3.5 stars

CAT’S PEOPLE by Tanya Guerrero is a found family novel set in Brooklyn involving a stray cat and the people that care about it. 

Nuria is a single barista in her 30s with three cats that feeds Brooklyn’s stray cats, including Cat, one of the novel’s narrators. It’s becoming more common to have animal narrators in novels and I went with it easily enough. Omar is a gay postal worker and wasn’t given as much to do as I wanted to see. Bong is a grieving widower and bodega owner who recently lost his wife. Collin is a successful writer who looks out of his window at the alley where Cat resides, and he also gets coffee where Nuria works. And Lily is working on a mission of her own. The notes between Collin and Nuria were very endearing. I thought more emotion could have been created between Nuria and Lily. 

I did have to suspend some disbelief at all of these characters crossing paths due to one stray cat. Also, there wasn’t much tension in this novel. Even the big plot point involving Cat seemed resolved extremely quickly and without any debate.  

I thought this novel had excellent representation. I liked the Brooklyn setting. I thought the novel could have had a bit more forward propulsion, but I did enjoy some of the author’s touches on the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review. 

It publishes April 1, 2025.