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A review by amyvl93
Cat Lady by Dawn O'Porter
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Cat Lady is the story of Mia who on the service has it all - a great job at a jewellery brand, a loving husband and the love of her life, Pigeon. However on closer inspection, she feels surrounded by (mostly) idiots at work, her husband's ex-wife is always in their home and she prefers to sleep in her own room with her cat than with her husband. When these fractures finally get pushed to the surface, Mia needs to decide what she wants her life to look like.
This is a novel which is marketed as being heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny, and I can only assume that I am not O'Porter's target audience because I found zero parts of this book to be funny. There are definitely lines that are 'quirky' and 'weird' but these generally made me feel uncomfortable rather than amused. Some parts of it are moving, but that is largely because I am a sucker for people talking about how much they love their pets, especially when they are deceased.
Mia is a tough character to like - she's rigid and makes crazy snap judgements about people (seeing a girl reading a Cosmo magazine in the doctors she assumes she must have an STD) and her relationship with Pigeon borders on the inappropriate. Given the narrative of the story, I wanted to root for her but, despite the tragic backstory which is slowly revealed, I found it very hard to. I found her sister a much more compelling character to be following. On that note, many of the secondary characters (with perhaps the exception of Mia's husband and his ex-wife) do feel well drawn and bring their own personalities to the page.
The novel does pick up once things start to fall apart, but this isn't until around 60% of the novel, and there's a rather unrealistic neatness to the way that the book ends which felt a bit too sickly sweet given the tone of the rest of the novel, and missed an opportunity to give Mia her own life.
If you enjoyed novels like Eleanor Oliphant and are looking for a mediation on grief and forging your own path this may be for you, just don't expect this to be a fun read.
This is a novel which is marketed as being heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny, and I can only assume that I am not O'Porter's target audience because I found zero parts of this book to be funny. There are definitely lines that are 'quirky' and 'weird' but these generally made me feel uncomfortable rather than amused. Some parts of it are moving, but that is largely because I am a sucker for people talking about how much they love their pets, especially when they are deceased.
Mia is a tough character to like - she's rigid and makes crazy snap judgements about people (seeing a girl reading a Cosmo magazine in the doctors she assumes she must have an STD) and her relationship with Pigeon borders on the inappropriate. Given the narrative of the story, I wanted to root for her but, despite the tragic backstory which is slowly revealed, I found it very hard to. I found her sister a much more compelling character to be following. On that note, many of the secondary characters (with perhaps the exception of Mia's husband and his ex-wife) do feel well drawn and bring their own personalities to the page.
The novel does pick up once things start to fall apart, but this isn't until around 60% of the novel, and there's a rather unrealistic neatness to the way that the book ends which felt a bit too sickly sweet given the tone of the rest of the novel, and missed an opportunity to give Mia her own life.
If you enjoyed novels like Eleanor Oliphant and are looking for a mediation on grief and forging your own path this may be for you, just don't expect this to be a fun read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent