Before I review this book I must confess to owning six cats. This explains why I picked up the book. It was both original and Kafkaesque--an issue that the book addresses almost immediately. This book had a lot of potential and I quite enjoyed it, even while I can admit it is not a piece of literature that made time stand still while I was lost in Tremayne's world.

This book was absolutely adorable. For me it was a pretty quick read because of how sucked in I got.
It was very well developed and fast paced story. And I will admit the title was what originally drew me to it haha.
But the quick witt and interesting characters kept me turning the page.

But this book impressed for sure. And quickly became a favorite of mine.
And I would suggest if you want a lighthearted and fun read about life and the ups and downs it can take to grab a copy of this book.

An intriguing tale that mostly held my attention.... felt there was “something” missing maybe? Not “have to read again”, more of a “ok, & that was about....?” Will watch out for this author though & keep an open mind. But thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read

I wanted to love this book. The premise was enticing. Wake up as a cat and observe the life of your family from another perspective. But I couldn't get past that Dolores was in two places at once. One at home as a cat and one as her regular human self as a business executive. I realize this is a satire but it just didn't catch my attention. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Be prepared for a Kafka-esque romp when Dolores, the high flying excutive realizes she is joined to the indoor family cat, X. While it is never explained how this happens and for much of the book, the reader is uncertain if there is still a two legged Dolores going about her business life elsewhere, X provides Dolores with a clear view of her life, her family and her marriage. It is not a pretty picture.
She discovers the double life her husband has been hiding from her at her peril as from the moment of discovery, both Gerald and his mistress try to harm, even kill, X. There’s enough of Dolores still in X that she is able to understand what she is seeing and attempt to impact it. It is both enlightening and frustrating and at times acidly funny. To be able to witness what is hidden from humans seems to be both gift and curse at various times. Despite her frenzied attempts to control X, it is the cat herself, a Maine Coon/Ragdoll cross, who turns out to be the true heroine of the piece.
When she sniffs up the remnants of Gerald’s illicit drugs and escapes through the cat flap, she leads Dolores and many others on a wild trip, in more ways that one, through North London where she saves one of her younger humans from a horrible fate. At the same time, she reveals Gerald for the cad that he is and reunites Dolores with her body and her children.
Imaginative and quirky, Cat Flap addresses a number of human challenges: racial and class identity and acceptance, marriage and fidelity, ;gender roles and ego are all addressed. It is through X’s eyes Dolores is able to come to term with this and much more.
This is, to say the least, a unique and slightly oddball story but I liked it. I give it five purrs and two paws up.

Interesting concept and intriguing characters but this ultimately fell flat for me. I'd hoped for a laugh- and there were a few- but Delores was not getting the funny side of being a cat, only the bad news of what was going on at home. The whole thing is so out there that you have to suspend logic for it to make sense (and not question some things). There are, as others have pointed out, lots of references to other novels, television, movies etc. but that wasn't an issue for me. If there's a failing for me it was that it is not the zippy read it might have been. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Alan S. Cowell brings us a fast paced novel set in England with interesting characters, and told often from the viewpoint of the wife/mother through the eyes of the family cat. I know, but it's not as confusing as it sounds. It is a twenty-first century tale complete with many electronic accessories, expensive cars and very in-the-know children, and I think you will love it. I did, very much.

I received a free electronic copy of this modern novel from Netgalley, Alan S. Cowell and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

This book is hilarious! What a concept unlike any I have read before.
A women who travels internationally for business wakes up and finds out her conscious self is seeing life through her cat at home. She is fascinated at first but then finds out her husband is a sexual predator after one of her daughters and both her daughters are up to no good while she is gone. The life she thought she had at home comes crashing down and her frustration is that she can't do anything about it as a cat. She is merely a witness to their lives unable to reach out. The cat characteristics were very well described. This author knows cats.

I found this humorous and fun to read. its a great concept for entertainment .
The writing was a bit hard to read but it picked up halfway through and held my attention.
A interesting book ! A fun diversion from life which is what we need from reading.

