i... don't really get it. Before I read the LN I read some of the comments and thought I was in for some wild stuff but... I don't know what was supposed to be so scary/discomforting?
For any first-time readers: the novel gets very intense, so be sure to be in a calm-ish headspace before reading it (but definitely do find a moment to read it).
Thank you so much for sharing this. I got it with the Racial Justice bundle and I am so glad I did. I've struggled a lot with anxiety the past year and it feels great to read something so strong and so clear about living with this illness and fighting it. I feel like it's much more clear to me how it should feel like to "let go".
I got this in a bundle like a year ago and hadn't gotten around to reading it yet. Despite the warnings of it being a little intense, which I do wish I had taken some time to get into a better headspace, I very much enjoyed it. The illustrations are amazing and I love how certain things were addressed.
Overall, 10/10, but please take the warning at the beginning seriously.
this novel spoke out to me the first time i got the bundle but i only just got around to reading it. i melted into the world of this book really quick. it was a short read but i still enjoyed it, i very much wish to be a cat now >:)
Heads up for anyone who hasn’t read it yet, take the content warning seriously, it gets pretty intense. Wow, this was a heck of a read. Like some other people have said, I got this in the Racial Justice bundle and the very light novel-y title jumped out at me. The way you write is so cool, Zandra, you’re excellent at first-person perspectives and drawing the reader into Izzy’s mind. Satellite’s art is really great, too, it’s simple and emotional and cozy. I suffer from anxiety myself (I’m not sure if it’s serious enough to be clinical anxiety, but it’s definitely a problem), and the meaning’s pretty powerful; sometimes, we just need to step back and think of things differently, because the things that make us anxious are only things that make us anxious and may not have a good cause. The story forces Izzy to do so, and she subconsciously realizes it. I hate to admit it, but I’m written trying to think of things in a different way off too often. I think I’ll try it whenever my anxiety hits, even if it’s not as effective as transforming into a cat!
Spoilers (and in-depth analysis) below
I’ve seen some other reviews take issue with the lack of consent here, and yeah, that’s something that didn’t quite sit well with me. However, I took it as a “you can only transform back into human form when you’re 100% ready, even if you want to go back sooner” thing. Izzy had a lot of stuff to work through, so she stayed in cat form longer than anyone had seen before, and nobody could pull her out of cat form. The implications of no case like hers being seen before though could be troubling, like they’re doing this without having fully researched it?
Anyway, I’m probably reading way too far into this. As for the “why’s she a cat girl afterwards, could she have lost some sentience” and the finer details of being transformed into a cat for a year, I’m going to go for the handwavey explanation and say magic. Since it’s already a pretty fantastical premise that doesn’t get explained (not like that’s a bad thing, this story’s more about the feeling rather than every little detail), I feel like it’s an apt explanation. Something like magic being semi-integrated into modern society, so things like “feline therapy” aren’t exactly common, but it isn’t unheard of either, and society’s adjusted to the logistics involved with it. Maybe long-term “feline therapy” is a thing but this is the first case of a “short-term turned long-term” thing? And as it says in the ending, Izzy worked with the place to make sure people know what they are going into and she’s made peace with what happened, so all the compensation she wants is 2 lifetime passes because transforming into a cat is pretty dang therapeutic.
Wow, this turned into a long analysis, hey? This was a great story, it’s changed my view on how I deal with anxiety myself, which isn’t something every story I read does!
Thank you for writing this. This was an intense read about joy and sadness, and all kinds of isolating emotions I wish didn't hit so close to home. It's especially personal to me because I found out I was trans only a few hours after reading this story! It literally changed my life. Did it on a train too. Trans trains ftw!
You're a super cool author, and I hope you have a great everything!
this was a great read. my favorite bit is the defamiliarization that accompanies the drawing on page 20. the way things are described feels so alien, which really puts you into the shoes of the main character.
