Book Review | The Full Moon Coffee Shop

The Full Moon Coffee Shop

By Mai Mochizuki

Octopus Publishing Group |  2024  |  272 pages

Based on the Japanese myth of cats returning favours to humans who are kind to them, "The Full Moon Coffee Shop" is the name of a peculiar cake cafe that is run by talking cats, which has no fixed location and instead materialises unpredictably on the night of a full moon.

The protagonists of this story - a successful female scriptwriter in crisis, a heartbroken tv director, and two male entrepreneurs - all end up there in the middle of the night, in a semi-dream-like state, and receive life-changing advice on love, work, and relationships from a charismatic tortoiseshell cat who interprets his guests' astrological chart.

The Western horoscope comes into play, as well as the life phases, one for each planet, that guide what lessons we have or haven't allowed ourselves to learn. Meanwhile, the customers are served a selection of drinks and sweet treats tailored perfectly to their needs: a Lunar Chocolate Fondant for Aching Hearts, a Planetary Ice Affogato, an Ice Coffee with Sunrise Syrup, or a Bitter Coffee for Mature Souls.

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I feel like I’ve been on a winning streak lately with translated fiction… I read Water Moon a while back and that was an absolutely stellar read and this one was also so adorable and lovely! 

There is something about translated fiction books that are just so cozy and easy breezy, you know? It’s always in a coffee shop or cafe or bookstore and there is always a presence of cats and it just… they always feel like a relaxing joy to read. 

I think I have yet to hate a book that takes place in a magical part of Tokyo where there is some kind of enchanting agenda? I love it. Give me comfort reads based in Japan and I am most likely set. 

This book had an interesting flair as well. It is essentially a coffee shop that appears on full moons and is run by cats and there is a lot of talk about astrology and the stars and signs in houses etc which was something new for me and it went in a fair bit of depth. It left me wanting to learn more about astrology and to learn about my own houses and how that charts my future by using the stars. 

I enjoyed the format of separate and yet, interlinked stories in the book. It reminded me a lot of Before The Coffee Gets Cold in that aspect. There are 3 tales that flow within the book and it is sweet how it all comes full circle and the small twist of learning more about these talking cats in a coffee shop. 

I really enjoyed it and to be honest, this might be my shortest review because I don’t have anything to complain about with this book and there wasn’t really anything I disliked. It was a very easy book to read and it was shorter than most that I read and so there isn’t much to be said on it. 

I guess my only criticism, if you can call it that, is that I wish the book was longer but it felt enough to me. It’s a simple plot and it’s general fiction - not a thriller or anything where you’d be looking for plot holes. It is a feel-good story in my eyes; it is definitely one I would reread on a weekend getaway at the beach one evening or maybe out in the garden on an early Summer night. It’s one of those books that you can just chill out with and not take seriously. 

I really enjoyed it and found myself whizzing through it as I read it all within a couple of hours. I would definitely read it again and I would definitely recommend it to people for a nice and quick, easy read to just give you a sense of calm. It had some really good themes in there too about life and the philosophy of each stage of your life, which I am a complete sucker for. 

That’s all from me! Thanks!