'With a name like that, I'd been expecting something quaint and old-fashioned, but this looked more like a trendy pop-up café. Its soft lights glowed against the dark backdrop of the riverbank.'

'The Full Moon Coffee Shop' by Mai Mochizuki is a mystical novel about a pop-up café appearing to people in need of some time off, a custom order made specially for them, and some external perspective on their lives.

While the premise is interesting, the external perspective received by each customer is entirely too dependent on astrological charts. I expected a little astrology from the description, but tying up everything from the choice of their profession to their romantic interests and general luck with random events to just a series of Zodiac houses based on the time and place of birth was too trite for me. I would have liked at least a little conversation about their lives and opinions first that weren't immediately attributed to astrology or their 'phase of life'. Or a food/ drink order customized more to the people's personality or mood than just their age.

I did enjoy the mystical vibes surrounding this café and whom it appears to, but it seems like the advice was given only to this group of people due to a special connection in their earlier years. Overall, I'd recommend the book to anyone interested in or familiar with astrology.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Random House publishing group - Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

🌟🌟

The rating is 1 1/2 stars, rounded up to 2 stars for NetGalley and Goodreads as there might be some concepts lost in translation.

[Half a star for the premise and the whole book; 1/4 for the characters; Half a star for the writing; 1/4 star for the world-building; Zero stars for the story arc - 1 1/2 stars on the whole].

Thank you Random House Publishing and Mai Mochizuki for an NetGalley ARC copy of The Full Moon Coffee Shop!

Rating: 3.5/5

This is a modern, astrology-based, cozy fantasy that covers subjects such as relationships, careers, and the things that connect us all. The characters are loveable, their lives are interesting and so different yet still connected, and of course you cant go wrong with cats!

While I don't mind the whimsical take on heavy topics, I did feel like this had a "insta fix" quality to it which I didn't like near as much. Overall I found this to be a fun and relaxing read.

Talking cats, cafes, astronomy & wisdom! I loved this charming book and wish there were more characters to learn about and have those moments of clarity.

This review of The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki is courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine. #TheFullMoonCoffeeShop #NetGalley #Ballantine #RandomHouse

Rating 4/5
Upcoming publication date: Aug 20 2024

I've enjoyed various Japanese tv series and manga with mysterious shops that appear/disappear and are food related, so when I saw the description regarding I really wanted to read it.

It's organized as three chapters plus an epilogue where each chapter is really a short story of multiple parts that involves a character/characters ending up with an encounter with the Full Moon Coffee Shop.

The first chapter is the story of Mizuki, the screenwriter mentioned in the book description. It starts with some background of what's going on in her life. Then the cats appear and she's brought to the Full Moon Coffee Shop. At some point, a cat asks if they can do her horoscope and it got intensely into the mumbo-jumbo of astrology even more beyond what I'd have expected with "explanations of various ages". I finished that chapter but really dreaded reading more because of the astrology went way out there and took a break to read a couple of other books including The Kamogawa Food Detectives (another Japanese translated story with a special restaurant) and Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries.

Coming back to the subsequent chapters, I was happy to find the the astrology isn't as out there and was used more for explanations of the persons character and used more to find perspective. Despite each chapter focusing primarily on different characters, the overall story was connected as a whole and tidied up which upped my rating compared to if I'd was only rating the first chapter.

Overall, it's a feel good happy cozy with some potential life lessons/viewpoints shared.

This was a cozy little fantasy. The main character is going through some personal hardships and she crosses paths with magical coffee shop.
Very legends and lattes type of vibe.
It did take me a long time to read though because it is slightly slow

Thank you to NetGalley and PRH Ballantine for giving me an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 Stars, rounded up to four.

The premise for the book was lovely and adorable— a whimsical café that only appears to those in need, and it’s run by cats? Absolutely sign me up! That part of the book I loved; the people reconnecting after years apart, getting new perspectives on life, work, love, and the world at large. All of the main characters’ threads had woven together previously, and now, after many years, were being woven together again as they all searched for meaning in various areas of their lives. I liked all the characters well enough, and they all seemed authentic and realistic.

Where I felt the story lost me was the extended descriptions of astrology and, strangely enough, the food and drinks at the café. I have no qualms with astrology in general— I think it can be interesting and fun as a hobby— but the descriptions given in this novel were extremely in depth to the point of losing the story in favor of reading a character’s star chart. I felt as though the astrology was much more of a central focus, when it should have been a side detail, used to accentuate details for the characters’ stories.

I felt similarly about the food and drinks at the café. The descriptions given for what each character was served during their time at the Full Moon Coffee shop was often lengthy and detailed— which just wasn’t wholly necessary to get across the feeling of “otherworldliness” it seemed the author was trying to cultivate around these cats and their pop-up café.