Thank you for the ARC which does not influence my review.

Imagine taking off on an international trip, only to wake up and discover that some aspect of your consciousness has been left behind at home, seen through the eyes of the family pet. What shenanigans might you witness, when your husband and kids have no idea you’re still quietly observing everything that happens at your house?

The irreverently unlikely premise of Cat Flap by Alan S. Cowell caught my attention straight away. I was curious enough to open the book and begin reading, and I found it difficult to put down once I started. I found myself intermittently hopeful yet cringing at some of the characters’ misadventures. The main character, Dolores Tremayne, found herself transported from a place of peaceful naiveté to horrified helplessness when she learned some of what her husband and kids were really up to while she was away. Being trapped in a cat’s body with no way to communicate with her family or primary self had her feeling doubly trapped. Despite the distasteful nature of some of the characters activities, Cowell managed to maintain a playful mood as events unfolded.

Overall, Cat Flap made for a light and entertaining book selection to kick off my summer. Yes, it’s ridiculously far-fetched, but its absurdity is what makes it fun. The fast-paced style of how the shocking events unfold made it a quick read. Cowell wrote with plenty of humor and a simple, flowing style of story-telling that has the reader pouncing along, chasing the thread of this utterly original adventure.

Someone picked her up, tumbled her onto her back, rubbed her cozy, furry abdomen. She heard the sound of purring and realized that she was making it.

This review was first published on my Damian Daily blog.

The premise of this novel seemed so unlikely that I was immediately attracted to it. A British man writing from the perspective of a black woman who wakes up one day and realizes that her consciousness is somehow inside of her own pet cat. Cultural appropriation all over the place but so well done! This book is a massively enjoyable romp! I've been telling everyone about it.
Thank you, Netgalley, for the e-review edition.

Dolores is a high executive for her company. She is extremely successful. The bad side is leaving her two daughters and husband to them selves. Then one day she discovers she has four paws, a long tail, blues eyes,, and meows. The things she learns through the eyes of her pet cat X, makes her realizes that the home fires are burning low. And if not for X saving the day, and reminding her what is important in life, things may have ended in a very bad way.
4 Stars

This sounded hilarious, in the synopsis, and "Brit" next to author gives me even more confidence that a book will be amusing, witty, and pithy. It is all that, but the pace is glacial. The narrative is weighed down with references to other books and movies. And TV shows. And introspection. Most of the insights are deep and relevant. It's just, there are so many of them, and the slow the action.

The story opens with a woman awakening to find herself transformed into a cat, or, she is somehow trapped inside the body of the family cat, a rag-muffin/Maine Coon mix named X. She is reminded of that guy who awoke as a cockroach. Eventually, the name comes to her. Samsa. Gregor Samsa. Then, Kafkha, and so on. Maybe it serves as a pop quiz for readers: can you name that author, that title, that TV show she's thinking of? Or maybe it's intended to show how her thoughts are helter-skelter, trapped as they are in the little smooth-brain of the cat.

No explanation is offered as to how a woman on a business trip continues to conduct her business in other countries, eve as some part of her sentient awareness is viewing what goes in her beloved house and home during her absence. The woman trapped in the cat has no access to the mind of the rest of herself in her usual body. The woman on the business trip is not aware of what this other part of herself is seeing through the cat's vantage point.

The wife, her nefarious husband, the sexual predator stalking on of their two daughters, the cat, the neighbor lady, the main mistress, the African father of the black businesswoman, and other characters all come together in a finale that is comical and over-the-top and not at all in need of being credible.

There is a point to all the madness, and some of the characters are transformed by this incredible journey. The cat, I'm happy to say (this is not a spoiler!) will survive various assassination attempts.

Still. This could have been trimmed and tightened, a lot. Maybe I've been reading too many short stories lately. I've even take to reading poetry. I find myself reading short stories and thinking they'd have worked better in the shorter form of poems.

In all, this is fresh and entertaining read, unlike anything else I've read.