Rascal by Jean-Luc Deglin

A young millennial's life is disrupted when she receives a mewing package in the mail. An acquaintance of her mom needs her kitten watched (and they sent it in a box???) and they decided she was up to the task. To her horror, though, the neighbor ends up dying, leaving her with the cat. She ends up naming it "Rascal" because she's always calling him "you rascal" do to his constant shenanigans.

Anyone who is a cat owner will really enjoy this book. It captures the douchiness of cats while also showing why they make such good pets for introverts. I own a little black cat and spent an hour reading while she slept on my lap. Cats don't make you walk them, and they aren't always affectionate when you want them to be, but that aloofness is precisely what makes their companionship so valuable, and they're very fun to cuddle with if you have hobbies that require keeping still for long periods of time.

That said, RASCAL also captures why cats can be so annoying. The sharp claws. The way they tend to stick their butthole into your face without warning. The way they get bored of the expensive toys you buy them while chewing on your clothes, beauty supplies, and houseplants (basically anything that isn't bolted down and isn't one of their toys). Oh, yes, and the stinky wees and the way they somehow manage to track litter all over the floor--

And don't even get me started on the "presents." My cat recently led me to a "death hoard," where she had amassed a small pile of murdered birds, rodents, and lizards for my purview. (Or should I say, purr-view?) I read somewhere recently that cats do that because they think of us as big dumb cats and it's their way of trying to teach us how to hunt.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel a lot. The way the artist draws the cat contorted into a wide variety of poses was really funny, and I liked the heroine who is his owner. She had a great sense of humor and their relationship was really fun. The only thing I didn't really like about this book was limited to its being an ARC-- I really hate it when people put giant watermarks on the pages of ARCs. I'm not going to steal your book, okay? I'm here to review it-- for FREE-- and that's that. Don't make it harder than it needs to be by stamping a big, ugly distraction smack-dab in the center of each page.

Apart from that, RASCAL was purrfectly adorable. Anyone who loves cats should read this!

Thanks to Netgalley/the publisher for the review copy! 

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars