I truly enjoyed this story told from Boo the cat’s standpoint as she witnesses her family, and especially ‘Mother’ AKA Carrie, going through life’s trials, fighting, and trying to find a better way for themselves. Of course, Boo doesn’t totally understand why Carrie has left home but she’s finding out that maybe Tommy, Carrie’s husband, isn’t quite as bad as she thought. Boo is just so sweet and innocent and just doesn’t know what’s going on or why things seem to be going bad at home. Since the story is only from Boo’s POV we aren’t totally sure what’s happening either at first. As things start to happen the reader can see that there is a lot of pain in the family. Depression and mental health issues are at the heart of the family’s fracturing and we the reader understand this even as Boo is struggling to figure things out and find out why Carrie, his beloved Mother, has left. This story is sweet and sad, and had moments of joy and happiness and overall, I just want to hold Boo close to my heart and let her know that even though everything is changing, it’s going to be ok. Highly recommended.

Received via Netgalley

" The Astonishing Thing" is an absolutely astonishing read!! I loved everything about this book. I must say that I am a cat owner and lover of cats. However, this book is so much more than a cute read. There are many "pearls of wisdom" throughout the story. The story is very cleverly told via a cat and still full of emotion and feeling. I highly recommend it. In fact I think "The Astonishing Thing" is a must read.

I wanted to love this.
I had hoped to love this.

So far i read two books from the perspective of dogs and LOVED them.
Its so nice if an author manages to actually put the reader inside the animals head and make us see the perspective of our furry little companions/babies.

So i was very excited to see this book from the perspective of a cat.
Who does not want to know what cats think? (the answer is that EVERYBODY wants to know that, by the way!)

Sadly this book was just not that great.

I think the biggest issue with this was that it was too long and in the end of the book in a little interview thingy, the author herself ways that this book was a lot shorter at first but she kept adding to it to make it a "whole novel" (or something similar, not a direct quote here!)
I only mention this because i think you can really notice exactly that!

This book feels stretched, it feels filled in and as if things where added to make it longer.
And i really don't like it when i while i read notice very clearly that some sections read and feel different than others and are clearly only there to fill pages.


I do like the idea of seeing a mental illness in "humans" through a pets eyes.
thats unique. thats different and not something i ever seen in a book (i am sure there are some out there though, i am guessing)

But there are so many moments that made no sense to me in the book.
Why is there "another woman" in the book that leaves just as fast as she appears into it.
Why would a husband that clearly has a wife he still loves and want to take care of even though he is clearly over is head with the situation and her illness try to "get it on" with a girlfriend on the side?
Made NO sense to me. Especially when he has two older kids and a baby to take care of at the same time.
I am not sure if it made no sense to me at all because we never got an explanation since we are told this from the point of view of the cat that clearly doesn't get why there is another woman.
But those sections felt sloppy and unnecessary.

There are more than a handful of those moments sprinkled throughout the book that i just didn't understand that made those sections that i really enjoyed -the sections between "mommy" and the cat- that were also clearly the cat's favourite moments and so cute, no longer feel as great because of all the other things that just were not nearly as nicely done.


All in all it was a beautiful idea and had some cute little moments but overall it was way to long.

this should have been a novella short of length, and maybe than it would have been a beautiful read from start to finished.

Sadly as it is, it didn't work for me.

This is the story of a family and their hardships told through the eyes of the family cat, Boo. Boo belongs to Carrie, who she calls "Mother". Things suddenly don't seem quite right with Carrie after the new baby arrives. And then Carrie is gone. Boo is left wondering who's warm lap she's going to cuddle up in and who is going to remember to feed her. Being an inquisitive cat, Boo is determined to figure out what (or who) made Carrie go away and if she's even alive anymore. Boo slowly unravels the truth through family conversations where bits and pieces of the truth are revealed. It turns out things aren't always as they seem. Perhaps the entire family needs her more than she thought.

This is a fabulous story. The author did an extraordinary job of telling the story through the eyes of Boo. I fell in love with the entire family and enjoyed every minute of this book. I hated to say goodbye to these characters and I hope to read more by this fantastic author. Highly recommended!!

I received this book through Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley.com, to Kensington Books, and to Sandi Ward for this opportunity.

This is a very enjoyable book for cat lovers. The story is told through the eyes of the family cat. It is sweet, charming, and also thought-provoking. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

The Astonishing Thing is absolutely adorable. It’s told from the point of view of a family cat named Boo and this makes the story incredibly unique. We learn all about Boo and her family through such a genuine perspective, and it lends a whimsical note to the novel. It’s also an interesting point of view by which we learn about the family and their struggles. Boo is a cat after all, and her observations are simplistic but also surprisingly insightful at times.

Anyone who has a cat will attest to the fact that each cat has their person and Carrie is Boo’s person. Carrie cherishes Boo above everyone else in the family, and Boo relishes the fact that she’s the important one to her mother.

Suddenly, Carrie disappears from the family and Boo can’t figure out why her beloved mother would leave her. Maybe she can understand why Carrie chooses to leave the father and her human siblings, but surely there is a mistake and Carrie has not abandoned her too!

