I really really enjoyed this book. I thought that Nanami was a great FMC and I really enjoyed the dynamics between Tiger, the cat and herself. The book flows really nicely and I loved the touches the book had to a lot of classic literature that we are all fond of.

The book was easy to follow and is definitely thought provoking.

Warm, wise and wonderful. I can’t help but echo that last paragraph of the blurb. This is a wonderful book, and absolutely appropriate for this time. People are in danger from those who have forgotten what really matters. It may be just me, but it strongly evokes the news of the moment. We have to fight whatever is making people forget what really matters.

From this you understand that I was totally absorbed into this world and its strange events. It’s beautifully written, and argued between the characters. I suppose I should class it as ‘literary’ but somehow it’s more accessible than what ‘literary’ means to me.

If you have not yet read The Cat Who Saved Books, then do so, as a matter of priority. I don’t think this would be a good place to start, but it’s an excellent place to continue. And I don’t think it’s for children, although kids these days have such different experiences to cope with, maybe it would help.

don't know what to say, I'm not sure I enjoyed it. It centres around a young, asthmatic girl who spends a lot of time in the library. She realises books are going missing and a talking cat takes her to rescue them.

It's similar to book 1 - an interesting story on the power of books, but didn't really grip me like other Japanese translations.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

The second instalment of 'The Cat Who Saved...' series, The Cat Who Saved the Library can quite easily be read as a stand-alone novel, with the story this time following a young junior high girl, who has been leading a pretty sheltered life of just going to school and the local library for books, due to an overprotected dad worried about her poor health (asthma) due in part to her taking after his late wife.

The story is ultimately about growth as a person with the girl gaining independence, and developing more of a social life after the cat takes her on a trilogy of magical realms ruled by an overlord described as being a grey man who has warped beliefs that books are too dangerous to be read.

Thank you netgalley & picador for the e-arc, I'm looking forward to buying myself a copy once it is formally published.

This is a typical, episodic, Zen/Buddhist book from Japan. It could be used in school libraries.

The heroine is very likeable, an asthma sufferer with an absent parent. This ticks a number of boxes for plot and character developments. It is a book about a girl pushing the boundaries and finding her feet rather than missing out on activities at school and in her social life.

The cat is as enigmatic as in the first book (this second book does stand alone).

It is an excellent adventure/fantasy story with wonderful but not over long descriptions which discusses the ‘damage’ books can do and how important for developing empathy books are.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan McMillan for this ARC
this book is cosy reading for the fantasy lovers, if you are looking for a quick, fast paced, cosy read, look no further
I enjoyed the first book but think this second one really expanded the fantasy elements and as an avid fantasy reader, it brought more depth into it for me!
I would 100% recommend

I was expecting that this book will heartwarming as its predencessor. Turns out, it was so intense and a bit heavy for me who experiencing reading slump. I think, author tend to focus on its fantasy plot rather than the meaning of books in library itself.

It's not that this is not a good book. It just not meeting my preferences. However, if you like kind of fantasy cartoon story like Caroline, you might like this one.

The Cat Who Saved the Library is a tender-hearted sequel to its first book - I really enjoyed the coming of age story centered around Nanami, whose chronic illness prevents her from activities peers her age usually do. The library is a familiar and comforting haunt for her, and books as her salve was such a warm way to describe her resilience against the outside world.

Tiger the Tabby makes a return alongside Nanami's adventure to stand up to some sinister figures, and I loved reading about her steadfast beliefs in the face of doubt. It shows us that relying on others isn't such a bad thing, and the world is still better off. The writing is meditative but fast paced, and classic literature peppered along the way really made Nanami's love for books shine through.

A wonderful reminder that humanity and kindness can go a long way, and is still worth fighting for. A book for turbulent times, it was a cozy and reflective read that allows us the space to indulge in compassion a little while longer.

Thanks to netgalley for giving me early access to a digital copy. It was a good story and I might check out the first book as well-

Like the first part, I loved this book. I think it's a great read for schools. And at the same time, I feel it could be a very interesting read for adults. I feel it's like... The Little Prince. Those books you could read a thousand times and find a different meaning each time, because life always gives you new experiences that allow you to give a different meaning to what you read and what happens to the characters.

There are many messages linked to the publishing world that I found fascinating. And how right they are in those words and intentions. We must resist. Read it and you will understand me. It even made me rethink the way I read and how I receive all this literary information that surrounds us in our daily lives.

Like the first part, I'm sure this second part will be translated into Spanish. It's worth reading; it's worth translating these types of books into as many languages ​​as possible.

Many thanks to Pan Macmillan for the ARC I read through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with a review copy of this book!

'The Cat Who Saved the Library' is a sweet story set in Japan, a sequel to the first book 'The Cat Who Saved Books'. The themes are fantasy and focus on the importance of stories in our lives. I enjoyed reading this sweet book and as a personal fan of Japanese literature, I found this enchanting, emotional and a joy to read!

I absolutely love translated fiction and The Cat Who Saved the Library was no exception. This was such a wonderful easy read that I read in just one sitting. I absolutely loved the characters in this one and the development that you saw throughout. I enjoyed the adventures that they go on and that the whole premises is surrounding a cat and books. Two of my absolute favourite things in the world. I feel like this book would have benefitted from being a little bit longer so that the reader could benefit from a little bit more world building and dive deeper into the reason why books were being stolen. However this book gave me everything that I needed and I have immediately preordered myself a physical copy to add to my selection. Thank you for providing me with an early copy of this book and I will definitely be recommending it to my friends and social media following.