In general, I wish the story had focused more on the people and their struggles/emotions/epiphanies/etc., as well as what they learned from the cats at the café, rather than birth chart reading and fancy dessert descriptions. But, the story was cute and overall enjoyable— I did not dislike it by any means.

This is an incredibly delightful book. The Full Moon Coffee Shop only opens during the full moon. It is run by three cats and visited by a small group of interconnected friends. As one reads through the short stories and epilogue you learn the relationship between these three people and why they were chosen by the cats. The cats are well-versed in astrology and use this to guide the humans to a more fulfilling life. The older gentleman playing the piano fits into the story of the visitors to this coffee shop. I’m not good at describing books, but this one is really a fun read. I highly recommend.

This was an amazing book. The three stories in it were tasteful. Also I loved that they used astrology, the authors seemed to have done their research.

Received this book through Netgalley after an email from the publishing company.

It's an easy, feel good read about a coffee shop that pops up for 3 people who are going through difficult situations in their lives. The coffee shop only shows up for those who need it and it is run by cats. The cats not only serve customers beautiful drinks and food they also dish out astrological advice.

The story comes together at the end and explains how the characters are all connected and why the cats specifically chose them.

If you are really into astrology and natal charts then I think you'd enjoy this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

As I was reading this book, I got reminded of another popular Japanese short story collection, Before the Coffee Gets Cold. I wasn’t the biggest fan of that story but I could see the appeal.

In this one, there are also a collection of short stories and each one of these main characters stops by The Full Moon Coffee Shop. They all have a dilemma and are transported to this place. At this magical place, they are greeted by two cats, the Persian cat and the Tuxedo cat. These two cats tell the main protagonist their astrological sign based around planets. They offer insight into the problems they were having. The protagonist then thinks about this new information in regards to their dilemma.

In concept this sounds like something I would like but I was not as invested as I thought. While I do relate to what some of the dilemmas in some of the short story collections, the insight wasn’t something that I haven’t heard of before. Read this if you want something cozy and also similar vibes to the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop has no set location and it only appears during the full moon. Run by talking cats who serve the customers what they need, not what they want, the cats also offer cryptic advice based on their astrological chart, helping the customers see their missteps and how they can fix them. All of the customers are young adults at a crossroads being helped by the special cats at The Full Moon Coffee Shop. A beautiful tale by Mai Mochizuki, that incorporates several mythical traditions from around the world.

The "Full Moon Coffee Shop" is a short novel that consists of a series of character montages set in Kyoto, Japan. Each section takes on the perspective of a different character - from a former scriptwriter who's fallen out of her earlier success, to a movie director who fears taking a personal risk, a hair stylist looking to make a change of career, and to an IT worker who meets his first love many years later. The novel interweaves a number of elements of magical realism, a nod to the Japanese belief that cats are good luck, and brings each of these characters to the Full Moon Coffee Shop to have their astrology revealed and to indulge in a custom, one-of-a-kind treat crafted by the feline staff.

As is the case with a number of Japanese novels, the writing takes on elements of whimsy and lightness to contrast some of the more weighty topics covered. Many of the characters are struggling with their path in life, their identity, and their relationships with those around them, and their accidental arrival at the coffee shop gives them a chance to center and reassess their thoughts and feelings, and also gives them a little guidance for the future. Each of the characters are loosely interconnected, with the few sections giving more insight into just why these individuals were invited into the Full Moon Coffee Shop. The translation felt well done, and I felt captured Mai Mochizuki's clear tone and clarity in diction.

This is a relatively light-hearted and quick read with elements in the storyline that reminded me of <u>Before the Coffee Gets Cold</u> and <u>Lonely Castle in the Mirror</u>. While it doesn't have quite the emotional depth and darkness that these novels did, I'd recommend to readers who appreciate this genre and am excited to see this published in the US in August 2024!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After reading The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki I wrote the poem below:

Beneath the full moon,
you may find
a mysterious
train-car coffee shop
laden with Cats,
(or perhaps, Gods).

Your stars
could be read no better.
The stars could glow no brighter.
Lost One,
We will help you find your way.

Wisdom,
a moonlit feast,
the taste
you didn’t know you needed,
out of this world.

Come with quick feet,
we close
before you even know it.

poem by Kerri Lynn Hilbert©️5/22/2024

—

As for the book: A mystical coffee-shop with talking cats, the full moon, magical food, more cats—what’s not to love?

I also learned about star charts (natal charts) from this book and have found the topic very intriguing.