This was great and I hope you do more things! Reading through things was a lot different experience than i've had with most other work and now I have more stuff to think about
SPOILER WARNING (I enjoyed the book and its story. I love how the second half is told. it made me feel things i wasn't ready to feel! I just have some thoughts tho)
But that ending did not sit well with me. It pulled the rug on many implications and story beats excellently set-upped in the beginning and in the middle. There is not even a pay off with Izzy and what I assume her parents?? I get that it is a light story but I wish the ending stuck with the reality of what happened more. :((
I really appreciated the feels I got while reading this, but I also kept accidentally jumping three paragraphs ahead or tripping over a typo and wanting to mark it up, which I guess probably means I could use a session at this place?
SPOILER WARNING AHEAD ON THE ENDING (i hope its ok to put my review on here as i dont know how you can see reviews on here, im sorry for any inconvience i just want people to see my thoughts on some issues i have with this book (which is probably just me overthinking things to an extreme degree)
This was a good read, though I WAS NOT along for the ride comfortly, i genuinely mid-story, stopped reading because i was worried, as while you should stop overthinking things, you should still THINK IN GENERAL, the ending felt a bit weird and just has this looming feeling of something being wrong, sure its a "happy ending" but (thank god for me wasting hours on tvtropes) its what can be best described, at least for me as a Esoteric Happy Ending, as what just happened is not right as she never knew of this and may have backed out, also is the fact is that she does not know who the old people are, im not entirely sure who they are but i get the feeling they are Probably her parents or grandparents, thats GENUINELY concerning. while it sounds silly she would forget her parents, she did forget her birthday There are also some other ramifications, like for example, she was a cat for a entire year, would that have an effect on her lifespan or will it not, im probably overthinking this stuff, since despite being gone for a entire year, she still has her job and nobody questions her being a catgirl now, hell the odd part is that her friend Sasha, joins in on the fun at the end with 2 lifetime memberships which Izzy willing agrees to be the only payment needed for being a cat for a year instead of the intended weekend. jesus there is so much wrong with this ending, im sorry for overthinking but the under reaction to everything that happened makes me wonder if she is still under the effects of the loss of some sentience, i know this isnt what the author intended but this is what i got from this, this is crazy. so how'd i rate it? 5 stars, while i didnt get the intended result, i got alot to think about and tore into this book like a 9th grade english teacher. i got too much meaning in the wrong places and i feel like i didnt get the actual message, still its a good read and i recommend. (trust me that im not giving this 5 stars just because she became a catgirl, i like it since i got way too much to think about from this)
oh my gosh , this is such a good book. its so sad yet upbeat,, i cant describe how good it its. tho, as like all the other comments say, seriously keep in mind the content warning. gosh this book gets intense near the end,, but golly gee this thing pulled it off well. this book is just fantastic and id recomend that if youre at all interested in it, give it a try
This was a heck of a read. Like many of the other comments say, please take the content warning seriously, and try to let yourself go along with the ride. It's really a well written story, and the journey is well worth the read. I'm sincerely glad I took a chance on it, and it left me with some things to reflect on myself; Which really, is a sign this story did exactly what it was supposed to.
I was definitely wiping away tears throughout most of the read! It seems to be a running theme with these cat stories.
(probable SPOILERS below)
The passage of time within the story was particularly jarring and intense for me, especially since I can see some of myself in Izzy in how easy it is to lose time and feel disconnected from people you used to be close to.
I can't believe how much I love this one. It's the shortest of your works that I've read but so so meaningful. I'm at a very tumultuous time in my life and your work has been making such an impact on me, most notably this one and the witchy ones. Thank you so much for making a baby trans girl happy in these times, I look forward to all you do
read it because i like tf stuff, ended up learning a bunch about anxiety and people and i can't not be reminded of this when i think about cats help
though as a dummy dum dum white cis man i don't really see where gender is discussed (see tags) but that's not the topic of the story (nor did i expect it to be) so whatever
Got this in the Racial Justice bundle and the very Light Novel-y title jumped out at me. First, the content warning is for real and should be taken seriously, but at the same time I don't think it should be something to stop you from reading unless it's a particular trigger / difficulty.
The story itself surprised me in just how visceral and moving it was. The descriptions are tactile which matches the lovely art. It focuses on mental health and gender in an interesting way that I think is a bit subtle if you were trying to introduce someone to these topics, but if you feel like you already understand this pretty well I'd definitely give this a shot.
SPOILER-Y section? The one thing that I am a bit conflicted on is that a lot of the changes and growth are essentially forced on the protagonist. This is addressed later, so I think the author knows this, but I'm just not sure if it was addressed enough? The lack of informed consent is a bit frustrating, and even though I think the novel recognizes this it feels like things resolved pretty nicely for the protagonist so the message might be a bit skewed.
Despite the few questions I have regarding that, I think it's still an interesting read and one to give a shot!
Reposting my review as a comment since reviews don't show up in most places on here:
Shoot I'm crying. I wasn't sure how I was going to go at a couple parts, and I got anxious a little...but I pushed through it. and oh my god this is the best thing ever. There's just so much and it's so beautiful and it all feels so peaceful in the end. Everything turned out okay and it took all the time it needed to happen. I love this so much. Thank you, Zandra. <3 <3 <3
Do not take the content warning lightly, and remember this is a Zandra story where bad endings don't happen, and you should be able to enjoy with this one. Try to let yourself go with the flow of the main character's feelings for the best experience possible. If you don't, it will become much more distressing to go through.
← Return to light novel
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Looks great! It was a pleasure to be in the Queer Halloween Stories Bundle with you!
incredibly relaxing. I love how many senses you spoke to over the course of it, that made it really immersive
i... don't really get it. Before I read the LN I read some of the comments and thought I was in for some wild stuff but... I don't know what was supposed to be so scary/discomforting?
This shit was WILD.
Pretty fast to read too.
This is such a goated title LMAO
For any first-time readers: the novel gets very intense, so be sure to be in a calm-ish headspace before reading it (but definitely do find a moment to read it).
Thank you so much for sharing this. I got it with the Racial Justice bundle and I am so glad I did. I've struggled a lot with anxiety the past year and it feels great to read something so strong and so clear about living with this illness and fighting it. I feel like it's much more clear to me how it should feel like to "let go".
10/10, absolutely
Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm so glad this book resonated with you <3
<3
Take the warnings very seriously, tbh to me it feels more like body horror than anything positive.
I got this in a bundle like a year ago and hadn't gotten around to reading it yet. Despite the warnings of it being a little intense, which I do wish I had taken some time to get into a better headspace, I very much enjoyed it. The illustrations are amazing and I love how certain things were addressed.
Overall, 10/10, but please take the warning at the beginning seriously.
this novel spoke out to me the first time i got the bundle but i only just got around to reading it. i melted into the world of this book really quick. it was a short read but i still enjoyed it, i very much wish to be a cat now >:)
10/10
hhhh i love this....i'm trans and have a dissociative disorder and like. i just wanna get turned into a cat ;___;
This was a really amazing read, definitely a bit heavy but also very much a mood <333
Heads up for anyone who hasn’t read it yet, take the content warning seriously, it gets pretty intense. Wow, this was a heck of a read. Like some other people have said, I got this in the Racial Justice bundle and the very light novel-y title jumped out at me. The way you write is so cool, Zandra, you’re excellent at first-person perspectives and drawing the reader into Izzy’s mind. Satellite’s art is really great, too, it’s simple and emotional and cozy.
I suffer from anxiety myself (I’m not sure if it’s serious enough to be clinical anxiety, but it’s definitely a problem), and the meaning’s pretty powerful; sometimes, we just need to step back and think of things differently, because the things that make us anxious are only things that make us anxious and may not have a good cause. The story forces Izzy to do so, and she subconsciously realizes it. I hate to admit it, but I’m written trying to think of things in a different way off too often. I think I’ll try it whenever my anxiety hits, even if it’s not as effective as transforming into a cat!
Spoilers (and in-depth analysis) below
I’ve seen some other reviews take issue with the lack of consent here, and yeah, that’s something that didn’t quite sit well with me. However, I took it as a “you can only transform back into human form when you’re 100% ready, even if you want to go back sooner” thing. Izzy had a lot of stuff to work through, so she stayed in cat form longer than anyone had seen before, and nobody could pull her out of cat form. The implications of no case like hers being seen before though could be troubling, like they’re doing this without having fully researched it?
Anyway, I’m probably reading way too far into this. As for the “why’s she a cat girl afterwards, could she have lost some sentience” and the finer details of being transformed into a cat for a year, I’m going to go for the handwavey explanation and say magic. Since it’s already a pretty fantastical premise that doesn’t get explained (not like that’s a bad thing, this story’s more about the feeling rather than every little detail), I feel like it’s an apt explanation. Something like magic being semi-integrated into modern society, so things like “feline therapy” aren’t exactly common, but it isn’t unheard of either, and society’s adjusted to the logistics involved with it. Maybe long-term “feline therapy” is a thing but this is the first case of a “short-term turned long-term” thing? And as it says in the ending, Izzy worked with the place to make sure people know what they are going into and she’s made peace with what happened, so all the compensation she wants is 2 lifetime passes because transforming into a cat is pretty dang therapeutic.
Wow, this turned into a long analysis, hey? This was a great story, it’s changed my view on how I deal with anxiety myself, which isn’t something every story I read does!
Thank you for writing this. This was an intense read about joy and sadness, and all kinds of isolating emotions I wish didn't hit so close to home. It's especially personal to me because I found out I was trans only a few hours after reading this story! It literally changed my life. Did it on a train too. Trans trains ftw!
You're a super cool author, and I hope you have a great everything!
this was a great read. my favorite bit is the defamiliarization that accompanies the drawing on page 20. the way things are described feels so alien, which really puts you into the shoes of the main character.
I had a mild panic attack and I'm in need of debriefing.
I'm supporting the next in this series lol
This was great and I hope you do more things! Reading through things was a lot different experience than i've had with most other work and now I have more stuff to think about
SPOILER WARNING (I enjoyed the book and its story. I love how the second half is told. it made me feel things i wasn't ready to feel! I just have some thoughts tho)
But that ending did not sit well with me. It pulled the rug on many implications and story beats excellently set-upped in the beginning and in the middle. There is not even a pay off with Izzy and what I assume her parents?? I get that it is a light story but I wish the ending stuck with the reality of what happened more. :((
I really appreciated the feels I got while reading this, but I also kept accidentally jumping three paragraphs ahead or tripping over a typo and wanting to mark it up, which I guess probably means I could use a session at this place?
SPOILER WARNING AHEAD ON THE ENDING (i hope its ok to put my review on here as i dont know how you can see reviews on here, im sorry for any inconvience i just want people to see my thoughts on some issues i have with this book (which is probably just me overthinking things to an extreme degree)
This was a good read, though I WAS NOT along for the ride comfortly, i genuinely mid-story, stopped reading because i was worried, as while you should stop overthinking things, you should still THINK IN GENERAL, the ending felt a bit weird and just has this looming feeling of something being wrong, sure its a "happy ending" but
(thank god for me wasting hours on tvtropes)its what can be best described, at least for me as a Esoteric Happy Ending, as what just happened is not right as she never knew of this and may have backed out, also is the fact is that she does not know who the old people are, im not entirely sure who they are but i get the feeling they are Probably her parents or grandparents, thats GENUINELY concerning. while it sounds silly she would forget her parents, she did forget her birthday There are also some other ramifications, like for example, she was a cat for a entire year, would that have an effect on her lifespan or will it not, im probably overthinking this stuff, since despite being gone for a entire year, she still has her job and nobody questions her being a catgirl now, hell the odd part is that her friend Sasha, joins in on the fun at the end with 2 lifetime memberships which Izzy willing agrees to be the only payment needed for being a cat for a year instead of the intended weekend. jesus there is so much wrong with this ending, im sorry for overthinking but the under reaction to everything that happened makes me wonder if she is still under the effects of the loss of some sentience, i know this isnt what the author intended but this is what i got from this, this is crazy. so how'd i rate it? 5 stars, while i didnt get the intended result, i got alot to think about and tore into this book like a 9th grade english teacher. i got too much meaning in the wrong places and i feel like i didnt get the actual message, still its a good read and i recommend. (trust me that im not giving this 5 stars just because she became a catgirl, i like it since i got way too much to think about from this)I felt really comfortable reading this light novel. Very relatable, and a very comfy read. Thanks for writing and sharing this.
oh my gosh , this is such a good book. its so sad yet upbeat,, i cant describe how good it its. tho, as like all the other comments say, seriously keep in mind the content warning. gosh this book gets intense near the end,, but golly gee this thing pulled it off well. this book is just fantastic and id recomend that if youre at all interested in it, give it a try
The author really isn't joking about that Content Warning, just so everyone's clear.
It's an incredible, if at times stressful, read; but the payoff when you finish is worth it a hundred times over. Please give it a go.
This was a heck of a read. Like many of the other comments say, please take the content warning seriously, and try to let yourself go along with the ride. It's really a well written story, and the journey is well worth the read. I'm sincerely glad I took a chance on it, and it left me with some things to reflect on myself; Which really, is a sign this story did exactly what it was supposed to.
I was definitely wiping away tears throughout most of the read! It seems to be a running theme with these cat stories.
(probable SPOILERS below)
The passage of time within the story was particularly jarring and intense for me, especially since I can see some of myself in Izzy in how easy it is to lose time and feel disconnected from people you used to be close to.
This touched something deep within me, as someone who has dealt with anxiety and depressive tendencies (and had a rough time rather recently).
The art is absolutely stunning and the story is amazing, I'm so glad I found this via the racial justice bundle.
I can't believe how much I love this one. It's the shortest of your works that I've read but so so meaningful. I'm at a very tumultuous time in my life and your work has been making such an impact on me, most notably this one and the witchy ones. Thank you so much for making a baby trans girl happy in these times, I look forward to all you do
I've been having trouble getting this one out of my head. Thank you.
hit me real hard, made me cry a lot, made me actually think about the role of escapism in my life. thanks!
read it because i like tf stuff, ended up learning a bunch about anxiety and people and i can't not be reminded of this when i think about cats
helpthough as a dummy dum dum white cis man i don't really see where gender is discussed (see tags) but that's not the topic of the story (nor did i expect it to be) so whatever
Got this in the Racial Justice bundle and the very Light Novel-y title jumped out at me. First, the content warning is for real and should be taken seriously, but at the same time I don't think it should be something to stop you from reading unless it's a particular trigger / difficulty.
The story itself surprised me in just how visceral and moving it was. The descriptions are tactile which matches the lovely art. It focuses on mental health and gender in an interesting way that I think is a bit subtle if you were trying to introduce someone to these topics, but if you feel like you already understand this pretty well I'd definitely give this a shot.
SPOILER-Y section?
The one thing that I am a bit conflicted on is that a lot of the changes and growth are essentially forced on the protagonist. This is addressed later, so I think the author knows this, but I'm just not sure if it was addressed enough? The lack of informed consent is a bit frustrating, and even though I think the novel recognizes this it feels like things resolved pretty nicely for the protagonist so the message might be a bit skewed.
Despite the few questions I have regarding that, I think it's still an interesting read and one to give a shot!
Reposting my review as a comment since reviews don't show up in most places on here:
Shoot I'm crying. I wasn't sure how I was going to go at a couple parts, and I got anxious a little...but I pushed through it. and oh my god this is the best thing ever. There's just so much and it's so beautiful and it all feels so peaceful in the end. Everything turned out okay and it took all the time it needed to happen. I love this so much. Thank you, Zandra. <3 <3 <3
Do not take the content warning lightly, and remember this is a Zandra story where bad endings don't happen, and you should be able to enjoy with this one. Try to let yourself go with the flow of the main character's feelings for the best experience possible. If you don't, it will become much more distressing to go through.
Was quite an enjoyable read
Highly recommended! Do pay attention to the content notice. Still don't regret it though :)