Cat's People

 

Cat's People is a sympathetically written multi-character viewpoint urban novel by Tanya Guerrero. Released 1st April 2025 by Penguin Random House on their Delacorte imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. 

This is a sensitively written story (admittedly schmaltzy in places) about a stray semi-feral Cat and 5 strangers whose lives he impacts, and who, ultimately, change Cat's life over the course of one hot summer in New York City. The five human main characters are diverse in age, ethnicity, personality, interpersonal relations, and yet, when they intersect with one another as they interact with Cat, they find surprising connections and support.

The author does a good job with setting and descriptions, and New York City gets a starring role. Guerrero describes the traffic, the sights and sounds, and even the bodegas and small ethnic restaurants and shops which are generally only found in large urban areas. 

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 10 hours 29 minutes and is capably read by Elena Rey, with a well modulated neutral voice. There's a lot of Spanish dialog and the reading is well accented and easy to understand in context. Sound and production quality is high throughout the read. 

Four stars. It's a bit drama-filled, but wholesome and sweet. Language is R-rated for a few scattered F-bombs, but otherwise fine. Content warning for threatened s*xual assault and violence, family/child abandonment (in the past) and some neuroses (mild agoraphobia/social anxiety). 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.