The Full Moon Coffee Shop is a café that is run by talking cats and has no permanent location or hours of operation; it appears to those who need direction at a key point in their lives. This book tells the story of the various people who are invited to the café and the enigmatic insight given to them by the shop’s feline advisors.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy a cozy fantasy and, of course, cat lovers.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks for the review copy. I love the title. The locations in the book sounded beautiful. I also liked how the characters were linked together.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine, Mai Mochizuki, Jesse Kirkwood and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Focusing on astrology, natal charts, and the journey of life, Full Moon Coffee Shop is a cozy read for anyone looking for a side of fantasy to go with their life advice. It delves just enough into the advice aspect of things to give you some great take aways depending on where you are in your life, without making it too much like a preach-y self help book. And the focus point being a coffee shop run by cats is obviously a perk as well.

It does read a little clunky at times, which could be due to its translation but this doesn’t hinder your ability to understand the life lessons.

4.5 stars
A coffee shop with no fixed location, that appears right where you need it, when you need it... and it's run by cats that consult your star chart and give you life advice?!

A thousand times yes. This book was so cozy, I loved the description of the foods and the cats.. I'm not really into Astrology but I love how it was incorporated!

This book was a quick read, perfect to pick up when you just need a hug. I hope the rest of the series is translated soon!

I loved this magical, whimsical, astrological quick read. Loved the cats, the stories, and the people. Such a quick read, but a lovely palate cleanser between more serious books.

Round up to 4.5

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!
This story is a super interesting concept however I found myself lost amongst the characters and the wording at times.
Seeing as it is a translation, I feel like it kind of read like one. It tripped me up occasionally.
I do like how all of the characters are intertwined and everything comes full circle at the end.
Overall, it was a fun little story filled with magic, astrology and relationships!

"Most of all, you're hard on yourself. Even when no one has a bad word to say about you, you're never happy with your achievements or yourself. Tell me, don't you find it a little hard to breathe sometimes?" ~ The Full Moon Coffee Shop

This is a short, yet emotional read that will challenge everyone to think deeply about their own lives. It has such an amazingly unique premise: a mobile, magical coffee shop - run by cats - that dispenses advice (and yummy treats!) This book is the very definition of healing your inner child. All of the cats, but Saturn especially, are written with such depth that the reader will have no trouble believing that the cats are immortal beings full of wisdom.

This novel-in-stories is one of my favorite genres when done right. Each of the characters have a connection to one another, and whether the reader feels sympathy or relates to them, this story structure allows the reader to see each of their internal struggles. For example, one of the characters has an affair and I was reluctant to read his story, but then I realized I was only introduced to him through the perspective of the person he had wronged. The interconnected stories are each unique enough to remain interesting and surprising, but the reveal of how the characters are connected through primary school makes the novel unfold beautifully. Then having the final chapter be a conversation between the coffee shop cats and the old man wraps up all the magic nicely. There's something so touching about the coffee shop cats helping the humans because those humans once helped out an orphaned family of cats. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed how deeply this book made me consider my own life and what each individual choice has led me to (I related the most to Mizuki's story). And I ended up desperately wanting to visit the full moon coffee shop myself!

A decent little novel. Wasn't particularly good or memorable in my opinion, just okay. A pleasant enough way to pass time, similar to the coffee shop itself.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mochizuke Mai is a multi-POV Japanese cozy contemporary fantasy following five people in Kyoto as they enter a cafe that only shows up on the night of the full moon. We start with Mizuki, a former hitmaker who wrote scripts for TV but now freelances by writing scripts for dating sims. When her latest TV script is rejected by executives, Mizuki finds herself at the Full Moon Coffee Shop where cats are the servers and there is no ordering from a menu.

The illustrations were very cute and helped to evoke the cozy atmosphere along with the names of the dishes. For instance, the aquarius trifle, a trifle served in a cup similar to the ones associated with the star sign Aquarius. The astrology aspect is not only present in the dishes, but plays a large part in how the cats assist each human character. From discussing which planet rules the love or career sections to a beautiful night sky, we see the cats talk to their customers in a less judgemental way and more of a gentle, guiding way.