#cats #coffeeshop #TheFullMoonCoffeeShop#Magic #maimochizuki
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This was really cute! Who doesn't love cats and who doesn't enjoy some astrology from time to time? Combine the two and you have this enjoyable read. Definitely worth picking up!

This was not what I was expecting, but I liked it...

The Full Moon Coffee Shop follows a different character in each chapter, all of them going through a difficult moment in their lives, and the way this book resorts to helping them is through astrology. It is generally based on the myth that if you're kind to cats, they'll one day return the favour, and they do it in a very unique way in this novel. Each character in one way or another finds themselves in a sort of pop-up café run by talking cats (bear with me). Each cat represents one of the governing planets that influence your horoscope, like Pluto, Venus, and so on. They explain to each character how their natal chart influences how they are as people, and how they behave and respond to others. This knowledge can help them learn more about themselves and try to figure out a way out of the uncomfortable situation they're in at the moment.

This Japanese novel is part of the "healing fiction" sub-genre that's been trending nowadays, which I love, but, even though I liked the book, it wasn't my favourite out of the bunch. The talking cats were a bit too much for me, but I loved the descriptions of the food and drinks they served each character. It all sounded delicious! I also quite liked the connection between the characters (which you only find out towards the end of the novel).

All in all, this was a quick and cosy read, so if you're looking for that kind of vibe and you love cats, this might be the book for you.

Thank you very much to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for my e-ARC!

I picked this up for two reasons - it seemed cozy and I love cats. I couldn’t possibly resist a book about a coffee shop run by talking cats who also read star charts for the needy humans who are invited. I mean, it just sounds so damn cute!
What I got was not actually all that cute and leaned into the human troubles a bit too much for me to find it truly cozy. There are multiple sections divided into chapters and each section follows a different patron of the Full Moon Coffee Shop. One is a script writer who’s talent and desirability has waned, one is a producer who has fallen in love with someone she doesn’t think would love her back, one is an actress caught in a recent cheating scandal, and one is a web developer. Each character is invited to the coffee shop and completely amazed at the talking cats.
*I thought these were going to be cute, four-legged talking cats magically pouring coffee and offering desserts. Some of them are. Some of them, most disturbingly, are described like the creatures in the live action Cats movie. Not cute at all, especially since I don’t remember them wearing any clothes.*
The cats read the star charts for each of the characters and provide astrological wisdom to help them make the right choice for themselves so they might find happiness. I learned way more about astrology than I ever thought to know and it was fascinating! This was by far one of the better explanations of how all that works and surprise - it was in a fantasy book.
The human characters were interesting and I was rooting for them to have a happy ending, but I would say that their situations made this magical book lean too far into the realm of the depressingly real. I was happy that each was given a pleasant ending, though this was definitely not something that left me feeling aglow with happiness myself. Overall, I appreciated the story for what it offered but I didn’t love it as much as I had expected to and I could have done with less star chart explanations and more emotional character scenes.
*Review scheduled to post August 18, 2024.

I loved this short, feel-good read. I appreciated the characters and the way the story wove them into a tapestry of love, generosity and kindness. I was captivated by the astrological aspect and how it also brought the plot and themes together into a cohesive whole. If all that wasn't enough, it had a happy ending. My only complaint was that I wanted to keep reading [even though it wrapped up nicely!].

4.5 stars for a cute, quick, and easy read featuring cats and astrology.

This book isn't anything that I would normally pick up, but I couldn't be happier that it was sent to me. I'm one of the biggest cat people I know, so imagine my happiness when I found out this book is filled with talking cats.

It also centers around astrology and what planets are in which houses for the main characters. I'm someone who knows little about astrology but is super interested in it, and I thought this book did a wonderful job explaining the concepts to newbies in the astrology game.

This book is a quick way to learn important life lessons, and I wish more than anything that I could go to the Full Moon Coffee Shop and have my star chart read by a talking cat.

This quirky, short Japanese novel is perfect if you're into magical realism, astrology, and cats.

I struggled with this one, and I'm not sure if it's this specific title or perhaps a cultural difference with the genre that I'm not a fan of. There was a LOT of astrology talk, which I was able to follow only because my mom is an astrologer and I grew up with it. If I didn't have that background, I'm not sure I would have finished this book.

The book consists of three (you could argue four) stories, woven together with a common thread that you don't learn about until the end. I actually enjoyed that part the best, and wish we had gotten more of the storyline that came last instead of the ones before.

Overall, it wasn't my favorite book but I could definitely see someone loving it if they're fans of this genre. Giving it three stars because the writing was solid, and the last part held my interest.

Thank you to Random House/Ballantine Books and Netgalley for the ARC!

A short cozy read with magic.. you can't beat that.. it definitely had that japanese anime feel for me ..