If you're looking for a light story to get into the Christmas spirit, this may be for you. Not overly complicated to get into and it highlights the important aspects of helping out the homeless, especially during the holiday season but I just felt that it was lacking something. It was just a little bit too long, with a lot of extra side plot that could have been cut out but it wasn't super boring or anything. The characters were mostly likable but I didn't really feel any strong connection with them. I've read quite a few books where cats are the main characters but for some reason, this one broke my immersion and I'm not sure why. I found it very unrealistic how their owners always understood what was going on because I know if my cat came to me trying to tell me something, I'd be oblivious. I do think the writing was slightly juvenile and it would have worked perfectly as a children's book.

This is a great cute festive read
A lot of harder topics are covered in this book.
It is well written

Alfie the Christmas Cat is the 7th book in the Alfie series, but I read and enjoyed it easily as a stand alone story. Alfie is a porch cat, meaning he lives with many people on Edgar Road, they are all his people. Alfie, his son George, several other cats and one pug, in the neighbourhood are quite the group. Their owners/people have pulled together to put on a Christmas show to support the local homeless shelter. They have auditions, cast the parts and begin rehearsals, but someone is sabotaging the show. Can Alfie and the gang find the culprit and communicate who it is, because the Show Must Go On.

I enjoyed this story told from the perspective of Alfie, the cat. He was the defacto leader of the animals on the road and I loved how he organized them, commented on what was going on, and even planned things to help the humans. It was also cute to see how the humans were able to see what Alfie was trying to communicate to them. I liked how the themes of loneliness and homelessness are dealt with and that the friends got to know the people they were helping. The play itself was very creative and having four cats play sheep, was hilarious. There was one seemingly sick cat, Hana, who had a wonderful, happy, Christmas ending which made me smile as this story came to a fitting end. You don't have to love animals to enjoy this Christmas story, but if you do, you will enjoy it even more.

An enjoyable and quick christmassy read.
I liked how simple this was as I needed an easy read at the time and very entertaining for a wintery night by the fire!

If you love cats and Christmas you'll definitely love this book, hard to put down, a brilliant read would highly recommend

Thanks to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

While I loved the premise of this book, which is raising money and awareness of homelessness, it was just lacking in so many other ways for me. It was told from a cat's perspective, which I normally enjoy, but I found the writing to be a little too simple and basic. There honestly wasn't much of a story to keep me invested or interested. The "twists" (if you can call them that) were laughably easy to figure out. It was cute in parts, but I think it would have been better written as a children's book.

I apologise that I thought I had already submitted this review when I read it at Christmas time!! I love the Alfie stories and this was no exception, perfect for a crazy cat lady like myself!

3.75 stars.
This book were nice and kind of cute! I loved that we got to see it from Alfie`s and the other cats perspective and that they talked like humans. All their great personalities shone through.

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
A sweet and cat filled family story with a lot of heart.
A good read.

Indeed, this is a puuurfect read for all Christmas and cat lovers alike.

Alfie is the wise cat hero everyone needs in their life!

I don't think there is a single cat lover out there who would be able to put down this book!

Princess Fuzzypants here: Alfie is a cat after my own heart. His mission in life is to manage all the humans around him and be a bright light even when the darkness threatens. He and his son George and their two girlfriends, Snowball and Hana, must work very hard to thwart a real-life grinch who threatens to ruin the charity Christmas show the humans are putting on in aid of a local homeless shelter. Alfie cannot believe that someone could be that wicked but the evidence is clear. It took him and all his kitty friends to bring the miscreant to justice although I knew right from the get-go the identity of the villain. They also had to make sure the humans knew the truth too. *Mops brow*. Good grief! Some humans can be so dense but Alfie always manages to get across his message.

Alfie is extremely empathetic to the plight of the homeless as he was without a home himself when we first met him. Now he has an entire street of extended family. The story asks the reader to look at the homeless situation with more compassion. There also is a message of redemption, Of course, Alfie writes a fine story that is both heartwarming and uplifting. And in this world of COVID, don’t we all need a little of that. This is a book the entire family can enjoy.

Four purrs and two paws up.

I found it a very difficult book to get into the names of the cats having human names made it difficult to know who is talking and what is happening throughout the book.

Alfie The Christmas Cat by Rachel Wells is a delightful tale that will appeal to cat lovers everywhere. It is the seventh book in the Alfie series but can be read as a stand-alone. This was my first visit to Alfie’s street but it won’t be my last.
The story is told from the point of view of Alfie, the lead cat. The other cats and a dog called Pickles look to Alfie to lead them. The story is set in the lead up to Christmas as the humans decide to put on a Nativity to raise money for the homeless. Alfie is keen to get involved as he was once homeless before his adoption.
The reader is enchanted by all the cats, each with their unique personalities. The cats turn to super sleuthing as someone is determined that the play will not go on. Once the culprit is spotted, the challenge is to bring them to the attention of the humans.
Alfie The Christmas Cat really was a warm and charming story. Love and kindness is the order of the day. I really loved it. It is just purr-fect to be read in the run up to Christmas. I shall definitely be seeking out more Alfie books.
I shall leave you with my favourite quote:
“The heart is a miracle… it allows you to miss those you’ve lost and still love those who are with you.”
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

This was an unusual book given that it was written as a cat and to be honest it took a lot of getting used to. I found the plot quite basic and not gripping. It was pleasant to read from a different perspective and certainly unique.

The seventh book in the series about Alfie. Told from Alfie's perspective, this made a change from the majority of books I read. This is the perfect book to read in the run up to Christmas.

I didn't care for this one. Everyone seemed one dimensional and the plot was uninteresting and slow
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc

What a great combination. Fur babies abd a festive story. A light frothy read for winter evenings. Highly recommended for animal lovers x

I really like Christmas books, I also really like cats so this seemed the perfect choice. I have to confess though I found this hard to get into. I think that's because the cats all had human names but are presented with voices and thoughts like humans and I kept getting confused between who was talking, human or cat. I don't remember being this confused when I read 'The cat who...' series of books. That aside this is a light heartwarming tale of a close knit street where humans and cats work together to promote a community spirit and in this book, to raise money for the homeless. It raises some important points and awareness of homelessness and has a lovely happy ending. There is a pantomime villain who has a remarkable quick change of heart which feels unlikely. The teenage tearaway changing his ways was more believable. This would be a good book for a young person or anyone learning to read books in English.

With thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the 7th Alfie's book, and we are going to be reunited with the usual suspects: the families and their collective pets. In this one we are going to see how they are working hard so they can do this theather play (cats included!!!) but all is not as christmassy as expected, as there is someone who trashed the set in order to sabotage their performance. But who? And why? This seems like a job for Alfie to fix!

One of the great things is that this performance is going to be a way for them to raise money for the homeless, and also they will be meeting some of them, and they are going to be guests on the performance.. I think this a good way to raise awareness about those less fortunate, specially in christmas time, when it can be more easy to feel loneliness if you don't have family or a place to go. And I love this idea of not only helping, but including them.

There is also more things going on with both the "human family" and the "animal family" and feels like a good book to read on Christmas time to find some escapism!

There's no Christmas without Alfie and I'm a huge fan of this series.
It's heartwarming, uplifting and it always made me smile.
I was happy to catch up with Alfie, George and the cast of characters. I rooted for them and was happy about the good news.
It's an highly enjoyable and entertaining read that I read in a setting.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine