Totally unexpected, this was a surprisingly good story. I wasn’t expecting much more than a cosy palette cleanser but this had such an interesting plot.
I really enjoyed the magic systems, it all made a lot of sense. I loved the familiars being cat dragons, especially as there were so many different characteristics from elements to colours. I loved the characters, there was so much personality, and the perfect amount of romance. And the quest was so exciting and fun, with the right levels of whimsy and humour.
I really be hope that this title gets the recognition and attention that it deserves. I’ll definitely be recommending and keeping an eye out for this author.

Cosy, magical, full of adventures and most importantly cat dragons 🤭!

I absolutely loved the world Samantha wrote for Aloysia and her friends. The locations described in this book were whimsical, the characters were interesting and made you want to be friends with them and the storyline was something unique that I haven’t heard of before!

The Cat Dragon is immersive, magical, cosy and adventurous (I know they are opposites but trust me you can have both), happy and overall makes you feel like you’ve been hugged by a super soft blanket!

This is the perfect book to read on a cosy autumn afternoon with a warm sweet chai latte in hand and the scent of a cinnamon apple candle in the air.

We need more of these “hug in a book” type of reads in our lives🤭.

I was invited directly by the publisher to review this book, so thank you to One More Chapter and HarperCollins UK.

Cat Dragon had such an interesting premise that had me looking forward to diving into this cozy tale… but unfortunately I feel a bit let down. To me, the story was often hard to follow. The transitions between scenes were abrupt and clunky, and it felt like the author threw a lot of information at us with no explanation for it.

I often found the wording choices odd, and it was hard to tell who exactly was speaking at times. The human/witch characters were unengaging for me, and I especially disliked the main character. Aloysia has a terribly annoying habit of being all “woe is me”, and it got to be a bit much. When Hollis is trying to describe to her how he feels that he hasn’t found his purpose yet and she’s just laughing? Oh boy did I want to strangle her.

Overall, I’m of the opinion that this story could use a lot more editing to make it easier to follow, and to deliver its promised vibes.

I found myself smiling and full of an adventure coziness as I read this story. It was great to snuggle up with, in all of it's whimsical nature. I can say that it was a fun read for me. I love the characters throughout the story and the setting. Once again, i will say that it was COZY.

Cat Dragon is full of magic and adventure! This was a cozy fantasy hilarious and sweet animal friends and familiars, a wonderful found family and just a touch of romance. I was confused at times throughout the book and had trouble grasping what was going on in the moment. I enjoyed each character and what they brought to the story. 3.5 stars.

Cat Dragon is more whimsical than it is romantic, that first and foremost feels worth mentioning given how many other reviews I've seen discussing their surprise in romance being a subplot. For me I'm not particularly upset by that, the description implied their might be some sparks but the focus in the books description was magic and adventure. To be fair, that was supplied. Cat Dragon is a cute concept and I enjoyed reading. Some aspects do feel young (not really childish? Just young if that makes any sense) but its doesn't really hinder the story. I'm sure had I read this a few years ago when I was a bit younger I would've easy deemed it a favorite of mine.
I can say this book stands out for the sweet and new story it gives, its makes me want to draw my own cat-dragon familiar. Maybe possum-dragon? Raccoon dragon? I got so many.
My only issues with this book is the writing style. I wasn't the biggest fan of the style of writing, sometimes the language used felt out of place and would take me a moment to understand what was happening (or feel abrupt in a couple spots) but that's something very forgivable when the story itself is cute. And this one was.

A lovely cosy book. I loved the story and how it couldn’t put it down. A wonderful well balanced book with great characters. I enjoyed the world building as well. Fantastic book.

I would definitely watch a cartoon or animated adaptation of Cat Dragon – very Carmen Sandiego like (which I love watching). It brings to light so many wonderful lessons for young readers and encourages them to challenge societal expectations, embrace individuality, and follow your own timeline, which to me is of the utmost importance.

I especially enjoyed the world-building in the beginning. I love all things witches, familiars, magic and went in uber excited. The premise was imaginative, and the writing really pulled me in initially. I also picked up some new vocabulary along the way. . I do appreciate the depth and layers the author aimed for., but it felt a little slow paced sometimes.

