fluffy, black and white moggy who lives on Huddersfield railway station. The station itself is a stunning piece of neo-classical Victorian architecture and is the second busiest in West Yorkshire - it gets both the usual commuters and those heading to and from Manchester airport - so the addition of a station cat (or Senior Pest Controller as she is known) can only add to its interest.

This is the second book about Felix. The first covered her early years at the station (which she moved to as a kitten) and the station staff she worked with there and, in this book we are reunited with many of those characters. Felix is a more mature cat at this point - a veteran of social media and a bit of a star - and the book looks at a lot of her interactions with both staff and passengers. Towards the end it is made clear that she is, in cat years, approaching a time in her life when she has to slow down, think of her own health and even change her diet to prevent a more sedentary lifestyle from causing her to gain an unhealthy amount of weight. Let's face it, I could certainly relate the that! The station staff, who all seem to be genuinely fond of Felix, come up with plans to make her life easier..

This is a warm, cosy and, generally, unchallenging read. There are emotional parts - where Felix helps various people to overcome problems with health, anxiety or grief - but nothing too stressful. All in all a perfectly relaxing book to read to recover from a busy week

Full Steam Ahead is Felix's second book revelling the life of the moggy at Huddersfield Transpennine Express Station and it once again drew us in taking us on adventures around the station.

I enthusiastically follow Felix and her antics on Facebook and was excited to find out she had another book on the way, and I wasn't disappointed! I was a little worried it would be a repeat but it wasn't at all, there was

All the stories were carefully intertwined between stories of the staff, visitors as well Felix's (and later Bolt's) adventures. Some of the stories really hit a nerve and others were rather sweet.

Once again I shed a tear (on a flight!) for the passing of a team member clearly loved and missed by the team. I book brings all the staff to life and you really feel it when sadness hits the station.

I look forward to reading more about Bolt and his adventures, I wish there as a bit more in this one about him but I'm sure there will be more to come!

They left it a bit open about her retirement which I would have loved to know more about as I would love to visit her one day but I know she's a busy lady so it is unlikely!

The book is feel-good summer read, mostly light and easy to read! Definitely one to pick up!

I've been following on Facebook Felix, the Queen of Floof, for a long time and love the first book.
This one met all my expectations and I found it engrossing and entertaining.
It was great to know more about Ms Felix and Bolt the apprentice.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

My thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Full Steam Ahead, Felix’ by Kate Moore in exchange for an honest review.

Its subtitle: ‘Adventures of a famous station cat and her kitten apprentice’ pretty accurately sums up the content of this adorable feline biography.

I have followed Felix on Twitter for a while and she has an active social media presence for some years. This is the second book chronicling Felix’s adventures and her rise to fame as a social media star.

It is full of charming anecdotes about Felix and the employees and regular visitors to the Huddersfield rail station. I actually hadn’t realised that Felix was a she cat given her name. She is joined late in the book by her new apprentice, Bolt, an adorable black kitten.

It is heartening to read about the amount of money that has been raised for various charities by Felix in terms of calendars, books and other drives. I was also moved by how much joy and comfort she has brought to the lives of visitors.

Having had a few long-haired cats myself and struggled to keep them tidy the grooming session to dematt Felix was something that I could relate to.

An amazing cat and up and coming star kitten! I also look forward to reading about more of their adventures in the future. Royalties from the sale of the book will be donated to Huddersfield Samaritans and Action for Children.

A delightful read for cat lovers.

Very easy read. Bit cheesy for me at times, too much on the feel good factor but an interesting story

this book is the further adventures of felix (senior pest controller) the Huddersfield station cat where as she is getting older from her first adventures in felix the station cat and having become an internet/facebook star, she lights up people's life , also towards to the end of the book bolt the kitten apprentice is introduced.
this book is an easy and joyful read which would cheer most people up and they don't have to be cat lovers to enjoy the adventures of felix

This is the second novel written by biographer Kate Moore about Felix the famous Huddersfield Railway Cat. It’s charming, amusing and full of Felix’s further adventures in her role as Senior Pest Controller. It is a compilation of stories about the adorable photogenic ‘Floofy’ she-cat, gathered together after exhaustive research and interviews with her station carers, adoring public, social media human helper and a host of other local and far flung fans of the remarkable and now legendary long-haired black and white diva. Kate Moore, also wrote the first book ‘Felix the Railway Cat’, which went on to become a Sunday Times Bestseller.
Introduced in this new memoir is Felix’s new trainee, Assistant Pest Controller Bolt, a tiny but adorable cute kitten adopted to help Felix not only with her pest control duties but also with her adoring public. Such is the interest in the Felix ‘brand’ that poor Felix cannot manage her popularity and requests for ‘meet and greet’ sessions by her loyal fans from all around the world, let alone honour all the charity fundraising events and other ‘duties’ resulting from her celebrity. Now aged seven, Felix is definitely slowing down and one day will need a worthy successor to carry on her good work.
I really enjoyed the eclectic mix of stories and the way they were seamlessly fitted together. Kate Moore has meticulously ordered her chapters to make this an engaging and beautifully written memoir. Some stories were heart-warming and some really humorous. I shed a tear or two in one or two moving chapters and in the next chapter I laughed out loud, imagining the setting and action vividly in my mind. I’m a Facebook friend of Felix and follow her antics and engagements – she is truly a one-off remarkable feline and closely resembles one of my own cats, now sadly deceased. Anyone who is an animal-lover and likes true stories will be enchanted by this beguiling story. I would like to thank NetGalley and publisher Michael Joseph for my copy of this book, sent to me in return for an honest review.