Another fun book by Aaron Blabey, full of mystery, adventure, and timely topics. Fans of Bad Guys will enjoy this book, as will slightly older children as the content is geared toward an older group of kids.

The beginning of another great middle grade graphic novel series within the world of The Bad Guys! The Bad Guys are a huge hit in my elementary libraries and I'm excited to get them onto this new series this school year! The kids will love the similar vibes and illustration style in this new series and will go crazy for the The Bad Guys references! Hopefully #2 will be out soon!

💥 This book is about a social-media superstar cat who gets herself into a heap of trouble with a post. The graphics are engaging, and the story should be interesting to kids.

💥 Ultimately though, this story is a dig at social media – particularly cancel culture and the guilty-before-proven-innocent mentality that keyboard warriors employ daily. As an adult, I didn’t find it amusing at all. It is quite scary actually. I hate it when people aren’t given the benefit of the doubt when things are misconstrued or misunderstood. Lives can literally be destroyed because of differences of opinion. It is so easy to put people on blast across the world in a matter of moments now! This book clearly shows how quickly nonsense can spread, as the cat is charged with a crime because her silly post was misunderstood.

💥 I’m not sure younger readers will understand the concepts mentioned above – because hopefully they aren’t aware of them yet. They may just enjoy the silly shenanigans in the story. If they do understand it, I hope they recognize how outrageous and dangerous it is to jump to conclusions with absolutely no facts. I think parents should make sure their children understand that concept if they read it.

💥 By the way, this book ends with a cliffhanger – almost literally! That of course will make kids want to read the next book, but I think a conclusion would have been a better choice.

Thank you @netgalley and Scholastic for an eARC of this book, which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

My daughter loves cats and The Bad Guys books! This was funny and cute illustrations. It kept us interested and looking forward to more in this cat series.

All it takes is one little video to turn the world's most adored cat influencer into the notorious face seated at the top of the most-wanted list. Desperate to clear her name of a crime she didn't commit, Princess Beautiful has no choice but to leave her life of luxury behind and run from both the mobs and mouse who hope to put her behind bars. Certain a mysterious scorpion insignia has something to do with the false accusations against her, she's not only determined to make it back to the celebrity she hopes to date, but to learn more about the institution who's always just out of reach.

Continuing in the same form and universe as Bad Guys, Aaron Blabey's latest execution isn't groundbreaking. Still, my children loved the familiarity they encountered throughout Cat on the Run. Citing the stylized illustrations, tie-ins to the original source, and the loud, obnoxious actions of numerous characters throughout, they chose to rate this first installment in this series with five stars. Admittedly, I wasn't as easily enamored. With a female protagonist at its center, I had hoped we'd still be seeing just as much fun and ridiculous escapades as encountered in Blabey's earlier works. However, most of the novel did little more than introduce a trite caricature of a spoiled celebrity. Had I read it on my own, the exaggerated vanity of the main character would have caused me to abandon the book before the action truly began. Having stayed for the end, I'd personally deem it mediocre.

Overall, Cat on the Run has potential. Since my children are already enamored by the universe and story-line, I know we're setting in for the long haul as the series is released. Seeing as their personalities are the intended audience, I figured we'd keep the stars closer to their impression than my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun read, and will definitely be a hit with upper elementary students. Can’t wait for the next book in the series! Fans of Blabey’s Bad Guys will love the subtle references to the previous series, and will enjoy getting to know a new cast of characters. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC! This series will be a must-purchase for our library.

I was a big fan of The Bad Guys. I know the author envisioned a long story arc. I enjoyed the mystery of this book, and am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cat on the Run in Cat of Death! is the first book in a new series from Aaron Blabey. The book follows a spectacularly spoiled cat named Princess Beautiful, who is famous for posting cat videos that garner billions of likes. Princess is quickly framed for a crime by a shadowy group, and the story spirals into chaotic fun. My 9 year old loved the book and can’t wait for more adventures. Students who love Bad Guys will love this new series.

This was disappointing. I like most of the Pig the Pug picture books, and I loved The Bad Guys until the series went off the rails in the more recent volumes. I hoped that this book would be a fresh start with new ideas that would get the author back to his previous level of quality, but I lost interest in this early on and was ready for it to end.

The concept is super appealing. A viral cat video star gets falsely accused of a crime she didn’t commit, goes out on the lam, and has to escape the law and prove her innocence while also having one of the most famous, recognizable faces on the planet. This could have been really fun, but the majority of the book just showed the cat acting entitled and bratty in ways that were quickly more annoying than funny, and once she’s out on the run, it’s just a lot of chaos. There’s also insta-love with a fellow celebrity who is absolutely assured of her innocence and insists he’ll help her, even though they’ve only just met.

This is set in the same universe as The Bad Guys, and there are some cute, mostly subtle tie-ins, but this is nowhere near the level of cleverness or unique character development that the previous series boasted at first. This relies too much on Internet-related humor, with a lot of repetitive stuff about how famous, cute, and viral the cat is, and then about how she MUST be guilty, because the Internet said so! Also, the action regularly gets interrupted to show new comments on the cat’s videos, and this started getting old after a while.