I would definitely recommend this book to younger readers, it has good potential as having an impact on them, and I believe the book will leave them inspired.

Cat Dragon - 4 ✨️

I wasn't sure on this to start with, it's a slower paced book than I'd normally go for. But, it ticks all the boxes of a cosy fantasy. I liked all the characters, it had a good plot running through and I didn't quite guess the twist at the end.

If you want something a little slower, bit of a pallet cleanser then this does the job.

I really want a cat dragon now...

Great cozy book! I've loved Aloysia and all her adventures. It was sweet, funny, interesting and I really was transported by the writing. 10 out of 10!

This books was a really easy read and is giving cute cosy fantasy with cute familiars with a low stakes quest.
The FMC was a likeable rouge who just liked to keep to herself and her magical garden. We learn that most witches bond to a cat dragon, but our FMC has yet to do so successfully,
After a slightly dramatic entrance from a guardian, we see our FMC go on a quest across the land with her best friends brother who she very much does not like… I think you can see where this is going..
This was well written, I loved Crow and Lan the most and I think this book is perfect for a quick palette cleanser or something easy on the brain power.

I loved reading this book, if you love cute adventure stories then this is for you. The world building is a delight and the characters are so well written. I loved the slow-burn romance and the cute creatures. Please let this be a start of a series.
Thanks to Samantha Birch, Netgalley & HarperCollins UK/One More Chapter for this advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free copy of, Cat Dragon, by Samantha Birch, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Aloysia lives in Tangleroot Valley, as a witch,, but she is having problems other witches are not, she cant bond with a cat-dragon, and she has tried over a dozen times. This is a nice witchy read.

This was an absolutely delightful fantasy story about a witch trying to find her place in the world--despite not having been chosen by a cat dragon yet--and facing many unexpected dangers along the way. I adored Aloysia and cheered her on from the start to the finish as she found her own inner strength during her unexpected journey to save her beloved home. The story had a very Ghibli feel to it--whimsical, magical, and full of so much heart and humor. I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy cozy fantasy.

Cute little story of a witch who hasn’t really found her place in the world but embarks on a journey to do so. She’s met with all sorts of wonderful creatures and charming side characters.

Aloysia is quite the character. Likeable, flawed, and a determined but grounded heroine. She’s quite ordinary but in the way where the world has decided that maybe she shouldn’t settle for that, after all. A traditional witch in a pointy hat, working in a nature bound magical system with local tethering, she ventures into the big world to solve a mess that she caused. She does so with the annoying brother of her best friend, but who maaaaaaaybe turns out has been crushing on her all along, even in his most insufferable moments.

One of the interesting aspects of this book is Aloysia’s magical speciality, magicobotanism, meaning magical plants. I really appreciated all the magicobotanical explanations and descriptions, a well as the zoological ones. What a wonderful world Birch has crafted!

I had some question marks throughout the story, like there were some things that weren’t quite explained, or that I might have missed. I am usually a pretty thorough reader, and when I couldn’t find the answers for my questions even by rereading parts, it bugged me a little. It didn’t detract from my story but rather felt like there are some plot holes that may have emerged in editing?

The romance is sweet and normal, not at all extraordinary. This is a cozy read with a sweet magical story. Those looking for yearning, earth shattering love will need to look elsewhere. But there is nothing wrong with romance being secondary or even tertiary in a good adventure!

Thanks to NetGalley, OneMoreChapter/HarperCollins and the author for letting me read and review this book according to my honest opinions. I appreciate that.

As a cat lover since birth, a booklover ever since my parents picked up a book to read to me, and a person who has always run straight to fantasy (preferably with romance), this book just hit all the notes and I knew I would kick myself for not requesting to read it. That being said, I could have cried at the start about Aloysia not having her catdragon, and the hope and disappointment in those chapters.

Aloysia (FMC) and Hollis (MMC) couldn’t be more different from each other (for starters one is a witch and the other is as non-magical as all of us) and they are connected trough Aloysia’s best friend who is Hollis younger sister as well, so they have run into each other some times, but never hit it off. Until they unplanned become accomplices in a ‘crime’ and are now send on a mission together to solve the issue they caused, so what could go wrong?😂 (you guessed it quite a lot). I liked their relationship (even tough it wasn’t a big part of the story) but I was a bit frustrated by how presumptuous Aloysia was towards Hollis, and instantly assumed he was a big ass that only cared about himself while his action showed differently. Yes, he wasn’t perfect, but for sure he didn’t act in the way that Aloysia thought him too, so that made it a bit frustrating to read as Aloysia’s attitude went on for quite some time.

