I was intrigued by the clever twist on the standard mystery/detective story in the form of cats and dogs as the characters. Given the time period and the setup, I was expecting noir - I'm not exactly sure what I got, but it definitely wasn't that...

To me, it felt like the author was trying to do a lot of things with this one, and the result was a bit of a mishmash that I had a hard time connecting to. There are a lot of characters. I do not know much about dogs or cats so while it's possible that the extended descriptions and character traits ascribed were snarky or funny or interesting if you did, but to me they mostly felt like odd details that didn't add anything to my understanding of the characters or their role in the story.

The ghost element was another piece that should have drawn me in but somehow never did. Perhaps this is negate the plot moves along at a fairly slow pace, and it felt a bit cobbled together as a result. I don't know - I just never felt like it grabbed me and pulled me in enough to keep reading... This wasn't a good fit for me.

The Nine Lives of Bianca Moon is a little different from what I would usually pick up, but it turned out to be a fun and quirky read. It did take me a little while to get into the story it is well-written and easy to read. I didn't find it particularly fast-paced, but the speed worked well with the plot.

I really enjoyed the world-building and liked the alternate world where things are run by animals. In this particular book, they are cats and dogs. I liked the characters and the way they were created. Each character's personality is represented based on what type of breed they are. There were a couple of characters that I would have liked to see developed a little more but overall they were fun to follow, and this is only book one in the series so hopefully as the series continues they will develop too.

This is the first time I've read anything from this author, but I will definitely be looking out for the next book in the series.

If you're looking for a quick and quirky read I highly recommend this one!!

I would like to thank Delas for getting in touch and sending me a NetGalley widget for this book.

These are my honest and unbiased thoughts, and I am sharing them voluntarily.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

I tried several times to get into this but I just couldn't. Dogs wearing suits, using their paws like hands? What was the point of them even being dogs if they were just going to act like humans? It didn't work for me and I couldn't get into it. The story sounded interesting, but I won't be trying again. I appreciate the opportunity to read the ARC.

This was such a quirky read, and I truly have a special fondness toward quirky reads. I'm typically not one for detective stories. They just don't often appeal to me. So some of the plot wasn't quite my cup of tea. But that overall did not hinder my enjoyment of the book! It was quirky and fun to read if a bit confusing to my ADHD brain.
More of a 3.5 rating!

Thanks to NetGalley & Double Six Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest & fair review!

I'll be honest, I don't typically read books starring anthropomorphic animals. But this was brilliant. I loved the world that was created, the rules the author set for ghosts and the societal expectations for the animals based on their breed.

It's a very easy read, and very enjoyable. I relished every new page and loved most of the characters (Roxy is a favourite), and I'm pleased to see that it's meant to be the 1st in a series, so I'm looking forward to reading the next book! Keep it up, author!

It has been masterfully crafted with such a great world building and intriguing characters. I loved the alternate world ruled by cats and dogs. From beginning till the end, the author has done a great job. The mystery and suspense remained till the end. I loved Bianca’s character and Flint’s too. I loved the interwoven mystery in the plot. I liked the other supporting characters too. If you would like to read about ghosts, alternate world building, and reading something from cats and dogs perspective, this is for you. The ending was so unpredictable but it was satisfying.

I loved reading about the ghosts and afterworld, mysterious murder mystery, vengeful ex-fiancé, alternate world and the quest of avenge. Bianca was so bold and courageous. Flint was such a caring soul. Thank you NetGalley, Author and Publishers.

I agree with other reviewers about the characters needing more complexity, depth, or growth. I expected the book to be like an edgier version of the Shady Hollow series I love, but it dragged on a little too long, and the twists just weren't there. That being said, I loved the ghosts and afterworld description and the traits of the dog breeds fitting in with their character. (The Neopolitan Mastiff as a mafia boss was brilliant.)

Loved it!

This is the author’s third book, and I enjoyed the first two (The Intergalactic Interloper and Foxman and the Cat Burglar). When I saw this one was available for read and review before being released, I jumped on it.

The approach, story, and characters are different than what I normally read, and that is what made this special..
The author is very descriptive, and I felt like I was in the middle of the adventure, not a bystander. LOVED...the big pictures: detective story, cats having 9 lives, ghosts. This book should appeal to so many audiences.

The detective story was amazing. Twists…turns…I felt like I was reading a Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer book (or a Rex Stout Nero Wolfe Mystery) – it is that good!

The author really paints a scene, with perfectly descriptive words; and the character descriptions made even better with the use of dog and cat breeds (stereotypes worked perfectly!).

The author has some goody-goodies and some baddy-baddies. What a mix! Bad monkeys and evil snakes; kind professors, and all kinds the moving pieces of regular city life...I could picture all of it.

The book made me think of my own mortality and opportunities squandered. We all only have so many lives.

The whole framework on ghosts and how they interact with us was thought provoking especially for a science fiction nerd and science nerd that is trying to figure out parallel/multiple universes.