I’m sure that plenty of people will find this much funnier than I did, but I felt like this was just frenetic chaos and low-hanging fruit, without the cleverness that drew me into this author’s work in the first place. Also, this book’s heavy emphasis on Internet culture is a drawback for the intended audience, since most early elementary-aged readers won’t be familiar enough with the cultural references to appreciate the satire. Fans of the Bad Guys will probably enjoy this series, but the humor is more for adults who can relate to the over-the-top representation of a viral video star and the way the Internet viciously turns on people moments after fawning over them.

I do wonder where the series will go, and of course I want to know who the mysterious hooded figures are, why they framed the cat, and what their plan is. Still, I don't know if I'll read future installments or not, and I don't particularly recommend this, even though it's a quick read that plenty of the author's fans will enjoy without having all the same critiques.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was cute and my daughter thought it was a fun story.

This book is exactly what I expected from Blabey with his sense of humor and tongue-in-cheek jokes continuing as always. I love that this book features a cat / cat princess, because it will likely bring fresh eyes to his series that may not have tried Bad Guys. As much as I try to impart that there is no such thing as "girl books" and "boy books", my students continue to act like Bad Guys is for boys. My hope is that having a humorous book like this will really help bring more readers in without that gender divide. Highly recommend, and can't wait to bring to our library.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Creators of Bad Guys! I had to read it! I think it was a great start to this new series and my kids really enjoyed it. It’s funny and such a quick easy read. Looking forward to the next one! #CatontheRuninCatofDeathCatontheRun1FromtheCreatorofTheBadGuys #NetGalley

I can't keep Aaron Blabey's books on our library's shelves, and I know the first book in the Cat on the Run series will be no different. I expect my students will love the over-the-top characters, social media references, and graphic novel format. A must buy.

As a HUGE fan of Bad Guys, I was stoked to get approved for the advanced copy of this. It has a few bad guys references, love that we’re still in a world with Tiffany Fluffit! This book is about a famous cat who is very full of herself and get accused of trying to launch nuclear weapons. It was very action packed and fun, but not as good as Bad Guys. My son is four and he struggled following a lot of it, as he doesn’t understand internet culture and references yet. Older kids will probably enjoy it more!

Princess Beautiful is a video start sensation and the public cannot get enough of her silly antics. Until the day one of her videos is taken entirely out of context. The media seizes it, exploits it, and Beautiful has not choice but to go on the run.

The students in my school love the "Bad Guys" series to the extent there are rarely copies on the library shelves and the hold list is extremely long. I expect this follow-up series to attract kids to this level as well. The graphic novel format, bold illustrations and subject matter (so many students want to be You-Tube stars) is appealing to elementary students.

This series has the same irreverent humor, but I felt there were more adult-level innuendos in this book as compared to the Bad Guys books, especially in regard to the ability of the media to spread a story, whether it be true or slightly (a lot) twisted, and how the misinformation can change opinions quickly.

Elementary librarians, add this one to your purchasing lists, and hopefully Mr. Blabey has Book #2 waiting in the wings, because the kids will be begging for it quickly after the release of this one.

This will be another hit with the younger reader set. Funny and fast paced with a good amount of cheeky satire thrown in for the grownups to appreciate.

My eight year old daughter LOVED this book after being being an avid" Bad Guys" fan. I asked her how I should review it and she told me to tell potential readers it is really funny and you will find yourself liking the cat :)

4⭐️

I'm giving this one a high rating as my 7 year old son really enjoyed it but I'm on the fence for experience.

The premise of the book is there is a cat that is famous because of silly videos on the internet she makes. What's fun as an adult is that I immediately noticed that it was replicas of old vine videos. Like the cat playing the piano.

She comes public enemy #1 when it appears she tries to blow up the world. There are brief discussions regarding weapons of mass destruction. That's the internet has deemed her to be guilty so she is. I recognize the author having an underlining message that the internet can quickly cast judgement with no proof and then it's impossible to fix. I appreciate what Blabey is getting at but it felt forced at times and made the book a bit slow.

My son does want to continue the series and we'll be keeping our eye out for the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

In a word: Hilarious!! Another huge winner from Aaron Blabey. The only question is how many copies to order to meet the demand for this book when it arrives in September. I can't wait for book 2 to find out what happens next.

I read this book with my son to get the point of view of the target audience, not just how their parents think they will react. He adores the “Bad Guys” books and I have enjoyed them right alongside him so I was definitely looking forward to reading this one. I am proud to report that it didn’t disappoint unless you want to count the realization that it wasn’t out yet so it will be even longer for a sequel. For anyone who likes the “Bad Guys” or silly, goofy cat videos on YouTube/TikTok, or is just looking for a cute and funny new cat beginning chapter book, this one is not to be missed!

Thank you to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.