As the story progresses, we learn that Carrie struggles with mental illness. It’s a big subject to tackle and Sandi does it well. Tommy is Carrie’s husband and not Boo’s biggest fan. The feelings are mutual, however, through Tommy the reader gets an up close reality in living with, and loving, someone who suffers from mental illness. Tommy’s character is complex and it’s impossible not to both dislike and love him. His emotions are real and raw and he brings the story such life.

Boo’s character felt very much like Nick from The Great Gatsby. She starts out idolizing her Mother and is then faced with a harsh reality when her eyes are opened to who Carrie really is. Boo’s character experiences a heart-wrenching journey as she learns to love and appreciate the rest of her family after Carrie disappears.

I’ll add a personal note here that Boo felt very real to me, as a cat lover. She’s quirky and fits so many cat stereotypes. She’s a bit selfish and aloof, but she’s also very sweet and loving – a true feline! Sandi absolutely made Boo real. One of my favorite things was how the family always teases Boo about being a chunky girl, however they continually feed her table food and pats of butter -Boo’s favorite. These little nuggets of humor are what made The Astonishing Thing so lovable.

I highly recommend this delightful and charismatic novel.

This is a wonderful book for all cat lovers. We experience a family through the eyes and mind of the family cat. When the mentally Ill Mother with a baby and small children leaves and does not return, the cat is confused and devastated. The cat has had a special bond with its Mom. We experience the heartbreak of a animal abandon. As time progresses the cat realizes the extent of the damage she has done to the family and is deeply affected. as are the children and husband. The cat wonders if it will ever be loved again, will it know kindness. It was hard to read and very sad but profoundly true to life. My heart broke for the family,, the kids and the cat. I was very sad after reading this book for several days .

This is such an amazing book. The whole story is told through the eyes of the family cat, Boo. The reader has to figure out what's happening in the family through what she observes. She comes across as such an insightful and sweet character. Her way of looking at humans and what they do and how they interact is both refreshing and thought provoking.
The use of the cat as narrator is so unique but so believable. She paints a picture of a family in crisis and she has such insight into the whole family. It reminds us of the healing power of our pets, and how they truly are part of our family.

A must for every cat lover and anyone who enjoys a good book. Boo, the family cat, is trying to make sense of his family and his missing human mother. Every family has its share of stress, but some have more stress than others. Boo's family has STRESS - dealing with mental illness is never easy and for a family to learn how to cope with it is even more difficult - Boo gives the reader an altrnative to the human point of view. Ultimately it is an uplifting book, but it takes a while

Princess Fuzzypants here:
The astonishing things about The Astonishing Thing is I almost gave up in the early chapters. It was so dark and bleak and sad when our feline narrator lost Mother, who was her entire world. The fact that Mother walked out on her newborn baby, her other two children and her husband was bad enough but Boo could not understand why the other humans in the house had driven Mother away.
I am glad that I am a stubborn kitty and hate to give up because there were rewards to be had as the book progressed. It never has a light and frothy happy ending. We are talking about mental illness and the difficulties a family has in trying to contend with it. There is guilt, betrayal, manic and sometimes violent behavior all at work creating an unhappy mix. Yet, somehow, Boo and her humans come to terms with what was and what will be. No one is evil or cruel. Even when Mother does horrible things, it is not her but her illness that is causing the harm.
Boo, like the reader, has a change of heart about many things through the course of the story. By the end, there isn't so much resolution but there is acceptance. Perhaps, that is the best that can be achieved.
It is a hard hitting book that is thought provoking and serious. But it is excellent. I give it five purrs and two paws up.

I loved every word, sentence, paragraph and page of this endearing novel. Unique in that it is told entirely from the point of view of the family cat, Boo, the story is universal in many themes, including that of a broken family, loss, separation, new relationships, sibling friendships, and mental illness. At first I thought, "How deep can this story be if it's told by a cat?" (And I am a longtime lover of cats!). But I quickly came to resonate with the telling of Boo's tale and the rhythm of her story. I am looking at my own cats differently now, wondering how they are seeing me and my own family. There is much power here in viewing a family history and loss through the eyes of a feline member of the family, whom you would think would be an "outsider" but who in fact is partly the glue that is holding the family together.

I don't read a lot of women's fiction, but when a story is told from the unique perspective of the family cat, count me in. The Astonishing Thing takes readers inside the mind of Boo, a young cat whose perfect, peaceful existence crumbles when her human mother leaves home and doesn't come back. With a mixture of innocence and wisdom Boo quietly watches her family's day to day life as they struggle to come to terms with their "new normal". The full scope of what this family has endured behind closed doors is revealed slowly as the novel progresses and Boo transitions her feelings of abandonment to understanding, forming new bonds with what's left of her family. My own thoughts about each member of the family changed as the story progressed but Boo captured my heart from the first page and I only grew to love her more. This precious little being only wants to heal the brokenness that surrounds her, a nearly impossible job for anyone, but even more so when you're the smallest member of the family. The Astonishing Thing will leave you looking at your cat in a whole new light. It's purrfect in every way.

I'm a sucker for animal stories and The Astonishing Thing seemed to offer one with an unusual perspective where the cat, Boo, not only narrates the book, but tried to solve the mystery of what happened to the mother and why. While I enjoyed the book, I just didn't love it the way I was hoping to.

This is easily one of the sweetest and most charming novels that I have read in a while. Told from the point of view of Boo, the family cat, we slowly discover the story of a family as they go through a tumultuous time. We uncover the truth as Boo does in her own roundabout eavesdropping way, and have the opportunity to see the world through Boo's unique eyes.

I was really surprised by this book as it isn't just a simple straightforward story. Over the course of the story, we hear Boo's desperation and struggle to keep her family together, and through her innocence and limited understanding, you want to follow along as Boo searches for answers. There were also a few details that I loved - like the fact the dog is referred to as Not A Cat, that her owners are referred to Mother, Father, and her siblings, and that Boo is so perfectly cat-like that there is no doubt that you are reading a story from the perspective of a cat.

First of all, I am a huge cat lover and I always wonder what my cats are thinking. This book was written from the cat's point of view. It also deals with family and a mother's bipolar issue. It was a good book and it did have a good ending but I was expecting a little more.

Wait! Come back! Yes, it's narrated by a cat, which has the potential to go oh so wrong but here's the thing, this is a wonderful novel of a family in crisis. Sometimes the unexpected quiet one is the individual who knows the most and that's true here, where Boo the cat knows and worries about all sorts of things her human family might not see. I was surprised at how much I liked this book, which is carefully written and never descends into the twee. What went wrong for Carrie and where has she gone? What's Tommy going to do- how does he deal with the kids and how does he relate to Boo and Not A Cat? Ward addresses a number of challenging issues, all thoughtful and with clear eyes. This left me wondering how my own cats view us. Thanks to Netgalley for the ArC. Try this one for a different take on a domestic novel.

We live our days with our pets often in constant contact, but how do our lives look to them? This story told by Boo, a white cat, tells the small details of family, marriage, and life. The constant companion of Mother, Boo is confused and at a loss when Mother leaves suddenly.

As Boo copes with her loss, she learns about the rest of the family and their lives.

It's a great portrait of family and married life told from a unique perspective.

Think A Dog’s Purpose (W. Bruce Cameron) only with a cat … kind of.

Boo, a resourceful young feline, is intensely devoted to her human companion, Carrie. However, Carrie—or Mother, as Boo calls her—suddenly leaves her family. Boo worries about who will fill her food dish and provide a warm lap to nestle into. More pressing still, trying to uncover the truth about why Carrie left.

I’m a cat person, so the cover of this book immediately grabbed my attention when I was searching NetGalley. My first impression of this book when I read the description was that it would be somewhat like Cameron’s book. A book with a cat as a narrator … I was in! I hoped this book would be as great. However, this book didn’t live up to the expectations I had. Unfair expectations perhaps because I LOVED A Dog’s Purpose.

The Astonishing Thing didn’t bring forth any emotions at all. I found that I cared about the characters but I wasn’t totally invested in their story. There were some interesting points that I wanted the answers to and those points are what kept me turning the pages. However, none of these points were all that intriguing.

In the end, I enjoyed this book though I probably wouldn’t read it again. If you’re a cat person like me, give it try.

This charming book by Sandi Ward is written through the eyes of a family cat that is left confused when one day his owner doesn't return home. The story begins to unfold and the cat must learn to make sense and come to terms with the situation. It becomes a time of change for the entire family as they learn to function as a team through mental illness, physical impairments, and the emotional turmoil that comes with so much change.

I think any pet owner wonders at one time or another what is really going on in their pet's head. Do they understand when we go on a trip? Do they wonder where we are? Do they know when we are sad? There are so many questions and this story is a wonderful take on what one cat thinks when put into a situation that doesn't follow their normal routine. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and as a fellow cat owner felt like the story could have been written by my own cat. Sandi nailed the routines and tendencies of a cat from comforting in an escalated situation to hesitating and hiding when confused.

I would like to thank Kensington Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Astonishing Thing’ by Sandi Ward in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Boo is a thoughtful and intelligent cat who lives with her humans, Mother, Father, siblings Jimmy and Mary, new-born baby Finn, and the dog who she calls Not A Cat.
‘The Astonishing Thing’ is a gentle and compassionate story narrated by Boo of how life for them all changes when Mother walks out of the house one day and doesn’t return. Boo doesn’t know if she’s been kidnapped or might even be dead but she knows that she has to support her family and help them in whatever way she can.
Sandi Ward has written a beautiful novel. It observes family life through the eyes of a cat and gives the reader an insight into the problems mental illness can cause to a family. You don’t have to be a lover of cats to enjoy this book but a cat-owner can’t fail to see similarities between Boo and their own cat, as I did myself. This is a lovely story and well worth reading.