The Full Moon Coffee Shop is a cafe ran by cats that only appears on a full moon. This story tells the tale of 3 interconnected people at different stages in their lives who are invited to the cafe and all walk away with different realizations. I love the idea that this cafe shop serves you exactly what you need, physically and spiritually, without ever taking your order.

This book is not anything I would normally find an interest in but when I received the email from PGH inviting me to try the book I figured why not. It was worth it. There is a lot you can take away from this quick read. A few points that stuck for me were:

- [ ] Home has to be a sanctuary
- [ ] The Mirror Principle: everything you do in life is reflected back on you in time
- [ ] Know yourself. When you feel lost in life, pull out your map and check yourself
- [ ] Some people are more vulnerable to the effects of a mercurial retrograde

As I’ve said, there is a a lot you can digest in this short story. I think this will be a good book to circle back to when you have life-based questions. It may inspire you to find your answers where you’d never expect it or at the very least pay closer attention to your dreams (both sleep and awake). One of my favorite parts of a book is where everything just clicks into place and that happened towards the end of the story when you find out the reason behind the cats.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop seemed like it would be a bit like a cozy novel mashup of the Mystical Coffee Shop/Midnight Diner (but with cats). The story proceeds in four parts with different customers visiting the titular coffee shop and getting (astrological) advice from talking cats. There was a lot more astrology---often given in almost straight exposition---than I expected, reminding a little of Richard Bach's stories (e.g., Jonathan Livingstone Seagull) from way back when. But it was otherwise a perfectly serviceable set of stories and there were some really great moments!

Wow. This was such a well written novella. So easy to get sucked into and fall in love with this cozy little cafe. I love the spider web the characters are all connected by. Such a sweet story with astrological backgrounds.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC!

I enjoyed this! The characters felt a little stiff, but that may have been due to the translation. I think it would have benefited from more of a "show don't tell" mindset, especially with character motivations, but all in all it was a cute, quick read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
Really cute book, love the cats!
I could have done with a little bit less on the astrology tho, like it just went too deep, too much info it took away from the story imo.
Excellent translation, really smooth!

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The Full Moon Coffee Shop, written by Mai Mochizuki and translated by Jesse Kirkwood, is officially one of my favourite books of the year. As a massive fan of Sailor Moon, nothing appeals to me more than astrology-based characters, beautiful Japanese locations, quests for love and romance, and, of course, cats that are some sort of supernatural alien acting as a guiding force for the plot. I'm also a lover of tarot, astrology, and cats that talk, so this story spoke to me on many levels and I ate it up in a single sitting.

I think my favourite aspect of the story is how everyone is linked. Even though this taoes places in the bustling and busy prefectures of Japan, all of the characters have some sort of link to each other, even if they don't remember or realize it. The down-on-her-luck scriptwriter is a former coworker of the stressed movie director, and is the current scriptwriter for the technology-challenged game dev. That sort of overarching connection exists between all of the characters of the story and makes it feel so incredibly magical when you bump into one of them outside of their point of view chapter. For as large as Japan is, these people all manage to find each other.

I'm sure that the dialogue is a bit different in the original untranslated work, but I found many of the characters to be funny and extremely modern I their way of speaking, and that allowed me to feel very connected to them. The translation is really, really beautiful and I don't feel like I hit any bumps of confusion. Which is amazing, considering how much deep astrological explanation exists in the story, both in dialogue and exposition. The cats of the Full Moon Coffee Shop take as much time as they need to explain to their patrons about their natal charts, planetary houses, and star signs. Informing each character of how the planets are currently affecting their lives and successes, their romances and failures, all while serving them the most delicious-sounding food in the world. I never felt like I was lagging behind or too confused to keep reading at my usual pace.

The ending of this story made me cry, big time. There are a lot of books that market themselves as "cozy fantasy" or "low stakes," or "like being wrapped up in a warm blanket." But I think the Full Moon Coffee Shop truly deserves these kinds of descriptions, because it made me feel like I really was wrapped up in a cozy, low stakes, warm blanket, with a nice cup of cocoa by a cheerfully crackling fire, listening to the sound of classical music forever drifting through the air.

I was really excited to read The Full Moon Coffee Shop because I love Japanese culture and I wanted to read something written in Japanese. This was translated to English and I think the translation was great. The story wasn't really for me, although it definitely could have been save for one thing: the astrology.

I can certainly understand the appeal for those who believe in it or even find it interesting, and the story itself was interesting and I could have gone along with the astrology part of it had it not gone as deep as it did into it. I found myself skipping over entire parts because I just did not care about the explanations behind the signs and the phases and things, I wanted to know how they related to the character, because that's who I cared about. It felt like this book was trying to teach me about their interpretation of astrology instead of trying to tell me a story at several parts.

So it wasn't a bad read, but it wasn't my favorite either. Very cute, very quick, just not really for me!

First off I cried so many happy tears reading this! 5 out 5 amazing! I am so glad it's getting translated in English!! Second, I am currently struggling with bi-polar depression so I have been in a but of a reading slump. This pulled me directly out of my slump. Pulled me into another world. I felt transported and could see the scenes set before me. I smelled the coffee, teas and drinks. I tasted the food. I now am craving the treats mentioned in the book. The only thing I wish was that there was a spotify playlist to go along so I could listen to the songs as they are mentioned. It would have taken this experience to a next level. I also noticed some weird translation things but other then that this was an absolute magical experience. I wish I had a physical copy right now in front of me. I would consume and devor multiple times over. I wish I had the Japanese version! I'd learn to read it as well! Thank you for letting me read this before it was published. It's made a hige impact on my life and I can't wait for it to impact hundreds of other lives as well.
Devouringbooks@onmail.com

This was a random borrow on NetGalley, and while it was cute - I didn’t overly love it.

To me, it read like an anthology surrounding this mythical pop up cafe run by natal chart reading cats. We follow different characters as they’re each going through their own life pains and end up at the cafe hearing some sage advice. I liked how each character had a commonality between them and the interconnectedness of the story come the end. However, sometimes the bounce between POVs felt abrupt to me. The astrology elements were interesting , but will likely go over the head of anyone not familiar with birth charts or astrology. It was cute and quick.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC! All opinions below are my own.

This was a cozy story about two women in Japan trying to make sense of their lives and careers, and where to move forward. Like many magical realism books, there is that sprinkle of fantasy - in this. case, a cat cafe and a whole series of astrology and life phase hypotheses. I found this book to be incredibly calming, and was written in that matter-of-fact way that feels to me like a core of Japanese literature. This would be a great book for a cold day in, or a day when you just want to sit and muse some time away, with a couple piercing insights that really hit home every so often.

very much in the same vein as before the coffee gets cold but with cats and astrology (which make everything better). i love when books like this have all the characters be connected in some way and everything came together in a very satisfying way at the end also surprisingly very informative about astrology??? i finally learned what mercury in retrograde actually means 😔 overall very cozy and whimsical and wholesome!

perfect for fans of series like “before the coffee gets cold” and “the kawagama food detectives”

japanese authors will never cease to deliver on magical realism, cafe culture, and talking cats.

the story follows four people and their chance encounters with a coffee shop called the full moon coffee shop, where talking cats teach them about their characteristics via horoscopes and zodiacs. i really liked how there was no magical cure for any person’s problems, but their own understandings of themselves better informed them of their agency and helped them shift their perspectives.

the storyline, although told through four different perspectives, comes together really nicely in the end for a super great feel-good journey. loved the character development and wished the book was longer to see where their journeys take them, but the prologue wraps up their journeys quite nicely

tldr; a very cute and relaxing read about cats, coffee, and self growth. excited for this to come out aug 19! thank you to netgalley and random house publishing for providing me with the digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions!

Maybe I'm coming into this review a bit biased, as I have the softest spot in my heart for cats, but this was a delight. It started out so campy, as a group of strangers who each end up at a café at night during the full moon who each receive advice on what's making them feel stuck in their own lives...from three-foot tall talking cats who consult astrology charts in order to help. It was so cute and disarming, and in the end felt like a warm hug. I absolutely loved this.

Big thank you to Ballentine Books, Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is a quirky story about a group of people who are going through various different things in their lives and have the unusual opportunity to go the Full Moon Coffee Shop. While there, the cats read the stars for them and give them advice and clarity regarding issues in their lives. A quick red that I enjoyed!

I'm not the type to vehemently adhere to astrology. I think it's neat how we've developed this intricate system but never wholly understood it's usage in people's lives.

This book helped me understand it better.

If I was told how I could improve myself through a brutally honest astrological reading done by talking cats, well I think I'd be looking up my horoscope on the daily.

This is true cozy fiction. Low stakes but also low chance of being emotional over this all.

Interconnected characters with a variety of lessons to learn. Charming cats and descriptions of coffee shop fare that I wish I could eat (I did actually make an affogato after reading and it really was star-aligning.

Cute little read.

I loved this book. I think it was structured great, and I loved the characters in it. The story was entertaining and it was a great story to read. I enjoyed it a lot and I really want to read more from this author

As someone who doesn't know much about astrology, I wasn't sure I'd still like the book as much but I'm pleasantly surprised to say I still found it to be an enjoyable read. It also helped that the story started with my sign. I really like the premise and how the story opened up focusing on one character and then having the next chapter start with the last character mentioned (if that makes sense?) and then the ending was a culmination. Basically the characters were all intertwined and we got to delve into their issues and desires.

The translation was done very well; many lines felt poetic and I resonated with the many of the wise words from the kitties. Seeing Mizuki Serikawa get her rebound in a way that was true to where she was currently in life was a euphoric feeling.

As I mature, I find myself gravitating to more translated works that revolve around adults who are at crossroads career/life wise and getting to explore new beginnings through them. Having a fantasy element intertwined with these kind of stories are so fun and I feel refreshed after reading. I'll be on the lookout for more reads by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine for the opportunity to read The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Machizuki. What a delight! I loved the warmth and gentleness in the storytelling and the cats were the BEST!

The Full Moon Coffee Shop is a lovely cozy story about being kind to yourself and self discovery. I enjoyed the multiple points of view in this quick read. The way the characters interacted and the stories came together was quite pleasing. I'm impressed at the translation as well - it was very easy to get hooked on the story and I never felt taken out of it by the word choice. I enjoyed the element of magical realism portrayed by the cute cats.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop was a very cute, quick, cozy, whimsical read.

It was a lovely story about second chances, knowing yourself, and how people from your past can unknowingly be intertwined into your present. The different points of view were beautifully interwoven and you get little glimpses of the earlier characters in the later points of view. The epilogue was a very cozy and sweet way of tying everything together.

I was expecting the cats to have a bigger presence in the story line but they were fun when they did make an appearance. I think a few words maybe got lost in translation (two that stuck out to me: fondant for what seemed to be a sort of pudding and cream soda for an ice cream float) but nothing so big as to take you out of the story.