The Cat Returns to Adderly (Fairy Tale Retellings #2) by Sam Burns

The Cat Returns to Adderly (Fairy Tale Retellings #2) Reviews

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  ~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~

  This book started out with an interesting premise but petered out as it went along.
  
  A few of the scenes were really strange. I couldn't tell if Wentworth the cat truly transformed into Alastair the man or if Luke was just dreaming.
  
  I also didn't see the point of continuing with the "evil brother" plot (Luke's two older brothers are monsters who kick him out of the house after their parents pass away, even though Luke just barely graduated from high school, but then one of them comes back to harass Luke).
  
  And how did the brothers even figure out that the book Luke took was valuable (it was a "magical" book, but the brothers had no way of knowing that)?
  
  Then there was all this talk about Luke's best friend, but she's totally off page and we never get to meet her.
  
  There was no world building, no character development. We're just thrown into this world where witches exist. I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it.
• 
  QuietlyKat

  Entertaining and adorably charming.
  
  While I enjoyed The Cat Returns to Adderly, the story felt underdeveloped in a couple ways. Luke’s brother, James was cartoonishly evil without any explanation or reasoning for his villainy. His presence felt nonsensically forced to create conflict. Also, the final resolution was abrupt, simple and convenient, a little too deus ex machina for my tastes.
  
  Still, this is a sweet little reimagined Puss in Boots tale.
  
  3.25 stars
• 
  Dan

  This is the most curious puss in boots adaptation I've read. I enjoyed it, though the way the magic happened was a bit confusing at times. I'm a bit perplexed at it, thinking it in retrospect. But it wasn't a properly made spell, so I guess some oddities are allowed
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  Malaraa

  Cute, although the characterization is super shallow. That's not uncommon to the originals of fairy tales, but re-tellings are usually better with a little more than just "bad person is bad. look, watch them be bad. Good person is good. look, watch them be good." Was still amusing, and a nod to Puss-In-Boots is a more interesting choice than the millionth cinder/beauty/snow tale.
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  Grace

  DNF ~80%
  
  I really was trying to finish this one, but it was such a mess I couldn't do it. I was so intrigued by the concept as I love a good fairy tale retelling and I'd never seen one with Puss in Boots before, but this was really all over the place. The style and tropes really felt like a historical/old-timey type setting, but it was also set in the modern world, but not *quite* our world as people seemed to maybe know about witches? It was really confusing and I just don't think the mash-up was really effective. The plot was a bit bizarre and incoherent, with some pretty glaring and confusing plot holes and/or leaps of logic that had me scratching my head. I didn't really feel the connection between the characters and the smut did nothing for me. Sadly this one wasn't a winner.
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  Robin L

  This was really great until we got our second mc in the flesh. We never got a scene or two with them as they are where we see the culmination of their relationship. And there are some pretty big world-building plot holes where magical type stuff is talked about like everyone knows about it and nobody blinks an eye.
  
  All in all, the first half is great. The second half, not so much. But this is worth the read.
• 
  Elyse

  3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
  An MM fairytale with a human named Luke, and a cat named Wentworth. This is told in dual (sort of) POV. And yes, it’s told from a cat’s perspective.😸
  
  In the beginning we find Luke - who just graduated high school a few months before - having his world upended. His parents have died in a car accident, and his older brothers told him he needs to move out of the house. He has nowhere to go, only a little bit of cash, and mostly all he can think about is having enough Tuna for his cat. As Luke is walking along trying to find a place for them to rest for the night, Wentworth jumps off him and guides Luke to an old empty Victorian house.
  
  Since the house has clearly been empty for a long time, Luke hopefully thinks that they can stay there. At least until the witch that once lived there returns. He’s hoping he can clean a bit and make the house shine again, and the residents won’t be too mad for him breaking in. As Luke spends more time in the house he starts having dreams of the witch that previously lived there. In the dreams the witch is looking after him and making it feel like Luke really should be there.
  
  The house (and Luke’s goodness) also helps Wentworth to find where he belongs. Slowly, but surely we see Wentworth come into his natural state.
  
  ”Luke didn’t know, he realized with a jolt. The poor man didn’t realize that he had permission from the witch he was worried about, because again, Wentworth was stuck as a cat, and couldn’t simply say that he’d be happy if Luke ate every vegetable in the garden and read all of his books. Forever.”
  
