Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I love Dawn O'Porter but i found this book to be extremely weird and not my cup of tea.

Cat lady is more than just a story about a woman and her cat.

The quirky style of this novel really resonated with me; I loved Mia and her relationship with pigeon and how that affected her relationships with everyone else.

This is a story of love, loss, hardship, betrayal, mental breakdown and family.

I wasn’t sure what to expect but I loved it. Sad in places and anger filled in others; I experienced a kaleidoscopic of emotions switching through one chapter to the next.

I don’t know why I’ve never read anything by Dawn O’Porter before!

Enjoyed this book is was funny in parts and the cat lady and her relationship and life problems and was quite dark in parts. can see why people on the whole liked the book

Cat Lady is the latest novel from author Dawn O'Porter. It sticks to her usual style of quirky, witty female characters that her regular readers seem to love.

Mia lives in London with her husband and stepson and beloved cat. She is completely devoted to her pet. Probably a little too dependant on it. She joins a pet bereavement group when her cat is still very much alive. The book follows her story as her personal life and work life begin to unravel, while trying to hide the truth from the support group. It all gets very very messy with lots of awkward, uncomfortable, humerous situations along the way.
I've read one other book from the same author and quite like her style although it always goes a bit too far for my personal taste and some of the situations are so far fetched and totally avoidable and irrelevant (human pencilcase) it makes me do an eye roll. However, I found myself remembering the story and characters very clearly months after reading so it was enjoyable and well written.

This is a funny book with serious themes. As I got three quarters way through I found it all a bit depressing but it turned around towards the end. Overall very enjoyable but glad when I finished it.
NetGalley kindly sent me a copy of this book for an impartial review.
#CatLady #NetGalley

An enjoyable read which is both funny and heartwarming. The main character is Mia who joins a group of bereaved pet owners, a hough Mia's cat Pigeon is very much alive. Very cleverly written I would recommend this book.

Dnf
Sorry not Sorry.
This just wasn't my style so I think my review won't be fair.
Mia was too clunky and obtuse for my liking. And why such a weird relationship with her cat. Nope couldn't read on.

Definitely a more unusual book of O' Porter's! This story of the depths of someone's attachment and love for a pet makes for interesting reading.
There were a few parts when main character Mia felt very accessible, where she was quite open about her thoughts and feelings, but then others where she was incredibly closed off and hard to connect to. All of which reflects her journey in the story. She struggles to let people in but then can overshare in certain situations.

She has a very intricate relationship with her cat, Pigeon. which I’ll admit I struggled to 'get' fully as I am not someone who has this bond with a pet, but I can also understand that this 100% is the case for certain people. Her back story definitely helps to understand the premise of the book. The main strength of the book is showing how animals can provide massive love and unconditional comfort to someone.

I didn't love the book overall, but definitely an interesting one.

Love Dawn O’Porter and think she’s hilarious, though this is the first book of hers I have read. I couldn’t really warm up to this book until about half way through, though in hindsight I think the protagonist was presented in a certain way initially to make her almost unlikeable. In the end I did like her and I wanted good things for her. I am a cat lover (though I love dogs too so people don’t trust me generally!!) but some of the stuff between her and the cat was a bit… off-putting? Overall I liked it well enough, although I’m not sure I’d be rushing to recommend it as it wasn’t really my usual cup of tea.

I really just think that this one wasn't particularly aimed for me. I didn't get the humour or wit and I haven't read any of Dawn O'Porter's other works to compare them to. I enjoyed the fact that the protagonist was an older lady - in her 40s but she wasn't relatable to me in any way, shape, or form. She was quite repulsive.

The ways she views her cat (the shower scene) is kind of what finished me off, oh, and describing the actions of a dog and some peanut butter. She just doesn't view her pet the way most people do. Her cat literally rules the roost. She sleeps in a separate room from her husband and pencils in sex several times a week - she won't sleep with him because he doesn't want animals in their bed after a strange occurrence. She lets the cat control her life. With the added complication of having her husband's ex-wife drop in unannounced, let me tell you, I would be insisting upon some strict boundaries. This was a strange one for me and ultimately I didn't connect with it.

Dawn O'Porter has a fresh writing perspective that is equal parts shocking and refreshing. Cat Lady is hilarious, sad, compelling, emotional and overall a great read. There will be characters that you love, some that you hate and a few that you may change your minds about by the end of the book.

There's no need to love cats to read this book but it maybe helps a little - give it a try, you won't regret it!