I loved The Cat who saved Books, so was eager to read a follow up. The story is a modern day fairy tale that is suitable for all ages. The enigmatic talking cat enlists the help of schoolchild Nanami as books begin to disappear from the local library. She discovers a world of grey people led by a mysterious man (in each visit he ups his status from General to Prime Minister to King) who is burning books and aiming to destroy people’s memories of stories.
The messages behind the fable is that stories bring empathy and compassion, which is bad for growth and business.
This is so reflective of the current moment, as Musk (grey man among a bunch of grey men) has just stated that empathy is the fundamental weakness of Western Society.
‘That’s why people read books. When they do, they can feel .. what it means to be considerate of others, what happens to those who forget how to be compassionate. And sometimes an old book will ask Do you want to be rich or do you want to be happy?”
There is also a suggestion that the grey man represents social media. Something that helped connect everyone but now removes people from reality and encourages conflict.
There is also a good piece about growth and wealth. ‘It’s foolishness. The idea that those who have so much and those that have so little can grow together is a pathetic illusion. As the former become richer, the latter become poorer. Wealth is not absolute; it’s relative.’

A joyful, happy tale full of insight and wisdom.

This book dives headfirst into a fantasy world which our protagonist must travel to in order to save books that are disappearing from her local library.

I enjoyed the premise of the book but the execution was lacking. The real life chapters were very spaced out, leaving little time for Natsumi to reflect in between her sojourns to the fantasy world and when in the fantasy world it felt sort of like a child's cartoon where we jump into a world with little to no context and the plotline just falls apart.

I really like the genre of Japanese fantasy fiction but this particular book wasn't for me.

I really enjoyed the first book as it was varied and novel. This second book didn’t quite work for me. This book was incredibly tense and with so many books being actually banned and burned, the start of the book getting into that just felt very intense. I also really enjoyed the different kind of adventures Rintaro and the cat have in the first book, and this book features one place where books are disappearing to. Nanami is a young teen roped by the cat into the new adventure. While she is very sympathetic, the book just ok. Pity.

I hadn’t read the previous book and can confirm that this works well as a stand-alone. Nanami Kosaki is a 13 year old girl who lives with asthma. She is a bit of a loner and loves to spend her time in the library. Her mother died and her father doesn’t seem to have time for her anymore so books are her friends. Beautifully written this is a charming story about the love of literature told through the world of fantasy.

Briefly, at the library Nanami notices some of her favourite books are missing. She speaks to the librarian but he doesn’t think there is anything wrong. Then she sees a man dressed in grey taking books off the shelves and she watches him walk away with them. Should she follow him? A voice speaks to her and looking around all she sees is a ginger cat, then she realises the cat, Tiger, is speaking to her! Together they decide to find out where the books are being taken and bring them back to the library.

The central idea of the story is sadly only too believable in times when schools in USA are banning books in their thousands with more than 4000 unique titles banned. The journey Nanami and Tiger take to save the books is at times quite dark and their lives appear to be at risk. However, they are determined in their quest. I’m guessing the books mentioned are some of the authors favourites which is so interesting with very eclectic choices. A thought provoking and entertaining read.

I adored The Cat Who Saved Books so I jumped at the chance to read the sequel and loved it even more than the first book!! I really enjoyed following our main character Nanami, who suffers with chronic asthma and so spends most of her time in the library. I really enjoyed the disability representation in here as the asthma was present throughout the story rather than feeling like an add-on.

As in the first book, Natsukawa's personal opinions on books and libraries were front and centre in this book which was really interesting to explore. I also found the symbolism of book burning, the removal of books, and the chosen replacements to be very pertinent in 2025 (unfortunately). This is truly a book lovers book.

This book is just as cosy as the first, whilst still making the points that it wants to, and Tiger the talking tabby cat is even cuter and more loveable in this sequel! You can read this as a standalone if you wish, although there are references to the first book. Overall, this was just a really enjoyable time!

This was a little different from the first book, and can be read as a standalone, although it did have a small cameo from Rintaro from the first book, it didn't take away from the story. This also felt a little more fast paced and followed a more streamlined plotline. Following in the footsteps of the first book, Nnami a fellow bookworm, with the library and books as her escape, unable to have much of a social life because of her terrible asthma, was enabled with a few tasks accompanied with tiger the tabby, but they were only centered around one villain (?) which did make me feel more connected to the overall plot.
I liked how we got a little bit of both from both the novels. However, this one was a bit more action packed, and had a lot of heart racing moments (which did not help since I was 6 shots of caffeine deep whilst reading this)

Thank you to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for an early proof in exchange for an honest review.

I have reviewed The Cat Who Saved the Library for online recommendations and sales site LoveReading.co.uk and have chosen this title as a Liz Pick of the Month. Please see the link for the full review.

Thank you to Netgalley and random house for providing this ARC for an honest review.

This book was a cosy book to read, a cat saving a library. A sequal to The Cat who saved books. I loved the Japanese setting, anything set in Japan is my go to. The characters were lovely it's definitely a perfect choice for YA readers who want to dip their toes into the trasnlated fiction sub-genre. The settings are magical and a perfect place for a bookworm to want to go. The magic was fun to see too.