Thank you Courtney Gustafson and Crown Publishing for an ARC copy of Poets Square!

Rating 4.5/5

As a long time follower of Poets Square's TikTok and huge fan of all the cats, this was by far one of my most anticipated releases this year.

This book was so many things; a collection of silly cat stories, an exploration of the darker sides of rescue work, a realistic view of life with depression & anxiety, and most importantly how necessary a community is for you to truly thrive. Courtney’s narration on life, tragedies, and successes is both raw and inspiring.

I laughed, I cried (happy & sad tears), this is such an excellent memoir. I can't wait to see what Courney’s future holds!

Thank you to netgalley for the e-arc! I'm always an easy sell when it comes to memoirs and stories about animals -- if it involves a cat, I'll probably read it. I've been following the poets square cats online for a while now, and I was so excited to read about the people involved with running the account. Each chapter ties in a story from the author's life to the story of one of the many poets square cats (or even cats from other rescue situations). I think it was so well written, and the stories tie in perfectly. The book touches on the author's struggles with mental health, finances, and confidence, but ultimately these sections tie back into her time caring for the cats. There are discussions of bigger societal problems -- her followers' eagerness to send donations for the cats, but less care for the unhoused folks she helps along the way; the feelings of shame and anger she sees in folks in her time working at a food bank. Big discussions happening alongside the stories of the well known cats of poets square. I think this is a really great read whether you're a follower or not.

I was really hoping this would live up to the hype and I found it to be a beautiful memoir! The characters of all the cats are standouts; it's clear Gustafson loves them and respects them. The book is both a great quarter-life crisis story (with important moments from earlier reflected back on) and a pandemic story.

I have been one of those people that followed the Poets Square Instagram and then later TikTok accounts since the early days, I have merchandise and stickers and I have donated when cats were in need, but I have a whole new outlook after reading this book. I have never TNR’d, but I have fostered cats for years and cared for sick and injured cats so I was excited to read about her experiences. I was not expecting that this was so much more! Her vulnerability throughout the book and the emotions she shared were something that I did not expect but I greatly appreciated. Sometimes you do not realize how much someone goes through until they put pen to paper. Courtney’s writing was amazing and you can feel her personality in the words. I felt every word of it and was surprised how so many things I could relate to. She touched on some really tough topics too, from mental health to the conditions of some of the communities the cats brought her to. I had so many emotions reading this and it really opens your mind to the experience of how you view what people put on social media compared to the things going on behind the scene.

I don’t think anyone plans on moving into a house and discover a colony of 30 feral cats, but that exactly what happened to Courtney Gustafson. In her memoir, Courtney details how caring for these feral cats has changed her life.

Given the title, you’d expect this book to be about cats, and sure it is mostly about cats but it’s also about people. About how we as a society often fail to care for the most vulnerable around us. About how society has convince us that those struggling on the fringes of society are there because of their own poor decisions. That if they would just work harder their situation would be different. When the reality is that many of these people ended up in these situations due to circumstances outside of their control. Like feral cats, these people have been abandoned by the system that created them.

I expected a cute book about cats, but what I got was so much more than that! This book explores the desire to help cats and humans alike. It humanizes unhoused individuals and their struggles, and treats the struggles of humans and cats alike with tenderness and empathy. This book is perfect for fans of other animal rescue books such as "The Hummingbird's Gift", and readers will feel seen in the author's struggle to figure out how to help, when the world's problems seem so big, and systemic failure is so rampant. I can't wait to recommend this book to others!

A fantastic memoir and profound story. Full disclosure, I have been a longtime fan of the Poets Square Cats' social media accounts. I'd even been a Patreon subscriber for a while. You can imagine that I was very excited to hear of this book, and thrilled to have the opportunity to receive an ARC.

That being said, what I'm about to tell you is (as far as I'm aware) in absolutely no way biased. I'm certain I would feel this strongly about this even if I had no idea of the story behind it. The author has compelling storytelling skills and such a unique voice to her writing, filling the pages with prose that felt both stunningly insightful and yet easy to read. I began saving quotes that I loved only to find them piling up. Most of the chapters focus on a single topic, one that might not even be explicitly stated to you but feels clear by the end regardless, with a story or two of the cats and a personal story of the author.

In many ways, this is about cats, as you'd expect. Cat rescue, the feral cat epidemic, and the impact cats can have on the lives of people who love them. But, it's also about so much more than cats. Largely, several parts of this are a harsh critique of capitalism without even having to say so. It sheds light on the real, complex effects of a system that often lets people (and cats!) fall to the wayside and then look down upon their struggle, blaming them for their situation, all whilst using them as stepping stones to embolden themselves. It also shows the many ways that people are guilty of doing this themselves, even when they might think themselves good or enlightened people. I learned a lot from reading this.

Other parts show the reach and impact of casual misogyny, and how it infects even the things you would least expect it to. There's also a focus on grief, on illness. It tells a story of community and the effort it takes to form one, to be a part of one, to love others as you might wish to be loved.

The thing that stands out to me the most about this book, though, is the unmistakable empathy that pours from the words. It's unique in how it is so clearly one that isn't necessarily innate, isn't something the author was blessed with from birth, but is instead an empathy that can only form from experience, from effort, and from time.

It's such a powerful, moving story, and one I'm sure I'll think about for a long time. Thank you so much to Crown Publishing and Netgalley for access to the ARC, this is my honest review.

Beautiful! This is a short read—under 200 pages—but I savored every chapter. I did not know about the Poets Square cats before I picked up this book, but I’m their new biggest fan :)

This writer is deeply empathetic and careful with every word. Gustafson draws so many meaningful parallels between the lives of feral cats and our own. I loved the chapter about the Trash Colony.

My cat was lying next to me for most of this read. 5/5 thank you NetGalley!

Poets Square hit me right in the feels, both as a cat mom and someone to whom activism is important. Courtney is a great writer; I love how she could write about the funny personalities of the cats then switch to a serious topic, like homelessness, without any disruptions. The second half of the book was particularly great, especially the story about the trash colony. I wish there had been more details about Courtney learning to trap cats, meeting other cat lovers and rescuers, and navigating the cats in her relationship with Tim. I enjoyed hearing about her childhood, but those stories felt random in the greater landscape of the book until it tied in at the end.

A beautiful memoir told through vignettes about cats, the way we care and show up for one another, relationships, and the human condition. I am so glad my most anticipated book of 2025 lived up to the hype in every way possible.

Poets Square masterfully intertwines reflective deeply personal essays with the depth of one's relationship with cats. If I had to pinpoint what I loved most about this book it's how seen I felt through Gustafson's intimate writing style. Most people have an innate sense of care for animals, but this story is one of someone who feels a bone deep responsibility to doing everything she can. You can feel the love and endless empathy oozing off of the pages. I was emotional so many times, but most especially during the section about loss. As someone who's been grieving her cat soulmate for most of the last year, I don't think I've ever seen someone's chaotic and desperate thought spirals mirror mine like hers do. Poets Square explores so much vulnerability and growth, both personally for the author and with the cats themselves, that my heart was so deeply invested throughout.

What a whimsical, nostalgia ride. I wasn’t sure what to expect and can happily say that I was blown away. What a lovely, heartfelt little wonder.

Poets Square is part memoir, part cat education about a woman moving into a neighborhood in Tucson that she discovers is populated by stray cats with no one to take care of them. She takes it up on herself to make the first move, got popular on Instagram and became a "cat rescue influencer" and...to work on herself along the way.

Ours is a two cat household, one of which is the kitten of a mother stray that we rescued last year when the mother got hit by a car. :-( Our neighborhood is in a similar place as the author's neighborhood, with my stray rescue neighbors having 18 strays last summer.

The neighborhood around my workplace also has this problem with many strays that no one knows what to do with.

As I read through this book, I am almost inspired to start my own social media to rescue, catch, fix and release strays, because there was no way I could afford to do this on my own financially, much less work a full-time job and do all the work and running to and fro with the cat project.

Alas, I am afraid I am not that committed. But kudos to those who are.

The flip side to the cat stories is the author's mental health journey.

For some, the sadness might be too much. Too sad. But for me, I appreciated the parallels between the cat journey and that other parts of the author's life.

It ends on a positive note, though.

This could be a good book for a book group full of cat lovers to read and discuss, especially if they are close enough to each other to also talk about the hard parts of life.

This review is dedicated to Sad Boy, I hope that mashed potato is happy wherever he is now. Poets Square Cats has been my favorite account since I discovered it. I was so excited to see that Courtney was coming out with a book. She has an amazing way of communicating and getting you to love the cats she cares for. With their unique names and personalities, you really get a sense of who they are, even through a screen. This book is the same way. It was so comforting, kind, gentle, and exactly what we all need right now. This is also an incredible introduction to TNR and the important work that goes into it. I have a former stray beside me right now that showed up at the house I moved into five years ago. I constantly think of his life before he came into mine and Courtney really gives a voice to the cats that came into hers.

This just in: reading this book with your former feral cat beside you, who is happy and purring despite his weird assembly of old scars, will make you want to weep. A hopeful, compassionate, and sometimes melancholy account of what it means to love a creature who has never experienced kindness, and the weird combination of human emotions that come along with this. While this book is mostly about cats, it is also a compelling memoir that touches on trauma, gender, grief, and loneliness.

I found this memoir by Gustafson fascinating. Reading about her life fostering, caring for cats in her home in Poets Square was inspirational and really touching. She explores many topics in her memoir - mental health, community, the influence and reach of social media and finding purpose. I highly recommend this! Great first read of the year!

Poet’s Square Cats is a powerful and moving account of Courtney’s journey into the world of TNR in Arizona, where she (unknowingly) inherited a home that came with 30 feral cats. This was my first introduction to TNR, and I first followed Courtney on TikTok when I saw a video about a large misshapen cat (?) named Monster Paws. What begins as a daunting responsibility quickly becomes a life-changing mission, as she navigates the complexities of animal care, community, and personal growth. I deeply respect Courtney and her unwavering dedication to her cats, local feral communities, and the people whose lives she’s touched, and her story resonated with me on a profound level. I was definitely crying by the first page :) Courtney’s personal story hit close to home, and she out into words many of my experiences. Her work not only helps countless animals, but the people around them. Her work also serves as an inspiring reminder of how compassion and perseverance can make a lasting impact. Poet’s Square Cats is a testament to her strength, and the quiet, transformative power of kindness.

An intimate memoir about the importance of community and care in a world that can feel impossibly broken—and a story about accidentally going viral while tending to a colony of feral cats. I like story about cats and this memoir brings me to love more about cat.

I needed this crazy cat lady story!. A brilliant journey of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and self-love through the selfless act of carrying for feral cats.

Cats as praxis. Because of course.
About 3/4 of the way thru this, I realized that while the author may not realize it, her story is anarchy at work, and shows why this is the only way anything meaningful has ever been accomplished. With practical hard work and attention to doing what she could, every single day, the author built a beautiful new life for herself amidst responding to the needs she saw all around her. In it she encountered a whole new world that she never knew existed, and made a real difference in her community.
A beautiful story and absolutely not what I expected. Much love and May the cats be with you 🥰
Many thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.