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There are currently 32 member reviews
for We'll Prescribe You a Cat
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Mary S. (Palm Desert, CA)
An Insight into Japan's World of Cat Lore
Readers of Syou Ishida's We'll Prescribe You a Cat first witness a young man trapped in Japan's very real and sometimes brutal office work culture. Soon, when Shuta Kagawa seeks psychological support to overcome his misery, he enters what will seem to Western readers to be a scene from The Twilight Zone. For Shuta and the book's successive characters who seek aid from "The Clinic for the Soul," the clinic is sometimes there, down a narrow alley in a central city neighborhood, and sometimes not. Uniting and intertwining five individual stories are the charming cats who transform their humans' lives. After finishing the book, many Western readers can resolve many seeming ambiguities through an Internet search of Japan's cat culture. Zack Davisson's September 2020 Atlantic article, "Japan's Love-Hate Relationship with Cats" provided me with many an "ah-ha" moment. The book offers glimpses of ordinary life in modern Japan, but beyond that, the magical elements, if researched a bit, open new doors to Japan's long history of cat-related folklore.
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Sandi W. (East Moline, IL)
Up lifting, delightful and cozy...
4 stars Thank you to BookBrowse and Berkley for a copy of this book to read and review. Published March 8, 2023
Totally enjoyed this book. Five related stories and the first book of the We'll Prescribe You a Cat series. The tie between the stories is the Kokoro Clinic for the Soul - which may or may not exist - and the fact that each person visiting the clinic has a problem that they cannot work out alone. And as the title predicts, each is prescribed a cat to heal their problems.
This novel is up lifting, delightful and cozy, just like snuggling in a warm blanket with a purring sleepy kitty beside you. Hoping that the second book of this series is soon translated.
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Gaye R. (Coupeville, WA)
Quirky
This is a quirky, fun read. In a magical way the book explores how animals, in this case, cats, not only touch our intellectual, mental, emotional and spiritual lives but how they may also heal those parts of us where we humans are wounded by life. An enjoyable journey with a twist at the end!
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Patricia B. (Norwood, MA)
Are Cats a Cure-all?
We'll Prescribe You a Cat is a book that will challenge a non-cat person's beliefs in non-traditional medicine. We all know that pets are proven to lower blood pressure, so of course assisting folks with emotional issues as well is a given. Once finished, you can reflect on the ways in which our furry friends enhance our lives in more ways than one. I openly admit I'm a crazy cat lady, and proud of it!
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Anke V. (Portland, OR)
WE'LL PRESCRIBE YOU A CAT, Syou Ishida
We'll prescribe you a Cat is a heartwarming and cozy series of short stories about people during troubled times visiting an elusive clinic in Kyoto that prescribes cats. Each chapter focuses on different patient-cat relationships, with the cats portrayed as therapeutic companions guiding their owners through their emotional turmoil. The stories are all cohesive and intertwined, and I found the main characters delightfully unusual. There is also an element of surrealism regarding the Doctor and the Nurse (why are people confusing them for someone else?), as well as the clinic (sometimes there, sometimes not).
I found this an uplifting and fun book that highlights the therapeutic power of cats (and possibly other pets), offering a unique perspective on the healing bond between humans and their feline friends. If you love heartwarming stories, quiet slice-of-life vignettes, and/or reading about the shenanigans of cats, this book is perfect for you! Also, the ending was quite a surprise!
Many thanks to BookBrowse, NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this fun advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!
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Lois K. (Marana, AZ)
We'll Prescribe You a Cat
I was entranced from the very beginning. This book is a truly delightful experience. Anyone who has a cat (or any pet), understands the incredible ability of pets to bring love and warmth to their life. In this novel, cats solve a variety of critical problems for their human characters: suffering from an unpleasant workplace, inability to create closeness with their family, lack of empathy for people in their life and loneliness. It's a very simple and powerful story of the magic a pet can bring to its human. The story also has some mysterious and magical aspects which I didn't really understand. After finishing the book, I took a few minutes to read about cats in Japanese culture, history and mythology on the internet. I recommend readers spend a little time browsing Japanese culture and mythology to help solve the book's mystery.
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Carol S. (Madison, WI)
Cats for the cure
This is a delightful book and an easy read. I initially though the chapters, which are the prescribed cats' names, were going to be individual stories but they are chapters that build into one overarching story. It's clear the author knows and loves cats and, as a recent and accidental convert from a dog owner to a cat owner, I smiled at the characteristics these cats share with mine, for instance, the zoomies, furniture clawing and, of course, purring. A cat's ability to insinuate herself into our lives and hearts is clearly depicted; they aren't pets, they are family. The cat's purr is known to be therapeutic (see the Oryx and Crake trilogy by Margaret Atwood), so prescribing a cat is a medically sound decision!
Thank you to BookBrowse for making a prepublication copy to read and review.
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