Hehehehehe. Good god I love Dawn O'Porter. Granted, I would read this woman's shopping list because I love her that much but it helps that her work so just so damn funny.

Mia is a quirky individual. Married and a stepmother, she is also a cat mum and she bloody loves her fur baby. However, people seem to be offput by her behaviour and she seems to be a bit of a fish out of water. The only place she finds comfort is a pet bereavement group she attends…the only problem is that her cat is very much still alive.

In Cat Lady we see her try to navigate the confusing and complex world.

Cat Lady is laugh out loud funny and if you have liked her other work then you will love this.

Cat Lady by Dawn O'Porter is available now.

For more information regarding Dawn O'Porter please visit her Instagram page.

For more information regarding Harper Collins UK (@HarperCollinsUK) please visit their Twitter page.

I recently read "Cat Lady" by Dawn O'Porter, and I was pleasantly surprised by the heartwarming and humorous story. The novel follows the journey of Bea, a young woman who is struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss of her beloved cat, Mr. Binks.

Bea is a relatable and likable protagonist, and O'Porter does an excellent job of capturing the grief and confusion that comes with losing a beloved pet. As Bea navigates her grief and begins to move on, she meets a cast of eccentric and endearing characters who help her to find joy and meaning in life again.

The writing in "Cat Lady" is sharp and witty, and the characters are well-developed and engaging. O'Porter has a knack for creating relatable and realistic dialogue, and the story is full of laugh-out-loud moments. Overall, I highly recommend "Cat Lady" to fans of heartwarming and humorous fiction, and to anyone who has ever loved a pet.

Losing a pet is heartbreaking and if you experienced the loss you cannot help being moved to tears when you read this book.
There's some very funny moments and some others that made me cry. Heartbreaking and funny at the same time.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I found this one a bit of a mixed bag.
On the plus side, an easy read and some funny moments
On the down side, too weird for me in places and I found the messaging contradictory. Which I won't go into detail to avoid spoilers but the messaging about it's ok to be a single cat lady falls down with some of the plot lines.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dawns writing has a contemporary feel to it, and she is one author i return to for reliably modern tale of women coping with life and being female. Perhaps an author overlooked and one that i recommend to friends regularly. the title i would say is a misleading, and perhaps should be reconsidered.

Anyone who follows Dawn O’Porter knows how much she loves her pets. So a book centred around a main character dealing with pet grief will be no surprise to anyone. And that’s the strongest aspect of this book. O’Porter illustrates perfectly the horror and heartbreak of losing your furry friend. And the listlessness that comes after. The rest of the book? It’s enjoyable but I’m yet to read a book of hers that I enjoyed as much as The Cows.

CAT LADY is out now. My thanks to @netgalley & @harpercollinsuk for my copy. This is, as always, an honest review.

I think Cat Lady might just be my favourite read of 2022.

The writing in this gorgeous novel is sublime - achingly funny one moment - reducing me to tears the next.

Mia is a complicated and traumatised soul. But the one thing she has that always comforts her, is her cat Pigeon. He calms the chaos. And brings unconditional love.

And despite him being very much alive, Mia joins a group for grieving pet owners. She wants to belong. And with this bunch, she finds her tribe.

There is sooooo much more to this story, but it's so wonderful that I don't want to spoil anything. Just find some time away from the world, settle.in with a cuppa and a pet if you have one, and enjoy every second of this hilarious (the scene with Ajay and the doctor's appointment 😂) and heartwarming book.

Absolutely loved this book written with the usual flair and wit of O'Porter's previous novels. I love how she packs in so much emotion into her stories that cover serious topics with great humour.

Incredibly funny and insightful. "Cat Lady" strikes the perfect balance between humor and a discerning commentary on what it is to have life fall apart around you. This book covers a myriad, from the breakdown of a perceived perfect marriage, to navigating relationship and making friends in middle age. One of the leading themes is the navigation of grief after the loss of a pet, which is dealt with both sincerity and just a hint of comedy.

There were moments where I was solidly in stitches and on the verge of tears at the same time. O'Porter has the rare ability to write with a voice that speaks to the universal experiences in life. Mia is not a particularly likable person but as a character I couldn't help but warm to her. The narration around the family and indeed the stand-off in the house was perfection. Mia's relationship with Pigeon is one that anyone who has ever loved and lost a pet can relate to, I thoroughly appreciated how well that relationship was written (as someone who has heard the "they are just a pet" line more than once.)

Overall an insightful, joyful, read, that I would be happy to recommend to people.