I also loved the handling of what happens when cats are reborn, and that there is still a mystery when they "finally" die.

I could go on and on... The book was a real page turner, I wanted to see how it all came together… and it did not disappoint – an ending filled with surprises, and lays a framework for the next book!! It is a spark for the imagination, and will take you away from reality for a little while. I am sure you will enjoy it.

Also, this is the first time I have read a book that I think is ready for a screenwriter to turn it into a movie. It would be great for Disney to make a hybrid movie of this book like Who Framed Roger Rabbit; or Wes Anderson to make something like Fantastic Mr. Fox.

I thought this book had a very promising start. The world seems well thought out and it drew me in. The concept of a world run by cats and dogs set in the 1950s was a fun idea. The inclusion of the ghost realm with its separate politics was really unique, and I found that's what I liked best about the world. The characters had interesting backstories. Their antics amused me at the start and it was fun to follow them around for a while.

As the story progressed, I cared less and less for the characters. They didn't go through much growth, and they kept doing the same stupid things over and over again, which seemed to work in their favor eventually. Their actions are akin to those of cartoons like Tom and Jerry: silly, ridiculous, violent. It could have worked had the rest of the novel been written in a less serious manner.

Bianca started out as my favorite character in the book; I liked her relationship with Roxy. It's too bad the only growth that occurred between the two of them happened within the first few chapters of the book. Bianca's insistence to burn through her lives left me frustrated after around the halfway mark in the book. I saw the route she was heading down, but I didn't care. Had she had some introspective moment about her feelings throughout all of this, besides pure feline rage, I might have sympathized with her more.

If this is a planned series following Morton Digby, then it seems an odd choice for his perspective to make up only a quarter of the book. He also contributed next to nothing besides being around to make arrests. He's supposed to be a detective, but he doesn't actually uncover any of the clues himself. All the suspects he looks at for murder are false leads, and the charges they're actually arrested for are for crimes already discovered by Flint. The tip revealing the actual murderer comes from ghosts.

Digby and Puddleworth are supposed to be underdogs; new detectives trying to fit in with the rest of the precinct, known for being the least effective members of the team, and eventually standing up to the corruption within the precinct itself. I wanted to root for them, except they never had any moment of brilliance, taking them from zeroes to heroes. I wanted them to prove everyone wrong, but they really didn't.

As interesting as the premise of the ghost world is, having the ghosts get all the answers deflated the mystery completely. The ghosts provide the answers to every question presented, and the stakes are low because theyre already dead. I don't care if they die for real and go to the great beyond. The ghost realm's existence also lowered the stakes for the living characters. It's okay if they die because they'll just end up as ghost characters. I think the ghost world played too large of a role in this novel.

It was a fun read overall. I'm an animal lover, so I enjoyed reading about this alternate universe. I liked the cat and dog puns strewn about and they made me chuckle occasionally. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a light read who also enjoys animal humor.

I chose to read The Nine Lives of Bianca Moon by Delas Heras because I though the cover was funny and the premise of the world intriguing. The idea of an alternate universe populated with intelligent humanoid cats and dogs had promise and the story the author wished to tell was well written. Unfortunately, the story was simply not for me.

I found the writing to be very dry or otherwise trying too hard for a funny moment that never quite landed for me. I have a suspicion that I would have found it more humorous had I known anything about dogs and cats but since I don’t, if that kind of humor was used it was entirely lost on me.

Of the worldbuilding I can say that the gimmick not only didn’t add to the story, it managed to drain tension out of it. Also, I don’t think the author has thought the implications of what they wrote through. Adding to that, considering the time period the story takes place in, one can’t help but wonder if there is an intended metaphor here and if there is, then it’s incredibly in poor taste. The authors clear preference to choose dogs over cats as prominent characters didn’t help.

The most interesting parts of the story were with the ghosts and if the story was told only from their viewpoint, it might have been far more impactful. Unfortunately the narrative is divided between four characters only one of whom goes through a small character arc and she is the one we spend the least amount of time with. The best part in this book came from a small ghost side character almost completely unrelated to the plot.

I think my biggest issue with this book are the characters. Most of the characters don’t have any kind of arc which is normally fine in a mystery written in the style of Poirot. Here however, you are not following anyone smart or competent and the plot and killer is clear from the start to anyone with any experience reading mysteries. You’re left following characters who make increasingly stupid decisions and are then seemingly rewarded for their idiocy by the narrative.

Again this would be fine, if I was reading a comedy. But the way the book took itself so seriously prevented me from laughing at what was happening and I was growing increasingly more frustrated as I read. I came close to DNFing several times throughout my read and even set up a reward system for myself so I could get through the book because I dislike not finishing and wanted to give this book as much chance as I could. Sadly, it couldn’t redeem itself for me. If you do decide to pick it up I hope you enjoy it more than I did.