  So a story is told of a man and his cat - that’s not really a cat - and how they fell in love, and found a place to call home.
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  Tammy

  I really enjoyed this fairy tale. Luke is a young man kicked out of his house and left penniless and homeless after his parent's death. All he has are his adopted cat Wentworth and a book given to him by his grandfather. Luckily, he finds shelter in an abandoned witch's house. The story is delightful. It is told in Luke's, Wentworth's and Alastair's (the witch) point of view, in alternating chapters. I loved reading the interactions between Luke and Wentworth and Luke and Alastair. I recommend this book for a fun, heartwarming read.
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  Lisa

  
  An unusual book. It was based on the story of Puss in Boots, which I have no knowledge of so it was an adventure. I love stories which have snarky cats who are cats and not shifters and although Dub wasn't snarky I did love him and was a bit upset when he became Alastair in the end.
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  Devon Rose

  Well, that was an adorable little book. It wasn’t perfect, but if you’re looking for a cute, witchy tale with a cinnamon roll protagonist and his magic cat this is it. Low angst, warm fuzzy feelings, and a happy ending…I almost wish I’d waited till spooky season to read this!
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  Crystal P

  I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I have read by Sam Burns. This book was no exception. I was pulled in by the cat’s POV early on and intrigued as the story continued to unfold. Luke is one of this characters you find yourself, as a reader, super protective of from the very beginning. I loved the way the story unfolded and want more adventures of Luke and Alastair!
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  Kiki Z

  Sam Burns is an author more on my miss list than my hit list. I really like the Fantastic Fluke series, and the Wolves of Kismet series is good fun but all the other stories I've read from her fall a little flat. This one, while compulsively readable--I literally read this entire thing at four in the morning while I was unable to sleep--was very odd in the romance department. One of our mains spends pretty much the entire book as a cat, which I don't think is a spoiler. We expect the cat to secretly be a man, right? Good. Except the man spends all his time as a cat remembering he's a man while a human version of him exists on some metaphysical plane Luke can access while asleep. This would've been fine if this story had an extra fifty pages tacked on or something. As it is, very few conversations take place on this plane, and we pretty much jump straight to sex, so I'm even less convinced of the romance than I was in pretty much every book of Rowan Harbor Cycle. (Seriously, I don't understand any of those romances.) So... cute but needed a little better pacing so I didn't feel like Luke fell in love with a cat. I mean, I love my cats but I wouldn't want to date them.
  
  Anyway, four stars for compulsive readability, one star for romance.
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  Donna

  How rare this was! I could have read this story to my grandkids... well, except for the smexy times! *grin*
  
  I will be honest, I am not a cat lover, but who wouldn't love Dub/Wentworth? And, for full transparency, I have never read or seen Puss in Boots... but, I am sure that like most fairy tales, there are bad guys and good guys! Which this story had a wide selection of both!
  
  This was just a cute, pass-the-time read that would be enjoyed by almost anyone!
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  Heather Cat

  I LOVED this book. So much so, I stayed up to 5am to finish it in one night. It was adorable, and sweet, and magical in all the best ways. It had its tense moments where, although you knew everything had to turn out OK in the end, not knowing how and when we'd get there was stressful. In a good, gripping, OMG-I-need-to-finish-this-book-tonight sort of way. Like I said, I loved it, beginning to end.
  
  And extra <3's to the farmers market.
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  Kimber

  The Cat Returns to Adderly is a treat
  
  This is one of the best retellings of 'Puss in Boots' that I've had the pleasure to read. It was an interesting perspective and a very different plot development to the usual. It was creative and enjoyable in the characters and the world building, although in this instance the world building was very low-key, but it worked here. I can definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys both fairy tales and unusual romances.
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  Liz Prosser

  OMG! So good
  
  Okay so this book was absolutely amazing! It was creative and adorable and little sexy and I just couldn't put it down! I refuse to say more because I don't want to give away the story but if you don't read this you will really be missing out on a superbly wonderful book.
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  Kari

  This is a sweet and somewhat-inventive retelling of Puss in Boots. I slightly prefer Angel Martinez' take
  Boots, but this was still an entertaining diversion.
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  Jeanette Waters

  I borrowed this on KU just by the title alone. It didn't hit me at the time that the fairy tale it was retelling was Puss in Boots. Which was one of my favorite stories as a kid. Loved this story so much that I ended up buying it. Such a sweet, sweet tale!
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  Maraya21 (The Reading Dragon)

  ★ Read when it was part of the
  Fables Retold Anthology (Retelling: Puss In Boots) ★
• 
  llv

  The Cat Returns to Adderly
  Rating: 3.5
  I really enjoyed this story loosely based on the Puss in Boots fairytale. I liked that we got chapters written from Wentworth’s perspective as well as Luke’s. My only problem with the story was it suffered from being a bit too short. There were quite a few things left unexplained and I think the story would have benefitted from some more world building. Overall, the story was good and kept me entertained.
  
• 
  White Angel

  A beautiful story!
  I felt everything in this book, anger, sadness, sorrow and joy.
  It was surprising and special.
  It broke my heart, and I was curious throughout the book.
  And I could not stop reading.
  I wish the book was longer.
• 
  Denise

  Lovely Magical Romance
  
  A sweet magical story. Wentworth was a perfect cat companion when Luke needed him the most. I really think a sequel about the summer with Rachel is needed
  
  
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  Suzie Suarez

  Amazing!
  
  My only choice complaint is that I'd really like to see more of these two- it was an amazing book!
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  🥰💖🐈‍⬛