The Full Moon Coffee Shop

Three stories about three people who run into the magical Full Moon Coffee Shop right when they need it most in their lives. The shop is run by bipedal cats who serve them food and drinks intended to help them work through their problems, and also reading their star charts along the way.

Right off the bat, I'll say there's a TON of astrological talk, so much so that this book felt less about the (flat) characters and more about fitting in discussion about Mercury in retrograde or whatever. The three characters all have some tangential relationship to one another, but their stories by and large never overlap, making things feel a bit choppy and segmented. There's an epilogue of sorts at the end to show you how things end up with each character which was nice, but by and large I wasn't very invested in their stories along the way.

I did enjoy the vibe of the coffee shop itself, but the shallow characters and weak plot(s) made this a miss for me.

I looooooooove it, losing myself in pages and do not know when I came to the end, glad to buy and read it thank you

I love the plot and how the different stories interconnect. I have a feeling it was the translation and not the original, but it felt like it didn't hit as hard as it could have and the writing was clunky and oversimplified. I'm so confused at all the negative reviews just because of the astrology when the title is FULL MOON coffee shop. IMO this book did have the cozy vibes, but I think it would have been better if the content went deeper.

This is a cozy read; it has good friendship story arcs; it's focused on goodwill and compassion for others; interesting mystery elements; and strong fantasy elements too; but has a heavy undertone of astrology, which for me, was distracting. Other than the astrology theme being so ever-present, I would be interested to read other books by this author. If you are into astrology, especially set in the cozy story genre, this will likely be a four-star or better read for you.

I admit this book was not something IOI expected both in the topic and some of the characters.
There were all the things I have come to expect from a Japanese fantasy novel with the angst of characters and their situations and experiences. Still, I was not expecting a full explanation about astrology and its effect on people's lives.
The use of cats was brilliantly done and effectively as the guides through the protagonist's experiences.

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

Welcome to the Coffee Shop that appears. There are no set times, places, or menus from which to order.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop consists of three main stories surrounding various characters finding their way through life as they struggle with various problems, concerns, and troubles. As they find the coffee shop (or rather, it finds them), they are approached by talking cats to allow them the place and time to speak about their concerns, using the natal charts and planet phases.

The illustrations accompanying this story are cute. The characters are also part of each other's lives, and we can follow their journey. By the end, we see them all reflecting on themselves, and moving on was nice.

Perhaps the only thing I wished for was more cat illustrations- it's about the cafe run by cats!/j In addition, I would have appreciated deeper thoughts and reflection on each character as they seemed a little shallow, in my opinion. The natal charts and planet phases were interesting to learn more about, but they became repetitive. However, someone who is deeply interested and invested in astrology may enjoy this book much more than I did.

Overall, it is a lovely short book that casts moonlight on human thoughts, actions, and reflections and how we move forward to continue growing.