The Full Moon Coffee Shop

When I opened The Full Moon Coffee Shop, I was expecting a dreamy magical-realism story like Before the Coffee Gets Cold, What You are Looking For Is In the Library,  and We’ll Prescribe You A Cat. (and, to a lesser extent, the TV show Midnight Diner, with that ensemble, serendipitous feel).  I enjoy that vibe, and I was mostly right in my expectations.

So, look, I understand that relating to the protagonist is key to a great deal of fiction reading, but the first story in The Full Moon Coffee Shop is about a semi-talented games writer, who only gets minor projects. She’s not young and dreaming of someday writing for games, she’s a mature adult who writes for games, and it turns out, her talent tops out at freelance sidequests.

Sorry, I just had to reread that and make sure I wrote she and not I for that paragraph.

Naturally, I spent a lot of the book afraid that she would have to learn to accept being not particularly talented over the course of the story. The book has those vibes, too, it might be the sort of gentle story about our game writer accepting defeat gracefully, and man, I did not want to read about that.

But, she meets magical cat friends, Roman deities with astrological advice, and is served galaxy desserts. It’s like a mashup of everything I like!

I sort of expected the connections between the characters and their stories, since that’s often an element of this kind of book. Even so, I wasn’t really prepared for the students’ love for their teacher. I deeply hate inspiring-teacher stories (mythologizing teaching as some magically rewarding calling often connects directly with not rewarding teachers with actual money), so I was pleased that it didn’t unfold that way. There’s a walk home one day that ties the story together. It’s not an inspiring lesson or a dedicated teacher going above and beyond, but that walk home leads back to the mystery of the cats.

I love my own kitty friend so much, so naturally I loved the idea of magical kitty friends. I think I would enjoyed and found comfort in just the cat storyline, just the overall idea of kitty companions reappearing to visit their humans (and other humans, I think) in times of stress and change.  But then the cats also offer delicious desserts and coffee treats to their humans, and if that’s not enough, these are astral desserts. It felt almost supernatural to read this mashup of every single thing I would want, for this fictional semi-talented game writer.

Anyway,  my students are looking after my cat while I’m at a game conference this weekend.