I liked all the different animal companions and how they played a part in the story and where a big vital part to the world building, but I had some troubles with really grasping the concept of a cat dragon. The cover had an incredibly quite drawing of a catdragon (I assume litllewick) and I assumed all catdragon where that size, but in the story people rode their catdragon too, so that was just a little strange and unexpected in my opinion. But that small detail aside, I did like how detailed the world building was in this book and how a lot of things forgot explained quite well, and therefore made a lot of sense to me as a trader. Additionally, this story had some nice twists to the more common magical elements (wands, source of magic etca), so this was fun too.

However, my biggest issue was the pacing, this sometimes felt a little off to me (for certain parts it just was a little to slow unfortunately). Additionally, the author used a multitude of different languages in this book, which was funny, but as someone who doesn’t master every one of them it did work on my nerves at some point a bit because I couldn’t really get what characters where saying (unless translating it or spending some time putting it in context and what it would probably mean (which is fun a few times but at some point takes you out of the story).

Thank you onemorechapterhc for providing me with this arc trough netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book sounded so good! It promises cozy and cottagecore vibes. And those vibes were definitely there! Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me, and I DNF’t it at around 15%.
The writing style gave me the same vibes as ‘Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries’. I liked the idea of that book, but in the end it wasn’t it for me. And that is the biggest reason I stopped reading Cat Dragon. The writing style was very descriptive. The sentences were sometimes quite long which lost me a bit, and had me confused what was going on. It was a lot of ‘she did… and grabbed… She picked up…’. I had hoped for more action in the writing. In the second chapter the main character has interactions with other characters, and I quite liked that. Then something happened, and it just went too fast for my mind to understand what was going on and what it would mean for the main character. The writing style and descriptive sentences made me feel distant. The paragraphs with dialogue were quite clear to me, but other paragraphs with the actions the main character did lost me. In some of those descriptive sentences the writer used some harder words. And I do have to say that I am not a native English, but if I don’t understand one word it doesn’t matter to me. I can still understand it from the context of the sentence. But here it just went over my head. I did like the vibes and the idea of the book though! If you liked Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, you would definitely like this! The book wasn’t bad, it just had a writing style that is not my thing.

This is a great story - had me engaged from beginning to end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Aloysia Papplewick is a magicobotanist, lives in the Tangleroot Valley, and one of her best friends is a crow. So there's nothing to see here! When the residents of Tangleroot are eight, they receive their very own cat dragon. There is only one magical creature for each witch or wizard, their familiar. Unfortunately, Aloysia is in her thirties and still waiting for her cat dragon to identify itself! Her life is good however, her best friend, Ivy is about to have a baby but her brother, and soon to be uncle, the insufferable Hollis, who had been travelling for a year, has caused chaos before he's been back a day. Everything has changed, her home is gone and the two frienemies have been sent on a quest to save the home and valley they love.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter, but the opinions expressed are my own. This is a fantastic read. There is so much going on and new people to meet all the time. Aloysia is a great main protagonist, and I really hope there she will have more adventures for everyone to enjoy. The world building was expertly done, and I loved the artwork on the cover, which was by Lucy Bennett. I would have loved a map as well, but as I read a proof, maybe there will be one. Amazingly, this is Samantha Birch's first novel and is easy to recommend.

Oh how I loved this book, it felt like a warm hug on a cold day, Whimsical, so cosy and utterly adorable. I have to be in the right mood to appreciate cosy fantasy and this one certainly delivered, the writing has a way of pulling you in and keeping you engaged with the Whimsical vibes of what is an imaginative world that the author has created with really intriguing group of characters and creatures.

The slow burn of romance I would say is more of subplot but it has the perfect development and I loved seeing it unfold as it just has this way of putting a smile on your face. Highly recommend to anyone who wants just wants a really fun and cosy read.

Thank you so much to Publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book before publication, these are my honest thoughts and opinions.