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Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'
The Cosy Cat Society: A Gorgeously Uplifting Read about Friendship that Will Make You Laugh and Cry by Charlie Lyndhurst
1 review
foxo_cube's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was an impulse buy because the cover was cute, and it was sort of what I expected, sort of not.
I think I expected the story to be, if you excuse the pun, fluffier. As is, I don't think "cosy" is the wrong descriptor - although I say this as someone who hasn't read many books that are in the cosy <i>genre</i>, if that makes sense. The start was a little bit difficult to get into, but as the storylines progressed and came to their conclusions, it does grow into something very sweet.
The characters start out seeming to have little in common apart from their time at Fluffy Paws, a small cat sanctuary in Essex. I haven't been to Essex, but this book does feel incredibly British, and that was rather nice. Everyone has their shit they're going through, and the sanctuary itself is going through some troubles, and by supporting each other, they all end up feeling more contended.
I really loved Mim's character arc, and Luke and Paul's relationship was adorable (although I feel it stole the spotlight a bit from other characters). The storyline of Sasha and Luke - her son, adopted out because she gave birth at 16 - was tough at times but ultimately so, so lovely. Sasha meeting Luke's adopted parents, in particular, was adorable, and I think the way that family is presented in this book overall is really nice.
That said, I felt Sasha's story seemed a little unfinished. Maybe this is because the book does try very hard to avoid the fact that Sasha's "summer romance" was absolutely a case of her getting nonced. She even <i>responds</i> like a traumatised person when she first sees Luke - the spitting image of his dad - and is reluctant to discuss any of it at all. Of course, it can be argued that it's because pregnancy and giving up your child at 16 is going to be traumatic in itself, but she really is written like somebody in denial of the fact that she was groomed by an adult. It really took from a lot of the cuter aspects of this book and could have been so easily avoided - it'd make sense for an 18, 19, even 20 year old to give up her child for adoption after a summer fling, or the guy in question could have been in his mid- or late teens and it'd have changed basically nothing. As is, it added a dark aspect to the story that was a bit uncomfortable.
It seems like a lot of people in reviews really didn't like Anna, but I found her endearing despite her frustrating ability to make the wrong decisions all the time forever. She's like me if I always listened to my anxiety brain's awful ideas.
The cats could have featured more, in my opinion, but that's because I really like cats. But that's the audience this book's going for, so why not? More cats! I did love their segments, and just the idea of Fluffy Paws' eventual incarnation of a little cottage full of cats is so wonderful. What a dream.
A little more development of the storylines and characters would have been good, but overall, this story was fine. It was nothing ground-breaking, but parts of it did make me smile and that's worth something, isn't it?
I think I expected the story to be, if you excuse the pun, fluffier. As is, I don't think "cosy" is the wrong descriptor - although I say this as someone who hasn't read many books that are in the cosy <i>genre</i>, if that makes sense. The start was a little bit difficult to get into, but as the storylines progressed and came to their conclusions, it does grow into something very sweet.
The characters start out seeming to have little in common apart from their time at Fluffy Paws, a small cat sanctuary in Essex. I haven't been to Essex, but this book does feel incredibly British, and that was rather nice. Everyone has their shit they're going through, and the sanctuary itself is going through some troubles, and by supporting each other, they all end up feeling more contended.
I really loved Mim's character arc, and Luke and Paul's relationship was adorable (although I feel it stole the spotlight a bit from other characters). The storyline of Sasha and Luke - her son, adopted out because she gave birth at 16 - was tough at times but ultimately so, so lovely. Sasha meeting Luke's adopted parents, in particular, was adorable, and I think the way that family is presented in this book overall is really nice.
That said, I felt Sasha's story seemed a little unfinished. Maybe this is because the book does try very hard to avoid the fact that Sasha's "summer romance" was absolutely a case of her getting nonced. She even <i>responds</i> like a traumatised person when she first sees Luke - the spitting image of his dad - and is reluctant to discuss any of it at all. Of course, it can be argued that it's because pregnancy and giving up your child at 16 is going to be traumatic in itself, but she really is written like somebody in denial of the fact that she was groomed by an adult. It really took from a lot of the cuter aspects of this book and could have been so easily avoided - it'd make sense for an 18, 19, even 20 year old to give up her child for adoption after a summer fling, or the guy in question could have been in his mid- or late teens and it'd have changed basically nothing. As is, it added a dark aspect to the story that was a bit uncomfortable.
It seems like a lot of people in reviews really didn't like Anna, but I found her endearing despite her frustrating ability to make the wrong decisions all the time forever. She's like me if I always listened to my anxiety brain's awful ideas.
The cats could have featured more, in my opinion, but that's because I really like cats. But that's the audience this book's going for, so why not? More cats! I did love their segments, and just the idea of Fluffy Paws' eventual incarnation of a little cottage full of cats is so wonderful. What a dream.
A little more development of the storylines and characters would have been good, but overall, this story was fine. It was nothing ground-breaking, but parts of it did make me smile and that's worth something, isn't it?
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent