4.5 Stars

Linney the House Cat started as a series of webcomics. This graphic novel is a collection of several illustrations that detail the life of a housecat from the cat’s POV. 

I enjoy reading about cats and their antics. When a friend (Rosh) rated it 5 stars, I knew I had to read this one. After all, how can I resist a book that showcases a cat’s personality? 

The author/ illustration adopted Linney when Her Highness was older (around four years). This meant Linney came with her exclusive attitude and took every opportunity to remind her silly hoomans about it. 

The author’s love and understanding are evident in every illustration. She knows her cat even if Linney would never admit it. 

This isn’t a story as such. It is a series of scenes arranged in a sequence to make sense. Linney’s voice is purrfect! She knows hoomans are mere slaves, hooman kittens are ewww, and dogs are even more ewww. Linney loves to take revenge and plots various ways to get even when hoomans don’t do what she wants. 

The tone is light, funny, quirky, and super cute. The illustrations are rough sketches (I love the explanation for why Linney has such a vague visual representation) which seamlessly suit the narrative style. The dialogues and thoughts are in speech bubbles with ‘feelings’ and other stuff mentioned as plain text. The layout is simple and uncluttered. 

While there is sad news, the reader is prepared for it in advance. The whole thing is handled with care. After all, the author’s pain would have been so much more than what we feel when reading it! But don’t worry. The book makes you smile with its ending. 

To summarize, Woe: A Housecat's Story is a beautiful, hilarious, and bittersweet graphic novel about a fluffy orange cat with a huge personality. Though this is marked YA, it can pretty much be read by anyone (kiddos included). 

My thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Random House Graphic, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. 

#NetGalley #WoeAHousecatsStory