If Cats Disappeared from the World

I'm going to assume that much was lost in translation from the original Japanese. The retelling in letter form also distanced me from the narrative, to the point where most of the novella left me cold. If it was a short story focused on just the importance of cats to this young man's life, I think it would have had more emotional impact, but I felt like I was reading a lot of subpar filler, platitudes and cliches, around that core truth.

Effort was made to tug at the heart strings regarding the protagonist's relationship with each of his parents and ex-girlfriend, but I don't think enough space/background was provided to be truly invested in the outcome of those relationships. 

On to the annoying: 

∆Dragging out illness or death scenes is a cheap trick to try and elicit emotional response from the reader, especially when the writing is not good enough to feel anything but poorly manipulated. 

∆Proclaiming that ‘only humans love' is bound to irk your vegan readership. 

⚠️Death, terminal illness, animal death