The novella deals with some modern topics, from the treatment of celebrities in the media to dating to what happens when you stop being on top. The inclusion of dating sims helped the book feel current as dating sims are becoming more and more mainstream while the hints of humor ground the reader when complicated topics come up. One thing I really liked was how Mizuki used to be a substitute elementary school teacher before focusing on writing scripts and how that connects to the larger story.

I would recommend this to fans of cozy fantasy, readers looking for books focusing on astrology, and those who love books about coffee shops.

A quick read with a cute premise, but the writing felt really wooden (I'm not sure how much of that was the translation and how much was the original style) and each character's overall arc felt so overly simplistic.

This is a cute and cozy book, I think it will be a perfect and very popular Fall read!! I love books where each of the characters’ stories tie together in the end, and I enjoyed how the epilogue tied everything up neatly. I almost just wish the book was longer so I could have seen more of the characters’ lives unfold after they received the advice from the cafe! Perhaps a sequel could do so :)

This was a fast easy read with relatable characters. The Full Moon Cafe and the food and drink it served were described light and whimsically.
Although the characters were likable, they were only there to convey astrological principles. If you like cats and astrology, this is the book for you!

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, Jesse Kirkwood (Translator) from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine|Ballantine Books /NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

This book has me feeling like I just swallowed several packets of Sweet'n Low all at once and will never get the sicky-sweet taste out of my mouth. Just entirely too juvenile (in the pejorative sense of the word) in style for me.

Although I did enjoy the epilogue, which is why I’m not rounding down to 1 star. Also, to be honest, I’m afraid my own three cats might slaughter me in my sleep if I did that.

Of course I’m gonna be firmly in the minority camp with this one once it’s more widely released to a North American audience. Call me a book snob, I guess.

Oh, well. At least it was very short.

DESCRIPTION
Translated from the Japanese bestseller, a charming and magical novel that reminds us it’s never too late to follow our stars.

In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they’ll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon.

This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed location, no fixed hours, and it seemingly appears at random.

It’s also run by talking cats.

While customers at the Full Moon Coffee Shop partake in cakes and coffees and teas, the cats also consult their star charts, offering cryptic wisdom, and letting them know where their lives veered off course.

Every person who visits the shop has been feeling more than a little lost. For a down-on-her-luck screenwriter, a romantically stuck movie director, a hopeful hairstylist, and a technologically challenged website designer, the coffee shop’s feline guides will set them back on their fated paths. For there is a very special reason the shop appeared to each of them . . .

This is a cute, short story about finding yourself. The Full Moon Coffee Shop is a cozy fantasy that has talking cats who run a coffee shop.
It includes a lot of astrology, and a reminder to be kind to cats 😉 A fun, easy read.
The writing was fairly simplistic, but it was also translated.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine books for an e-copy for review.

Very enjoyable cozy fantasy. I have no doubt that if cats could talk they would expound the wisdom and advice these do. And of course serve coffee and dessert too. The lives of the people in each excerpt wind and flourish around each other unaware for years until they arrive at the coffee shop. Great storytelling.

When I first heard about this book, I thought "a book with talking cats. Should be funny in a snarky kind of way." Much to my surprise this was much different, deeper and more philosophical book than I thought I was going to read, and not in a bad way. I liked the author's writing style and appreciated the message of the book. I guess my only real "criticism" is that some of the astrological stuff went over my head, because it was a little hard to fully absorb all of the detailed information about moon phases and houses and planets being in retrograde. With that said, I did enjoy the book and would recommend it to my friends.

This was a really interesting premise with a coffee shop runs by cars. What I enjoyed far lass was all the astrology as it’s not something I relate to.. and I was hoping it would read a bit more cozy fantasy and a little less astrology. That said I think the writing and story were fabulous, I just had to skim to astrology sections.

Wow. This was so much fun to read. As someone deeply attuned to the astrological world, I found it refreshing to read a book I could relate to so much. Not only was this a joy to read, but after each turn of the page I found myself realizing more and more information about myself and my decisions in life.

What an unexpected fun story! Thank you Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early copy in exchange for my honest review.

Very much cozy reading. I felt like author did a great job putting me right there with the main character, when she discovers the cat for the first time I like could see him vividly. It was short, but good. Fun read.